Over the past years, we have been going to Canyon Creek above Lowman and Clear Creek near Pioneerville for our yearly elk hunting trip. Finding elk either place was getting harder each year. During the summer we had applied for elk permits in Section 14 on the Salmon River above Riggins. Harry and Bud drew the permits, so we planned to hunt somewhere up there. Montie and I would go along to help if they should find something to shoot. Montie and l had deer tags, so we could carry our rifles away from camp. I had to go, because I was the camp cook, the other guys had a problem boiling water without burning it. We set up our vacation time in 1981 to coordinate with the opening of the elk season. This trip would be the farthest we have ever traveled on a hunting trip. A lot of planning had to be done to be sure we had all the right equipment and enough groceries to last a week. To go into Riggins for supplies would take most of the day for the round trip. After studying maps of the area, we decided to go to Little Slate Creek Saddle, at the head of Allison Creek. We would take our chances on finding a campsite when we get there. Bud and Harry’s trucks were loaded with camping gear then the trailer house was loaded with a week’s supply of groceries. The motorcycles were also taken along to be used for packing any game out if we should find something to shoot.
With everything packed to ride good, we left town early in the morning, we had a long way to go. At Riggins we turned up the Salmon River road to get to the Allison Creek Road. There was a large campground where Allison Creek runs into the Salmon River which was used by steelhead anglers. This is a prime fishing spot where the fish are running upriver to spawn. We have been there to fish several times in the past, so we were familiar with the area. The trip up Allison Creek would be all new but we did not care. We would study the country as we went to find out where we were headed. We made it to the top of the mountain without any problems but to our surprise the mountains turned into rolling hills all covered with timber.
There were grassy meadows with small streams running through them. This looked like elk heaven to us, they had plenty of food, Water was everywhere, and the timber was thick enough to hide them. This was a good place to camp. We pulled into the first camping area we came to. Here we found a grassy place with some large Trees to Park the trailer house near. When the trailer house was parked and leveled, we found some long poles to be used for the frame of the lean-to. The cooking area is completely enclosed with plastic tarps to keep the wind out. We bring enough carpet to cover the floor inside to keep the dirt out and make it nice to walk on.
Close to us, was another camper parked back in the trees. There was no one around, but from the way his place looked he must be out working. There were truck tires and parts scattered everywhere. About dark a large belly dump truck and trailer came rumbling into camp. We went out to see what was going on and who was making all the noise. The county was putting in some roads to log the back country. They had hired the guy in the other camper to haul crushed rock to be spread on the roads so the trucks would not get stuck in the muddy spots when it rains. We introduced ourselves and he turned out to be a fishing rod customer of mine named Pete Sargent. It sure was a surprise, because I had never met the man before even though I had made him a rod. It was ordered for him by a mutual friend of ours. He was a great guy and welcomed the company. He had been working there all summer and felt some relief at times. The season was already open, but there were not any other hunters around. We would have the place all to ourselves.
When camp was all set up and comfortable for a week, we hunted around close to camp to observe the lay of the land. The elk were there if we could find them. I fixed an early supper of meat, Potatoes, and a vegetable with a can of peaches for dessert. We played our usual games of Pinochle to relax. A gas furnace had been installed in the trailer a few years before and it was wonderfully comfortable to sit around in hardly anything and still be Warm. Uncle Charlie traded an old hunting knife for it. After cookies and milk, we turned in for the night, it had been a long day.
Morning seemed to come earlier than normal but we managed to get up anyway. Breakfast of bacon and eggs was soon c○○king on the stove along with coffee and hot chocolate. I made toast on a small toaster on a stove burner that was Very Tasty. We made some sandwiches for the packs and were ready to head to the hills. Hunting started right from camp, we did not have the slightest idea of where to hunt, but from a ridge top we could see plenty of looking places to hold elk. We hunted in teams, Harry, and Bud together with Montie and I staying together. We walked the roads, mostly watching the valleys for something moving around.
