During the summer of 1992, Harry, Bud, and I had several meetings to plan the fall hunt. This year would be during rifle season instead of for archery as we have been the last few years. Bud’s son, Kelly, was working in the Donnelly area and wanted to hunt with us this fall. Kelly has been hunting west Mountain for several years during archery season, but he usually did not hunt with rifles. He had some tall stories of all the elk he had seen and shot arrows at each year. From all the stories, why not give West Mountain a try. We had already scouted the area out last year. While running around one day, Kelly had been hunting there during the early archery season this year and had seen a lot of elk every time he went out. He lost most of his arrows in the thick brush trying to hit an elk. He missed them all, so it seemed.
The year before we really did not look for a camping place, so this was an excuse to run up there to find one. A side road left the main road close to the valley floor going uphill for several miles to a point under No-Business Lookout. About a mile up the road was a nice grassy meadow with plenty of trees. We used the chain saw to cut some down trees out of a small road to the meadow, which took only a few minutes. We did not do much else about the place so it would not look attractive to someone else as a good place to camp. This place would be home for a week in October. The trucks and trailers were loaded with all the hunting gear and this year we wanted to take along our motorcycles to ride around on at times. The season always opens on October 15th, but we like to be there a couple of days in advance to get used to the different beds and enjoy the camp before the hunting starts. This we have been doing for years and it works out really well for us.
Kelly would meet us at camp when he could get off work. He planned to hunt when he was not working. The campsite was not being used when we arrived nor was there any evidence of anyone even going down the road since the archery season had ended. Most hunters camp down by the main creek, so they have a water supply for the horses and more room for the campers with the wives along. The trailer house fits in between some large trees, like it was made for it. We put up the lean-to out in front and tied everything down good in case a storm would come in. Next, we fixed a place to park the bikes out of the way with a tarp over the top of it. The last thing to do is to make a place for the potty chair back in the trees somewhere. We put tarps over and around it to be private and keep out the wind and rain. The inside of the lean-to was raked clean with all sticks and pinecones before we put down the carpet. We do not want bumps and humps underneath it to step on. The tables and stoves are set up along the wall and the five-gallon milk can full of water put on a table by the door. We have a wonderfully comfortable camp up in an abbreviated time. This is roughing it in grand style.
After camp was all set up, we took a ride across the Valley to see Joe and Vicki Eld, to let them know where we were camped. This year the weather was so mild that Joe was still in the field harvesting his grain. We did not stay awfully long because time was important to him. He had to get the grain cut while he could. We never did catch up with Vicki, but Joe would tell her we were there. Time to head back to camp to fix supper and enjoy the evening.
The next day was spent hanging around camp playing cards and looking the area over. The camp was right in the middle of prime elk hunting, so we did not want to spook any elk that were around by scouting too much. The weather was beautiful, and the aspen leaves were starting to turn to their bright yellow, the hills were dotted with tamarack trees also turning yellow. The frosty air causes many changes to take place in the mountains. The sun was starting down behind the western mountains and the air was cooling down fast. We decided to fix an early supper of steak and pan-fried potatoes with a side dish of canned beets. I usually cook about all we can eat, and we waste truly little. The trailer house was warmed up to about sixty-five degrees, so we could sit around and play cards in comfort. We turned in after a glass of milk and a hand full of cookies. Kelly came into camp about midnight. We did not hear him drive up but when he entered the lean-to and started rattling pans, we thought it might be a bear again. I opened the trailer door with my pistol in hand to look out. I scared Kelly half to death, he thought we had heard him drive in. By now I was more awake and realized it was not a bear. He was not expected for a couple more days, but he wanted to be in on opening morning. We put his stuff away and soon we were back in bed snoring away. Kelly stayed with us all week and never went back to work. Morning came around as usual, time to get up. We were going to hunt around close to camp, so we were in no big hurry to get out. I fixed breakfast of Bacon and eggs while the others made some sandwiches for the backpacks. Everyone carries lunch and a canteen of water when they leave camp. This year I was having problems with my feet hurting, so I could not go too far from camp. Harry was over his knee operation that he had the previous last year.
Bud and l would hunt together while Kelly took off on his own. We never knew where Kelly was, but he did show up when it was dark. I went up a ridge a short way from camp, where I could see the country around me. I was leaning against a large rock, when I spotted an animal about a half a mile away coming up the creek in my direction. He was across the creek on a trail and by the stately way he was holding his head he was an old bull elk. With the binoculars, I could not see antlers, but I could not tell how many points he had. He was not in any big hurry and seemed to be headed for a timber pocket full of pine trees. I moved down the ridge as fast as I could hobble, I might be able to get a shot at him. The hill I was on was thickly covered with small pine and fir trees and so thick I could not even see the other hillside after going down it. I struggled back up to the rock to look for the bull again. He was nowhere in sight, so I assumed he went into that patch of trees to bed down for the day. As far as I was concerned, he could just stay there. I was not about to try to get him out with sore feet besides there were not any roads anywhere below him. We would have to pack him up hill, piece by piece, and that turns out to be work in a hurry. After Harry and Bud returned to camp, they told me where all they had been. As it turned out they were only a couple hundred yards from the bull, but he never budged from his hiding place. Had they known he was there, they could have crept right up on him. Had they shot him, we would have found a way to get him out with the bikes. In the afternoon we went out in a different direction below the camp. Elk had been staying in there all the time before the season opened for deer. The deer hunters must have run them all out of the area. We had a g○○d hike but all in vain, No one saw a thing. Kelly came in after dark with the same report, no elk anywhere and very few tracks. That evening I warmed up a couple of large cans of chili for supper. I kept it hot on the stove until Kelly showed up. It was a large pot, but when we got through it there was little left over. Kelly finally finished off the pot then put water in it to soak so we could clean it out. Kelly told us where he had been all day. He could not figure out what had happened to all the elk. They seemed to have left the area completely. The discussion of where to go the next morning took place over cookies and milk. Everyone was tired so we turned in early. We planned to drive to another area in the morning.
