Hardware Ranch

The kids were out of school for Presidents day so I drove them up to Hardware Ranch. It was one of the things. I wanted to do with them over the summer, but they are only open in winter. It's pretty neat, you get to go out on horse drawn sleighs to the field to see the herd. They estimated there were 525 elk. They had peaked around 700 but it really is starting to get a bit warmer and some had started to leave to head back to the mountains. One buck had 9 prongs - and I learned that does not equal their age. They start with points the first year and then usually have 2-3 points the next couple years, but they might have four or five points the third year. It was pretty up there too, beautiful blue skies! They closed the next weekend. Good thing we went when we did.