Well like others here, 2007 Elk Season has come & gone.
Our season started off with my Ol'man's wedding on Saturday in Milton-Freewater. Late that night my younger Brother & I headed over the mountain to pick up the mules, tack & gear.
Late the next morning found us at the trailhead with two trailers of stock. (we had to stop and chain up due to snow.)
By early afternoon we were saddled, packed and on the trail.
Arrived at our chosen spot to find it empty ...GREAT! We quickly stripped the mles of gear, unsaddled & had the tent & stove up as dusk approached. Just enough time to grab bino's and go spot. Bro finds a herd of 50 just out of camp...all rag, ok one decent 6pt, but no shooters.
Camp:
Next day up at 5, brother heads south and I head north. We need to find some shooters. I walk my butt off and put about 8-10 miles on the boots.
Seen one cow. OH great....gonna be one of those seasons. Arrive back at camp at noon, missed breakfast and bro left me TWO pieces of bacon.
2 more days of no new elk, but
were visited by the herd of 50 that morning and had cows & rag bulls 50yrds behind the tent! Pretty cool. We were up before dark and could hear them cow talking during our morning ****. Way cool but still no shooters.
A couple good nights around the evening fire has us brothers sipping whiskey and talking about seasons gone by, foolish things we've done together and various family matters. Quality time for two brothers that really don't get much time together anymore.
That morning has bro riding out to pick up the ol'man....2 day honeymoon was over, sweet gal BTW....don't ya think?!?!
So off I head out of camp east and pick up another herd of 25 with TWO good shooters! I keep tabs on them for the rest of the day while I pack water, cut more wood, and clean our two forks & cups that we've been using so far.
Bro & the Ol'man arrives and we get him settled, dinner started, and head off to show them the new herd. We bed them down for the night and resign to more whiskey w/ our father by the fire this night.
Everything is as it should be...the three of us around a fire, elk bedded and game plan set.
Opening morning arrives and he wake up early...to early in fact but can't go back to sleep. So might as well stoke the stove and start coffee and get breakfast started. We're gonna need the extra calories today! We're pumped and thoughts of fresh heart & liver for dinner are almost guarrenteed.....WRONG! Elk are gone, no where to be found.
Morning comes and goes......our 30 yr 9am opening morning kill record is history. We head over into some nasty country hoping to find some evidence of where they went, sure nuff they bugged out and rolled over into some country you don't want to go. We hunt some nasty country but this place is just plain Hellish!
About that time I see a herd of 30 off back toward camp w/ horn...lots of horn. The hunt is on!
No time to glass them, Run Mike Run! They are spooked, not by us but by some other hunters than I saw come in behind us. I have to beat them to the ridge top. I see them go in the timber and I continue my stalk with bro and dad hot on my heels. We've got it all covered, but no elk emerge to cross the saddle. I hold my position and dad & bro drop in and start a drive. No elk emerge. UHHHHHHGGGG! So we head back to camp refill water, grab a bite & re-group.
After lunch and a quick power nap, I head north and they head south. I've gotta get a better look off into that hellish country where I think those two nice shooters slipped out to. I glass & glass but no dice. So I head back toward camp...
and what do i find? A small herd with one shooter and some rag back in that saddle from earlier. Hollered back to camp for the ol'man to grab his rifle and get over here, brother hears the conversation too and covers a quick couple miles to team up with the ol'man. I slip around the back side of the saddle down wind of them and take up a position to prevent their escape while the ol'man and bro come down on them from above. All looks well & good but we are loosing light FAST and dad & bro are moving as fast as they can. I decide I have to make a move on them or we're gonna loose our light. Crap! a lead cow has topped and has me pinned down. The elk stall and it's now up to dad & bro to take the shot. We really want dad to take it but he's pinned as well. Bro is in close & can see rag horn but can't see the one we're after.
(Oh did I mention we are spike hunting?) Yes, we need short horn. hard to see a spike in fading light. We call it a no go and back out so as to not bump the herd. tomorrows another day.
sorry guys I'm all typed out for today. Come back tomorrow for the conclusion and pictures......
Day 2:
We sleep like crap, get up early, make coffee, deer sausage & eggs and then head right back to where we last left that herd last night. We look high and we look low....NAD elk anywhere. @#$%^&**@#$*$!!!!!!.......@&#&^$^$&^#&!^@$!!!!!
So we split up and takeup various positions of vantage. We need to find them. All day is spent w/o locating them.
