SkyLines

#22 2019 Elk Ch 1 "Belly of the Beast"

2019 Archery Elk Chapter 1 "Belly of the Beast" 
Howdy folks, this is Bryan Huskey and we're going to kick off my first essay of the 2019 archery season. I hope you enjoy the ride!
Chapter 1 Belly of the Beast
 
I've always LOVED storms. Late summer thunder storms in particular. But any kind of weather that's remarkable is worth remarking in my book. As a little kid on the Oregon coast, I can recall a few instances when major storms would slam the Tillamook region, and the larger than life old growth trees of the community would on occasion be blown over. The devastating look of shattered wood and crushed surroundings was fascinating to me. With every enormous tree I'd gaze upward at, I'd imagine what it would look like to break or be uprooted and come crashing down to earth. It was simply the way the mind of this young boy worked. And every time violent storms rolled in off the Pacific Ocean, I'd watch from our living room window at a row of towering hemlock that bordered a neighboring diary pasture.  The powerful winds forced the trees to flex, and bend back and forth together like dancers on a stage. I would gaze in wonder as branches would be pushed in unison to reveal straining tension and the undersides of bows seldom seen. Sometimes I'd even pretend a tree was a giant fishing rod, and tied to it was a huge shark in the nearby Wilson river that pulled and thrashed from the end of the line.

#21 Along Came Solitude

Stand alone essay
I've cut my teeth fishing trout and steelhead, but a breaking point occurred that turned my focus to the world of bass and other warm water angling opportunities. I could not be happier with what's happened since. 

#20 Homie wants to ParTaay!

We dropped over the edge with leaps & bounds. Striding down the steep slope, we moved quickly as possible yet all the while careful not to dislodge rocks or anything that would roll down the hill and turn into a god dam avalanche. Regardless, apx mid way down, the bull heard us. And screamed a bugle across to our side, in almost- well, no I'd say it was an actual throwing down of the gauntlet. Adam's face was beaming as he barely contained in whisper "Homie wants to ParTaaay!" I don't recall if we'd made any bull sounds at this point or not, but whether the bull thought our sounds were from just the sassy-talking eustress cow, already a bit tipsy making her way to him, or a newly arrived herd, it was clear that he wanted to engage. 
 
And to see some of the Homie footage and other following hunts, check out my film Endless September here.  https://vimeo.com/85019330

#19 You Should Race, Man.

If you've never raced in one form or another, you should. Once in your life pick something... and race it. Practice, plan, train, prepare mentally and physically. Give your mind and body a chance to feel primal and perform something at it's absolute hardest- BUT DO IT FOR FUN!!!
Sure racing is not for everybody. But if you've ever been half way curious how you'd stack up in the pine derby... or a marathon, pick something! Learn the nuances of the craft, set your mind to it, and get to work! For me, racing provides fantastic spice to life as well as all-around fitness, excitement and a feeling of youth! 
Training for an event brings a great sense of being and purpose to the daily grind. Especially when you're committed to an event that scares you. If you are like me, and at certain times of the year wonder to yourself what you are looking forward to... and nothing comes to mind, you know that feeling sucks! Or how about when you bump into a friend who asks what you've been up to and all you can scratch up is the pathetic standard "Oh just super busy with work..." yea that's pretty lame. But when you're committed to a race, or have one recently under your belt, there is something real to talk about, to describe, so show your life amounts to more than droning on as "Citizen X" stalled mid way through the American Dream. I say all this not to be critical of anyone, but to describe how life can feel to me. And a great solution I've found in addition to the most important things in life that make us tick, is racing. It makes me FEEL ALIVE. And I bet it works for you too!

#18 Rooster Hunting Baja

The Jeep pushed confidently through the soft sand, closer and closer to the turquoise sliver on the horizon. From fifty feet back it looked like a solid and capable rig. From twenty feet out, you could certainly tell this vehicle had been around the peninsula a few times. If you were walking up to it at a used car lot, you'd be spinning around and ducking the greaser salesman in wrinkled slakes striding your way. At the rental facility where I first hopped in and went to let out the clutch in first gear- I shivered with doubt. Yep, it's a well-used rental rig alright! When you want a 4x4 for remote desert exploration, you want a stick shift. And when you get a stick shift in a Mexican resort town, it's been driven by a LOT of people who've only driven automatics. This poor Jeep had been through the wringer, and I felt sympathy for it like an abused dog as we filled it up with fishing gear, ice and boxes of beer. Reluctantly, we headed away from civilization and towards the Baja backcountry, skeptical of just how far the rig would take us. 

#17 2018 Archery Elk - Complete Season

Bryan Huskey's 2018 archery elk complete season. Chapters 1-7. 1.5 hr run time
Accompanying Video 

#16 2018 Elk Ch 7 "Splash of Red"

Standing now with a bright splash of red at my feet and much better defined tracks as well, I felt a giant weight lifted off my shoulders. It was like hitting a reset button on the circumstance, and about anything was better than the hand of cards I'd been holding just moments earlier. Over an hour had lapsed since my shot, yet I still moved with great care and caution to be quiet. Given that I was standing in relatively thick trees and my general visibility was fifty yards at best, I opted to do something especially cautious. Before taking another step and setting fourth on this new blood trail (which was loaded with new and better outcomes), I paused to take time to reflect on what I was doing and the discipline I needed to adhere to. You see the number one way to lose a wounded elk is to embark in tracking too soon and bump it from it's bed while it's still alive. I've always said that when you shoot an animal (depending on the hit location) it may have X number of seconds, minutes or hours to live. If it spends that time undisturbed wherever it's chose to bed down, the odds of recovering that animal are at their best. If it spends that time fleeing, jumped from it's bed, or feeling like it's being pursued- the odds of recovery fall off drastically. 

#15 2018 Elk Ch 6 "A New Hope"

How far had the bull walked through the shot? I was hugging the left boundary of the shooting window as it was, and as he walked further to the left getting a closer encounter with the cow he was checking, my arrow was already on it's way when his vitals disappeared behind the screen of chop stick pine bows. I was certain that my arrow had passed cleanly through the window, without trimming and possibly deflecting off any branches. But did it make it to it's moving target in time? Or was I in the disastrous predicament of a bad shot, outside the vital zone and too far back on the bulls broadside body?