The hunting trip of 1985 gave us some ideas, we needed a better campsite, for this coming year. Last year, on our travels we found a gate near the bottom of a long creek, which Joe uses to move his cows to the mountain pastures for the summer. Just outside the gate was a grassy meadow with a grove of large pine trees. This was a good place for the trailer house and lean-to with plenty of room for the trucks and equipment. This year Montie could not make the trip, just Harry, Bud and I. Lots of guys want to go with us, but we do not take any outsiders. We hunt as a unit and know where everyone is always. We also get along good together. This year would be another archery hunt, so we planned to go in September, on opening day. The weather would be nice but frosty in the early mornings. Our camp can handle anything nature can throw at us. We took our normal camping gear, extra gas cans and plenty of water. Bud pulled the trailer house, while Harry had a load of all the extras. This year we only brought Bud’s small motorcycle along to use for packing should we need it. We left home early in the morning the day before the season Opened. Travel time was only a couple of hours.
As we arrived at the gate separating the farmlands from the open forest’s areas, a side road took us down to the field gate where we wanted to camp. This road was not in very good shape to start with, and it was badly cut down with water checks. We had to go really slow to get over these gully womps, as we call them, because some were piled high with dirt. Some Were so bad we had to shovel them down to get the trailer house over them without dragging the bottom out of it. We finally made it to the gate and the campsite. The gate was locked; however, we knew how to get through it if need be. The road dead-ended on a ridge not far away. Since the road dead-ended, we were- not worried about road hunters driving by all the time. There will always be road hunters, but the camps are never bothered when left alone for the day. The trailer house and lean-to were set up near the trees, which we could tie ropes to for support of the lean-to. We can put up a comfortable camp in a brief time. With everything in place, we made our normal trip to visit with Joe to let him know where we would be camping. Joe was in the middle of harvesting grain, but he always stops long enough to chat a while. Later in the week we would go back down to the ranch house to spend some time with them. Joe was concerned that our new campsite may cause the elk to change their patterns of going to the fields at night, but we could not see that it made any difference at all. The first day we hunted near camp trying to catch the elk as they left the fields, heading for the timber. This was not working, so we started driving to different areas each day.
The bull elk were bugling their hearts out right now. Well, we might be able to call one to us if we were in the right area. Grouse Knob would be a good place to try the bugle. We had no idea at all how well this would work and the amount of fun to be had. An old bull elk bugling from a ridge top will bring chills up the back but one bugling in your back pocket scares the heck out of you. Over the period of a week, we called in nine bulls, Some Young Spikes but mostly mature bull elk that were really mad. One old bull came up to us with just a small willow lined creek between us. The bull elk was about thirty yards from us but kept on the other side of the creek. There was a break in the willows to allow us to see to the other side of the creek. Harry and I would lean over to look through the holes and the bull would do the same on his side. All we could see was a massive set of antlers and a big red eyeball looking back at us. He was really unhappy to say the least. Harry asked me if he should blow the bugle again and I did not think he should. These sharp sticks seemed to be very inadequate at the time. The bull caught our scent in the wind and stomped back into the thick trees. Our nerves were just settling down a bit from the encounter with the old bull when I thought I heard a noise behind us. I turned around to have a l○○k. I did not want a bull to sneak in on us from behind. Harry had not noticed my back was turned when he let out a big bugle to see if something else was around. I was kneeling down to look under the low pine limbs at the time, needless to say, I jumped about two feet in the air and came down with my bow ready to shoot. He thought it was funny, but I nearly wet my pants over it. Bull elk can be as quiet as a mouse when they want to be. Since my nerves were completely shot now, we went back to the truck to wait for Bud to return. He showed up shortly out of the thick timber. We headed back to camp to fix an early supper, play a few games of Pinochle, and talk about the day’s hunt. Grouse Knob seemed to come in loud and clear because the elk were there today. We did nothing to spook them so they should be there in the morning.