Bro & I did see some in a small basin about 6miles away and I jokingly snatched up my rifle and said LETS GO!.........Bro stops me and points out that I had previously scouted part way there and claimed the trail was impassable for the mules and he didn't think we had any business going over there w/o the ability to get the meat out. Yes the recent fire had left an already ominous trail riddled with big pines burned off at the stump and one tree in-particular was simply too big for our little Oregon pull saw. And worse it was situated on a particularly nasty section of trail, no way down and no way up & around. SO I slapped my forehead and said oh your right....actually I said what I said about going over there (all enthusiastic and all) because he is always giving me a hard time for not being ambitious and aggressive when it comes to hunting this hellish country. And I knew it was impassible for the mules, even if led by hand. I was simply trying to stick a feather in my hat for the ambition suggestion. So we head back to camp for a little bite and a power nap. The elk bed down too anyway. We'll pick'em up tonight.
That afternoon has me heading out to take a look at a north I think they may still be hiding in. Dad & brother decide to head north toward that herd we seen way off in the distance. Not that they are thinking of going after them but the route does offer a good scouting position of some closer norths that we still think that herd with the two spikes from pre-season may be hiding in. It's all burned up an easy to see into and I'd looked it over twice already. But you know hunters, we NEVER take someone else's word.....we have to look it over for ourselves. So off they go and off I go. I get out to where I see into some norths across the way and am working my way along scouring the north for tan & yellow amongst all the black tress and fresh green grass that is sprouting from all the devastion of the fire. In fact I even find two trees still buring, 2 months after the fire! So I snap a quick pic.
I continue out the ridge,
Then I bump a lone cow.....NO, it's a lead cow! There has to be more.
She's headed up the south side of my ridge, toward me and I can't see what is behind her......could be that herd of 50 with all the rag or maybe that band of 30 with the two spikes. COOL! I may get to be the one to draw 1st blood and it'll be an EASY pack too. These are in a really good spot. So I drop my pack and drop over the back side of the ridge, wind is NOT in my favor and it blowing the direction of the lead cow. Gotta be careful, however the smell of mule & fire smoke on me should help. I take a chance and quickly bolt down the ridge staying on the back side, hoping my scent flys right off the top of the ridge and over the elk. I get to where I should be able to see the trailing herd and start to creep over the ridge hunkering low w/ bi-pod depolyed. I should be only 50 yrds from them......ah yes.. there they are....... what! Only 3 cows!! ahhhhhhgggggggg! I GOT SCREWED AGAIN!!!!
By this time light is fading and I've already glassed the north I wanted to check out so I head back to camp.
As I approach camp all is dark, camp fire is a small glow so I know dad & bro are still out. Good maybe they got into some.
About that time the radio goes off and it's dad informing me they are almost to our old spike camp, over by those elk that Brother claimed were accinine to go after,
and they are pulling in some wood and going to stay the night. 
I'm thinking to myself and conclude they are pulling my leg, so I call BS. Dad says no BS and I'm in charge of camp. I still say BS but ok, radio check at 9am & 10am in the morning....sleep tight!
So I stoke up the campfire, put wood in the tent stove and mix myself a Coke & Wild Turkey and proceed to slice up some spuds & onions (just enough for me you know....I still think they're BS'n me). I get the spuds a cooking and finish my totty, spead the coals around on the campfire and put the grate on to heat up some smoked chicken thighs little brother had done up on his new Trager. I decide since thier is no one to share hot water with that I will take me a nice long hot shower, so I put on water, flipped my chicken on the grill, check the spuds, slipped the dutch oven w/ the left over Peach cobbler on the stove and mixed myself another T&C. Still no one arrived....So I ate, bathed, polished off the warm cobbler and slipped into brothers sleeping bag. (My air mattress had a hole...I'd went to blow it up and found a X of duct tape on it that the wife must've put on it and didn't tell me about. Urrrrrr!)
It was a cold night, but I stoked the stove well & slept like a baby.
I was up early, ate some more chicken grabbed my pack & rifle and headed off toward the boys. Figured I take up a high postion across the drainage from them that offered a commanding veiw of the hunt. I knew they were going to kill over there. That little basin has treated us to no less than 9 elk over the years. Not sure how they are thinking we're going to get them out but our family motto has always been to get'em on the ground and then we'll worry about that. Little differant w/o the mules in the picture. After about a couple hours of hunting we get dad in a real good spot where we think a herd will saddle out on a ridge. Sure nuff, he dumps one and I realize the real work has just begun. Brother asks if he should dump another, dad calls one enough....we both agree.
It's silence on the radio for quite a while. I think they are like me wondering why the hell would we do this??? We are hunters, I guess we just can't help it. I was egg'n dad on to shoot it too. My hands are not clean either.
Brother calls......"Mike...you there?"........
Yea, I'm here,.... what's the plan?.......
Bro, "I was hoping you might have one" (Reality has set in for us all.)
"Well... how was the rest of the trail past that one big ponderosa?" .......
Bro, "well 2-3 days we might have it cleared." (CRAP! I feared that.)
"What about out the bottom?"......