None of us knew of several moose wandering around the hills where they do not usually live. Montie and I were sitting on a hillside a short distance apart watching the Valley below us for a deer. Montie had picked a stump to Sit on while I was just sitting on the ground. Behind us was a noise of something walking on the road. As we slowly turned to look, we were startled out of our senses. A cow moose with a yearling Calf was coming right towards us. What to do now, We had no place to hide. I just sat as close to that hillside as I could without making a move. They walked within ten yards of me, Scary to Say the least. Montie was really hunkered down on his stump. The cow went around one side of him, and the calf went on the other side. They were no more than a few feet from him. One tiny move and she would have been all over him. I was ready to shoot her, if necessary but she paid him no mind, just went on down the hill. Montie was so terrified he was white as a sheet and just trembling. He had a good right to be shaken up. A brief time later, Harry and Bud caA brief timere we were. We related our stories of the cow and calf to them. They had a story of their own as bad. Harry separated from Bud for a little while to hunt out a creek bottom. He was coming up a trail when he rounded a bend with a lot of brush on both sides. Suddenly he got this feeling of being watched. He looked up to see a large bull moose standing in the same trail shaking his head and blowing air out his nose. At about this time, Harry nearly wet his pants. He put the scope on him and slowly backed down the trail away from him. The bull took a few steps toward him then stopped. He really was not as mean as he seemed but just did not like someone else using his trail. Harry finally backed out of sight then made a big detour around him. Bud missed him by being up the hill on a finger ridge. This was some way to start out a hunt. We ran into these critters about every day. We did not have any more problems with them, but we did give them all the room the wanted. We found out later that this same bull had charged Pete in the truck and nearly tore off a fender. It was severely damaged; the bull wanted the road to himself.
The next couple of days went by without any big events happening. We hunted around camp and rode our motorcycles out most of the roads to see where they went. The usual meals were fixed, and many games of Pinochle were played to relax in the evenings.
On the fourth day, we drove around the mountain towards the rock quarry. It was raining that morning and everything was Soaking wet. We found a good-looking ridge that was open. The rain had stopped with the sun starting to shine. The grass was drying out some, so Harry and Bud decided to walk up the ridge to see if they could happen to an elk now that the sun was out. Montie and I stayed at the truck to wait for them to return. They were not gone more than ten minutes or so when we heard them shoot. Then there were a couple of pistol shots. Harry called us to come up and help them, they had a small elk down. Montie surmised they had shot a grouse because they were not gone long enough to find an elk. I knew better, so we headed up to where they were. Harry’s small elk turned out to be a large four-point bull. The bull was laying in the sunshine on the ridge ahead of them, about fifty yards, but no more than that. For some reason he stood up and stretched, as they were nearing him. The bull was about to move on, when they spotted him, Harry dropped him with a neck shot. It took all four of us to get him dressed out as large as he was. When the job was finished, we looked around to find the best way to get him to the road. The road was no more than a hundred yards away with the hillside covered with grass and pine needles. A rope was tied to his antlers and one to his back legs. Harry and Bud would pull from the front while Montie and I took turns on the back rope to keep him from running over them. For his size, he was a snap to get to the road. I went to get the truck, while the rest of them waited at the elk. We could see the truck when we hit the road, I was not gone, but a few minutes. I backed the truck up to him, so we could load him whole. It was going to be a heavy lift to get him in the truck. About this time some Forest Service employees stopped to l○○k at the bull. They were burning piles of brush nearby and had heard the shots, so they came over to see what we had shot. They looked it over to see if Harry had tagged it properly, which he had. With their help and much straining, we finally lifted him into the truck. We did not think too much more about the Forest Service being there, but we found out later they told everyone in Riggins that we had a big bull including Boyd Teeten, the Game Warden. The bull was taken back to camp so we could get him Skinned′ quartered, Sacked, and hung up to cool. It took a couple of hours to get him all done.
By now it was starting to get on towards evening, time to fix some supper. We had steak and pan-fried potatoes. Over a couple games of cards, we discussed where to go the next day. Nothing was decided, so we would stay at the camp to rest. The next morning, we talked to Pete about the trips he had made during the night. He was doing the late-night shift. He told us of some fresh elk tracks near to camp. After breakfast we went looking for them. We found some elk had crossed the road into some thick trees, but we could not kick them out. We spent all morning looking through the fir thickets and brush all in vain. Oh well back to camp for a sandwich and a can of Pepsi. We had nothing to do but play a couple of games of cards to pass away the afternoon.
