The year was 1993 and for the third time we would camp on the high ridge between Donnelly and Patty Flats. Last year we camped and hunted West Mountain, it was a total bust. From this ridge, we could see for miles in all directions. We were looking out over Donnelly Valley, all the Patty Flats area, Jug Handle Mountain, the Eagles Nest and clear to McCall. We found much pleasure in sitting on a high rock with binoculars just looking at the scenery and the faraway places. This year we were back to the three of us. Opening day would be on October 15th, which was on a Friday, so the plan was to be there sometime Wednesday before noon. Bud would pull the trailer house with his motorcycle in the back of the truck along with extra gas and water. Harry pulled the small trailer with the other two motorcycles and everything else like the generators and chain saws. We still take more gear than we need but there is always the chance something will be needed that we leave home. We traveled up the Patty Flats Road to the Willow Creek Road. This road took us back around to the Donnelly side of the mountain to the side road up to the ridge top. The loggers had not been in there to cut out the big pine trees, so we set up the trailer in the same place as before. The lean-to was Put up with the metal pipes and some ropes were thrown over the top to hold down the tarps in case a windstorm Would come up. We snuggled back in the trees pretty much out of the wind anyway. There was a lot of work to put up the camp but for some strange Reason We enjoy that part very much. Everyone knows exactly what to do and where to put everything.
After camp was made comfortable, we drove around to check the trails for elk signs. Some cows were using the Island Ridge trails going back and forth between the fields and the high-country bed grounds. ln that area, elk are Creatures of habit, they will use the same trails each year. They are smart animals; we don’t take them lightly. They keep to the trees, whenever possible. After the first rifle shots fired the bull elk quit bugling and they mostly travel to the fields late in the evenings then they head back to the hills before daylight. Occasionally some get delayed as they leave the fields by hunters or the weather. This puts them out in the open after daylight. The road hunters get some of them, but the elk that survive are a lot smarter.
Having satisfied ourselves that the elk were around we drove down to the valley to let Joe and Vicki know where we were camped. They are always happy to see us, and we have become really good friends over the years. They know we do not leave a messy camp and we obey the hunting rules to the letter. We could make a camp in their backyard, and they wouldn’t mind. They served us a hot cup of coffee and cocoa while we visited then it was back to camp to fix supper.
Supper consisted of hamburger patties, Pork and beans and potato chips. We usually have a jar of pickles along to slice up for the hamburger sandwich. We can get by with just simple meals. Everyone always gets enough to eat. We had one more day to waste before hunting season opened on Friday. We scouted the area quite a bit the first day so we thought we might spook the elk if we were running around too much. The day was spent playing Pinochle and enjoying the camp. That night I fixed an early supper of steak, boiled potatoes, a Vegetable, and mushroom flavored gravy. Now and then we bring lettuce and dressing so we can have a tossed salad. As normal, everything was eaten except the plates. The evening temperature was cooling off fast and since we never built an outside fire, we retired to the comforts of the trailer. The furnace warmed up the inside area of the trailer so we could sit around with very little clothes on to be comfortable. We played several games of pinochle then had cookies and milk, before going to sleep. Opening morning finally dawned and the old alarm clock said it was time to get up. Every morning starts out with a g○○d breakfast of bacon and eggs with toast on the side. While I made breakfast, Harry and Bud made a pile of sandwiches for the backpacks. Each of us carries a canteen of water because of giardia being in most of the mountain streams. We will not take a chance on drinking bad water and ruining the trip. We loaded into Bud’s truck for a quick trip to the Island Ridge to hunt.