The next morning after a good breakfast, we headed for Grouse Knob. Bud and I would hunt together this time, while Harry would hang back behind us blowing on the bugle. This was a ploy we produced to fake out a bull elk. We thought we could catch a bull coming in when he was careless. A large bull answered below us, on the same ridge. He had four mature cows with him and challenged Harry each time he bugled. He was bringing the cows up the ridge to us, while they were feeding slowly along. Bud and I were hiding behind some bushes where we could watch them coming up the ridge. The bull stepped out in full view of us. He was a fine five point and very large in size, he was old enough to be a beautiful silver trimmed with the usually black and brown. None of the elk knew we were there. At about forty yards it was apparent that they were not going to get any closer. I stood up to shoot an arrow at the bull. L had my compound bow pulled back waiting for Bud to pull back also. He was really struggling so I asked him what was wrong? He had cranked the power up on his bow the day before and could not pull it back over the breaking point. By this time, I was starting to shake from holding mine at full draw, so I finally had to let it go. I shot over the top of the bull, but it did not spook him. I reloaded another arrow but could not make the shot. I was laughing so hard at Bud, I shot into the ground below him that time. Bud finally got off a shot, the arrow hit a stump dead center. The stump was in the arrow’s path the way he shot it. We managed to make so much commotion that the elk took off on the run and disappeared into the thick trees. Afterwards we had a good laugh, however, Bud decided he had better readjust his bow so he could pull it back. Harry joined us shortly, we guessed it was time for lunch, the hunger was setting in. After a couple of sandwiches, some fruit and a candy bar, Bud and I settled our nerves and were ready to hunt again. There was still a bull around, so Harry got out his bugle again. After a couple blasts, a young bull elk answered down the hill. We thought maybe some other hunters had answered at first, it sounded like a tree full of birds, squeaky high notes. It was an elk all right, because he came close enough for us to see him, but he was afraid an old bull would whip him and away he went. We hunted the rest of the day then went back to camp.
It was dark as we pulled in beside the trailer house. Out across the meadow bounced a skunk with its tail saluting the world, little did we know how that striped pussy cat would mess up the trip. We fixed our normal supper of meat, potatoes and a vegetable topped off with a can of peaches. We played our normal games of Pinochle to relax and talk over the day’s events and what to do tomorrow. It was decided we should go back to Grouse Knob again really early. The next morning, we were back on Grouse Knob at first light. As pre-planned, Bud would go to a secluded spot, hide out of sight, while Harry and I circled the knob blowing on the bugle. We were not gone long but when we made it back to where Bud was supposed to be, we found him grinning from ear to ear. Our strategy worked, a four-point bull elk was coming to the bugle sound and by chance walked within about ten yards of him. Bud put an arrow into him the first shot, the bull was so surprised, he just stood there for a second shot through the heart. This put him down, which was good, because an elk can go a very long way after he has been hit hard. It took all three of us to field dress him. By cutting him in half Harry and Bud would drag him off the hill to the main road, while I went over the hill to bring the truck down close to where they would come out. I had to go about a quarter of a mile to get the truck and I was back to help them. They only had to drag him a couple of blocks, but he was large and heavy. As soon as he was loaded in the truck, we headed back to camp, making sure the game is properly taken care of is foremost in our camp. We wanted to get him skinned and hung up to cool as s○○n as possible. We always put meat in sacks, to keep the flies off. To get an elk to camp is a lot of work and we do not want it to spoil from lack of care.
The day had gone by fast, and it was now time to fix some supper and relax for the evening. I cooked up some small steaks, mashed potatoes, and mushroom gravy. Usually, I cook up more than we can eat, but this night we were very hungry, nothing went to waste. After playing our normal games of Pinochle we turned in for the night, happy to have a nice fat elk hanging in the trees.
In the middle of the night, we heard a noise in the c○○king area. I looked out the door to see a skunk rummaging in the trash sack. I ran him off by hollering out the door and he did not come back again that night, nor did he leave his calling card.
The next day we figured on a day of rest. We stayed close to camp most of the day to clean up the dishes and take it easy. We like to sit around and enjoy the camp out. In the early afternoon we went road hunting for a while to see if anything had gone down to the fields during the night before. A few tracks were found that were fresh, but we did not see any elk themselves. We were back at camp before dark to find that little old skunk back in the garbage sack again. This time he ran under the trailer house and would not come out. We could see him by the shine of his eyes. We tried everything to shoo him out but he was to scared by this time and would not budge. Bud had a wild idea, so he grabbed up a long stick and headed for the trailer. Harry yells, “Don-t poke him with that stick” but it was too late. He had already done the damage; the skunk unloaded his full charge right there. What a mess, we had to go inside and stuff toilet paper in all the cracks, pipe holes and anywhere else the smell was coming in from. Now that he had made a mess of camp, he took off and never came back again. We learned to keep the garbage up off the floor after that. When we get home, we would find a large plastic garbage can to take on future trips.
Stink or not, we were determined to stay several more days to hunt some other places so we would make the best of it. We had a poor night of sleep, because of the smell. As soon as breakfast was over, we headed out hunting just to get away from it. We drove to a different part of the mountains to check for elk. We still had two tags left to fill and time was running short. All day we hunted hard but could not find a thing to shoot.
