I'll be interested to hear how the forest has come back after the burn a few years ago. Those burned areas might be pretty nice by now. I think that was called the West Fork Complex fire and vaguely recall it burned 110K acres. That forest wasn't healthy and probably will be a good improvement.
The outfitter I talked to down there was one of the established ones and said he only operates the early seasons due to the early winters there. I'd have to dig up the name of the outfit but his name is Sam or Sammy and he is a heck of a lot of fun to talk to. It seemed to me that an outfitter would be most useful if you wanted to go up one of those long canyons that extend south of the Rio Grande toward the Weiminuche. Passing through The Spanish Window in there is something I have yet to cross off my lifetime bucket list.
One year we were lucky enough to have some weather come in during a hunt there. I was studying the map by the dim light in the camper looking for where those elk would move down if they moved. The paths weren't hard to figure out. Next morning I got dropped off on the highway in the dark, picked my way quietly in the dark about 1/3 mile, at first light I could make out 2 hunters maybe 1/4 mile below me. I bugged out about 90 degrees different direction to put a ridgeline between me and them hoping not to mess up their hunt any more than I already had. I was not even hunting then, just hiking and covering ground and making a ton of racket. I cleared a stand of old growth pine and got that feeling I was being watched. A heavy 6x6 was standing 50 yards to my right. He had thick beams and a big dark brown mane. Maybe would have scored 325. I had a cow tag. We stared at each other a while and he waited for me to dig my camera out of my pack. When the low battery alarm sounded on my camera that was the end of that. No picture.
Last edited by Alamosa; 06/07/18. Reason: spelling