After a good breakfast we piled into Bud’s truck to take a ride to look for elk on the next mountain to the south of camp. We would be gone all day, so we put in an ice chest with some lunch items and some cans of pop. We drove for ten miles, before finding a road going to the ridge top. Those back roads were not in incredibly attractive shape even for dry weather. We did a lot of digging just to get up to some of the rough places. Bud can put the truck about anywhere we want to go. On the ridge top, the mountains were rolling hills with tree-filled pockets everywhere. We found a large valley with trees and brush that could be hiding an old bull elk or two. Harry, Bud, and Kelly wanted to go through it to the main road. I volunteered to take the truck to where the creek would reach the bottom road. The valley was about three miles long so it would take them quite a while to go through it. I have driven Bud’s truck many times, so I had no problem getting down to the bottom. l found a g○○d place to watch for any elk they might push out ahead of them. It took them several hours to get down the valley to the truck. The three of them crisscrossed the valley, covering all the possible hiding places. There were not any elk to be found, not even a fresh track. As they were going along the creek, they found an old domestic ram with one leg missing. What had happened to that leg we could only speculate that he had been attacked by a bear or some coyotes. The leg was gone completely but had healed up. He could run like the wind on three legs. He seemed content to stay in this little valley where there was plenty of food and water. He would hide in the thick brush to let any hunters walk past him. He had survived all summer and fall by his own wits. After all the guys returned to the truck, we fixed some lunch and talked about where to go next. Noon time had already passed us by, and everyone was getting hungry. It did not take long to eat a good lunch.
There is a dead-end road going around the face of West Mountain overlooking the valley that we should try for a while. We drove to the end looking for any tracks or signs of some elk being in the area. The elk were all gone, and haven-t been in there for several weeks or more. We found very few old tracks. We spent the rest of the day exploring dead-end roads and walking through timber pockets. Evening was coming on, time to get back to camp. We were a long way from camp, and it would be dark by the time we got there. I cooked supper of steak, potatoes, vegetables, and mushroom gravy. There was plenty, but again there was nothing left over. Kelly had not had this kind of cooking for a long time, and we thought he was going to burst. I do enjoy cooking for guys that eat what is cooked and like it. This makes my job a lot easier. We gave Kelly a refresher course on playing Pinochle after supper. He said he played a couple of times, years ago, but forgot everything he had learned. It did not take him long to play a decent game. While we played cards, we talked about where to go the next day. About all we decided on was that it was time for cookies and milk then go to bed, it has been a very long day.
We woke up early the next morning with no plans in mind. I fixed pancakes with the bacon and eggs since we had plenty of time for cooking. I usually boil up a pot of coffee for me and heat up water for tea and hot chocolate for the other guys. Over breakfast we decided to walk down towards the valley floor to see if the elk had moved down there to hide from the hunters. My feet still hurt so I could not go as far as the other guys, but I made a stab at it. I returned to camp before the rest of them, so I fired up my Kawasaki motorcycle then went for a ride. The road near the camp dead-ended about five miles to the west. The area had been logged off many years ago, but there still were plenty of mature pines and firs scattered around the hills. I took my time, stopping to glass the hillsides and valleys when I found an open area. Looking as hard as I could, I could not see a thing anywhere. I enjoyed a peaceful ride all by myself. I had been gone for a couple of hours; I had better get back to camp before they came looking for me. I had stayed on the main road because I was alone so l would not get into trouble. When everyone was back at camp, we talked about the days hunt. No one had seen a thing, but they found some fresh tracks, where some elk had been in during the night. That seemed the best plan for the next day, to go back through the same area again. With this in mind, I fixed a good supper of meat and potatoes then we settled down in the nice warm trailer house to play Pinochle again. We play for high stakes, which is for the bragging rights of the camp. After cookies and milk, we went to bed, and we were not going to get up early. We would start hunting right from the camp.
For the next few days we walked, rode our bikes, and enjoyed camping and the company of each other. However, we could not stop Father Time from putting an end to our allotted time. We really covered a lot of the country on West Mountain, but we could not find an elk to shoot. Later that fall we found out the elk had moved across the Valley to where we usually hunt.
We seemed to have outsmarted ourselves this year. Time to go home always comes too soon. Kelly had to go to work, but we enjoyed his company with us. The camp was taken down and we headed for home. After everything was put away and the dishes cleaned up, we Were ready for the next trip. When all was stowed away, we sat down to discuss what to do next year. We would be going back to our normal side of the valley. We did not have a clue of where we would camp, but we may go back to the high ridge again. Now all we could do was wait for fall to get here so we could go hunting for elk again.