Three years in a row we hunted the Donnelly area and three years in a row the elk herds were not there. We do not know if the herds have been thinned down so badly by several packs of wolves or the elk just moved to a different area. Needless to say, we never fired a shot in any of the three years, Seems like it was time to move to another area. After fifteen years at Donnelly, we really hated to leave but we were up against a hard place. Over the winter, Harry, Bud, Dennis, and I had many discussions about the situation at Donnelly. We concluded we should try the area around Idaho City and Grimes Creek. Since I have 130 acres of mining property at one place and seventy acres more next to it, we came up with a plan to put the trailer house up Tulley Creek at the mining work site to be used as a base camp in the fall, we also wanted to use it for a summer mining camp.
Tom Woodward, from BLM, was to the camp inspecting the mining we were doing and officially ruled it to be a mining camp so we could leave the trailer in place all summer and fall. We were doing mining when we were up there and that made it legal. During the summer Harry’s wife Donna and l spent a lot of time staying there. Harry and I had ATVs with Harry’s machine set up with a seat for Donna to ride on behind him. We rode the back roads for miles watching the deer and looking for elk tracks.
Every day we watched deer on the hillsides near to camp. Elk tracks would be in the ATV-s tracks when we were headed back to camp, but we never saw them. We knew they were watching us. When Bud Gould came up, he would bring up his machine to ride with us. This would be a good place to use as a base camp for hunting, We could drive to the top of the hill with the ATV, stay in the trailer if necessary or we could hunt off the ATVs themselves.
We all put in for cow permits, Harry, Bud, and I put in hoping to be the one to draw. I was the lucky one and drew the cow permit. This would work out really well anyway We could shoot either sex this way. Dennis did not put in for the permit.
After waiting all summer and fall, October 15 finally arrived. Time to go hunting for a week. During the summer we gradually took most of the parts for the lean-to and most of the other things we would need to make a comfortable camp. We did not want to leave everything until the last minute and forget something we would need. We have always tried to leave town one or two days ahead Of opening day. There was a lot of work to be done to set up a hunting camp the way we want it to be comfortable. Dennis and Bud would be late coming up, so Harry and I left early Thursday morning, Each pulling a trailer with our ATVs in them. Each truck was loaded down with gas, groceries, and water jugs. We also had cans of extra gas in the trailers where if they leaked a little it would not hurt anything. We would have the lean-to up with the carpet on the floor and everything in place before they get there, Harry and l have put up the camp like this for years and it does take a lot of work and time. Bud would haul his ATV in the back of his truck and Dennis would bring up his tent trailer for him and me to Sleep in, Bud would take the trailer house back to town, when we leave from the hunting trip. There had not been much rain for months and everything was powder dry and very dusty.
The temperature was in the fifties and sixties in the daytime but dropped down and frosted at night and early morning. Without rain, we may be in for a hard hunt. One thing we had not figured on was the early deer hunt and the early spike elk hunt in the area where we wanted to hunt this year. With everything together and everyone in camp, evening was coming on it was time for supper. I cooked Hamburgers were on the menu, nothing else was thawed out, and some fried potatoes. A small pan of gravy made everything taste better. After the pans were cleaned up and the silverware put in a pan of water to soak, it was time to have our usual game of Pinochle. Dennis and I would take on Harry and Bud for the whole trip. We decided we should get up early to have breakfast and go out hunting at first light. We do this every year, but we do not find anything to shoot until later in the morning.
Five o’clock came around early that first morning. Everyone was finally up by five-thirty and the coffee pot was soon hot on the stove. Before long, the smell of bacon and eggs was in the air. Breakfast always tastes good in the early morning chill, even though we eat inside the camper. As soon as breakfast was over, we headed into the trucks for a ride to the top of the hill. There were several places we wanted to check out first, not realizing how much hunting pressure had been in this area.
Dennis and covered a large part of the mountain for several hours. By noon we could see hunting this way was a waste of time. We found Harry and Bud up on the hill having the same luck as us. They would stay up on the mountain to check out another area, while we headed back to camp. I brought along a couple of gold pans, so we decided to go down to Grimes Creek to do some panning. We found quite a bit of gold in a short time. It was not long until a nap started calling us, nothing else to do but go back to camp to take care of it. At about dark, we were woken up by the roar of Bud’s truck charging into camp.