At about sundown we found some fresh tracks on a timbered hill. We walked right into them. Harry was close enough to put an arrow in a large cow. She ran down the hill to a road and when she went down, she fell off the road and rolled down a steep place against a tree. The hill was so steep that we could hardly stand up, but we had to figure out a plan to get her up the hill to the road. She was too large to try to move uphill in one piece and the ropes we had were to small and broke when we tried use the truck to pull with. We then cut her in half so we could handle her. The ropes were tied to a half at a time and by using the truck as an anchor point, I would hold the half from falling back downhill, while Harry and Bud shoved her up a yard or so. We did this on both halves until they were in the road. Darkness had set in by the time we had her loaded in and headed for camp. We had to get her back to our stinky camp in the dark. While Harry and Bud worked on skinning her and getting her quartered, I fixed some hamburgers for supper. They took time out to eat, then went back to work on her. When the job was finally done, the clock was nearing midnight. We went to bed without our usual game of Pinochle, it had been a long day and we were tired.
The next couple of days went by fast. We hunted hard but just could not find another elk. We had two hanging from the meat racks which we were happy to have. The smell of the trailer house was about to let us in, so we packed up for home. Since we were camped near Joe-s fields with a gate we could go through by laying it down, we decided to go out the bottom way. This would be the easiest way to get to the main road. Joe had told us to use the field road if we needed to. We went by to tell Joe and Vicki we were on our way home and show them the elk. They already knew we had the big bull. One of the locals had driven by camp and stopped to look at the elk we had hanging up. The antlers were propped up by the trailer which caught his eye, they were large and very uniform. He must have told everyone in town, even the Game Warden knew about it. He knew we had it properly tagged and did not even bother to come to camp to check it out. Joe had put in a good word for us that we play by the book.
There was a lot of work to do when we got home. The elk had to be cut into steaks for the freezer and all the equipment had to be cleaned up ready for the next trip. The elk were tender and very good eating. Harry jacked up the trailer house then t○○k soap and water to it with a broom. He scrubbed the underneath as good as possible to get rid of the smell. Even at that the stink hung on for about a year. Bud will not poke a skunk with a stick ever again.
Not long after our September trip my right knee decided to go out. In October, I had Arthroscopic surgery on it so I could walk. The cartilage had to be flattened out, I have walked too many miles, up too many hills, for too long and wore it out. The surgery went well, l gave up the crutches after a week then used a cane for a couple of weeks. I had to get it well because archery season was coming up and I was not about to stay home. I could not miss a chance to go hunting. The knee had to be healed up in three to four weeks. I worked hard, doing exercises, walking, and climbing stairs and it was ready to go. I did use a cane for some support so I would not injure it climbing the hill.
The season opened in mid-November, but we did not have any heavy snowstorms. Harry, Bud, and I Planned to go archery hunting opening weekend. This year two nephews, Brent and Howard Claassen came over from Pocatello to hunt with us. We loaded into a couple of trucks before daylight for the trip up to Lucky Peak. We have one particular area to hunt, where the deer hang out until the snow drives them to the lower hills, where it is cIosed to hunting. Brent and Howard went with Harry and Bud up the steep part of the hill to some brush po⊂kets. I was using the cane so 工 did not know how far up the hill I could go. I stayed along a creek where it was not so steep. The rest of the guys had climbed up to where the deer were and were getting some shooting in. In the meantime, I kept moving along. I was most of the way up the hill to where l could hear them talking and they were making bets on whether I would get to the top. The young boys lost their bets because I walked completely around them. I did not get any shooting, but it was fun just being able to be along on the trip. I did see plenty of deer, but they were too far to shoot at them. Finally, I wandered over to where the guys were to see if they had hit something, but no such luck. The younger guys were completely tuckered out and they claimed to be in good shape. They could not believe some old men could walk them into the ground. We had lunch with each other, so we could stay on the mountain all day. The sandwiches and apples tasted pretty good. Even a mashed jelly sandwich can be good when you get hungry. We also carry a small canteen of water along because there is no water at all on the top of the mountain. We chased deer from brush patch to brush pat⊂h all day, but they made sure they were far enough away, so we could not hit one of them. The sun was starting to go down, time to get off the mountain to go home. Going downhill was the hard part for me, I made it down to the truck on my own, but I thought for a while I would need some help. I just was not ready for a hard walk like that yet. When we arrived at home, we gave the boys a bad time about their condition when a crippled old man could out walk them but all in fun. We had a good time hunting with them. Harry, Bud, and I went up there several times before the season ended. I got along good after that first trip. We did not get a deer, but there will be another year.