Fall was coming on, which meant hunting season was getting near. This was the year 1965. We have had a taste of elk hunting and now we were more equipped to stay out for a week at a time. There seemed to be much more involved when going out on long hunting trips than what we were used to on just one-day hunts. The hunting group started out small, but as fall neared it seemed to grow. When the time to go came around, the group consisted of Uncle Charlie March, LeRoy, his son Glenny, Harry Marlatt, and myself, Paul Marlatt.
LeRoy wanted to take along his three donkeys; two females and an old jack named George. Now, George liked to bray whenever he felt like it. He had the loudest bray of any donkey I have ever heard. He also had romance on his mind all the time, so he had to be tied far away from the females.
We decided to stay at a camping place about a half a mile below the switchbacks on Clear Creek above Pioneerville. This place had a large area for camping and plenty of r○○m for the animals. A large wall tent was put up with straw on the floor and a sheep herder stove in one corner to take off the evening chill. A plastic tarp was stretched between the trees for a cooking area. The lean to be a good place to get under in case of rain. In October, rain can come in at any time. A comfortable camp was set up in no time at all.
The next thing to do was to cut down a couple of dry trees, for firewood, for the campfire. Uncle Charlie had to have a fire going all the time, while in camp, if for no other reason than to smoke everything up to make it stink. A large campfire seemed to be the highlight of camping anyway. The fire t○○k away the night spookiness and put everything and everyone at ease during the night. After everything was in its place for a week’s stay, we had to have our usual game of pinochle. By the time the games were over, it was getting on towards evening. Suppertime is always a welcome time in the camp. I do most of the cooking, therefore I started fixing fried potatoes and hamburgers. Harry and LeRoy take care of the animals, while Uncle Charlie tends the campfire. Glenny just does what he can and enjoys the outing. When night comes in the mountains, it really gets dark. Lanterns were used for lighting along with the campfire but when the evening chill sets in; it’s time for bed.
We want to be up early to go out hunting. The season would open, the next morning and we would like to be on the far mountain, at first light. Everyone was up early the next morning. It was not long before the smell of coffee, with bacon and eggs, drifting in the air. After eating all we could hold, we made sandwiches and filled our canteens for a long hike.
Uncle Charlie bragged that he would show Harry and I an elk the first thing this morning. Soon, we were ready to head out to find his elk. The best place to start was above the switchbacks, up Clear Creek. The creek gets its start a couple of miles from the switchbacks, where the road heads up to Colter Summit. There was a large area up the creek that had very little hunting pressure being completely roadless. Everyone walked up to the switch backs together, then split into groups to hunt. Harry, Uncle Charlie, and I, went One Way While LeRoy and Glenny made a large circle on up the creek to the middle of the basin. We were to meet somewhere up on the mountain. Uncle Charlie had wandered away from us about fifty yards while Harry and I stayed close together. We were going through some thick pine trees when we l○○ked up the hill to see a yearling elk standing in a spot of sunshine. He hadn’t seen us and must have been enjoying the warmth of the sunshine. Harry jarred him back to the real world with a shot through the lungs. The yearling went down with a thud, but got right back up, wondering what had hit him. He started up the hill on the run, but by then I was taking a bead on him. I hit him in the small of the back that really flattened him for the count. Harry ran up to him to finish him off. He was a large yearling of a couple hundred pounds, or more. About that time Uncle Charlie showed up to see what all the commotion was about. He saw that the calf was finished, so very intently started watching the brush and trees around us. He knew there should be a cow around somewhere watching us. He made a circle of about a block then came back to us. He was right, there was a cow at the edge of the trees, watching us. She t○○k off as he neared her. He never had a chance to shoot but had been standing there all the time, while we were shooting the yearling. The elk yearling was dressed out and draped across some down trees so he would start cooling out. We wanted to find LeRoy and Glenny, to see if they had found anything. We did not have to look far. Suddenly they showed up beside us, to see what we had shot. They were happy we had an elk and that Uncle Charlie had made good on his brag. Harry and LeRoy decided to go back to camp to get the donkeys to pack out the elk. In the meantime, the rest of us would drag the elk downhill to where they could load him on the donkeys. They would bring old George and Teki, the elk was small, and each could pack a half without any problems. Harry and LeRoy had just reached the switchbacks with the donkeys when a truck pulled up beside them. There were two hunters in it, and they were curious about what they were going to do with the donkeys. Harry told them that they were going up the hill to pack out an elk for them. That just about blew their mind, with a snicker, they said they would wait right there until the guys came back with an elk on a couple of donkeys. The trip from the road to the elk and back would take about half an hour. Uncle Charlie, Glenny, and I stayed with the elk to guide them to it. No need for them to hunt all over the place, to find where it was lying. We loaded half the yearling on each donkey and tied them tight. Down the hill we all went looking like something out of the old west. The guys in the truck were still waiting like they said they would. They were watching as Harry and LeRoy came to the creek crossing. Harry and LeRoy walked across a small log so they would not get their feet wet, George and Teki walked the same log, without touching the water also. That was all the guys could take, they got back in their truck and left shaking their heads, they had seen everything.
The trip on into camp took a very short time on the road. The elk halves were hung in a tree next to the tent to be skinned and put in meat sacks. We wanted to get it sacked up as soon as possible to keep the flies off it. We also like to have it close, where we can keep an eye on it all the time. We don’t want someone to come into camp and try to take it. By now the day was about gone and there was not enough time to go back out again. We had lots of time to hunt the rest of the week, besides we were all tired from this hunt. We would spend the rest of the day resting and playing Pinochle.
A couple of days later l wanted to go out on my own to check out the hillside to the south of camp. l had been to quite a while and was in the middle of a thick stand of pine trees when I sat down to take a break. Suddenly, I heard a strange noise echoing up the canyon. I jumped to my feet ready to shoot if something came my way. Then I realized what the noise was. It was darn old George braying down at camp. I was about a mile away and it was a mighty eerie sound when all was so quiet. I gathered myself together and headed down the hill to camp. I was not even finding so much as a track anyway. For the next few days, we hunted hard covering the area around camp very carefully. We went through the same area, where we shot the elk earlier, but we could not find another elk anywhere.
Time finally ran out on our trip. We must be packing up for the journey home. We had one small elk to show for all our time of hunting and hard work. The meat was very excellent eating. The gear was cleaned up to be ready for the next trip. We would get together during the next summer to decide where we would go on next year’s trip.