Several years ago, I decided to quit hunting elk. It wasn’t one of those rock-solid decisions that I’ll never change. I still plan to apply for a limited license every year on a Ranching for Wildlife property if only for the chance to see some country I’d never get to see any other way.

It’s a great program that gives Colorado resident hunters a chance to hunt on private ranches throughout the state. I drew an elk license a while back on a ranch near Meeker where our guides showed us a camp that Teddy Roosevelt used to hunt out of. If you hunt big game and don’t know about the program, you may want to investigate it.

However, I digress. My decision to back off the elk hunts had more to do with an old Taoist saying that roughly translates to “the humility of old age.” I just don’t get around like I used to, and my hunting buddy, DeWitt, and I shy away from packing elk out of the backcountry nowadays.

You just don’t understand how big an animal an elk is until you get one down and start wondering how you’ll get it back to camp.

Having said all this, there are still aspects of the hunt that I miss every year. The one that comes to mind most often is laying around in the sunshine and taking an outdoor nap. We prided ourselves on being fair-weather hunters who were willing to take a stand and wait for the elk to come our way. This meant we hunted the earlier seasons when it was a bit warmer, but it still required a pre-dawn headlamp-lighted hike up a steep ridge in the darkness.

We carried our long johns, jackets, fleece and warm hats on our backs so we wouldn’t sweat them up on the strenuous uphill hike to the ridgetop.

Once we made it there, we put on all our extra clothes and headed out to our special spots in the dark to wait for dawn and husband the thought that we might see game. The mornings were always cold, and there were days where waiting for the sun to come up and the warmth that came with it was almost as important as the hunt.

I usually tried to stay on my stand until 10 in the morning. After that, I looked for a place in full sunlight on a bit of a grade that faced to the east, tipped my hat over my eyes and took a nap. It was pure luxury. After the nap, I was ready to walk slowly and still hunt the rest of the day until I found a spot to sit down toward sunset on another stand. The rest of the day invariably included more naps and a few wonderful dreams.

One of my naps became a camp legend. I was slowly working my way down a grassy meadow toward camp after an unproductive morning stand on the ridge. The meadow faced east, and halfway down, I was overcome with fatigue and decided to take a nap. The ground was dry, the sun warm, and I quickly drifted off. Somewhere inside the fabric of that nap, I heard something coming my way, woke up with a start and sat up. With that I scattered a line of elk that were moving up toward the timber. The lead cow was probably 30 yards from me. There was no chance for a shot, but plenty of time to laugh at myself.

I could tell you more nap stories from the backcountry, but you get the gist of it. What you are probably wondering is why I’m rattling on about this when we’re just a few weeks away from the winter solstice and Christmas.

One of the gifts of living in Colorado is that we get decently warm, sunny days every month of the year. I don’t hunt anymore, but I still get out to just watch the elk when they come down to winter range near my place. Sure, there’s usually some snow on the ground, but there’s always some dry spots in the grass where the sun has melted it away that are perfect for a nap.

I would recommend it. If you run into skeptics, just tell them you’re trying to get your full share of vitamin D. If you can’t bring yourself to a full-bore outdoor wintertime nap, there’s always the summertime and the chance to catch a nap during one of those fly fishing trips to a small backcountry stream or maybe just an outback hike.

I know I don’t have to convince seasoned outdoors people, but for any Colorado outdoor newbies, try it. You’ll like it.

Have a happy, restful holiday season.