This abandoned wranglers cabin situated on Butler Creek is part of the typical landscape Eagle columnist Jay E. Hewitt saw during a recent Colorado elk hunt.

This is the second part of a two-part series on a elk hunting trip to Colorado that Butler Eagle outdoors columnist Jay E. Hewitt recently completed.When we arrived in Rifle Colo., we were greeted by a life-size bronze statue of a bull elk. It seemed appropriate because the town was nestled in the middle of the Rocky Mountain elk migration route.The center of activities was the Base Camp Café, where most of the locals and hunters went for their morning coffee and breakfast. I was greeted with a cheer from the cook as he acknowledged my Steelers cap. As ambassadors for the Black and Gold, we gave him a shirt and a cap.Our contact met us and we proceeded to make our plans to scout Rifle Mountain and the White River National Forest area. We would be hunting at about 8,700 feet on public land.We met up with Zach and his family and found them to be longtime Colorado residents who took their hunting season seriously. In fact, they lived in cabin tents and campers in the wilderness for several months because the elk season stretches for five distinct seasons.The area was filled with spruce forests, canyons, mesas and aspen groves as far as you could see. We would climb the side of one rim of a mountain gap and watch the timber and creek for animal activity.In a small meadow below me was an old wrangler cabin from back in the day and Butler Creek meandered by the log structure in a surreal way that reminded me of western movies.There was a lot to see and I was taking it all in, noting the different birds and geography.I used my optics frequently and I scoured the mountainsides for any signs of elk. The movement of something a pale blonde color caught my eye. It proved to be six coyotes following a drainage ditch down through the black timber.They kicked up a few mule deer and we watched the chase as the deer bounced away with their kangaroo-like hops.The fellows in camp were quite excited about seeing three coyotes and a young cougar squaring off at a water hole made for the free-range cattle.For the next week we hunted the timber and edges for elk, but for all of our effort we found only mule deer.In a serious effort, we climbed into a deep canyon that was filled with animal trails and elk signs. As I worked the trails deeper into the canyon, it dawned on me that it would be all I could do to get myself out of here, let alone cart out an 800-pound elk.About that time, I heard the crashing of timber in front of me, but the thick spruce wouldn't give me a clear sight of the animal. The elk worked around us all day and we never got a shot.In the meantime, my friend Beaver Boy was having a "Jeremiah Johnson" experience. He was north in the Arapaho National Forest in an area that required a 6-mile hike.He was in his element, as the beaver had dams and the elk weren't greatly disturbed.He found a perch on a mountainside and watched the aspen groves. He had earlier watched three cow elk feed their way through the aspen, but he couldn't get a clear shot.He let them pass and was thinking of how satisfying his experience had been thus far — even without bagging an elk.That was at 6 p.m. At 6:15, a broad chest appeared through the forest cover, then some large antlers became visible.A bull elk finally stepped into an opening and the Pennsylvania hunter had his 6x6 Colorado bull elk.It took two days of hard work, the help of a fellow hunter and a wrangler with a string of horses to get the bull out of the wilderness.As Beaver Boy put it, "Can you believe it! I got my elk!"