LEAVING!!!
Yep, it's that time of year and elk season opens on Saturday.
Just for the sake of safety and not of protecting my little patch of ground, I will be at Whitetail peak (or near it...at least that is the goal.) Not to worry, everyone at work knows where I'm going to be (and some of them will be camped near Magee that week), Butch is VERY familiar with where I'll be, and I will have a radio. The goal is to camp there at the landing by the trailhead, but I guess we'll see if someone has snagged it before me.
From there I plan to concentrate my efforts on the CDA R.D. side...yep, down in that deep dark HOLE that takes hours to get in, and out, of. Talk to Butch if you need an explanation on what that little brushy approach is like. ugh. Oh, and refer to the post in October of 2007!
BUT, there are elk there and I know the country so that's where I'm heading. If by some chance I don't end up there, my other option is south of Summit Camp...and if that doesn't work, I will probably be poking around near "Tom's Ridge" (yea, it's real) on the Kaniksu. All these places are really close to each other...just a couple of miles...so it'll be easy to find the single white Chevy, a big green tent, and a bunch of CRAP scattered around.
So the past couple of nights (hmm, probably the last 10 nights) has been spent organizing and buying gear. That's why I mentioned there may be CRAP scattered around...I am taking so much stuff it's almost unbelievable. However, the weather is turning and there is anticipated snow in the high country (off and on) for the next week. I heard second hand from a guy who was traveling to hunt the Lochsa that it was sleeting in Missoula this afternoon...so I have reason to believe that I'll be into some snow and rain. Consequently, I am making this camp as comfortable as I can.
I bought a six-person tent that I can stand up in. I bought extra tarps to make a nifty little area around the fire. I'm taking absolutely all of my hunting and cold-weather gear. I'm taking backups of a lot of that. I have enough food to feed me for a much longer time than I am planning on being out. I'm taking a space heater that I can use to warm up the tent, and I also bought my first lantern! It's amazing how much money this little expedition cost. But, I rack it up being stuff I will easily use in the future. It's good to have options when going through your gear.
Anywho, I'm curious to see how my journal turns out. I know on solo trips it's easy to just bag it early and head home. Cold weather, wet clothes and gear, only yourself to talk to, added to the possibility of not getting into the critters can easily lead to leaving early. I've been there. Done it. (Thus the reason for trying to make camp as comfortable as I possibly can.) But, cow season is only three days this year...Thursday, Friday, Saturday of next week, so I have some motivation to stay up there for that! My goal is to be up there tomorrow and hopefully find my campsite available and then set up camp. Friday will be further refinements to camp plus a wood gathering run. That evening I will organize my gear and get set up to go out Saturday morning.
I just have a feeling in the back of my mind that I will kill something down in that hole because that would be the hardest thing that could happen. It takes about two and a half hours to get in and out of it...but you're only traveling about a mile and a half! But I guess if that's where I want to hunt, I'm setting myself up for it. It'd be nice if it does happen, and it'd be even nicer if it happens early in the trip so I have time to get it out and then come home and cut it all up.
Foreseeing this potential, I have gear organized for a spike camp. I can either just camp down in there for a couple of nights to hunt and save some time, or I can post myself near a fallen critter for a little protection from anything else that may want a piece of it. I figure I can rig a low meat pole out there, but the experience in Alaska of having a grizzly get at our game pole full of two caribou and a moose is enough to teach me. (I ever mention that? Following trails in the head-high grass to retrieve grizzly-stolen game bags with quarters in them? Scary recon to say the least. But, he/she ate only a bite or two off all of them, so we were able to salvage quite a bit of meat. It worked out.)
Okay, I have more to do.
You will hear from me sometime after the 19th...or perhaps earlier if I either flake out or get something!
If nothing else, it's nice to be done with work for awhile! I need a break! Who knows, maybe softly falling snow and a warm fire will be enough to just keep me up there just for the hell of it.
Just for the sake of safety and not of protecting my little patch of ground, I will be at Whitetail peak (or near it...at least that is the goal.) Not to worry, everyone at work knows where I'm going to be (and some of them will be camped near Magee that week), Butch is VERY familiar with where I'll be, and I will have a radio. The goal is to camp there at the landing by the trailhead, but I guess we'll see if someone has snagged it before me.
From there I plan to concentrate my efforts on the CDA R.D. side...yep, down in that deep dark HOLE that takes hours to get in, and out, of. Talk to Butch if you need an explanation on what that little brushy approach is like. ugh. Oh, and refer to the post in October of 2007!
BUT, there are elk there and I know the country so that's where I'm heading. If by some chance I don't end up there, my other option is south of Summit Camp...and if that doesn't work, I will probably be poking around near "Tom's Ridge" (yea, it's real) on the Kaniksu. All these places are really close to each other...just a couple of miles...so it'll be easy to find the single white Chevy, a big green tent, and a bunch of CRAP scattered around.
So the past couple of nights (hmm, probably the last 10 nights) has been spent organizing and buying gear. That's why I mentioned there may be CRAP scattered around...I am taking so much stuff it's almost unbelievable. However, the weather is turning and there is anticipated snow in the high country (off and on) for the next week. I heard second hand from a guy who was traveling to hunt the Lochsa that it was sleeting in Missoula this afternoon...so I have reason to believe that I'll be into some snow and rain. Consequently, I am making this camp as comfortable as I can.
I bought a six-person tent that I can stand up in. I bought extra tarps to make a nifty little area around the fire. I'm taking absolutely all of my hunting and cold-weather gear. I'm taking backups of a lot of that. I have enough food to feed me for a much longer time than I am planning on being out. I'm taking a space heater that I can use to warm up the tent, and I also bought my first lantern! It's amazing how much money this little expedition cost. But, I rack it up being stuff I will easily use in the future. It's good to have options when going through your gear.
Anywho, I'm curious to see how my journal turns out. I know on solo trips it's easy to just bag it early and head home. Cold weather, wet clothes and gear, only yourself to talk to, added to the possibility of not getting into the critters can easily lead to leaving early. I've been there. Done it. (Thus the reason for trying to make camp as comfortable as I possibly can.) But, cow season is only three days this year...Thursday, Friday, Saturday of next week, so I have some motivation to stay up there for that! My goal is to be up there tomorrow and hopefully find my campsite available and then set up camp. Friday will be further refinements to camp plus a wood gathering run. That evening I will organize my gear and get set up to go out Saturday morning.
I just have a feeling in the back of my mind that I will kill something down in that hole because that would be the hardest thing that could happen. It takes about two and a half hours to get in and out of it...but you're only traveling about a mile and a half! But I guess if that's where I want to hunt, I'm setting myself up for it. It'd be nice if it does happen, and it'd be even nicer if it happens early in the trip so I have time to get it out and then come home and cut it all up.
Foreseeing this potential, I have gear organized for a spike camp. I can either just camp down in there for a couple of nights to hunt and save some time, or I can post myself near a fallen critter for a little protection from anything else that may want a piece of it. I figure I can rig a low meat pole out there, but the experience in Alaska of having a grizzly get at our game pole full of two caribou and a moose is enough to teach me. (I ever mention that? Following trails in the head-high grass to retrieve grizzly-stolen game bags with quarters in them? Scary recon to say the least. But, he/she ate only a bite or two off all of them, so we were able to salvage quite a bit of meat. It worked out.)
Okay, I have more to do.
You will hear from me sometime after the 19th...or perhaps earlier if I either flake out or get something!
If nothing else, it's nice to be done with work for awhile! I need a break! Who knows, maybe softly falling snow and a warm fire will be enough to just keep me up there just for the hell of it.
posted by geotracker12 at 5:03 PM
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