This hunt was a long time in planning. We had tried to pry John Havard out of the mountains of Alaska and his annual Moose hunt since our first hunt with him in '04. Finally he decided that he needed a shot at elk.
The area in Central Idaho was well know to Jason and me. Heck I'd hunted it for nearly 20 years and knew it very well. A couple of things were in the mix as wild cards however. The first is wolves. Since there introduction in the area I'd watched the elk population reduce by more then 50%. The second was the big fire five years ago. We'd switch to an unit west of it because of it and hadn't been back since.
Anyway the experience of years won out in deciding where to go. In 20-20 hindsight the other area might have been better.
Our plan was to meet John in Boise on Sunday the 11th and get our supplies and stay the night. Early on the 12th we were headed up the highway to elk camp. A short stop for gas and we headed into the hills a couple hours later.
Our primary camp spot was taken so off to a secondary location I'd wanted to use for years we went. We lucked out and it was empty. So the process of setting camp started. Now we don't carry our camp on our back or even in our truck for that matter. It fills our trailer.
Our home away for the two weeks is a 16-20 wall tent equipped with a 5 dog stove, 5 gal water heater and a new oven Jason built for the other side of the stove.
Our cots are the Cabelas XL with 3" foam pads. John and I both use C-pap machines so we had 12 volt batteries to power them at night. John also brought a 2 kw generator to provide electric lights and a fan in the tent when running.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/mwestvang/Idaho%20elk%202011/IMG_0544.jpg)
The camp kitchen is 10 x 20 and is equipped with 5 burners, an oven and even a waffle iron this year.
Dining table with settings for three also. LOL
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/mwestvang/Idaho%20elk%202011/IMG_0546.jpg)
Here are a few pics of the inside of the tent.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/mwestvang/Idaho%20elk%202011/IMG_0552.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/mwestvang/Idaho%20elk%202011/IMG_0553.jpg)
Here is the stove. Note the box on the near side as that's Jason's new oven.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/mwestvang/Idaho%20elk%202011/IMG_0554.jpg)
:campfire:
After setting camp a thunderstorm roared in over the mountain an dumpped a bunch of rain for about an hour or so.
As soon as the rain passed we put together a quick dinner of moose steaks in red gravy with mashed potatoes. I was apologizing to John about the lack of complexity in the dinner as he was raving about something with Mountain House in it. I didn't catch it all but I think he liked dinner. LOL
We decided to give our old favorite "grouse ridge" a visit the first night as it was only half a mile or so from camp. We managed to see a few deer that evening but also saw that the fire had wiped our all the larch trees the grouse love so much. As a result, grouse ridge became "grouseless ridge".
Lucky for us I'd brought some boxes of hardwood scraps along for firestarting and we used some of these that first evening and the next morning.
The early disclaimer about maybe the other area being better sounds "interesting" and what a cosy looking camp. You boys sure do know how to do it up right. And you haven't even gone hunting, yet.
Looking forward to more of this.
:campfire: :archer:
PS: Tell grandma Connie hello for me and daddy Jason as well.
Looks very nice for a camp. But hey if you are there for 2 weeks.... Gotta be comfy. Waiting for the rest. :coffee:
Now that's a camp setup!
The next morning we decided to head accross the valley and check out a placed we'd had many elk encounters in over the years. It was a morning filled with sidehill crossings of ridges and setups but no elk and not even one set of fresh elk tracks. We covered a couple of miles and came back to camp scratching our heads. We did see a little deer sign and the south end of a north bound mule deer but that was it.
Looks like we need to find the edges of the burn and see what green timber holds. So as we headed back to camp in the truck we worked a plan for the afternoon hunt. There is a back road that traverses the area and should provide more data.
Back to camp to make breakfast and cut some wood for the stove. As we were in the middle of the burn, wood was available within 100 yds of camp.
