After the trip of 1994, for our week of hunting, we decided our camping spot on the ridge was in the wrong place completely. There were too many foot hunters using this same ridge to hunt near the fields. We needed a better site away from most hunters. During the summer of 1995, the three of us took a ride to Donnelly to find an out of the way place to camp. Back in a tree filled basin was a flat area large enough for the trailer house and the lean-to. The trucks could be parked about anywhere nearby. This would serve as a campsite in the coming year. The road dead ended at the future campsite. We actually found this place last fall while driving around during a quick one-day hunt. There was about a foot of fresh snow, but it showed good possibilities of a campsite. The summer trip confirmed the choice was a good one. In late summer we started making plans and getting all the camping gear together for the fall hunting trip. Everything was ready except to get groceries and gas; we would need enough for a week or so. We also took along enough fresh water to last the whole trip because there is not any usable water in the mountains anymore.
On Friday the 13th of October, we headed for Donnelly loaded down with all the gear we normally take along. Bud pulled the trailer house while Harry had the small trailer behind his truck with the motorcycles in it. We try to go two days in advance of opening season to get the camp set up the way we want it, and it gives us time to do a little scouting around the area. The drive to Donnelly would take a few hours but we had all day. The campsite we had chosen turned out to be a g○○done. It was up a dead-end road where we would be alone. There were plenty of pine and fir trees to park near for tying ropes to. One thicket of fir trees was right for a meat rack. The outdoor potty chair was put as far from camp as practical; a tarp was stretched around it to keep out the wind. For the first time we had a large open area in front of camp. If an elk went by camp through the meadow, we could see it. An old logging road blocked with down trees went to the end of the small valley past camp. As s○○n as the trailer house was parked and leveled, the lean-to was setup. The was plenty of room in the back of the lean-to for all the extra gear we brought along. We keep everything under cover in case it rains. As usual, carpet was spread on the floor to be cleaner to walk on and it always was warmer that way. The stoves go on tables in one corner. When everything else was done we rolled our sleeping bags out on the beds as a sign all was ready for a good time. Lunch time was getting close, so I fired up the stove and cooked each of us a hamburger sandwich. A hamburger tastes good when we have time to sit down and rest for a while. The activity of setting up the camp did not go unnoticed by the local residents living under the logs nearby. A couple of little chipmunks showed up by the front door. They were l○○king for handouts and Oreo cookies seemed to be their favorite. Some Gray Jays were flying around the Campsite and landing in the trees. Camp was all in order. the sun was warming up the air into the seventies′ too Warm for October. Hunting season would not start for a couple more days with nothing else to do but have a game of Pinochle. The table and chairs were set up right out in the sunshine and the normal hoop-la began. The games were for only bragging rights, but the losers get plenty of ribbing. The sun finally dropped behind the mountain and the temperature started downward in a hurry. The furnace was fired up to warm up the trailer house for the evening. In the meantime, I heated up a couple cans of beef stew for supper. The evening was spent playing more cards and just laying around shooting the bull.
The next morning, we slept in until around 8:30, late for Harry. There was no reason to get up early, nothing much to do but fix breakfast. The usual breakfast fare was bacon and eggs with toast. Occasionally I fix pancakes when we have extra time. We eat well and probably gain weight over the week we are out. The evening meal was always more than we needed. After all the breakfast chores were done, we took a ride down to let Joe and Vicki know we were up for a week of hunting. If there is an emergency at home, they contact us. We enjoy the visit, and we can get caught up on any gossip about the area. They also let us know about the elk movement in the area. Hunting was to open the next day and we had not scouted around the area for elk tracks yet.
