Hunting and Reflecting In Nevada

Here I am in the great expanse known as the basin and range of the western United States, to be more specific, eastern Nevada. I was able to schedule a trip to see my Dad and spend some quality time hunting for elk. Dad received a cow elk permit this year, so we met up in Las Vegas and headed north for the pinon and juniper country. I really enjoyed my time with Dad. We shared the objective of finding elk as well as sharing tons of laughs. The country offered expansive vistas and subtle colors in a dry and arid landscape that had just received a large amount of precipitation two weeks priot. The plants that were not charred from fires over the past 20 years were verdant and flowering.

Hunting for an animal allows you the ability to closely observe the natural world. You get up at the crack of down and go to camp at sun down. You are there when the animals are on the move and  you wait, and walk, and you observe all that goes on around you. In the evening, you see thousands of spiders ballooning, as they use the winds to disperse and find some new territory for hunting. Evenings also reveal the mountain blue birds flying for airborne insects, bull elk begin bugling, and the temperature drops enough to put on a coat and hat. In the morning, the grackles and ravens fly from their roosts to forage, the bulls bugle in an attempt to gather cows, and the light opens enough to reveal the tracks of those out the night before.

On the fifth day, after many days of not seeing any cows, we finally spotted a group of twenty elk. Although we were not able to get a shot at this group we were fortunate enough see two cows and a bull on the way back to camp. Just as the sun was dipping below the horizon Dad was able to take a 500 pound cow elk. Being a mile from our camp and just near the road we were able to get the cow to camp and hang the meat for cooling.

After the hunt we took a trip to Las Vegas and checked out Aardvark Clay and Supply. This offered me the chance to purchase some items for the studio. Usually, I order on-line or use a catalog. This was a great hands-on shopping experience for me. I procured some glaze materials for my cone 6 glazing trials I will be doing next week.

 

Another highlight of the trip was exploring the back country on some jeep roads with my Dad. Nevada's basin and range is a great place to see beautiful and complex geology and flora. It offered me a chance to appreciate some expressive desert colors and possibilities for future surface decorations.