It was time to get up and fix supper, anyway, None of the steaks were thawed out, nothing else to do but have hamburgers again. They can be fried even frozen and thaw out as they cook. I boiled some potatoes and made a pan of gravy, for a vegetable I warmed up a couple cans of string beans. This did not take long to fix, and everyone had plenty to eat. There was a long discussion of what we were up against this year. Harry and Bud had driven to the head of Elk Creek looking around for elk signs. There seemed to be more elk up there, but the hills were very steep. Elk Creek Canyon was not a g○○d place to go down in because it was all uphill back out. We could not pack a large elk back up out of there.
After breakfast the next morning, Harry and Bud loaded their ATVs into the truck and trailer to haul them to the top Of the mountain. They would explore the area on them while Dennis and I would walk the roads. We would find some places where we could watch anything moving on the far hills. Not a thing showed itself. In the afternoon, we went for a drive out some of the upper roads. When they turned bad and the brush was growing cut into the road edges, we turned around.
As we topped a small hill coming back, We Spotted a cow and calf elk in the plowed-out area to be used for loading logs on trucks. We jumped out of the truck, but by the time we had the rifles loaded they were on the run. We took off after them, but they had already reached the trees and were out of sight. This lifted our spirits quite a bit, but seeing two elk did not mean that elk would be running everywhere. Harry and Bud had not seen a thing in their travels. In talking to other hunters camped on the ridge top, they were having trouble finding elk also. The lack of rain made walking in the trees and brush impossible because of the noise it makes. Elk can hear when a hunter gets close and will move out to another area very quietly.
It seemed like it was time to fix supper again. Dennis brought up some special steaks for our Saturday night meal, He also brought along his barbeque and brickettes for cooking them. This was his treat and he wanted to cook them. This was all right with me. While he was cooking the steaks, I boiled some potatoes and made gravy. For a vegetable I warmed up a couple cans of beets. Soon we were enjoying a great meal and stuffed ourselves as usual. Sunday, we took the day off from hunting to honor Bud’s religion. We had hunted hard for two days and we could use a day of rest.
In the afternoon, Dennis and I decided to drive to Idaho City to fill up with gas and Dennis needed some more pipe tobacco. While we were there, I bought the Sunday paper, so we could catch up on the latest news. The weather report was something we were interested in, hoping some rain might be in the forecast for the coming week. The paper was not of any help at all, no rain for a long time. Meanwhile, Harry took a walk out from camp for a couple of miles just to look for any fresh tracks or find a deer to shoot. He only took 357 caliber pistol, but I doubt if he could hit anything with it. He might scare something to death. We took the long way back to camp by way of the Elk Creek Road, then up Deer Creek to the top of Elk Creek Summit. The Deer Creek Road was a mess Washed out in places, rocky and deep ruts with brush growing out into the road. This road was not good years ago and was worse now. We crossed this road off as a bad route to use for any reason. We would drive to the Henry’s Creek Road before using it again.
After driving around for several hours, not Seeing a thing or so much as a fresh track, besides the day was about over, it was time to head back to camp. Harry was back from his walk already. The two of them were working on washing up all the dirty pans and silverware. Time to fix supper again, In looking for something to Warm up, we found a couple of cans of chili, Now this was a quick and easy meal to fix. Before long, a large pot of chili was bubbling on the stove. We did not bring along any crackers, but there was plenty of bread to put on. We made a good go at eating it but did not quite down it all. We topped off the meal with a can of peaches to settle down the chili. After the dishes were cleaned up it was time for a couple games of Pinochle and a long discussion of what to do in the morning.
Since there was not any elk on our side of the mountain, there was no choice but to go to the top of Elk Creek again. The ATVs were loaded in the trucks and trailer to have them to use at the top. The plan was to ride all the back After breakfast of ham, eggs with toast, and coffee, We headed for the top of Elk Creek. Today, l took my truck and pulled the trailer with my ATV in it, I had a seat fixed up on the back of it for Dennis to sit on, while we drove around looking for something to shoot. Bud had his ATV in the back of the truck and pulled the trailer with Harry’s ATV in it, On the top of the mountain overlooking Elk Creek, was a place to park the trucks and unload the ATVs. Harry and Bud took off in one direction, while Dennis and I Went exploring down some of the roads above the canyon. some of the roads ended as dead ends, Other made loops back to where they started. The few tracks we found were all headed down into the canyon, which was by far steeper than we wanted to go into. One road came up out of Elk Creek proper. Dennis and I went down it several miles, but we did not want to go to the bottom. On the way back towards the trucks, we met Harry and Bud, looking for us. They had hopes we had seen something more than they had, which was nothing.