The motorcycles were brought along to use for scouting and for packing out any elk we might shoot. They were fired up and we took a ride for several miles. We never stay on the main road all the time′ if we see a ridge with a trail we could ride. The bike is small but powerful. I tipped mine over trying to go up a steep bank and Bud had to help me set it back upright. Soon after the spark plug went out, but I had a spare to change it with. Soon I was running normally and could keep up after that. There were three White Tail does in a small gully but no elk and very few signs of them being there. For some reason, the elk were not using the trails around camp as they usually do. The daytime warm weather may have made a difference even though the nighttime temperature was near freezing by sunrise. We did not know that there were very few elk around this year. In our travels, we took special note of how the trees were changing their colors. The tamaracks were turning yellow, ready to drop their needles for the winter. The aspens were bright yellow, and all the bushes were reds, Oranges, yellow, and some were still green. This made spotting elk difficult. Fall is a great time of year because of the changing colors. This was the evening before the season started therefore, I fixed a special supper of T-bone steaks, hash browns and mushroom gravy. The T-bones were grilled to a medium well, the way we all like them. They turned out juicy and tender for a country c○○k. We ate all we could hold then retired to the comforts of the trailer house to play some pinochle. We turned in early with the idea of getting up well before sunup, We Wanted to be on the mountain early.
Well, the best lain plans can go astray pretty easily. The alarm clock went off at 5:30 as it was set but no one seemed to want to get up because it was so cold that morning. It was back to sleep for a couple more hours. We seldom find an elk before 9 or 10 o’clock anyway. After fixing a quick breakfast we headed for the Island Ridge to find us a cow elk apiece. This year we each drew Cow Elk permits which seemed to be all right. To start out the hunt, Harry and I got out at the upper end of the ridge While Bud drove the truck down part ways to meet us in the middle somewhere. He would find us as we come through. We found Bud sitting on a stump waiting and watching for us to scare an elk by him. We did not move anything out in front of us. They either were not there, or they were hiding from us. It was time to have a candy bar and a drink of water before moving on down the ridge. We would stay together for a while covering all the finger ridges and small valleys as we went.
We had not gone far when an elk broke out of a small patch of trees in front of us. I could not tell what sex it was, as I could not pick it up in the scope, but I could see it moving along through the trees with naked eyes. Elks are the masters of camouflage and when the elk stopped it disappeared. I could never see it well enough to try to take a shot. Besides, I would not shoot at something I could not identify. We spread out again to cover more of the area. The plan was for all of us to meet down by the rocks in an hour or so. We caught up with Bud as planned. He had seen a cow elk moving alongside a large log. All he could see was her head bobbing up and down as she moved along. She would not stop long enough for a shot then she was gone like a puff of smoke. We covered the rest of the ridge without seeing another elk or even some fresh tracks. The day was about gone, but we could hunt back up to the truck, which was about a half a mile away. We then headed back to camp. We would try this same place again in the morning. We did not cause t○○ much commotion, so the elk may be around somewhere. For supper, we decided we better use up the last of the fresh hamburger before it gets too old. We are very fussy about using bad meats. With the hamburger warmed up, some hash browns, and a can of pork and beans. The pork and beans take the place of gravy, at times. When everyone was full, we retired to the trailer house to relax and play some Pinochle for a while. We usually only play a couple of games, then lay back on the beds talking over the days hunting and where to go in the morning. The plan was to get up early, have breakfast and hit the Island Ridge, at first light. After some cookies and milk, we went to bed with great plans.