We whipped up some hashbrowns with sausage, peppers, onions etc for breakfast and threw in six eggs at the end. This is a meal we call "glop" for the sound it makes when it hits the plate.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/mwestvang/Idaho%20elk%202011/IMG_0547.jpg)
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WOW Mike, you guys were really roughing it huh? No satelite TV?
Glad to see Jason didn't work you too hard either.
You sure do know how to rough it Mike! So many guys think elk camp is all about pain and suffering through a Spartan existence. Doesn't need to be that way!
Great looking camp! My little backpacking tent worked great last month in Colorado, but I'm envious of all your "creature comforts"! Looking forward to your continuing story!
Bernie Bjorklund
NC Iowa/Sw Wisconsin
Now THAT is an elk camp!
What time do the maids come in to make the beds ? I have stayed in motels that aren't that nice ... :campfire:
I turned 60 last month and as time has gone by the creature comforts have made it easier for me to go for 2 weeks and not break down.
Our routine in camp is too have coffee and a muffin in the morning. Return to camp when the elk bed down and make a big breakfast. Get our camp chores done, take a nap or read for a bit. Then make dinner before we head out for the evening hunt. On day two it was my turn to cook so I made pasta with a moose meat sauce and mushrooms. Jason was wanted to try his new oven so he made fresh sourdough bread to go along. Add a glass of wine and you have a pretty hearty dinner.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/mwestvang/Idaho%20elk%202011/IMG_0562.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/mwestvang/Idaho%20elk%202011/IMG_0561.jpg)
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Mike and Jason put on one heck of a camp and feed, let me tell you.
This was the first year since the mid-70's that I haven't hunted in Alaska (lived there for much of that time so hunting there was easy). During all those years the hunts I've been on have been fly-in, often with severe weight and bulk restrictions. No such restrictions existed with this camp!
I decided with some urging from the Westvang clan that I'd have to give the L48 and elk a try. I must say that this is the first and only hunt I've ever been on when I did not LOSE weight. Those boys know how to cook and I know how to eat!
Outstanding.....I'm drooling and that bread looks just fantastic.... On my Elk hunt this year I lost 8 pounds in a week......I'm thinking you guys did not!!! :thumbsup:
I drove over from my new home just north of San Francisco and met them in Boise. I knew things were going to be pretty cush when we bought some new PILLOWS and pillow cases for our beds. Heaven forbid that we'd have to use a stuff sack filled with socks or something like that for a pillow!
In Alaska I furnish the camp (16-man tipi, wood stove, small cots, so it's not totally spartan) but now the shoe was on the other foot. Mike & Jason furnished the camp so I brought along a few luxury items. In addition to the 5 gallons of home brew that Mike & Jason brought, I added in a case of wine along with some sipping tequila for when we felt the urge. Otherwise we'd have to survive on food and water alone!
Sounds like you enjoyed most-excellent fare while in camp!
Lookin' forward to more of the story!
Shoot straight, Shinken
:archer2:
How many bottles of wine do you need to fill 3 glasses :biglaugh:
You guys must hunt downhill in the afternoons...I would need another nap after all that!
Steve,
This is what Mike looked like after a big afternoon meal:
(http://i603.photobucket.com/albums/tt113/JCHavard/Zardoz_zed.jpg)
Great camp indeed!
John,
Isn't that a pic of your neighbor after his burgler alarm when off?
LOL
I've never looked good in high boots.
Mike
WOW, nice set up. Looks like a great way to spend a couple of weeks in the mountains!
Yeah the tents and utensils are spotless, the wine is first class too...............................anybody see any archery tackle in any of those pics?? :bigsmyl: :bigsmyl:
Well the evening hunt was approaching so we loaded up and headed up the mountain in the truck. It would take 30 minutes to get where I wanted to park and on arrival the spot was unoccupied. That's a big issue with hunting public lands. If find that our truck draws a lot of attention and if we park in an area for a couple of days we end up with lots of help hunting for the elk we've found. LOL
The wind was wrong for this ridge tonight but I wanted to work out along the edge and do some locate bugles to see if elk were bedded in the areas I thought they would be. Sure enough as we hit the end of the ridge and bugled down, we got not one but two answers. I know the elk tend to work to the water at night and back up the finger draws in the morning so we headed back up the ridge with a morning hunt on our minds. We stopped at a nice spot to call into a side draw just in case and got an answer. We had a better 90 degree wind so decided to give it a try. We'd learn the draw better as the week went on and could have got down wind on this setup. John ended up seeing the bull briefly as it moved down the draw and out of the hunt.
