Buck

By Mike Hall, February 2, 2024

On numerous trips to my ‘home water’, I have developed a good luck ritual that some might think is a bit odd.  Home water means the river you consistently frequent in hopes of fooling wily rainbow and brown trout which, for me, rarely happens.

This habit originated in 2022 when I saw a huge elk very near highway 67 on the way to The South Platte River at Deckers.

For some odd reason, I felt compelled to give the elk…now named Buck, a friendly mile high salute probably more akin to a subtle tip of the cap like Clint Eastwood in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

I’m sure that Buck has never noticed this gesture given over a hundred and fifty times now on every trip to and from the river.

It’s a kind of ‘good morning, friend and sleep tight brother’ habit as many times I notice him at day’s end when the light of the moon reveals his majestic antlers. He’s completely oblivious to the results of the day…whether I wrestled with five trout or five fewer.

You may be wondering how Buck is always there to receive these tips of the cap on highway 67 and that’s legitimate.

Well, my friend Buck is one of those life size bronze elk that, if you were driving a bit over the speed limit, you’d swear was the real deal.

Now, in case a sheriff finds this morsel, it should be stated that I only exceeded the speed limit once in 2022 in my haste to reach my home water.

These days, as the gray hair dominates all hair, I go much slower hoping maybe that Buck will recognize me with a tilt of his head or a wink of one of those big brown eyes.