We allotted about a half an hour to get into Position before day start at the upper end while Harry and Bud went down to the lower end, so we can meet in the middle somewhere. We have found this to be the best way to hunt the whole area. エ had to Wait for a while for it to get light enough to shoot before starting out. By then the guys would have climbed the steep hill up to the rocks. It would take me a couple of hours or more to get to the other end the way I like to hunt. This year we all had bull elk tags, so shooting cows was a no-no. At first light, I started out down the ridge knowing there could be an elk anywhere. I had only gone over the first hill when two cow elk came off the next little knob running hard. I thought there may be a bull elk behind them, so I just stopped to watch. Sure, enough over the same knob, came a three-point bull elk but he was running right at me. He veered off around some bushes or he would run right over me. All of a sudden, he saw me standing there. The bull elk came to an abrupt stop, walked over to the edge of the bushes to look me over. By this time, my old heart was thumping like a base drum. The light was still dim yet, so I decided to try for a heart shot, not realizing he had taken several steps towards me. His full body was in a straight line with him looking over the top of the bushes. I Shot where I thought his body should be, but it was not there at all. The bullet never touched him. For obvious reasons he did not wait around for me to try a second shot. I could not believe I missed him, at ten yards or less. I trailed him for quite a while to make sure he was not hit before giving up. Nothing else to do but go on down the ridge to meet up with Harry and Bud. I hunted as T went but there weren’t any more elk around. I found the guys waiting for me by the rocks, where we had agreed to meet. They had seen some cows but no bulls. L related my tale of woe to them. We went down to the truck then drove to a spot near where I had missed the bull. We found his tracks where I left off. He was not showing any signs of being hurt at all. We quit trailing him after he crossed the road headed for the high hills. The bull was very large in body even though he was only sporting a three-point rack. He had grown up eating grain in the valley. Elk grows fast with the abundance of food available all summer. The grain gives the elk a flavor not found in most elk. By this time, it was getting late in the afternoon, the chances of finding another bull elk were getting pretty slim, so we headed back to camp. We sat around, discussed the day’s events and what to do the next day. The Island Ridge showed the best promise of finding an elk. Evening was now upon us, time to fix supper. Tonight, I grilled a steak for each of us with a pan of fried spuds. A can of string beans was warmed up for a vegetable and a small pan of mushroom gravy was soon boiling on the stove. We enjoy having just plain good tasting meals that are not hard to fix. We went to bed hoping the elk would be back on the ridge the next morning. I laid there for a long time pondering on how in the world could l have missed such a large bull elk that morning. S○○n we were all asleep, seeing whom out-snore the others. Saturday morning found us back on the ridge at first light. I again, started at the top with Harry and Bud going to the other end. We feel we have a better chance of finding an elk if we split up than all of us walking side by side down a trail. One person can cover the ridge pretty well. The last half-a-mile, the ridge gets quite wide with finger ridges leading off both sides. On top of the last hill were some piles of rocks and mature pine trees which seems to be a favorite daytime bed ground for the elk after eating in the fields all night. We see elk regularly in that area. Harry and Bud had seen some there, the day before, mostly cow elk. This time the other guys stayed near the road, while l came through alone all the way. As I was nearing the rocks, I was chirping on my cow call just moseying along with my mind far away at that moment. It must have sounded pretty good as I was walking through the trees. Suddenly I have this strange feeling of being watched. I stopped to see why or what was going on. Peeking over the pile of rocks watching me were four cows and a calf, they soon realized I was not one of their kind and away they went. However, there were no bulls with them. I found Harry and Bud not far from the truck. We sat around having some lunch trying to decide where to go for the rest of the day. The plan was to drive around the roads down by the fields and over by the tulle patch. Maybe we could catch an old bull elk wandering around somewhere. The afternoon went fast but looked as hard as we could. There was not an elk anywhere. It was now getting dark, time to head back to camp. We fixed an early supper then sat around in the trailer house where it was warm and played Pinochle until bedtime.
We decided to drop off the hill to the hole, the next morning. It would have been a hard trip, but this year we were all in fairly good shape for a change. Morning found us up early to fix breakfast and pack a good lunch for the day. We were planning to be out all day and we would need the lunch to get us back to camp. We dropped off the hill into the hole. There are some large old bull elk staying down there where very few hunters ever go. They know they are Safe besides the area was really cool with swamps for wallows to get rid of the flies. The whole area was checked out, but the bull elk were not there that day. They may have been spooked out by other hunters or maybe they went somewhere else for the day. Either way we had to climb back up the mountain to get back to camp again. There were a lot of afternoons left, so we drove over the Island Ridge, to check it out. Elk had been there that morning but moved out before noon. We probably should have checked the ridge this afternoon instead of going into the hole. Back to camp again without an elk to show for all our hard walking. A normal supper was fixed then we retired to the trailer to play cards and talk over where to go next. Seemed like we just went to sleep, and it was time to get up. We had to hunt hard the next few days, because time was getting short.
As soon as breakfast was over, we headed for the Island Ridge for an early morning hunt. Today, we all started at the top and went through together so we could really cover it good. There were several groups of cows, but no bulls at all. None that we could see that is. We knew there had to be a bull or two around, but they can hide like they are invisible. We spent most of the day walking around the Island Ridge, going crisscross and checking all the timber pockets on both sides. We could feel we were getting closer to finding a bull elk. We finished up the day checking out other places but still did not find any bull elk. Nearing dark, we went back to camp only to find a note from Joe, on the trailer for us to come down to the ranch and call home. It seemed urgent and we were afraid it was bad news. We turned around and headed for the ranch to make the call. It was bad news as we feared. Our brother-in-law, Bud Claassen, had died of a heart attack that day. We thanked Joe for coming after us then sadly went back to camp. Since it was now dark we would wait until morning to break camp and head for home. We told Joe that we would be leaving right away. So, we packed up and headed home. We were sure we could get a bull if we stayed the full time. Next year, We Would be back to hunt in this same area, but we would find a different place to camp. This was a great camping spot, but we were too far from where we wanted to hunt. When we arrived at Hom everything was cleaned up and the gear was put away for our next trip.