We got back to the truck with some time left before dark so we continued on the cross route. We ended up seeing a doe and two yearlings that John stalked and did a good job of shooting right over at about 15yds. It was steep downhill but dang. LOL
I'd get my chance later in the hunt.
After the deer we moved on down the road to a place we call CR4 and we drove up a road in the area looking for elk and deer sign. The rains came again and we headed on back towards camp. Just before dark we spotted some spruce grouse downhill from the road and the chicken hunt was on. When it was over we had four grouse on the ground and one that flew off. Well heck 80% is a great percentage. We won't talk about how many shots it took but we only lost one arrow that I stuck in a pine about 30 ft up. We brought 18 flu flus for this purpose so we are doing good.
We do know that our favorite dish of grouse alfredo is on the menu now though.
Mike
Wow. Your camp has a garage..... :D :D
FLU FLUS, Jason didn't carry his slingshot?
oh yeah, Jason carried his slingshot and it comes to play later int eh story.
Mike
The grouse in Idaho are what I'd call totally ethical (the inverse being, of course, unethical). They stick around while you get the range on them. I just wish moose and elk and deer did the same thing!
this is getting good, cant wait to read it all!!
that second pic is that a huge "headlamp" hanging dowm?? Cripes this is first class. Proceed Sir :thumbsup:
Yep because we had John's generator this year we built a light setup for the kitchen. It has two floods and three single bulbs. Very nice the have light when cooking.
Day 3 we headed back to where we'd put the elk to bed the night before. We chose to work out the left side of the ridge in order to get the wind if the elk had continued up the right side draw.
We hit it right on the head. As we worked around the point, we set up and I started to rub a tree with a stick from the ground. I've found rubbing to be non threatening agression and it usually will get a bull going that might otherwise turn tail with his cows. Almost at once the area below us and too the right lit up with cows and calves calling and then a bull bugled. They were about 400 yds out and cross wind as the thermal hadn't switched yet. We dropped down the hill a couple hundred yards and set up along a brush pile of alder. Hoping that the bull would come up the up wind side.
What we didn't know was that there is a major trail just under the alder patch about 100yds further down. And the first bull came right up the trail bugling his head off. He kept coming until he hit our wind at about 40yds but out of sight. Then off he went.
The good thing is that he was the only alarmed elk in the bunch. We repositioned and tried again. And here comes another bull, not as aggressive but responsive and coming on a string.
Again he's on the unseen trail and circles across the wind until we are busted.
We sit down to wait for the thermal that should be blowing up by now but is not. As we sit, we hear cows and calves move from right to left below us and again we are in action. The wind is switching now and is mostly coming up the hill. So maybe we can pull it off. We talk back and forth with the cow and calves for 10 minutes but finally the stopped moving. They'd bedded down for the morning. I have one rule after finding elk "DON'T HUNT THEM IN THERE BEDS!!!" You can bump them while they move or feed and they will go a little ways, but if you bump them out of the bedding area they are gone.
We backed off and headed up the ridge to the truck. Dang I don't remember it being this far down. LOL
Mike
Great read so far. Can't wait to hear the rest.
:campfire:
BAck at camp we made breakfast and decided it was time to set up the shower as the "wolverine" had started to creep into camp.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/mwestvang/Idaho%20elk%202011/IMG_0631.jpg)
This Cabelas shower and enclosure is a wonderful thing to have in camp. You can shower every day if you want and have water available. We found that 4 gals of hot water was perfect for the 3 of us to fight the wolverine.
