First day out
Yesterday claimed to be my first day hunting as an Idaho nonresident.
After getting up at 4:30, leaving the house at 5:30, I finally arrived to where I would leave the truck at 6:45! It's only about 37 miles, and it took a little over an hour to get there. Windy dirt roads. So I start up through the jungle of brush and downed timber, straight up, for an hour before I topped the ridge. The elevation change was so quick that my ears were popping and I was sweating through both shirts. Great for scent right? Nothing I could do.
I topped the ridge and didn't see any fresh elk sign. So I dropped off the edge toward the north on a little finger ridge following something I spooked but never saw. This got me back down to nearly the bottom in about 15 minutes. So then back up it was, and an hour later I came out on another small finger ridge...cow calling periodically. I was about to get to the top of the ridge when something spooked in the brush about 30 yards ahead of me. Things HAD been going great with the wind, but it was a squirrely day and it did a complete 180 on me and blew directly from me to the top of the ridge. This WAS a bull elk, even though all I saw of it was it's back. So of course, it goes right back into where I had just came out. No thank you. There is no sneaking around in those woods, with the amount of downed limbs and trees...and being how dry the woods are. But, I knew it was a bull elk because I found droppings and scrapes.
Getting on at about 2:00, I decided to do a little more exploring up another ridge. This led me into a MUCH better area full of Douglas-fir and Larch, beargrass and huckleberries. But the wind was howling up there, so it was more exploritory than anything. Eventually I got to a place I wanted to call from and set up. I couldn't hear any replies because of the wind, so I figured I'd move to the next saddle just to check the country out. When I saw something move I slipped behind some trees and peeeeked around. Two hunters were standing there. When I approached them (I got to within 20 yards before they saw me) they said they had heard a herd of elk down here somewhere. I smiled at them and told them it was me. (At least I can call humans!) They then asked where I had come in from, so I told them. One fella just gave me a look like I was simply crazy. "So you've been walking all day?" he asked. Yep. Another look like I was crazy. Nice guys though. We separated and I headed back to the truck.
Right, the truck. Where WAS the truck? I didn't have a real good idea, but I knew if I headed north long enough I'd get to the meadows or the road. Again, I dropped elevation so fast my ears were popping. The cover was so thick and the blowdown so prevelant, that I was again sweating through both my shirts...going DOWN. I finally pushed through and came out about 50 yards from the truck, not too bad. I quick run to the creek to splash my face and arms, filter some nice COLD water, then I was on my way back. I'm glad I left when I did. It would have been really bad to be trying to find my way around in the woods in the dark. Not that it couldn't be done, it just would have sucked more. So, after 10.5 hours of hunting I found one elk! But I think that upper portion of the drainage is where it's at.
My feet hurt so bad I did not go out this morning. That combined with that hill made me less anxious to go back. The plan for next weekend, providing I don't get some info from my cousin (local), is to camp up on top of the ridge above the area I was in and working down into it. Saves me an hour and 15 minutes in the morning (and night) and will give me easier access. This afternoon I'm going to check out an area closer to home here where I want to go after work. It only takes about 30 minutes to get there, so that's a plus.
After getting up at 4:30, leaving the house at 5:30, I finally arrived to where I would leave the truck at 6:45! It's only about 37 miles, and it took a little over an hour to get there. Windy dirt roads. So I start up through the jungle of brush and downed timber, straight up, for an hour before I topped the ridge. The elevation change was so quick that my ears were popping and I was sweating through both shirts. Great for scent right? Nothing I could do.
I topped the ridge and didn't see any fresh elk sign. So I dropped off the edge toward the north on a little finger ridge following something I spooked but never saw. This got me back down to nearly the bottom in about 15 minutes. So then back up it was, and an hour later I came out on another small finger ridge...cow calling periodically. I was about to get to the top of the ridge when something spooked in the brush about 30 yards ahead of me. Things HAD been going great with the wind, but it was a squirrely day and it did a complete 180 on me and blew directly from me to the top of the ridge. This WAS a bull elk, even though all I saw of it was it's back. So of course, it goes right back into where I had just came out. No thank you. There is no sneaking around in those woods, with the amount of downed limbs and trees...and being how dry the woods are. But, I knew it was a bull elk because I found droppings and scrapes.
Getting on at about 2:00, I decided to do a little more exploring up another ridge. This led me into a MUCH better area full of Douglas-fir and Larch, beargrass and huckleberries. But the wind was howling up there, so it was more exploritory than anything. Eventually I got to a place I wanted to call from and set up. I couldn't hear any replies because of the wind, so I figured I'd move to the next saddle just to check the country out. When I saw something move I slipped behind some trees and peeeeked around. Two hunters were standing there. When I approached them (I got to within 20 yards before they saw me) they said they had heard a herd of elk down here somewhere. I smiled at them and told them it was me. (At least I can call humans!) They then asked where I had come in from, so I told them. One fella just gave me a look like I was simply crazy. "So you've been walking all day?" he asked. Yep. Another look like I was crazy. Nice guys though. We separated and I headed back to the truck.
Right, the truck. Where WAS the truck? I didn't have a real good idea, but I knew if I headed north long enough I'd get to the meadows or the road. Again, I dropped elevation so fast my ears were popping. The cover was so thick and the blowdown so prevelant, that I was again sweating through both my shirts...going DOWN. I finally pushed through and came out about 50 yards from the truck, not too bad. I quick run to the creek to splash my face and arms, filter some nice COLD water, then I was on my way back. I'm glad I left when I did. It would have been really bad to be trying to find my way around in the woods in the dark. Not that it couldn't be done, it just would have sucked more. So, after 10.5 hours of hunting I found one elk! But I think that upper portion of the drainage is where it's at.
My feet hurt so bad I did not go out this morning. That combined with that hill made me less anxious to go back. The plan for next weekend, providing I don't get some info from my cousin (local), is to camp up on top of the ridge above the area I was in and working down into it. Saves me an hour and 15 minutes in the morning (and night) and will give me easier access. This afternoon I'm going to check out an area closer to home here where I want to go after work. It only takes about 30 minutes to get there, so that's a plus.
posted by geotracker12 at 10:20 AM
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