Morning came with the ringing of the alarm clock. Again, we let it run down and went back to sleep for a couple more hours. We woke up again and looked at the clock, it was 8 am late and the sun was even shining brightly. We jumped out of bed and while the guys were making sandwiches l cooked some bacon and eggs with toast and jelly. With the lunches and canteens of water we loaded into Bud-s truck for a run to the Island Ridge. The hunt started with me going out on my own, while Harry and Bud took the truck on down to the end of the island. They would meet up with me somewhere in the middle around noon or so. I like to go down the ridge alone, so I can be by myself for a while. I like the stillness and can look at the birds and squirrels and take my own sweet time. This is how I find elk there so often. The guys were waiting for me at the highest ridge point by the large rocks. Elk like to hang around in that area because they have a natural escape route off the hill if they hear a noise. No one had seen a thing or even a fresh track. After a candy bar and an apple′ We wanted to check out some thick trees and brush on the east side of the ridge. Harry and I Were fairly close together, while Bud was up the hill somewhere. He is never too far away at any time. As we came off the ridge to a small draw with some tall brushes in it, Harry tells me to meet him on the next ridge. I hardly got an answer when two elk, which were laying down in the brush, jumped up not ten feet from me. A large cow went up past Harry, but he could not get a shot at her for all the tall brush. She had to go by Bud close, but he did not see her. She may have just stopped in the brush and hid until it was safe to move. The second elk went downhill from me, but turned around and went back up a bare hillside right in front of me. The first shot hit the mark, but the elk spun around and went back down the hill. It turned around again going past me a second time. I shot at it to hit the heart section and this time it went down. Both bullets had hit within inches of each other. When I Climbed up the small hill to finish the elk off, I found little stubby antlers only five inches long. My elk turned out to be a bull elk about four years old. Its antlers never developed this year. I had a cow permit and since the elk showed no antlers at 40 yards, I assumed it was a cow elk. Harry and Bud showed up within minutes to help dress him out. We checked the regulations and any bull with less than six inches of antlers can be shot at a cow. We could see the road about fifty yards below us so while Harry and I finished dressing him out, Bud went to get the truck. We were all through with the cleaning job when Bud returned. He backed the truck up against the bank where we would come down with the elk. Bud climbed the hill to us and grabbed the ropes we had tied to his head and down the hill he went on the run. The hill was steep, so the elk moved along fast and about ran over Bud on the way down. The elk went over the steep bank and fell into the back of the truck. We were spared the job of lifting him in, he was large and heavy. We headed back to camp to get him skinned out. There were flies still around, so we wanted to get him quartered and sacked up as soon as possible. We could rest later when the job was all done. I shot him at 11:30 am, and we were all done with him hanging on the meat racks by 2 o’clock.
After resting for a while, we thought we should go down to the ranch and call home. Our sister, Ethel, was to have an operation that morning and we wanted to know how she was doing. The news was good, all had gone well. We felt better about being out hunting and she would want us to finish the trip. There was a lot of afternoon left for some road hunting on the way back to camp. There were roads making loops, roads running into other roads and roads going nowhere at all that we could drive on. We drove along slowly hoping to see an elk somewhere but no such luck. Oh well, back to camp to fix supper. Tonight, we will have elk steak from the bull of last year. Bud had quite a bit left over and wanted to get it used up. Fried elk steak, hash brown potatoes and mushroom gravy makes a great meal. As usual, we played a few games of pinochle before turning in for the night. It had been a long day and we were tired; sleep came quickly. Again, we proved that elk can be found during the day without getting up before the sun had even thought about coming up.
The plan for the next day was to go back through the same area, the cow elk should still be around somewhere. We did not shoot at her, so she was not spooked into leaving. Again, we did not get up early the next morning. I fixed scrambled eggs and bacon with toast to start Off the day. As soon as some lunches were made, we headed for the Island Ridge to l○○k for the cow. The Island Ridge seemed to be the only place the elk were hanging around this year. We would hunt it as usual, with me starting from the upper end going clear through to the rock, so Harry and Bud would wait there for me to push something to them. I could not shoot another elk, but l hoped to move something down to them. The elk in that area have a habit of going to the highest point of the ridge for the day. They can watch all sides for trouble and jump off the hill to get away quickly. I was taking plenty of time, checking out all the timber pockets and brushy draws, but not finding a thing. The ground was so frozen that the elk would not leave any tracks. The ground would not thaw out until in the afternoon sun hits.
Suddenly a shot echoed up the ridge from the direction of Harry and Bud. It sounded like one of their .30-06 rifles, which is what we all use. We use a signal of two shots fired as quickly as possible to call all the guys together when someone shoots an elk. I waited for the two shots, but they never came, not a sound at all. Well, one of them wounded an elk and they were trailing it. The idea of a complete miss never entered my mind. I knew where the sound came from so eventually, I would catch up with them. When l climbed up to the rocks, Harry and Bud were nowhere in sight. I dropped off to the truck hoping they would be waiting for me there, no one was around there either. They will Show up pretty soon. I left a note on the truck and marked the road in the direction I was headed. I wanted to walk around the road for something to do. I would run into the guys on the road somewhere. As I was passing the area where I had shot the bull the day before I was curious to see if anything had been around the kill area. I climbed up the hill Just to have a look around. Nothing but a few Gray Jays and Crows had been eating on the scraps we left there. Back down on the road I heard a twig snap up on the hill somewhere. I assumed it was only a squirrel because I could not see anything up there. On the road l went in no hurry to get where I was going. I walked about a half a mile before turning around. As I passed the spot, I heard the twig snap and elk had walked down the hill and crossed the road out of sight of me. The tracks looked like maybe a cow and it may have been the one we jumped the day before. Had I walked back down the road at the time she would have been in the road, not that it would have made any difference because I could not have shot her anyway, but I would have seen her. On down the road to the truck another elk had crossed the road and went towards the rocks. I followed her to the top, hoping Harry and Bud were up there somewhere. They were not around, so I headed back to the road again. I was on the road when they came by in the truck looking for me.
