Lots to say about today, too late to take the time to say it all.

Lots of phone calls. Hunters wanting to know where to apply for licenses. Me trying to find pliers that will work with the elk eartags they gave me (mine won't work).

Helicopter crew scheduled to capture and collar our ten cow elk was ahead of schedule this morning. A possibility they might arrive several days early. Before Presidents' Day.

Which means I need the eartag pliers quick. And we'd better find out exactly where our elk are.

Flight scheduled first thing tomorrow morning.

Spent most the day in country, with the local warden (hence no heelers), looking for elk. Found 'em, or half of them, anyway. And tracks of others, right where we want the helicopter crews to find them. But we need to find the elk themselves.

Hence the flight at dawn.

Not one beep (literally) from the two radio collars that are supposed to wandering around out there. Been months since we looked, and there's some question whether the surplus radio receiver they sent us is even working at all.

Hence the flight at dawn.

Lots of coalbed methane activity out there, in the snow-covered country. No wonder most the elk didn't come down to the desert this year. Somebody forgot to install crosswalks so they could get across the wide, new bladed roads all through the sage.

About a mile after we whizzed past a strutting ground site, it suddenly hit me.

We should have checked for tracks of strutting grouse in the snow. The snow's only four days old, just perfect for seeing if they start the strut this early in the year. So, next lek down the creek we stopped to look.

They do.

In the evening, found out the helicopter crew may be slowed a bit. Caught only 5 of the 47 elk they need to snag down south of us. Snowed out half the day, with more weather headed towards them.

All the hassle and hustle scheduling flights, finding elk and elk tagging pliers may no longer be so urgent.

And in other news, wife and I went to see Constantine tonight.

Good flick. Maybe don't need to see it again right away, but good Exorcist-type movie, if you're into that sort (and I hated most of The Exorcist).

Got another stunning female to admire (actually, already admired, but I never caught her name in Orlando)... Tilda Swinton.

And she's Scottish.