Mike
John, if you have to sacrifice and hunt the lower 48 this looks like a great way to do it!
I thought I was living the high life when I put up a solar shower...haha
Great camp Mike and I love the "Directors" chair :) You should hold a seminar for some outfitters in Camp set-ups...
Can't wait for more :)
:coffee:
David, you're so right! This DIY camp is plush and comfy almost beyond description.
However, don't let the camp comforts fool you. These Westvang boys hunt just as hard as they camp.
If memory serves me I prepared Jambalaya for dinner and John got his first lesson in the fine art of "dump cake". We eat dinner so early we are often hungry when returning to camp that evening. Fresh cookies or warm dump cake hit the spot perfectly.
The evening hunt saw us leave camp and have a truck right behind us head up the hill. I reconized it as the local Outfitter with clients. He pulled off at "grouse ridge" and we continued the climb up the mountain. We headed down the middle of the ridge to get just above where we were working the elk in the morning. The thermals were blowing up hill and in our face.. . .perfect. We slipped in quiet and sat to listen as the sun lowered in the sky. Temps were in the 60s so the elk will be active early this evening. At least that's what experience tells me.
We were right and had a bull bugle down the canyon almost at once. We headed down hill to places we hadn't been before. This end of the ridge goes down in stages. Starts steep and goes really steep and then OMG it's steep. Just above the OMG level we set up and started racking a tree again. Yep fired right back at us. He was below and to our right. Located in the draw or just on the other side. His answers were stationary. So I think "bedded".
We hunker down a bit and call now and then. After about 1/2 an hour. He's getting closer and we are in a bugle battle. By the sounds of the cows this is the herd bull or one of the satellite bulls from this morning has got some girl friends now.
We keep at it and close the distance while he brings the herd our way. All is going real well until the sun goes down and the thermal switches down hill. It's getting dicy with the wind now and instead of bumping him that close we head out over the ridge . . . bugling all the way. I figure they will be in the draw int he morning and we can move in downwind and have our way with them. LOL
When we got to the truck and headed out, we found two trucks parked up the road just above where we were working the bull. Might be problems in the morning but we will see.
Mike
AFter dark we were sitting in the tent and having a beer waiting for the dump cake to warm a little when a truck pulled in. Hmmm visitors. Turned out that one of the clients of the outfitter was a TG'r and saw our truck. Three nice fellows from Boston. I'm sorry I don't remember names very well but maybe they will chime in.
Mike
Up early the next morning with a plan. Coffee, muffins and some fruit bars and water in the pack. Gotta go deep off the end and circle under the elk before the thermal changes.
We got to the spot in the dark and headed out the left side of the ridge so we didn't scent the area the elk were in the night before. Down we went until we were on the OMG slope and then over on an elk trail that looked like a hiway. At first shooting light we were set up on the side hill. Jason was down hill in the block position just ahead of our wind. John was off to my right towards where we expected the elk too be. Soon we heard a bugle from down below. Dang he's real deep in the canyon maybe all the way to the river. We listened for a bit and called too him. Not really sure if we wanted to drop another 1000 ft and have to bring one out. I signaled John to stay put and called Jason back up the hill. We talked about it for a minute and bam a bull bugles about 100yds below us. He bugles again and there are cow calls. It's a herd bull coming strong but not the same voice as yesterday. As soon as I reconize the herd scenerio, we move towards the bull aggressively. John and me in the lead cow calling and Jason doing a very good squeely bull in the back. The bull bit on the bait and was headed right to John in the thick stuff. We could hear the brush breaking and his antlers hitting the trees as he came. If he broke through, it would be a 10 yds shot.
Just then I hear cow calls (hunter) up wind of the elk. Lots of cow calls and the bull swings away, gathers the cows and heads into the thick part of the draw for bedding.
The hunters above heard the bugling and thought it was a couple of bulls going at it. Unfortunately they didn't play the wind very well and the morning was over as fast as it started.
