Elk Day 5 - Friday 01 Nov - Back Home

The original plan was to get up, eat breakfast and haul Dad's elk down to GJ.  With our flights, we reconsidered.  We got up at 7 and went for breakfast at 8.  We returned to the cabin to pack after buying shirts and sweatshirts at the gift shop.  Our guide Jason took the elk down for us.

Cristina had gone out at 6:30 trying to get her elk.  They saw snow, but that's about it.

We all returned to the cabin at 9 and packed up.  We left a little after 10 and drove to Grand Junction.  We stopped again at Nick & Willy's and ate pizza for lunch.

Dad and I dropped off Trent and Cristina at the airport.  We then went and fueled up the rental car.  Seven gallons of gas at $3.50 a gallon.  Not as cheap as Indiana, but not outrageous.  We returned the rental car and checked in one hour early.

The flight from GJ to DIA was pretty open, so Dad switched seats to get us both more room - well that or he had enough of me after 5 days together.  Who knows?  I'm telling myself that he still loves me the most and just wanted more room.

We jogged to make our connection in DIA as we only had 30 minutes.  The flight back to Indiana was only 2 hours.  Sweet!  No issues with luggage or rifles.

Stopped at Wendy's in Lebanon to eat - about 2 hours earlier than we had all week.  Rolled in to Mulberry by 10 pm.

The facilities and staff at The High Lonesome Ranch are Top Notch!  We could not have asked for a better guide in Jason Lynch.  We had a blast hazing each other all week.  But when the time came to get serious and hunt, that's exactly what we did.  Jason could not have done any more to help us get our elk.

And, all three of us were fortunate enough to get 3 chances to shoot an elk - because we needed it.

I do not know the exact costs of shipping the elk back to Indiana, but I am guessing $800.  If that's true, the total cost per person is about $4,500 for lodging, airfare, meals, guide, licenses, souvenirs, elk processing, and shipping.  That's 5 days of hunting with your family creating memories that cannot have a price tag.

It was an awesome trip and I am very thankful to have had that time with my brother and father!  The elk, that's just icing on the cake.

PRICELESS!

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