Glassing is the Adventure
I knew very little when I first started hunting elk. But I was fortunate to have a couple of friends that knew a lot. They took me out into the mountains with them. We got into elk and I was hooked. I loved every aspect of it. I loved hiking into the mountains before first light. I loved the big climbs and long days of being deep into wild places. I loved the encounters with elk.
As I became a more confident hunter, I ventured off on my own. The elk mysteriously disappeared. They were there, I could see sign everywhere, but I couldn’t find them. I was frustrated and turned to one of my mentors. He said one thing that changed it all. He simply told me to “get up high and glass.” Glassing became a key component to my success as a big game hunter.
What was initially just a part of the hunting adventure became the adventure. I started glassing before the season so I knew where the elk were on opening day. The five day season became a 15 day season as I started glassing well before opening morning. After I filled my tag, I would glass for friends. Eventually I was hunting or glassing from August through November.
Twenty years after I started big game hunting, as tags become harder and harder to get, as my life fills with the responsibilities of paying the mortgage and getting the kids to school, I can no longer hunt from September through November. But glassing is the thing I get out to do. I am still fortunate enough to chase elk for a few weeks in September. But I recognize that it’s an all consuming pursuit to be successful. My family makes sacrifices so I can be in the mountains during this time. But that doesn’t mean it has to end when September is over.
Although I can’t hunt for three or four months out of the year. I can glass and I love it. Glassing has became a year-round pursuit. I may have a few minutes or a few days but I can always get out there. I throw my binos in my pack when I go out on a mountain bike ride. I grab a monocular when I go out on a run. I always have my binos in the truck, “just in case” I see something that needs a closer look. I can get out before sunrise, do a quick hike to a glassing point, find some animals and be home to get the kids to school and myself to work. When I pick the kids up from practice after school, I park in a spot of the school lot that I can glass the hillside from by truck while I wait.
Glassing is what I do year around. It’s something I do on my own, with friends or share with my kids. It fills a space that I used to only get in the fall with my bow. It makes me a better hunter. I can do it anytime. It’s a way to disconnect from the chaotic world for a few hours or just a few minutes. What started as just a part of hunting has become the adventure.