That's public land hunting when elk are vocal and not many. The hunters will home in on the calls.
Mike
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/mwestvang/Idaho%20elk%202011/IMG_0588.jpg)
We were on the largest ridge over the edge to the right. The elk were in the draw between the first ridge and the largest. The hunters came down from where the pic is taken.
Yep, I was elk small when that bull was right below me - hunkered down underneath and surrounded by a bunch of evergreens (looked like spruce to me but probably are something different). I had that bull dead to rights if he had come another few yards. What a rush!
Man!!! That was a pumper for sure!! Nothing like an herd bull looking to kick some arse coming in!!! Great stuff, I'm staying tuned for sure :)
:campfire:
Great camp pictures and scenery. Great story too! MORE!
Glamping...
Glamping?
Well after a day in camp with "grouse alfredo with mushrooms" on the menu we headed back up the hill and low and behold a quad was parked in the spot we'd been using. So we went down to the next drainage and hiked uphill to the basin. Dang elk had been there but not in a month or so. We did a little stumping and decided we had time to work another spot so headed down to the truck. As we came down the hill we heard a quad come down the road and stop at our truck. The tracks showed he'd stopped and looked in our windows. Made me a bit nervous leaving anything in it from then on.
We headed back up the road and it was the guy in the spot we'd been hunting. So with an hour left of light we hauled butt down the ridge again. When we got to the spot. Jason bugled down into the bottom and got three answers. Good the hunter didn't go deep enough to push them. We'd be back in the morning.
We got up earlier that day and headed out hoping to find the bulls before daylight and make a move on them to get them early. We had a feeling we would have other hunters coming in the top.
Again we got our spot and headed down the hill. The one bull we'd been into the previous day was in almost the same spot. Only this time he didn't come up our side. He went up the other in heavy cover to the bedding area. We decided to see if we could find others in this draw and slipped in quiet and set up.
This time Jason was in the bottom and John and I were up wind with our wind going behind him or so we thought. Soon after we made our first calls, we heard brush snapping and heavy foot steps coming from the other side. 15 minutes of slow going and a cow pops out below Jason and comes up the trail he's sitting just off of. On it comes and ends up five yds on the other side of a four trunk tree.
At the same time, I see a raghorn bull coming down the hill from the other side that is headed right at Jason from the other way. He is going to pass about 25 yds below me and is about 10 ft from a clear openning. As I start to draw all heck breaks loose as the bull spins and the cow heads down hill. What happened? Did Jason shoot? Come to find out the wind had shifted and was sending my scent right in front of Jason. As the cow was moving forward she smelled me and BAM it was over.
John and I started cow calling like a large group and the cow came out about 60 yds up and looked around for a few minutes. Then she went back to her boyfriend and headed back up the hill.
Mike
Mike's grouse alfredo with mushrooms doesn't suck, let me say that right up front. To be polite I ate three helpings of it just so he wouldn't think I didn't like it. He says we were hunting for elk when we went out that afternoon. Maybe he was but I was looking for more grouse. YUMMM!
:coffee:
:thumbsup:
That evening we found the quad back in the area we wanted to hunt, so we backed out and headed up on top for a look at how the burn had affected the area. Wow it was huge. We looked for edges where the trees were green and there was cover. The elk we'd found to this point were in the green on the edges of the burn. I believe the feed in the burn is great but the open area puts them in too much of the wolves sights so they were hanging in the cover. In fact during this hunt we never found an elk in the giant burn. Although we spent the last days looking hard.
Anyway as we topped the pass we found burn as far as the eye could see. Also found a sign that the feds were trapping wolves. COOL!!!
A few miles later as we headed up to a trail head into BC creek we ran into the feds. Seems a yearling bear had tangled in one of there traps and they were waiting for the enforcement agent to arrive and help free it. After talking a bit we found that they weren't killing the wolves but just collaring them for tracking. Bummer!!!