They had quite a story to tell about the one shot I had heard. They were going uphill towards the rocks when they spotted a cow elk peeking over a log on the hillside. Harry tried to shoot it between the eyes but almost missed. He hit the side of her head enough to knock her down and scatter hair everywhere. She was bleeding a little from the wound, so they took off after her following the blood trail. They lost her after a couple of hours, so they came back for me to help them. We found her tracks where they left off, but the bleeding had stopped. We completely lost her in a swamp. She would have a headache for a few days, but she would live.
By this time, the day was about gone, time to head back to camp. The weather was getting colder, and it looked like a storm was coming in. An early supper of steak and potatoes was fixed in a brief time then we retired to the comforts of the trailer to relax and play some Pinochle. We could hear the pitter-patter of the rain on the roof, and it came down all night. Rain is very soothing at night when all is secure outside. There was no wind with the storm, just a gentle steady rain. We hoped the temperature would drop low enough to snow a few inches, but it did not. The rain soaked the ground and erased all the old tracks. Any tracks we find now would be fresh. On that note we had a g○○d night of Sleep.
After breakfast of our usual bacon and eggs, we headed for the Island Ridge. The sun was peeking through the trees. When we arrived at the place, we wanted to start hunting, we went down the Island Ridge but there was not any elk in the area at all. Everything had moved out. We would need to hunt hard the next couple of days, because the vacation time was about over. We went through the Island Ridge several times and checked Out Grouse Knob along with some other places, but the elk were gone. Nothing else to do but pack up and head for home. We Were happy to have a nice elk to take home. We were home early in the afternoon. Plenty of time to clean up the equipment. The elk was hung in Harry’s garage overnight until we could get it cut into steaks and stew meat. Each Of us received a good-sized box of packages for the freezer.
The hunting season was still open at Donnelly and would be for a couple more weeks. This would give us a chance to go back for another try to fill the other two tags. Of course, I have to go along as the pack horse in case they shoot an elk. We planned to go back the next two Mondays, if necessary, but it would be just for the one day each time. Harry and Bud had enough vacation time to be able to go for each Monday. We wanted to hunt the Island Ridge by ourselves, is why we picked Monday. There usually was not too much hunting pressure anyway. Day Light Savings Time was over so we would plan to go a little earlier on Monday morning. It would take us at least two hours to get to Donnelly because the road was frosty and a bit slick in the shady places. Even though we left really early that morning, we were still late because the sun was already up and shining brightly. As we turned off the Farm to Market Road at Donnelly to get out to the spot where we thought the herd of in one of the grain fields. There were seven head, and they were acting very spooky. Absolutely no hunting’s allowed out in the fields, so we slowed down to watch which direction they headed to get to the timber. They were headed towards the open area near the gate we had to go through, so we quickly found a good place to waylay them. We waited for quite a while, but they never showed up. Later we found out some other hunters had disturbed them causing them to go back to the fields and go out in a different direction. They are cautious animals and seem to sense danger at times. Nothing left to do but to head for the Island Ridge hoping to find a cow by the rocks. I started from the upper end as usual with Harry and Bud climbed the hill at the lower end to wait for me near the rocks. I carefully checked all the normal hiding places that I knew of, but there were not any elk around at all. I did find plenty of tracks, so they were there somewhere.