Suddenly, a beat-up old maroon pickup came rumbling up the road with two guys in it. They had started out at Idaho City and were following the Elk Creek road to see where it ended up. To our surprise, Harry knew one of them and I had built a fishing rod for the other one many years ago. He was still using it and it was in good shape. The one Harry knew lived in Idaho City and has grand kids in school with Harry’s grand kids. Knowing these guys was not the only surprise during the trip. The four of us knew everyone hunting up there in one way or the other. Only one camp had an elk hanging from the meat racks. The guy had shot it part way down in the canyon with a “Haill Mary” shot from a long ways off. He happened to kill it with the first shot, therefore it did not go anywhere. He Called his son on a cell phone at Idaho City with the word he had an elk down and for him to bring a bunch of his friends to help pack it out. A whole carload came to help and by taking turns on a quarter at a time, the elk was at the road in a short time. Nice to have friends like that in times of need.
With nothing else to do, Dennis and I Went back to the truck and loaded up the ATV up for the trip back to the camp. The other guys wanted to ride up towards Wilson Peak to look around at the country. They would be back to camp about dark. Dennis and I would have time to play a few games of cribbage before supper time. About dark, they roared into camp with bad news, there was nothing up there, but a lot of campers. We already had supper started, some small steaks were thawed out and ready to cook. We cooked them on a small barbeque, I had brought them along, It was heated by bottle gas and work really well. While the steaks were c○○king, we boiled some potatoes and warmed up a couple cans of green beans, Everyone voted for a pan of gravy, which only took a few minutes to fix, Everyone had plenty to eat, and nothing went to waste. Now came the time for making plans for the next day. There seemed to be more elk on the ridge top, therefore we would go back up there again in the morning. The plan was to get up early to be up there by daylight. We went to bed with this in mind hoping to get some sleep.
Morning always comes too early when it is really cold, The morning temperature was down to about 15 degrees and that was darn right chilly. Everything was frozen including the water jugs inside the lean-to. As soon as the camp stoves were fired up, the lean-to warmed up enough, so I could fix breakfast. Today-s fare would be sausage, scrambled eggs, and toast. Dennis and I drank a large pot of coffee in no time. we do not take time to do any dishes in the mornings, just throw away the plates, put the silverware in a pan to soak and put away the butter, bread and milk. With lunches and water in the back packs, we headed for the ridge top again, Dennis t○○k his truck today and Bud sill had his ATV in the back with the small trailer already hooked on with Harry-s machine in it. somewhere up on top we would find each other, These trips were without any particular plan in mind, and everyone was awfully familiar with the area and where the camp was. We found each other about noon. With nothing good to report. Dennis and I hunted most of the day hard, but we could not find anything at all. We never even saw a deer cross the road in front of us. Harry and Bud was having the same luck, time to head back to camp.
This was Tuesday and Bud had to do janitor work all day Wednesday, therefore he wanted to get an early start for home. I would fix an early supper, then he could head out for Boise, before it was dark. He would be back late tomorrow so we would not wait supper for him. He would grab something to eat on the way out of town.
The next morning, we Slept in an extra hour. The plan was to ride the ATVs to the head of Lewis Creek and ride all the roads we could find in that area. Bud left his ATV for Dennis to use for the day. After breakfast of bacon and eggs with toast, we gassed up all the machines. We planned to be riding most of the day and wanted to start out With full load of gas. Dennis has not ridden an ATV very much, but he has had many motorcycles in the past, That helped him a great deal to get familiar with the controls. It was not long until he was keeping up. Some of the rough spots could give him a little trouble, but he managed fine. We started out from camp, which was on Tulley Creek, went over to Lewis Creek and proceeded to ride the different roads on our side of the mountain. We slowly covered each road taking off the main road just to see where they went, and we were also looking for some elk.