And they hadn't caught any yet.
We ran into another ethical grouse a little while later and after some fouling shots with our bows we put him in the bag. Why is it that when shooting at grouse the first 5 or so shots are just not on target? LOL This was an adult male and a very nice bird.
WE have come to the conclusion that our camera skills suck. We forget to take a pic when we all had cameras in our packs.
WE spent the evening checking in on spots that Jason and I had hunted and found elk in before. We didn't cross one fresh elk track. We saw a couple of mule deer headed for the next county and that was it.
We planned for an attack on our secret spot in the morning "CR2". We'd have to get up early to get to the trailhead and make it into the basin at daylight. So when we got back to camp, we made some cookies and had a beer before hitting the rack.
Mike
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/mwestvang/Idaho%20elk%202011/IMG_0604.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/mwestvang/Idaho%20elk%202011/IMG_0579.jpg)
Up we go on the next morning and coffee, muffins and load the packs with candy bars, granola bars and water. This could be an all day trip if we find elk in the basin of CR2.
We arrive at the trailhead and start the climb. The first 3/4 mile is a gentle climb but if we find the elk here we may end up chasing over the north or south slope. Both are nearly 1300 ft above the basin and are OMG steep. But first lets see whats around.
Jason and I have had many good hunts in here and the fire did not reach this far. So far so good. We slip off the trail and drop into the canyon. There is a big rock we usually sit and listen from and we quickly find it. After 20 minutes of silence Jason cow calls a couple of times to see if anything is close. Nothing.
So we head up the basin to set up the first time. The basin is like a big ampitheater. In that you can call in the bottom and everything hears you in the basin. So we start of slow and non threatening in case we have a herd bull with cows close. No response. Over the next couple of hours we move further up the basin and build in aggression with the calls until we do what Rusty calls an elk hissy fit. We have called bulls over the top with this one in the past. But nothing.
We get back together and Jason spots a couple of grouse feeding 50 ft up in a pine tree and he and John move around for a shot. I stay down hill to spot the arrows in case they miss .. . . LOL
Well after nearly and hour of shooting and laughing and finding arrows the grouse still happily feed on needles. We were looking for one of Johns flu flus an jump another grouse off of the ground. He proves to be pretty hard to kill until finally I got a lucky shot in the brush and hit him in the head. Well it was fun and we now had two grouse in the bag.
The rule is when we have one grouse per each person in camp grouse is for dinner.
We only saw one set of tracks in the whole basin and there are trails in there that look like cattle trails. We also noted that the feed up here was dried up. Hmmm, maybe the summer range was burned out by the sun.
We took a circle route down the mountain on the north slope to see if there was any activity. We only found some old wolf sign. Hmmmmm again.
So we decide not to go higher but to head back down and look over our topo maps for another spot.
We got back to camp and Jason made his famous bisquits and gravy for breakfast. The only thing you can do after eating that is take a nap. LOL
Here is pics of around camp.
Salmon river
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/mwestvang/Idaho%20elk%202011/IMG_0168-1.jpg)
Again:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/mwestvang/Idaho%20elk%202011/IMG_0166-1.jpg)
Another:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/mwestvang/Idaho%20elk%202011/IMG_0164-1.jpg)
Good stuff Mike, all I need is a can of pine needles and I'd be sitting in camp with you.
Beautiful pictures.... the river looks ripe to give up a few Cutthroat :)
I forgot too mention that Jason made more bread for the grouse alfredo dinner but we didn't get any pics of the twisted french loaf. The dang kid sure can make bread.
Dinner tonight was Jason's Chili Mac from his Marine Corp recipe. It's always a meal I look forward too. Very special and it goes great with a cold home brew.
With days ticking by we decided to give another of our hidden holes a try. CR4 was our plan as last time we were in there we killed two elk in one night.
We hiked up the steep creekside slope to the top of the basin. Not one elk track in the whole place. Or any other kinda track for that matter.
