After the experience, the year before we tried to plan the fall of 1985 a little differently. We still wanted to archery hunt again, but the Gold Fork area was out. Now that we were more familiar with the East Mountains of Donnelly Valley, we would find our own campsite closer to the area where the elk stay. We limited the hunting group to only four people, Harry, Bud, Montie and me. Archery season was to start on September 15th this year, so we planned to be at Donnelly the day before.
We loaded all the equipment we would need in the two trucks and the trailer house. We had groceries and water for a week’s stay. We headed out early in the morning, not that it would take so long to get there, we just wanted to get out of town as soon as possible. The travel time would only be about two hours. At Donnelly we turned into Barker Lane to go up into the open area above the ranches. There was a wire gate to go through which is the dividing line between the ranches and the open forest. About a mile past the gate, we found a ridge with an old road on it. The road only went a short way, then dead-ended. By moving old logging leftovers, we made enough room to set up the trailer house and the c○○king lean-to. We tied everything down tight with ropes in case a windstorm came up suddenly. There were large pine trees for shade, the weather was quite warm for September. A coat felt good in the late evening after the sun went down. I took special note of how the trees were changing the color of their leaves already. The aspens were bright yellow, and the chaparral bushes were all assorted colors. None of the leaves had left the trees yet making great hiding places for the elk. The Tamaracks were starting to turn yellow getting ready to drop their needles. The birds were flocking up to head south for the winter. Grey Jays and Stellar Jays hang around all winter and are always flying around camp looking for a handout. The little chipmunks ate a batch of cookies, we kept a supply out on a stump for them to enjoy. The camp was comfortable but as we found out it was too far down the hill and therefore too warm most of the time. The elk were around and bugled at night in answer to Harry’s challenging bugling at them after dark. Bull elks were not too far away when they answered. Some would even answer in the daytime but would not come out of the timber so we could get a shot at them. One evening we decided to go down to the fields, where the elk may pass through on their journey to eat all the grain they could hold during the night. Bud and Harry climbed up in some big Pine trees to get above anything that might come by. Montie and I Went up on a small hill to a grove of aspen trees to hide in. There were not any elk moving around that evening, but some mule deer came sneaking up the hill in front of us. We were hiding out of sight, and they could not smell us, so they let their guard down and started playing like kids. They were close enough to shoot at, but we were more interested in watching their antics. They would run in circles, chase each other, and just act like little kids. They tired of playing games then walked over to the fence and effortlessly hopped over the four-foot-high wires then went to feed on the grasses around them. One doe was not satisfied to jump the fence like the others, she jumped over the fence post which was a good two feet taller than the wire was. We were amazed at the grace they showed. Darkness was moving in,
Time to head back to camp to fix supper. Tonight, we will have steak, potatoes, vegetables, and mushroom gravy. When everyone was full, and the dishes and pans cleaned up it was time to play a few games of Pinochle to unwind from the day of hunting. Later we would have cookies and milk, before going to bed.
We had our motorcycles along this year. They are small and make little noise running, we use them to run here and there to check for elk tracks in the main road. One day we rode them down to a pond with large trout living in it. Now, I usually have fishing gear along with me, so I had to try to catch one. There were huge trout jumping for flies out in the middle of the pond, which was about thirty acres in size. I hooked a nice one on a fly, but lost it before I could get it in. I would have turned it loose anyway. The pond belonged to Joe, so we had permission to fish it, but agreed to turn all we caught loose. We made the best of the hunt under the conditions, but we would find a different camping place next year higher up the hill, where it was cooler. There were elk around, but no one connected with them.
A good camp with good company, plenty to eat, and a warm bed makes for an enjoyable trip. Getting an elk would be a bonus. After six days we figured we were just wasting our time, we packed up to head for home. We cleaned everything up to be ready for the next trip. We left the camp area the same as we had found it. We took all the trash home to be disposed of properly. Leaving a nice, neat camp assures us of being welcome back next year.