About noon, we were checking out a road we knew was a dead end, when a single cow elk came off a steep bank into road. She was right at the end of the road, she stopped long enough for a quick look at us then went downhill on the run, into the trees, I had the cow tag, so I would have to be the one to shoot her and I did not have a chance to even reach for the rifle. Dennis saw her going up a far hillside through some trees, but he could not shoot her, he had only a bull elk tag, as did Harry, At least we finally saw an elk. Harry and Dennis rode back down the road l○○king at some fresh tracks made after we had passed the first time. There seemed to be a small herd of elk with the cow, and we did not know it. They were long gone by that time. I took a road up to the top of the next hill just to look over to the other side. What an awesome sight I found in front of me. I recognized this valley which started at Grimes Creek and was the upper end of Whiskey Creek. I Went up in that valley With Bob Obermeyer some 30 years ago. It was a beautiful place, quiet and peaceful. The valley was several miles across and would take all day to go completely through it. Next summer I am going to take my ATV there and explore the valley for gold.
Well, guess I had better find out where the other guys had gone. I found them waiting for me about a half a mile down the road. They would not leave me up on the hill and go back to camp or to another area. My machine could break down and I would be stuck miles from camp. It was starting to get late in the afternoon. There did not seem to be any more elk around and that could have been a herd just passing through. Either way they Were long gone now and with the dry conditions we could not trail them at all. We would take our time going back to camp in case there might be another elk somewhere.
For supper, we fried up some more hamburger and fried up a pan of potatoes. It only took a few minutes to make a small pan of gravy to go with everything, We did not fix anything for Bud. Bud came into camp at about dark, as he had planned. We related to him what we had found and how dry it was. There was not any moisture sight for many days to dampen down the hills, and without some rain we were out Of luck finding an elk. We would hunt hard one more day, then decide what to do, stay or go home on Friday. We sure hated to go home empty handed.
Morning came early, the alarm clock went off at 5:30 and as usual Harry was the first one up and started the large generator. The noise woke the rest of us. It was cold in the tent trailer; therefore, it did not take long to get dressed. Harry had the coffee pot and the hot water pot going by now and they were starting to boil, There was a package of bacon left, so the morning meal would include bacon, eggs, and toast. This was easy to fix and very filling. As per usual none of the dishes were done up so we could get out hunting as early as possible, It was still dark as we left camp for the top of the ridge. Dennis took his truck again and Bud had his ATV in the back of his truck already. They did not bother with the trailer. The chance of finding something was getting pretty Slim. Bud did not even unload it when they arrived at where they wanted to hunt, they would do a lot of sitting where they could watch anything moving around. Dennis and I Parked on a side road called the Service Road which is the main road up from Elk Creek. It was an easy road to walk, and it was quiet too, but dusty as all get out. We walked a mile or so not finding so much as a track of an elk, old or fresh. One place we came upon looked inviting, to sit down and have some lunch. Somewhere up on the hill, We heard What sounded like a young bull learning to bugle. He made five whistles in a row, Short but distinct. we could not tell where it actually was coming from or how far up the hill he was. I quickly walked up the road where I could look up the hill but there was a lot of brush and trees, so it was hard See anything. I signaled Dennis to let him know I was going up into the trees to see if I could find what had made the noises. The trees and brush were thick and very noisy. After making a loop up over the top of one ridge, I gave up and headed back down. All I found was a couple of grouse Which flew out ahead of me. l was almost back to the road when Harry and Bud showed up in the truck, looking for us. They had not found a fresh track either. Since this was the last day of hunting, they wanted to stay up on top until dark hoping an elk would come out Of hiding and walk past them.
Dennis and I headed back to camp to play some cribbage and enjoy the time we had left. Harry and Bud roared into camp before dark, not a thing was moving up there, so why bother staying until it was late. It was about time to fix supper and we wanted to get done a little earlier, so we could play some Pinochle. After checking the iceboxes to see what was left to eat, there were some Small steaks about thawed out. Boiled potatoes with gravy sounded good, There was a head of cauliflower that would not take long to steam for a vegetable. This was a fitting meal for a last supper. Everyone helped with making the supper, so it did not take awfully long to get it ready. We took the whole meal inside the trailer house where it was warm and comfortable to sit. After everything was eaten but the plates, we all pitched in to clean up the pans good enough for the night. We would relax the rest of the evening playing Pinochle and just shooting the bull until bedtime. There was not any crowned champion of Pinochle, but we always have a good time with everyone winning their share of the games.