Didn't spend a lot of time foolin around as elk are where you find them and they were not here.
So back down we go and we head over to the three creeks again.
We did get into a couple of ruffed grouse that out smarted us and saw 5 deer that evening before darkness closed us down for the night. Back to camp and trying to figure out where to go in the morning.
Mike
The next morning we decided to give the elk on the ridge another try. Heck it was the only place we had found elk on the whole trip. I'm used to finding 5-6 herds of elk in the spots I mentioned above during a two week hunt. The elk and deer population really has dropped since the last time I was here 5 years ago. Probably my last trip to Idaho with the rising fuel costs and diminishing elk population.
Anyway in the morning we found the spot available and went over the top of the ridge and dropped all the way to OMG slope. We set up and called hoping that the elk were still around. We got an answer from way down the canyon by the river and that was it. We worked back up the side draw where the two were hanging and didn't hear or see them. After four hours we gave it up and headed for the truck. Dang I was unlocking the truck and Jason and John got "grouse small" on the other side. A dang grouse was under the truck and was now headed out through the pucker brush with us in heavy pursuit. Arrows flew high, arrows flew low. Heck a couple went right and a few too the left. At one point Jason put down his bow and drew the sling shot. I watched him drill it with a .40 cal ball and it limped off. John moved in and finished it off. That was fun except the looking for Jason's bow part and we now have three in the pot. On the way down the hill I asked John how he wanted the grouse perpared and he said bring on the Alfredo one more time. So that was on for dinner.
Mike
Deciding to humor Mike and pretend to enjoy the Grouse Alfredo was a tough choice. I bucked up and decided that I would, once again, pretend to like it for another two or three huge helpings. Just to make Mike feel good of course.
The sacrifices we make!! :bigsmyl:
Great story Mike.
Yes Bjorn, in order to make a good friend feel as though his cooking is appreciated I go to great lengths - often eating far more than most other human beings should. I'm a giver and love to make others feel good. Funny thing is, after eating almost a half-gallon of it I was beginning to no longer be interested in eating any more.
Now thats a true friend to go to those lengths to make him feel good. :laughing:
Great story, guys. No Elk yet, but it sure sounds like you guys are enjoying yourselves. Lots of hunting, arrows flying, game meat in the pot, comfy camp. What a life!
The evening hunt was spent looking over some more country that might hold elk or deer. We did see a couple of deer but no elk sign. The other thing we didn't see or hear on this trip were moose. It was the rut and we used to see and hear bulls all the time.
We decided that with two days to go the next morning we would come in on the river and hunt up to the OMG slope in hopes of catching the elk down where we had heard them before.
So we had a plan for the morning and settled in for John's dump cake before bed. What a treat!!
He's become a very good dump cake chef. LOL
Mike
QuoteOriginally posted by wingnut:
The evening hunt was spent looking over some more country that might hold elk or deer. We did see a couple of deer but no elk sign. The other thing we didn't see or hear on this trip were moose. It was the rut and we used to see and hear bulls all the time.
Mike
Mike,
I have been enjoying your post and photos. Sounds like Jason and John are the kind of camp mates that make for a great time.
In talking with my Conservation Officer buddies, elk are not the only critter taking a hit from the wolves. They told me that moose have been hit pretty hard, also. That would explain their absence. In the unit that I lived in and drew a moose (bull) tag in 1995, there were seven sub-units with 5 to 7 tags per sub-unit. This year's regulations show a grand total of 8 tags for the whole unit. The years of no management of the wolves will take a long time to fix but hopefully, with hunting and trapping seasons that are six months long, the wolf population will reduce and big game populations increase. I don't think it will ever be back to the "glory" years but a better balance.
Ray, good and interesting post.
In various parts of Alaska game herd populations have been decimated by wolf (and bear) predation. Those areas under State control have historically been opened up to aerial wolf hunting. Where aerial wolf hunting has been allowed the game herds have bounced back very quickly - often in two or three years. ADF&G biologists say that once aerial wolf hunting in those areas is stopped it takes only two years for the game herds to begin declining dramatically again.
