During the summer of 1990, Harry, Bud, and I made a run to Donnelly to look for a new campsite. The camp above the Island Ridge was probably a thing of the past because of the logging that went on. We first checked the place where we had camped after we had moved. To our surprise, the loggers had hit this area also. The big pine trees were all gone, limbs and brush were piled where our camp had been. To say the least, we found a big mess. This camp was out, so a meeting of the minds began. We talked about going up to the top of the ridge between Donnelly Valley and the Patty Flats Valley. This area was logged several years ago, but the loggers had left many large mature pine trees on the ridge top. We were driving down the road looking for a campsite, when we found an old Skid Road covered with dead limbs and logs left by the logging crew. We moved all the limbs, small logs and opened the road to the top. Here was a suitable place to camp next to some large trees. We would be back in the fall but to be sure the camp would not be occupied, we put some of the logs back across the road as we left.
We decided to try archery hunting again that fall. Therefore, in mid-September we packed up our gear to head for Donnelly and our newfound camp. To get to this camp we went up Patty Flats Road to the Willow Creek turn off. The Willow Creek Road was the main road to take us to the top of the mountain. We found the side road and remembered where our new campsite was located. The road was quite steep, but with the four-wheel drive there was not any stopping us. We parked the trailer house near a grove of large trees and the lean-to was put up for the cooking area. Even though we have pipes to support the lean-to, we throw some ropes over the top just in case a windstorm comes up unexpectedly. We tied a meat rack up high between a couple of trees. We were optimistic about using it. Harry was suffering from kidney stones that fell and was not feeling particularly good. He could not hunt much, but when he went out, one of us would stay close to him. We did not want him to get into trouble out where we could not find him.
The first thing to do was to drive down to tell Joe and Vicki where we were camped. They were happy to see us and glad we were back for the archery season. After visiting for a while, we headed back to camp to rest and fix supper. We played our normal games of cards, then turned in for a good sleep. We wanted to be up early the next morning. The hunt started by driving down to the Patty Flats area. We knew of some side roads going up around the mountain on the north side of camp. The truck was parked at the end of one of them overlooking a large basin full of trees, swamps, and dead falls. The elk were using the area for bed grounds during the daytime. We were down in there before and it is the roughest place anywhere around. Harry and I stayed together, while Bud went down in the hole, as we call it. Bud would be coming back to us in time, whether he shot something or not. Around noon Bud came huffing up the hill to us. He had some wild stories to tell us about the bull elk he had Shot at. He was standing in the thick of the basin when an old bull stood up in front of him and let out a loud bugle. The bull was only about twenty yards away and needless to say, he missed him with the arrow. We accused him of shooting straight in the air. A few minutes later, a second bull elk appeared in front of him. This time he hit it hard, but he took off down the hill bleeding badly. Bud followed him down towards the valley floor but decided to come back for us to help trail him. Even a bleeding elk can be hard to trail when it is dry. We drove to the road near the valley floor where Bud last saw the tracks and the blood. It took no time at all to find the blood trail because the elk had run down the road for a couple of blocks, then fell off the road over some logs. He lost a lot of blood where he landed but managed to get up and run away. For the next couple of hours, we followed him around and through swamps, across creeks, and over small hills. He never showed himself nor seemed to slow down. Because of the time it took Bud to get back to the truck to get us and to drive down to where we found the trail, we knew he was unaware of us following him. We finally had to give up, when the blood quit. We really tried hard to find him, but all in vain. The arrow had gone completely though him so maybe he will live. By now, the afternoon was about gone, time to head back to camp.
We still have memories of the bears in camp last year and we have been gone from it all day. The trip back to camp only took a little while and we found it in one piece, nothing had bothered it. A good supper of stew, boiled potatoes and a vegetable topped off with a can of peaches was fixed in a brief time. We played a couple of games of Pinochle, then over cookies and milk, we talked about going back to l○○k for the wounded elk the first thing in the morning.
After breakfast we put some lunch items in an ice box to take with us and headed for the Patty Flats Road again. We found the place where the bull had originally crossed the road, but he did not go back up the hill again. He had to be down near the flatlands, but we could not find him. We never could pick up his trail through the swamps. About noon We gave up. There was a back road from Patty Flats Road up to Grouse Knob. The road was rocky and steep, but it was not any problem for the four-wheel drive. we reached the road in g○○d shape. The road forked at the top and the right-hand road dead ended in about a mile. We decided to stop at the forks to have a sandwich and a can of pop. The morning passed fast while looking for some sign of the wounded bull elk.