Late in the afternoon, an old pickup came rumbling into camp. A young man got out and introduced himself as Bobby Wilson from Riggins. He had found a couple spike bulls and shot one but needed help getting it out. We have never refused to help anyone in trouble. I jumped into the truck with him to get it out. Montie had wandered away from camp so Harry and Bud would wait a little while for him but if he did not show up soon, they would follow us. Bobby was working on a logging crew and knew how to run a caterpillar tractor, parked along the road. He started it up to drag the elk up the hill to the road. After checking out several draws, we found the right one with the elk in it. Bobby took the cat down a small hill to the bottom of a dry creek, where we could hook a cable to the elk. Getting back up the hill was a problem; we got stuck a couple of times and even broke a cable once. It took so long to get unstuck each time and to get to the top of the hill. It was starting to get dark. Suddenly Harry and Bud showed up on the hill with flashlights. They helped us get to the main road where the truck was parked. The bull was loaded into the back of his truck, and we all headed back to camp. I rode with Bobby to keep him company and make sure he found the camp again. After many thank you and handshaking, Bobby headed for town happy as a lark. We heard he told everyone in town about us stopping our hunting to help him get his elk out. He will remember this day forever.
The next day we stayed in camp, it happened to be Pete’s day off also. He had gone off hunting somewhere and shot a large cow elk, which was too big for him to get to his truck alone. He left it hanging in a tree and came back to camp. He was headed for town to get his horse and a friend named Tommy Clayton to help bring it out. He took off for town in a hurry, since we were not going to hunt anyway, we decided to run into town for some fresh milk and bread. We finished our shopping and drove through town looking for Pete. He told us his horse was in a pasture right in town. We found him and about six other guys trying to load the horse in the trailer. They had been working on it for about two hours and he would not get in the trailer. We walked out to see what the matter was. What we found was a bunch of hurt, mad guys because the horse would not cooperate at all. WelI, being old farm kids and having done plenty of packing with horses and donkey We would load him for them. We told everyone to get out of the way except Tommy to tie him in when he stepped in. Harry took a piece of leather strap and ran it up under his tail and when he gave it a couple of tugs the horse almost jumped through the front of the trailer. Tommy tied him in then shut the tailgate. The whole thing did not take two minutes. Now talk about a mad bunch of guys, they stomped off for home, cussing and mumbling about some flatlanders making f○○ls of them. I do not think they wanted that story to spread around town for some reason. Pete was already hooked up to the trailer, away they went to get the elk out.
It was time we got back to camp ourselves. Pete had little trouble loading the horse after that, he was smarter and so was the horse. They packed out the elk in quarters in a short while. We had made friends for life, and he had learned a valuable lesson on loading a stubborn horse. I do not think those local guys will ever forgive us. Back at camp, we fixed supper of fresh elk steak, potatoes, and mushroom gravy. We had to try the bull for taste, and it was good eating, I might say. We had to head for home after two more days. The hunting was tough, we did not know where the animals had gone.
Since we brought our steelhead equipment along, the plan was to head for the river to fish the rest of the time. Short’s Bar was the place we were headed for, the fish were running in large numbers right now. The next morning, camp was taken apart, right after breakfast of pancakes, bacon, and eggs. We wanted to move out as soon as possible and packed up in a hurry. Pete was sorry to see us leave, he had enjoyed us every much. We said our goodbyes and headed down the mountain. We were going down the dirt road along the Salmon River when we met Boyd Teeten, the Game Warden, coming up the road. The elk-s antlers were tied to the front of Harry-s truck in plain sight, so we stopped. He pulled alongside us to chat a bit. We asked if he wanted to check the elk and the tag. He informed us that he knew we had it and that it was properly tagged, he had other things to do right now. We told him we were headed for Short’s Bar to fish for a few days. Well, if he has time he will come by and check it there. He knew us well enough and never showed up.
We fished for the rest of our vacation time, then headed for home. We needed time to cut the elk into steaks for the freezer. He was a large animal so we each received a nice box of wrapped meat. The equipment was cleaned up and put away to be ready for next year. We have not decided where to go, but it would depend on whether we draw a permit or not.