diamond hitch
Well-known member
For a monday morning pondering as one old guy to the masses. I was working on some harness and greasing some boots and it dawned on me that somehow I had become my father. When I first started elk hunting, I killed a really nice (tough) bull and in the exercise of getting it to the truck my father said lets cut off anything you can't eat to make it easier to drag. I had a serious reluctance to leave a 350+ rack in the woods. Through the 60s and early 70s I found numerous 300+ racks in the woods probably from the same pattern of thought. Another common use for them was on the gate assembly at ranches.
The 80s started a competition of sort and the attitude changed. Many families refused to eat the meat except in the form of jerky and sausage. Antlers became the driving force with ego and money driving the program. Sad!
I remember the later 70s where it was common to find nice bulls dead in August with the velvet horns removed and the body left to rot. The high prices for velvet virtually destroyed the mature bull population. The memory of big racks in the back of pickups during season is a faint memory.
In my house I have a couple of nice sets of horns on a wall. I have another 349 set in the barn. I got tired of stepping over racks and sold the whole pile to a friend of my son who wanted them more than I. I kept the ones with memories. I found my few pictures became more important for who was in them than the size of the elk. I find that the horns are still kind of appealing but I might struggle in the choice between a fat cow and a bull given the choice in a herd. I can't quite bring myself to leave those horns in the woods like my father but I can see the trend.
The 80s started a competition of sort and the attitude changed. Many families refused to eat the meat except in the form of jerky and sausage. Antlers became the driving force with ego and money driving the program. Sad!
I remember the later 70s where it was common to find nice bulls dead in August with the velvet horns removed and the body left to rot. The high prices for velvet virtually destroyed the mature bull population. The memory of big racks in the back of pickups during season is a faint memory.
In my house I have a couple of nice sets of horns on a wall. I have another 349 set in the barn. I got tired of stepping over racks and sold the whole pile to a friend of my son who wanted them more than I. I kept the ones with memories. I found my few pictures became more important for who was in them than the size of the elk. I find that the horns are still kind of appealing but I might struggle in the choice between a fat cow and a bull given the choice in a herd. I can't quite bring myself to leave those horns in the woods like my father but I can see the trend.
