Im an elk hunter. The guys from my family have made back country trips on horses every year for the last 15 years. Its getting hard on my Paw Paw though so i dont know how much more we will get to do it. We go 22 miles from the trail head. Pack in all our tents, gear, food, everything we need for a week or so. Last time i went was November '08 and we stayed 9 days. I was the only one in camp to kill an elk which was a 15-18 year old cow. I saw at least 150 head of elk every day but they were always on the other side of the river where hunting was not allowed since it was a game perserve. Ive killed 7 or 8 elk i think since ive started hunting at the age of 12 and im 22 now.