So, anyone else get snowed out last year?

It's taken me a while to get back on here and not feel some slight nausea, lol.

Last October my dad and I headed up to Idaho's Caribou Targhee National Forest with high hopes for muley bucks and bull elk. Dad had drawn a bull 2nd rifle bull elk tag that had a success rate of +/- 50% in prevous years, and the odds for muley bucks seemed pretty good too. If we were successful it would be his first elk ever.

We lived in Idaho near the area when I was 5 - 8 years old, but neither of us had been back to hunt there for over 20 years. Surprisingly, dad drove use right to the old timber road where he wanted to camp, and then up that road all the way to the top, in 2wd I might add, of the ridges he remember hunting back in the early 90's. We saw plenty of does, and even a buck right at the last few minutes of legal shooting light that looked like a decent little 4x3.

We were supposed to hunt that same area for 5 solid days, and set up out tent and gazebo excited for the week. Nature had other plans apparently. The area had mild weather for many years prior, but it wasn't to last, lol. It poured all night the first night and flooded the road so bad we weren't able to get up there again even in 4wd. Then, on the second night, the area got hit with an expected snowfall and, at 1am, we awoke to the sound of our tent collapsing in on us. We were able to tarp up the sides of the gazebo and, with the help of our little heater and the generator to run it, went back to sleep about 2:30am.

We ended up packing up and grabbing a hotel back in town, about 2 hours out of the hunting area, for the remainder of the trip. What was supposed to be 5 solid days hunting one area turned into 5 days of hunting 6 different areas trying to find both the animals and an area we could get into safely with our vehicle.

By the time we left, dad had taken a small buck and I was empty handed. We had nary a sight of elk. But the trip was fun if for nothing else but the memories.

So, anyone else get snowed out last year? Or do you have any other fun stories to share to make me feel better about planning a trip for so long and having it fall into chaos, lol.

I got forced out of the crazies mountains in 2013 a few days early, everything I had with was wet and I got concerned with hypothermia. Wondering if you had tire chains?

Yep. When it is snowing sideways and you can hear the trees breaking and falling down it is time to get off the mountain. Last year was a very difficult year due to the weather.

We did not have chains, and regretted it. Dad had debated buying some for a few months but ultimately decided against it. The vehicle we had, a 4wd Jeep Patriot, did good, but the it didn't have proper tires or chains for the situation and really limited where we could go. We live in south Florida and normally don't have to worry about these things, lol. It was a long drive home ha ha.

We actually debated staying in the woods and sleeping in the gazebo. But the thought of that collapsing as well pushed us back into town.

ajricketts said:

We live in south Florida and normally don't have to worry about these things, lol. It was a long drive home ha ha.

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Oh dang, shoulda included this in your first post... I thought you lived in ID and was like what's the big deal?

Dang..... sorry to hear that man. Haven't been snowed out yet so I have nothing to contribute but man that's a whammy.

Nope, didn't get snowed out anywhere last season. In-fact I had the exact opposite experience. It was warm and dry nearly everywhere I went, except for a few rain storms here and there. I would have took lots of snow over no snow and warm last season.

I've been snowed out twice, both times hunting Montana general Elk. The most recent was in late November 2010. A dirt road going into some of the country I like to check out was made impassable with deep snow. I still gave it a shot, thought that chains would help me get in a ways. Only made it about 200 yards until I got stuck. Spent half a day trying to get out, eventually did, but it wasn't a fun experience. If you get snowed out, or cant access the country you want to hunt for any other reason, its the perfect reason to check out some new country.

teej89 said:

Oh dang, shoulda included this in your first post... I thought you lived in ID and was like what's the big deal?

Dang..... sorry to hear that man. Haven't been snowed out yet so I have nothing to contribute but man that's a whammy.

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Haha! Yep! I forgot to include that. We had 3 days of driving back home to figure what we're going to do different.

HalfAce said:

Nope, didn't get snowed out anywhere last season. In-fact I had the exact opposite experience. It was warm and dry nearly everywhere I went, except for a few rain storms here and there. I would have took lots of snow over no snow and warm last season.

I've been snowed out twice, both times hunting Montana general Elk. The most recent was in late November 2010. A dirt road going into some of the country I like to check out was made impassable with deep snow. I still gave it a shot, thought that chains would help me get in a ways. Only made it about 200 yards until I got stuck. Spent half a day trying to get out, eventually did, but it wasn't a fun experience. If you get snowed out, or cant access the country you want to hunt for any other reason, its the perfect reason to check out some new country.

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That's definitely what we ended up doing. We actually have an area picked out that we'd like to go back to this year. It made for an expensive scouting trip, lol.

This was our first attempt at Randy's elk trip for $1,000, plus the cost of hunting muley's as well. (http://www.rmef.org/TheHunt/Before/PlanforGrand.aspx) We're hoping to try again this year and see if we can't have a little more success. Plus, we'll hopefully have another person going with us this year to shorten the time spent driving and split the travel costs as well.

3 things I dont go elk hunting past september with, chains, chain saw and a shovel. Got stuck in the selway 10 years ago after a brutal winter storm came through because I didnt have a chainsaw, nothing more embarrassing than having to borrow one from other hunters.

On this years cow elk hunt we didn't get snowed out but the deep snow kept us from getting to any of the higher country even with chains. We were limited to the lower country full of Pinion and Juniper but I did fill my tag. It also led to us learning where the elk go after leaving a pasture full of cattle. They leave when they see the first vehicle go by before daylight. So we will keep this in mind for any future cow hunts.

Gr8bawana said:

On this years cow elk hunt we didn't get snowed out but the deep snow kept us from getting to any of the higher country even with chains. We were limited to the lower country full of Pinion and Juniper but I did fill my tag. It also led to us learning where the elk go after leaving a pasture full of cattle. They leave when they see the first vehicle go by before daylight. So we will keep this in mind for any future cow hunts.

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This is a key to hunting around me.You gotta be there,quietly. Ambush skulking plans are fun.

Got hit by a bad storm in the Pecos one year and it kinda ruined 3 of 5 days hunting. Everything had hid in the 2' of snow blown @ 50mph.
3 years ago in the Gila I endured 7 straight days of day & night monsoon madness. I was only one left in a camp area that had 8 camps in a quartermile after 3 days. Could not walk around much due to the constant lightning strikes so I would just drive to a spot and stay close to truck hunting between downpours.