The year of 1973 we decided to go to Canyon Creek for an archery hunt, for a change. We have been doing a lot of deer and elk hunting with bow and arrows. The elk would be bugling in September to help us find one. Besides, we could hunt either sex during archery season. With this thought in mind, Harry, Bud, Uncle Charlie, and I started planning on an early hunt in September. The weather would be nice with no chance of snow. A rainstorm would not bother us at all. In our travels around Banner Creek Summit, we found a place to camp across the road to the west of where we had camped before. There seemed to be plenty of elk tracks in the area and it looked like they had been in there all summer feeding in the meadows. Some springs came bubbling up out of the ground where they could get water. The elk would stomp a big mud hole in the creeks to roll in to get rid of the flies. This seemed like a good place to find an elk or two. For this trip we borrowed the little trailer house to sleep in. The four of us could sleep very comfortable in it. To bake the evening chill out of the trailer we would hang a gas lantern in it. It would be turned down and set outside when it was time for bed. We know about the gas as it can create in a closed-up camper. We parked near a grove of trees where we could stretch ropes over the top of the trailer to make an outside lean-to to cook under. We completely enclosed the lean-to to make it warm and to cook meals in. We always bring along a large roll of plastic, it was usually a lot more than we needed for the lean-to. A wonderfully comfortable camp was Set up in a brief time. The next chore was to saw down a couple of trees to cut up firewood. Uncle Charlie had to build a big fire whenever he was in camp. Some years, We Would go through a cord or more in a weeks’ time. It did feel good in the evenings.
The season was already open, so we took our bows and made a trip out around the area to see what was around. We walked all over the nearby hills and meadows without seeing an elk anywhere. Harry blew on his bugle until he was blue in the face but could not get an answer at all. Not a Sound anywhere to be heard but we felt the elk were there somewhere. Several days passed in a hurry without finding an elk of any kind or size.
One morning, Harry and Bud went down Canyon Creek to where there was a large swamy spot. Harry blew on the bugle as he usually does and this time, he got an answer. He could tell it was not a real elk by the sound so they hid behind some bushes to see what would appear. Each time he would bugle, the answer was closer. Suddenly an archery hunter came into view on the far side of the swamp. He was sneaking up behind each small tree or bush thinking he was hiding. Harry kept making like an elk calling the guy ever closer. S○○n he was up to his knees in the gooey mud. He had his bow loaded ready to shoot, he just knew he was stalking a real elk. Harry decided the guy was getting close enough therefore he stepped out and spoke to him. Now this was one mad hunter. He stomped back across the swamp without saying as much as a hello. Harry and Bud thought it was funny, but this guy was mad enough to have shot an arrow at them, just for spite. I would not want any part of such foolish play.
The next morning Harry, Bud, and I wanted to cross over canyon creek to an area where we had seen elk before. Uncle Charlie was going to hunt close to camp to keep an eye on things while we were gone. With some sandwiches and water in our backpacks, we headed out for the day. The pack usually has some candy bars and cookies in it along with a couple of apples. We were not going to go hungry for sure. We crossed over just below camp then went up to some timber pockets on the far hillside. There were tracks everywhere. We knew we would find something at any time. After covering a mile or so, we split up to cover more of the timber patches. Harry and I stayed close together while Bud went up the hill to check out a timbered area. We were just moseying along, taking our time. Harry would blow on the bugle now and then. Suddenly we had this strange feeling of being watched. We started looking around to see why and there was an old bull elk following us about fifty yards away. He looked like he was mad, and he was big. We stopped behind some trees, while the bull went on by into some thick timber. Harry blew the bugle again just to see what would happen. We were ready to shoot if he charged but he stayed in the trees bellowing and snorting. He would not come Out to Show himself. The noises he was making were scary to say the least. He did not even sound like an elk, but it was. He was tearing up the trees and just raising Cain. The wind changed directions, he must have caught wind of us, and he faded away like a ghost. We went into the timber looking for him, but he was completely gone. We found where he was doing all the stomping and such. The way the ground was torn up he was really upset.
About then Bud appeared looking for us. He was at the top of the same timber pocket when all the noise was taking place. He knew part of the bugling was Harry, but thought we were making extra sounds for the heck of it to fool him. When we explained what had been going on, he could have crawled down into the timber from the top and he could have gotten a shot at the bull. Here we learned a lesson about how old bull elk make strange noises not at all the like the books say they do. No two elk sound the same, as we found out. We had a good laugh about what we had just experienced. It was time to have a sandwich and a drink of water since it was Past noon already. After eating, we went on down around the mountain looking for another elk. We went down about a mile more. before turning around to go back to camp. No one realized how far we had walked until we had to walk back. We dropped off the hill to the main road because walking would be much easier. The elk that were around probably had bedded down in their cool hiding places to await evening before going out to feed. By walking as fast as we could, it still took us more than an hour to reach camp.
There was a lot of time left in the afternoon by the time we arrived at camp, but we had walked enough for that day. We hung around camp shooting arrows at the target we had brought along. Some of the trees were used for targets also and when we missed the points were messed up by hitting the ground and some rocks. We had plenty of arrows, so we did not care much. Uncle Charlie finally came hobbling back to camp from his wandering around. He had been hunting the meadows around camp but mostly he would sit on a hill where he could see if anything moved around him. He has a bad ankle and cannot go as far as we could. He did not see anything at all.
He did find an old cabin tucked away in the timber. It had fallen from the years and the deep snows on it. We wanted to see it and go around it with our metal detectors. He showed us where it was, and we spent the rest of the day working on the metal detectors around it. It was interesting to see how people could live there many years ago. There was trash piled outside one window that told us that they would open a can of something, empty its contents and throw the can out the window・ Our guess was it was used by fur trappers. We did not find anything of value at all, but chances are they did not have anything to lose, anyway. Most of the trash was beans and coffee cans. Small cans of tobacco were scattered everywhere, along with some broken plates and mashed pans. A spring seeped out of the ground nearby for water, which was cool and sweet drinking water if we ran out at camp. The front door opened in such a manner as to see out across a large meadow. We could envision that they shot their deer and elk right from the front door.
The plan was to Stay for two more days, whether we find an elk or not. The time was running out as it always does. We would hunt the meadows and aspen groves near camp and enjoy our time left. I cooked pancakes and eggs with bacon a couple of mornings and had steak and potatoes each night for supper. Pinochle was played about any time during the day and the last thing at night.
Finally, we had to take the camp apart and head for home. We were disappointed that we did not shoot anything, but archery hunting is a hard sport. We were not too impressed with that area to hunt, and it is too Spacious to archery hunt, too much distance to try to shoot. We still had some vacation time left, so we decided to go back to Canyon Creek in October with rifles. We found a place to○ camp on a hillside below the summit in a grove of trees. With coming back on our minds, we headed for home which would take about four hours because of rest stops on the way. Home was reached with no problems at all. We put the extra groceries in Harry-s garage to be used in a couple of weeks.