Dennis was having trouble keeping the battery charged up on his tent trailer. Tonight, we would go to bed in the cold, but we had enough extra blankets to put on top of the sleeping bags to keep warm. We would survive about any condition. Morning came without much fanfare. Harry was up early as usual and fired up the large generator. This makes enough noise to wake up the dead. The rest of us begrudgingly crawled out of the nice warm sleeping bags. The temperature outside was in the low twenties again with everything frozen up as it has been each morning. The coffee pot and the whistling tea kettle was fixed the night before so it would not take too long to get ready. This would be the final breakfast of the trip, so I would try to use up most of the breakfast stuff. My first suggestion was to have pancakes, eggs, sausage, and coffee. Harry had a glass of cranberry juice and Bud had milk. I cooked all the eggs and sausage, while Bud made a huge pile of pancakes. As it turned out, we had a lot left over, but it was a great breakfast. We just could not hold anymore, We sat around the breakfast table for a long time reflecting on the hunt and the trip, Even though the hunting was poor we had a g○○d outing, everyone got along with each other, and everyone did their part to made the trip work out. Of course, it would have been nice to have shot an elk, but it just was not to be. Well, it was time to get the camp broke down for the trip back to the noise of town. Everyone found something to do taking the camp apart. My job, since l was the cook, was to wash everything up. For two hours I worked on washing Silverware and pans. Nothing goes home dirty to do later, Dennis worked on getting his camper ready to travel. When he was finished with that, he helped with taking down the lean-to and anything else he could find to do, Bud and Harry found plenty to do also. By the time I had the dishes all washed up they had the lean-to about down and all the tarps rolled up and tied with bailing twine. By noontime we were ready to head out. The trailer house had to be taken home, this time. We could not leave it up there over the winter, because of the deep snow in that area. Bud would pull it with his truck, and he had his ATV in the back. Harry had a trailer for his ATV, as did I. Dennis would pull his camp trailer back to town. Finally, we were all back to town and got together at Harry’s to put away the items we store there. Everyone took home their personal items to be stored for the winter.
There was still some time left to use my cow elk tag. Harry and I would try to get time to go out for just one day at a time for a last try for a cow elk. We planned to go back to the head of Elk Creek, but we still had doubts if the elk would be there. We heard reports of a number of cows in the Bear Run area above Idaho City. We should think about going there for the first day. Harry took off work on November second and third, for the hunt. If we do not get something on the second, we will find a different place to go on the third. The truck was loaded with gas, lunches, and our rifles. Harry only had a bull tag and the season for bulls closed a week ago. He does have a deer tag and a bear tag, so he could legally hunt with me. The Bear Run Road starts at the upper end of Idaho City towards the north. There were roads going in all directions up towards Pilot Peak. We have been there cutting firewood in the past and knew the area very well. About two miles up the road, a flock of wild turkeys wandered across the road and went single file around the hillside. I counted twenty turkeys, all hens, from the way they looked. Toms don’t like to hang around with the hen except in mating time. This was a good omen, not that we were superstitious about those things, but it never hurts to ask for help.
On up the road we went, watching the hillsides very intently hoping to see something. About a half a mile from the turkeys, a large cow elk appeared in the road ahead of us forty yards away. She had a large yearling calf with her, which stayed below the road, so the cow ran back down towards it. We came to a quick stop because this was my chance to fill my cow elk tag. Harry stayed in the truck, while I slid out my door not making a sound. ± had to load the rifle and go behind the truck to get off the road before I could shoot at her. In the meantime, she walked behind some bare greasewood bushes and just stood there watching Harry in the truck to see what he was going to do. She may have thought she was hiding behind the bushes, but I could see her plain as day. l put the cross hairs right behind the shoulder and the bullet hit her solid. She just stood there, but showed she was hit hard, but since she was still on her feet, I hit her again in the same place. Most generally an elk will drop right there, but she crossed the road going uphill but was walking very slowly, I ran back across the road and up the bank to see where she was going. About fifty yards up the hill she stopped and looked back to see where the calf was. Now I did not know she had ran out of air because of the two bullets tearing up her lungs, but since she was still standing, I hit her One more time in the same area. This put her down to stay not knowing the damage was already done, We were sure happy to see her fall down the hill. Chasing a wounded elk is not something we enjoy doing.