As Soon as everyone had eaten all they wanted, we drove down the dead-end road to look for an elk. We stopped every now and then to look around and blow on the bugle. We were to the end the last time we stopped blowing when a large old bull answered up on a finger ridge. He was past the end of the road, but we could see him with the field grasses. He was sunning himself in the sunlight. He answered us several times like he was saying “Come up and try to catch me” We drove on to the end and quietly parked without slamming the doors or talking loudly. With our bows in hand, we climbed the hill to look for him anyway. We found where he was standing when he answered but then went off into the hole where he normally stays most of the time. It was now in the middle of the afternoon, and we felt there was not enough time to get after him. Nothing else to do but go back to the truck for the ride back to camp. We drove along slowly so we could watch the hills for elk but there was not anything around. Some deer were standing in the road, but the season was already closed on them. Darkness was setting in by the time we reached the camp, and some rain clouds were building up in the west. The camp was checked over to be sure everything was put in under the tarps to keep dry. I fixed a good supper, then we played our normal game of Pinochle. Everyone was tired and it showed from all the snoring going on. During the night, we were awakened by the patter of rain on the trailer. Even light rain is loud hitting the plastic tarp over the top of everything. The rain fell all night. We went back to sleep knowing all was well outside when everything was secure. The rain came down most of the next day, which gave us a g○○d excuse to sleep in and clean up the dishes, we stayed in camp resting up and playing Pinochle. We enjoy having a day off even though we only hunted just a couple of days. The next morning, we drove to the Island Ridge to check the trail for tracks of elk moving around during the night. Some elk had used the trails to go to the fields, but they usually go back to their bed grounds by a different route. I started down the Island Ridge from the upper end, while Harry and Bud went to the other end to meet me in the middle. I had not gone far, when I found some cows and calves in a small draw off the main ridge. They took off before I could get close enough to shoot an arrow at them. They Seemed to disappear like puffs of smoke in the wind. I Went On down towards the rocks. As I neared the rocks there was a crashing of brush and trees. An old bull elk had been bedded down in his usual place by the rocks. I was too close to him, and he really panicked this time. Harry and Bud heard him go down the mountain close to them. He crossed the main road then disappeared into the valley below. No one knows how far they will run when really spooked. He may go for miles before stopping to rest. Elk are extraordinarily strong animals. I walked on over to where Harry and Bud were standing still wondering what had gone past them. They said it sounded like a runaway freight train. We sat down to eat our lunches and chatted for a while. We were starting to have thoughts about going back to rifle hunting again for next year. We seemed to have run all the elk off the Island Ridge, so we went back to the truck to go somewhere else. A place to the west several miles, called the Tuley Patch, would be a good place to spend the afternoon. This place is an old pond with very little water in it and a whole bunch of mud and tulles. Elk sometimes hangs around this area feeding on the grasses that grow because of it being so swampy. Elk had been there a few days earlier but were long gone now. Time to head back to camp, it had been a long day for us, and Harry was starting to hurt a little. I fixed a can of chili for supper, topped off with a can of pears. Over a couple games of Pinochle, we discussed what to do about the hunting situation. The plan was to hunt close to camp the next day.
After breakfast, Bud and I walked out the main ridge for a while but there was not a fresh track anywhere. After a couple of hours, we went back to camp where Harry was waiting for us. Since he was not feeling all that well, we decided to pack up camp and head for home. We were headed out by the middle of the afternoon. We drove by Joe and Vicki’s on the way out to let them know we were leaving, but we would be back next year to hunt. Later we would decide if we wanted to hunt with rifles or try archery again. Since it was late afternoon, everyone was getting hungry. There was a good restaurant in Cascade which served a good sandwich, besides it would be nice not to cook for a change. Over a hamburger, we decided to return to Donnelly, but we would start hunting more with the rifles. Getting an elk with archery was just too hard to do. We would go up to Lucky Peak Reservoir later in the season to chase deer around, shooting arrows at them just to stay with the archery game. At home again, we cleaned up the dishes and equipment to be ready for next year. We had a good trip.