It's amazing what you can accomplish when you set your mind to it. There is literally no ridge or cayon you cannot handle after a few months. You can spot a bull 3 miles away and get on him by dark, it's incredible. Holes I would never touch, I'll dump into in a heartbeat. I can wonder around where ever i want to and not worry about getting lost, I'll just build a shelter/fire and spend the night and go back to work getting out the next day. You own the freakin mountain. The critters, well, that is a different story. They live there, and they will beat you 9 out of 10 times. Today season closed, this morn I spotted 5 elk in a burn edge at about 900 yards. I was trying to get the boy and elk so we did a big U shaped turn to get proper position and wind on the elk, they, however, also did a big U, bigger then ours and right around us. When I got to the spot they were at, they were at our spot, brilliant, they knew we were there the whole time. We started back but the wind was wrong at that point and off they went, season over. I bought snow shoes and i plan to continue my treks into the mountain, maybe after coyote or pictures. I know a lot of stuff other people don't, because I was there, not because of any skill. Failure is a wonderful teacher. I learned today that elk in snow and cold are much less inclined to take off running, and favor savy as an escape method this time of year, thats a valuable piece of information to know. Tracking animals also provides a wealth of information. It's to bad you don't guide more challenging hunts, because it really does make you a better hunter. Guiding interior elk hunts from a wilderness camp is damn hard work, psycologically and physically. I just wanted to finish what I started, and I'm a better man for it. Get off the couch TW, what better way to get in shape then running the ridges?