BY DR. DAN WITT
Special to the Tribune

I’m sitting in a pit blind close to GlenRock, Wyo. listening to one of the singular sounds of American history. I can hear 20 bulls bugling, screaming and fighting over about 100 cows that are mewing and chirping. The crash of the antlers and straining grunts reflect the seriousness of the fight. The rut is in full swing. I only wish I could capture this in a way that you could hear it. These sounds have made me hunt elk at every opportunity since my first tag in Colorado.  This is my favorite game animal.
The traditions and friendships that are born and  nurtured in elk camp last life times. My first elk hunting buddy was 10 and I was 14. Our fathers hunted and ranched together in Del Norte, Colo. He got his outfitters license in college and did it for lots of years. He has retired, but I am still enjoying this huge part of my life with a game warden here in Wyoming and some of the finest men I know who live in Louisiana.
The process of hunting has certainly changed as I have “matured.” Jim and I would ride horses 10 miles up the mountain and day hunt until dark with a bologna sandwich and a collapsible cup to get drinking water out of the streams. We then started camping in small tents and cooking a few things. That progressed to a big camp tent with great food and small sleeping tents. I had the courage then to strip down to my underwear and dive into my sleeping bag at 20 below 0. We discovered that if an air mattress springs a leak, everything and everyone in the vicinity tries to approximate the temperature of the earth, which is frozen.
We learned that perfectly trained horses and mules will do as they please and  can leave you and your gear strung along the trail. We hunted hard, processed our own meat with delicate care and precision, and dined very well.  
Last night we slept in a cabin on the Johnson ranch. Dusty is the landowner and has been so good to so many people that it defies description. We enjoyed Dave’s pork chops with red beans and rice and Grady made restaurant- grade gumbo. They brought one of our favorite delicacies-pickled quail eggs. I love hunting with these Cajuns.  Mike also makes his world-famous elk burgers with chopped portabella mushrooms, dried red onion, cilantro, and some secret ingredients that make the trip worthwhile.
My friends and I are all bow hunters now-some shoot traditional and some shoot compounds. In the old days, we shot elk at 400 yards with big rifles. The majority of hunters use rifles, though bow hunting continues to become more popular.
I can’t walk as fast or run the hills like I did just 10 years ago. I can no longer join the race to the top with the winner being the first to get there without falling , fainting, or puking. I have the best friends who slow their pace to match mine, make sure that I am careful in the rough or narrow spots on the trail, and show me their affection with extra-ordinary concern in all our processes. Always hunt with younger guys who have good hearts. I can keep doing this for a long time with these guys.
Doc Witt is a retired physician and avid outdoorsmen.