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The opening day of western Washington's rifle deer season began the same as the previous year. My 17 yr old son, Chris, and I were elk hunting! Chris had beat the odds (and me) and drawn a black powder Mt. Whittier any bull tag. This special permit allows only one hunter to harvest a bull. Unbelievably, Chris had drawn a cow tag for the same unit in 2010. A three square-mile unit located entirely within the Mt. St. Helens Monument, Mt. Whittier is mostly comprised of small alders, willows and noble firs, along with the occasional salmon berry. There is very little cover, except in the creek bottoms and on the steep slopes of Mt. Whittier, Mt. Margaret, and Coldwater Peak. This small canyon bore a large brunt of the eruption in May 1980. Thousands of decaying fir and cedar lay just as they did on May 19th. As this unit is within the Monument boundaries, there are very strict rules regarding its use. There are no horses or bicycles allowed, no fires can be built, camping is allowed only in designated spots, and the hunter can have only three support buddies.

I have been dreaming of that one special mule deer buck for as long as I can remember. So I convinced my dad, Lloyd and hunting partners Jason Cameron and Chris Jensen that we needed to go to Colorado where there are more giant bucks taken every year than anywhere else. So we researched and were able to get four landowner vouchers for the 3rd season in a unit that held a lot of public ground and hopefully a giant mule deer or two. After what seemed like forever the time finally came to hit the road. We left our homes in Washington for the day and a half drive. Once we got to Colorado we stopped at the local Cabela's to buy a few last minute supplies, our deer tags, and we might as well get over the counter elk tags. After all we are in Colorado, the state with more elk than several other western states combined.

Ingredients: 1 -2 lbs whole trimmed venison back strap. From your last hunting adventure! 1/4 cup Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce 1/4 cup Heinz 57 sauce 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce 1 Tablespoon of Mon…