Elk

Two herds came down from the mountain and gathered in an alfalfa field halfway between Wapiti and Cody last evening.

It's unusual to see elk this low--6,000 ft.--this time of year, or so we'd been told.

Maybe the wolves or the cougars chased them down, one man said. He'd stopped by the road to take a picture of the herd with a sophisticated camera on a tripod.

Larry, of Powell, pulled an elk tag this year. It's a lottery; he hasn't been lucky enough the last three years to pull an elk tag, after hunting for 20 straight seasons. He has until early November to decide whether he'll go into the mountains this year for the hunt, or whether he won't.

One morning he thinks he'll go, the next he thinks he won't. Larry's gone on more elk hunts than he can remember, and maybe at this time in his life it's time for him not to go on one more.