The long-awaited 2010 Elk Camp Post
Alright ya'll. I've drug my feet for long enough...but I'm sure you all have figured out what didn't happen on the annual elk trip. Pictures will have to come later...but even then, I think I only have a handful of decent ones.
Butch and I took off Saturday the 9th of October and headed for the place we've been going to the past couple of years. We came around the corner to "our" camp and found it taken! A little down the road we found a do-able place, but figured a little scout down the road was in order before we settled down. So Butch took off on an ATV and I swatted aphids and secured some firewood for the night. Well, there were no other spots within about five miles...so we made this spot work.
We leveled the trailer, took care of the ATVs, and set up a tarp...banking on the heavy rains they were calling for on Sunday. And boy did it rain Sunday! We strung up some more tarps and then went logging behind camp. It was pretty convenient to get firewood...I think I had five or six trees on the ground and they were within ATV winching distance of camp! So Butch yarded those next to the trailer and we then cut them into rounds and had a nice windblock made in no time. With so much wood and so much rain...what to do? Well, we did our best to just burn wood and stay warm of course!
Monday we hiked into our secret spot..."the hole" if you will. We sidehilled from camp and didn't see any fresh sign, didn't jump any deer...absolutely NOTHING. We made it to the far saddle and headed up the hill to cut a road that would be easier walking down to camp. Up close to the top of the hill I found a huge deer skull with some serious antlers...but it had been there a pretty long time. Still a neat find though.
Tuesday, we drove down to the (now blocked off) road that led us into the area where I killed the elk a couple years ago. We walked down the road for a couple miles and didn't see much fresh sign, didn't see any living thing except maybe some birds, and so were basically just on a walk. After a couple hours we turned back and again returned to camp empty handed.
Wednesday we headed back to the same closed road and tried hiking down another road that led along a nice long ridge. Not too long into it, we ran into some guys coming up the way we were going. They had been to the end and hadn't seen anything...so after some deliberation...we headed back to camp. From there, we headed further down the main road to a little spot that overlooked the Cabinet Mountains just for something to do. Butch made some phone calls and I made a smudge fire to keep the aphids down. Returned to camp...that was it!
Thursday was a break day, so we headed into Clarkfork to make some more phone calls and get some supplies. One of the things we bought was a cheap can opener that, when tested, simply didn't work. Such a simple piece of equipment and it was still a piece o' shit. The can opener on the leatherman was the tool of choice.
Friday was the opening day of the three day cow season...so we went back into the hole and poked around some more. We saw the same thing we saw on Monday...NOTHING. We were a bit lower down on the ridge, so had to push through a lot of brush and blowdown to get back up to the road. But at one point we found that we stopped in the EXACT same spot that we had taken a break four days earlier. Bizarre. But, then we couldn't find the deer head...go figure.
Saturday, we were having some coffee and trying to get motivated to hike around in the critter-devoid hills when I heard some crashing in the brush near camp. I immediately jumped up and got my rifle...but by the time I came out, Butch was saying, "It's a moose and it's big. Get your camera!" Got some crappy pictures of a HUGE bull and I'm confident it was the same big moose I saw last year in the same spot. Pretty cool that he's still around. Later that morning we went out to a little deer-ridge that Butch knew about and split up. Didn't see anything, but I thought I had heard a doe snort.
Sufficiently tired of not seeing anything, we broke camp Sunday and came out.
Saw a few elk racks in the back of pickups on the drive back to Coeur d'Alene...just enough to get the blood boiling.
So that was it! We're still wondering where we're going to go next year. Where are the elk?
Ooh, but we're headed to Priest Lake in a couple hours to look for deer! We'll stay the weekend and battle the predicted frigid temperatures...but at least be able to hunt in some snow! I'm ready to go!
Butch and I took off Saturday the 9th of October and headed for the place we've been going to the past couple of years. We came around the corner to "our" camp and found it taken! A little down the road we found a do-able place, but figured a little scout down the road was in order before we settled down. So Butch took off on an ATV and I swatted aphids and secured some firewood for the night. Well, there were no other spots within about five miles...so we made this spot work.
We leveled the trailer, took care of the ATVs, and set up a tarp...banking on the heavy rains they were calling for on Sunday. And boy did it rain Sunday! We strung up some more tarps and then went logging behind camp. It was pretty convenient to get firewood...I think I had five or six trees on the ground and they were within ATV winching distance of camp! So Butch yarded those next to the trailer and we then cut them into rounds and had a nice windblock made in no time. With so much wood and so much rain...what to do? Well, we did our best to just burn wood and stay warm of course!
Monday we hiked into our secret spot..."the hole" if you will. We sidehilled from camp and didn't see any fresh sign, didn't jump any deer...absolutely NOTHING. We made it to the far saddle and headed up the hill to cut a road that would be easier walking down to camp. Up close to the top of the hill I found a huge deer skull with some serious antlers...but it had been there a pretty long time. Still a neat find though.
Tuesday, we drove down to the (now blocked off) road that led us into the area where I killed the elk a couple years ago. We walked down the road for a couple miles and didn't see much fresh sign, didn't see any living thing except maybe some birds, and so were basically just on a walk. After a couple hours we turned back and again returned to camp empty handed.
Wednesday we headed back to the same closed road and tried hiking down another road that led along a nice long ridge. Not too long into it, we ran into some guys coming up the way we were going. They had been to the end and hadn't seen anything...so after some deliberation...we headed back to camp. From there, we headed further down the main road to a little spot that overlooked the Cabinet Mountains just for something to do. Butch made some phone calls and I made a smudge fire to keep the aphids down. Returned to camp...that was it!
Thursday was a break day, so we headed into Clarkfork to make some more phone calls and get some supplies. One of the things we bought was a cheap can opener that, when tested, simply didn't work. Such a simple piece of equipment and it was still a piece o' shit. The can opener on the leatherman was the tool of choice.
Friday was the opening day of the three day cow season...so we went back into the hole and poked around some more. We saw the same thing we saw on Monday...NOTHING. We were a bit lower down on the ridge, so had to push through a lot of brush and blowdown to get back up to the road. But at one point we found that we stopped in the EXACT same spot that we had taken a break four days earlier. Bizarre. But, then we couldn't find the deer head...go figure.
Saturday, we were having some coffee and trying to get motivated to hike around in the critter-devoid hills when I heard some crashing in the brush near camp. I immediately jumped up and got my rifle...but by the time I came out, Butch was saying, "It's a moose and it's big. Get your camera!" Got some crappy pictures of a HUGE bull and I'm confident it was the same big moose I saw last year in the same spot. Pretty cool that he's still around. Later that morning we went out to a little deer-ridge that Butch knew about and split up. Didn't see anything, but I thought I had heard a doe snort.
Sufficiently tired of not seeing anything, we broke camp Sunday and came out.
Saw a few elk racks in the back of pickups on the drive back to Coeur d'Alene...just enough to get the blood boiling.
So that was it! We're still wondering where we're going to go next year. Where are the elk?
Ooh, but we're headed to Priest Lake in a couple hours to look for deer! We'll stay the weekend and battle the predicted frigid temperatures...but at least be able to hunt in some snow! I'm ready to go!
posted by geotracker12 at 10:05 AM
2 Comments:
Bummer, good luck with the rest of the season!
Z
Enjoy Priest! Stay warm. At least it's gorgeous up there - that's worth the frigid temps.
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