Now the work began, cleaning her out. Being a large animal made the job harder than usual. Harry worked on doing the cleaning her out because as he said, I might cut my arm off the way I was shaking. We wanted to see where the bullets had hit her. All three holes were within two inches of each other, I found that amazing since l shot all three times off hand and had not planned each shot. All I wanted to do was put her on the ground. The first shot would have done the job. Now that she was cleaned out, the carcass was much lighter. We pulled her down a pine needle covered slope to a flat area where we could back the truck up to her, the only way we could load her was to cut her in half. we had problems lifting only half up into the truck because she was so heavy. By getting a part of her on first we could twist and roll the rest into place. We still had the ATV in the truck also, which did not leave much r○○m anyway. Finally, she was loaded. We Were ready for the trip home. It was not lunch time, but eating a sandwich seemed like a g○○d idea. It was time to sit down and let the old heart settle back into place. We had a water jug along to wash any blood off our hands after the cleaning job was done. For the past ten years we have worn rubber gloves to keep from getting any elk blood into a cut or sore to prevent infection. After resting for a while, it was time to get the old gal back to town to be skinned, sacked, and hung up to cool. The rest of the day was spent taking care of her. This was a prime animal and we wanted to take extra time to do the job right. This was Tuesday, and by Saturday she would be ready to be cut into steaks. Early Saturday morning, the four of us met at Harry’s garage to finish the processing and getting her cut into Pieces for the freezers, As per agreement, we would split the meat four ways even if only two of us actually was on the trip. This is the way we have always done it for years. Bud and Harry was in charge of the final cleaning and cutting the meat off the bones. My job was to make steaks Out Of the larger pieces and stew meat out of the good small scraps. As I cut the steaks, I made a small pile of them so Dennis could wrap and label them. Later on, it-s nice to know, without guessing, What was in each package. Working together this way, the elk was completely cut up ready for the freezer in about three hours. Each of us received a nice box of wrapped meat and everyone was happy. The bones and non-edible scraps were disposed of properly. The cutting area and cutting board was scrubbed clean to keep any bacteria from growing and to have everything ready for the next time we need to process an elk.
Later on, Harry and Bud would go to the same area to hunt with archery equipment. They can Shoot cow elk and spike bull elk during the archery season, as well as deer, Maybe they’ll get lucky, and we will have another elk for the freezer.
The season opened for archery and Harry and Bud was ready to go give it a try. I went along just for the fun of it and drive the truck around for them. I did not have a tag at all, but I could give them moral support. We chose Saturday the twentieth for the day to go look for an elk in the Bear Run area Where we found the cow before. We took Harry’s truck with his ATV in the back, just in case we Would be lucky. We left town shortly after six in the morning so we could be in the area at first light. It was Just Starting to get day light as we headed up Bear Run road. Rain had been coming down most of the night and it was still very cloudy. We stopped at a wide place in the road to let the darkness turn into light, before going to the area we wanted to hunt. After about 15 minutes, we decided it was time to go on up the road, There were several roads in that area where we could drive where we could find an elk. Most of the roads looped around a couple of miles then rejoined the road it took. We were going up one of these loop roads, when up on far hillside we spotted a large herd of elk. We counted twenty head that we could see and there could have been some already over the hill. Quickly, we drove around the valley to where they were headed for. Bud jumps out and grabbed his equipment, then took off up the hill after them. Harry got his bow out of the case, then I drove him around a couple of drawers so he could try to intercept them if possible. Bud followed their tracks for about a mile before he finally caught up with some of them. Most of the herd split off in another direction. He walked right up to a small group, but they stayed in the trees and brush, so he could not get a decent shot at any of them. A wounded elk could go for miles before dying, if not hit in the vitals. As usual he used good common sense and did not take a bad shot. The elk picked up a sound they did not like and quickly left the area, The guys walked some of the ridges looking for tracks, but none were found. The elk were gone. l knew where they could come out on some roads. I drove over to pick them up. This herd of elk seemed to be the only ones around and they were gone. We found a place to pull off the road to have our lunch and discuss where to go next. Well, it was about noon and raining, we may just as well head on for home. We drove out a few more roads then headed for town. We have to be happy with getting one elk which is particularly good eating. Next year may be a whole different ball game.