As you said, the right solution is a good balance. The predators don't need to be completely wiped out but their numbers must be reduced significantly in order to have a huntable number of game animals.
In areas under Federal control forget it. The game herd populations will never rebound there because the Feds won't allow aerial predator reduction. Where we were hunting was inside of the Boise National Forest so I fear the worst for what was once (according to Mike & Jason) a fantastic place to hunt elk and deer.
Well as this story has been dropping to page 2, I guess it's time to wrap it up.
That last morning took everything we had in the tank. The climb was fierce and we saw a lot of elk sign but no elk. We did call in a couple of hunters that came in off the top and during that episode, heard a bull bugle from his bed up the hill. When we headed back to the truck we all knew that our hunt was over.
We started breaking camp after breakfast and decide to go take some pics of the area that afternoon. Here are some of the pics we took.
Jason with his grouse hunt story:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/mwestvang/Idaho%20elk%202011/IMG_0633.jpg)
John in his Pink Floyd shirt and cool hat
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/mwestvang/Idaho%20elk%202011/IMG_0635.jpg)
The three amigos
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/mwestvang/Idaho%20elk%202011/IMG_0569.jpg)
Wolf tracks near camp
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/mwestvang/Idaho%20elk%202011/IMG_0618.jpg)
We drove up the mountain to get some more pics
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/mwestvang/Idaho%20elk%202011/IMG_0575.jpg)
Of course we spotted some deer and Jason tried to stalk them in his hip camos.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/mwestvang/Idaho%20elk%202011/IMG_0566.jpg)
Here's a good one John took of camp after dark with the electric lights,
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/mwestvang/Idaho%20elk%202011/IMG_0638.jpg)
We packed up the next morning and headed for home. John made it that night and it took us until midnight the second day to complete the drive.
It was a great trip with fun guys to be in camp with. We hunted hard and had our chances on the elk.
We started talking about Alaska and Colorado before the hunt was over and are planning future adventures in the locals.
Mike
Thanks for taking us along. :campfire:
Great story mike. I always enjoy these.
Sorry to hear about the "end of idaho" for you and Jason. I feel the loss with you. And unfortunately, I am hearing that from too many places.
Thanks again for the story and great pictures.
One of the more-insane thoughts I was having the last night in camp was how many gear loads in a Super Cub would it take to get this entire camp up on top of a moose ridge? It was without doubt the most comfortable and well-fed camp I've ever been in. I have never been on a guided hunt for any kind of animal. But if I went on such a hunt I'd be surprised if the camp was as nice as this one. A great hunt does not always end up with a loaded meat pole. This was a great hunt!
Thanks for sharing, I really enjoy reading your story
Great hunt Mike, John and Jason.
Thanks for taking the time to let us hang out with you. Looking forward to your next.
Sounds like a fun trip. Thanks for taking the time to share it all.
Very nice camp, great time for all. Thanks for story and pictures.
Looks like a great time was had by all,very nice camp,personally looked like a blast.
Very well told Mike, as always. Thanks for taking us along. I too have seen a pretty drastic decline in the number of elk in the area we hunt in Idaho over the last 4 or so years? Well good luck to you on your future hunts and I always look forward to reading your posts!
Travis
thanks for the story Mike. Good luck finding a new spot.
Great narrative and pictures. I'm guessing maybe you were somewhere in Unit 25 where I have hunted in years past. I can really identify with your great camp setup and used to always have a base camp complete with tepee, Screenbar cook tent, shower tent etc. - no electric lights, however.
In today's world I'm not sure I know of anyplace that consistently has enough elk that stay in one place long enough to justify the time necessary to set up such a complete camp. Back in the '90s there were places in the Pahsimeroi Valley that provided great opportunities, but that was before the entrenchment of the wolves. Now they are pretty ubiquitous throughout the state.