Colorado Elk Hunt

I just finished an interesting trip. My friend Jason, does this high altitude archery elk hunt every year in Colorado. Southwestern Colorado, 60 miles from Durango. He has been asking me every year to come with him. Basically we have an outfitter drop us off after a 3 hour horse ride straight up into this basin. He has a nice big tent with a stove inside. We hunted for 7 days. Did i mention the base camp is at 11,000 feet. It only took 3 days for me to catch my breath, and then I felt good. By the 7th day, I felt strong and the lungs felt excellent. When I got home, I noticed that I lost 9 pounds. We had many close encounters with large bull elk, but it is very difficult to get an elk to come close enough for a bow and arrow. I had a great time, but will not do this hunt again.