As I was nearing the rocks, I spotted a calf elk looking at me through a small opening in the brush. l had a strange feeling that something else was watching me also, so I stopped to l○○k around to see why. A cow elk was looking at me over the top of some brush. Suddenly out of the same brush pile came a whole herd of them. I had already used my tag, but the elk did not know it. The herd took off around the hill in the direction of Harry and Bud. They heard them running but could not see them. This really surprised me because the guys were sitting on the other side of the rocks, about fifty yards away. They did not have a clue that a herd was laying down that close to them. We took off on their tracks hoping that they might stop since they were not shot at. We followed them for an hour, but they never showed up, just headed out of the area in a hurry. They can run for miles without tiring. After driving around for a while, we decided to stop for lunch. We had almost forgotten about taking along lunches. Here it was going in the afternoon, and we had not found an elk to shoot at. The ground was still frozen so tracks crossing the road were hard to see. We checked out all the roads near the fields, but the elk seemed to be in hiding for the day, might as well head for home before it was dark. On the way home, we made plans to hunt again next Monday the same way in the same places. The week went slowly with the thoughts of going hunting again.
Monday morning, we loaded into Bud’s truck for a run to Donnelly to hunt for the day again. The weather had turned bad during the week and snowed several inches of the white stuff. Even though we started out earlier, we had to drive slower than normal. The snow was great, any tracks crossing the road had to be fresh. We would try to run down any elk making the tracks providing they are fresh enough. We started out by hunting the Island Ridge in our usual manner, but the elk were not there, nor had they even been there that morning. All we could find was a herd of farm cows making tracks and a lot of noise in the brush. Lunch time was upon us by the time we were through hunting the Island Ridge. We brought an ice chest with some sandwich making stuff instead of bringing home made sandwiches. With some lunch taken care of, we headed out to road hunt for tracks on the upper roads near Grouse Knob. The snow was about six inches deep on top, but the elk had not been walking through it at all. We headed down towards the fields to check those roads. As we started down the road that we came in on that morning, there were fresh tracks going towards the fields. These tracks were made after we had passed by earlier that morning. Harry and Bud took off after them, while I drove the truck down an old road to the gate at the fence line. I knew where I was going, because we camped by the gate a few years before, but Harry and Bud were not too sure they were in the right valley. The elk had not gone too far when they bedded down for the day in a grove of trees. They slipped out ahead of them without making a sound. The guys took off around the hill after them on the run, following the tracks. One track broke away from the others and went down the ridge in the direction of the fields. There was one small stand of pine trees on the almost bare hillside and that was where she was headed. Bud went through the stand following the tracks with Harry going above him to watch for the elk to come out. An older cow elk burst out right beside Bud. Bud started running after her making noise as he went. The cow ran out on an open hillside in front of Harry and stopped to look back at Bud. Now that was a poor thing to do, Harry shot her in the chest, and she dropped right there. In the meantime, I was waiting for them on the road below, they did not know I was there. They were happy to see me because the elk was a large one and they did not want to pack it back uphill to the truck. When Harry shot, I stepped out of the truck and ran around behind it in the road. The road was snow covered and very slick. Now needless to say, that was as far as I went. I lit flat on my back and just laid there awhile trying to figure out what had happened. I drove the truck down to the end by the gate, where we would bring the elk off the hill. She was not far up the hill, and it was really steep. I climbed up the hill to help them dress her out and that was one slick hillside, with a few inches of snow on it. When we finished dressing her out, we tied a rope to her head to pull her down to the bottom. It was so slick I could not stand up at all. They would have to take her down themselves. l managed to get off the hill, but I was sitting down sliding most of the way. It only took a few minutes to slide her off the hill to where we could reach her with the big rope. We used the truck to pull her across the creek and up onto the road where we could skin and quarter her up. The job did not take long, and we had plenty of room to work. We brought along the meat sacks to put each quarter in for the trip home. The cow was thrown in the truck then we went road hunting again, but there were not any more tracks of elk around.
We headed for home. The trip home would take a couple of hours with the snow on it. The elk was hung in Harry’s garage for the rest of the week to cool, before getting together to cut her up. Friday, we rounded up a crew of family members to help cut her into steaks and stew meat. It did not take long to get the job done with plenty of help. We each received a box of wrapped packages for the freezer, and this was a fine eating animal. This was a good year, and we would be looking forward to next year if all went well.