Around 1962, Harry Marlatt, LeRoy Shrum, Uncle Lewie Drury, and I decided we would like to go hunting for a few days, it did not really matter where by the word of the hunter grapevine, someone had heard there were lots of elk in the Hole in The Wall. This place has nothing more than a huge canyon overlooking the South Fork of the Payette River. The only way to get into this canyon is to go in by way of Grimes Creek. The road there was rough and long. We planned the trip for the opening of deer and elk season, which was in the middle of October. The weather would be nice, yet a tent would be warm enough to sleep in. LeRoy wanted to take along a couple of donkeys, in case we needed them for packing out an animal. The day before the opening we loaded all the camping gear in Uncle Lewie’s truck. LeRoy loaded his truck with water jugs and extra gas then loaded the donkeys in his trailer. They ride really well for long distances. Harry rode with LeRoy, while I rode with Uncle Lewie. We found a good camping spot on the main ridge, above the canyon, where the ground was level. There were lots of pine and fir thickets to use for wind breaks for the tent. The aspen trees were starting to turn yellow, but the leaves hadn’t begun to fall off. The chaparral bushes are all colors, red and yellow orange and some were still green. Deer and elk can blend into this colorful terrain like ghosts.
After a comfortable camp was set up, and everything arranged in its place, we took a scouting trip around the immediate area, to l○○k for signs. There seemed to be more deer than elk around. We did not go down in the hole at that time, to go there would be a whole day’s trip at its best. Back at the camp we fixed a good supper of meat and potatoes after which we played a couple games of pinochle. Pinochle is our way of unwinding, after a hard hunt. No one is ever crowned a champion, but the winners get to brag a lot. Our sleeping bags were spread out in the tent, with pads under them for comfort. We had a good night’s sleep, but morning always seems to come too early when in the mountains. After breakfast of bacon and eggs we headed for the Hole-in-The-Wall canyon.
There was a road down to the bottom of the canyon, put in for working a mine many years before. The road was not passable by trucks because of the many years not giving maintenance. The canyon was about three miles deep. Harry, LeRoy, and I headed down the old road, while Uncle Lewie stayed near the top. He did not want to overdo his strength and not be able to get back out. We walked about half of a mile down to a couple of switchbacks. The road went down pretty fast, and the further we went down the harder it would be to get back to the top again.
Over on a finger ridge we noticed the movement of an animal in the brush. A two-point buck was feeding on leaves, unaware that we were anywhere in the country. We did not make any noise by walking on the road. LeRoy was first to spot him, therefore he was allowed the first shot. He kneeled down for a steady rest, and at the kick of the rifle, the deer went down in a heap. He did not stay down but jumped to his feet and headed for the thick willows below him. We were sure LeRoy had hit it hard, but we had to be positive about the hit. I volunteered to go down to look for him and finish the job. The hill was steep but not too far to the bottom of this small draw. The bottom was full of willows and small trees, so thick I had to almost crawl along to get through. I had very carefully noted where the buck should be. I spotted him sneaking along trying to hide from me. I was carrying my .30-30 Model 94 rifle at the time, so finishing him off at that short distance was easy. LeRoy had shot him hard through the chest but missed the vital spots. He would die in a short time from the wound. I called Harry and LeRoy letting them know that the buck was down for the count and come on down to help clean him out. By the time they slid down to me, I had the buck nearly cleaned out. We finished the job and was thankful LeRoy had not shot him through the middle and made a big mess of him. Now it was time to get this fine little deer to the road which was straight up above us. The donkeys were at the camp, but there was no way of getting one down that steep hill to the deer. Nothing else to do but backpack him straight up. Harry and LeRoy took turns packing, while I carried the extra rifle for them. Each packer had to crawl on all fours because the hill was so steep. I wondered how the rocks stayed on the hillside as bad as it was. We only had to go about fifty yards to the road, but it still took quite a while.
On the road at last, the deer was put in the shade to help cool him out. I waited there while the guys went to camp to get the donkeys. They brought both of them so they could get some exercise, but one could pack the deer very easily. Just before the road started down in the canyon there was a large rocky outcropping and a turnaround place wide enough to park cars and trucks. We used the donkeys to pack the deer up to there then used the truck to take him on into camp. The donkeys could have packed this size load for a long way before getting tired.
Back at camp we hung the deer in a tree nearby and proceeded to skin him out. We always put our deer and elk in meat sacks, as s○○n as possible to keep the flies away from them. We were going to stay a few more days and the weather was quite warm. Flies and bees were everywhere. For the next three days we hunted near the top of the mountain. We could not bring ourselves to go down in that hole again. There may be elk down there, and as far as we cared they could just stay there. We would not be able to get an elk up out of there without injuring a donkey or one of us. We found some tracks on the ridges, but they looked like cattle tracks.
Finally, the trip came to an end as they all seemed to do. We had a great time hunting, and the camping was very enjoyable. Everything was cleaned up and loaded in trucks for the long trip back to town. Uncle Lewie and I decided to take a different road out, which would take us down to Summit Flats on the upper Grimes Creek. We had most of the day to get home so we could road hunt with the hopes of finding another deer for us somewhere. We could not find any game to shoot along the road however, it was a pleasant trip home. Harry and LeRoy took us home for several hours that day and took care of the deer and put away the camping gear they had with them. We quickly put away what little camping gear we had with us.
We sat down together to discuss where to go on the next trip. Hole In the Wall area was one place we would not be going back to. There are many places to go to with mountains not quite so steep.