Bro, "long way down & long way back up that north...no guarantees on the trail over there either. Could be worse." .........
"Ok, well...what do you need over there?" ....bro, "bring the meat sacks and the pull saw." (ok, so he's thinking we might be able to clear the trail on the way back.)
"OK, I'm headed back to camp, radio check at 12noon."....bro, "alright talk to ya then.
SO, I hump it back to camp and dump my pack out and stuff every candy & power bar I can find, I grab the saw, 3 cokes, and 2 pints of brandy. I keep my filter bottle and one extra empty water bottle. Then I hit the trail. I make a 2hr hike in 1-1/2 and arrive on site with sugar & drink to find brother with half an elk on his back, as they were leaving the kill site. I force them to stop and make brother drop his pack and hand them a couple candy bars a piece and dump a packet of kool-aid in the water bottle I'd filled in one of the small creeks I'd passed on the trail. They tried to push it away but I insisted they drink it cuz I'd not packed water just so I could pack it back. DRINK!...and so they did. After that was gone, I pulled a bottle of peach Brandy from my cargo pocket and passed it their way. We drank, had a couple smokes and laughed about what crazy fools we were...."Dumb", "Dumber" & "Just Plain Stupid" (that'd be me for coming to help). We laughed.
I forced brother to unlash a quarter and we set off up the ridge to the trail where the rest of the meat and our packs, rifles and more water & power bars were. I'd found a nice 6x shed and dad had a matched set of 5x5 sheds in tow as well.
At the trail we took another break and ate another power bar, drank more kool-aid, polished off the remaining portion of brandy, & had another smoke while we dicsussed what to do now and who would carry what. They'd cut off the hinds & shoulders and boned out the rest, so we had a bag of cut meat w/ the heart & liver. I asked dad if he could manage that if we took a half apeice on our packs. Brother looked at me like I was nuts! 6miles...half an elk...YOU can't pack that. I assured him if he could, I could, and our plan was set. I showed dad how he could rig the bag of cut meat up bandeliro style around his shoulder and brother & I set to figuring out a way to lash a hind & shoulder on each of our packs. Our packs are large fanny packs w/ suspension shoulder straps...not really built for this kind of load. But we managed. I had installed a couple extra 2" buckles on the back of my harness which provided me two big loops to tighten up around a hind and snap into the harness. A shoulder blade below that on top of the fanny pack and a little rope lashing & securing and I was set. I tried it on and it felt good. So off we set. 300yds down the trail a hear RrriiiiiiPP and half brothers load comes loose. He lost a strap. So we stopped and re-did his load, positioning it higher on his back and trying to tie hanging suspension loops high on his shoulder straps to take the weight. It worked and he was much more comfortable to boot.
45min later, we hit the 1/3 mark, a small creek and stop for a break. Brother want to keep going but I assure him we are on schedule and have time for a 10min break. I mix more Kool-Aid and pass another power bar to each. EAT, DRINK....I'm not packing it back! So we ate and drank.
Another 45min and we hit the 2/3 mark, Bro just blows on by and keeps going. "Not gonna stop, will stiffen up if I do."
Something I have not shared with you is my brother is crippled in one leg from the knee down. A logging accident shattered his leg at the knee and he has no feeling in it. Fused toe joints & a functional achillies enable him to walk ok, but he has a brace to rely on for side to side stability. You'd not know it though if you met him. He'll run anyone into the ground out hunting, and only when I'm fully conditioned and at my ideal weight can I keep up with him. I currently am NOT at my ideal weight. But I pack it up & down the hills well for a fatty.
Dad & I eat, drink and I dig into my pack and pull out another pint of brandy, so we pass it back and forth and drink a 3rd and have a smoke. We're starting to get pooped, I can sense it in dad. he'll not show it but I can tell. So we take short 2-3min breaks at the tops of the hills more often and pass the brandy back & forth. We are feeling good by now though, part of it is the brandy but most of it is we know we are men and what started as a seemingly impossible task is nearing completion with each step closer to camp. I honestly don't think we could've done it without forced breaks to keep our fuilds up and blood sugar levels elevated....the brandy might've helped to.
We make it back to camp just as it's starting to get real dark. I grab a cold beer and bellow out "WE ARE MEN, HEAR US ROAR!"....the mules jump.
This year was short on meat but big on memories. A truely special hunt for us. Brother & I proved we could handle the pack string alone (although we did argue over packers knots a couple times), and we pulled off a old fashioned meat pack that has us feeling like REAL men and not just horsemen.
Hunt'nFish
Our pile of bone: (yes, my pack is under that meat & saw)
Hunt'nFish
Hunt'nFish gets into the bone......
umpkin:
Don
. Reading this at 10:30 pm & my heart is pumping like I was with you, now I wont be able to sleep. Thanks Mike.
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