CONTINUED FROM: SALVAGE THE HUNT
We reached the point of the hairpin around 1500 and set up the full camp. The tent stove was a nice treat over the prior star filled canopy, even though that was a great view - simply too exhausted to make the most of it... My BHA hoodie sure made for a stuffed, comfy pillow.
View attachment 75952
His leg was hurtin'... No doubt a limitation that weighed heavy on our thoughts. We filtered some water and glassed the drainage. Didn't see anything though a burn from 2015 had some potential good opportunities, had the magnificent wapiti showed themselves.
I'll show ya a pic of the area we were glassing further on..
We sacked in for the night.
DECISIONS, DECISIONS, DECISIONS
I didn't want to exit my mummy bag cocoon. His leg had tightened over night. I was the slow poke to get rolling though we eventually took a walk along a greened up old forest road a little later than normal the next morning. Glassed the drainage as much as possible, made an attempt to route our way up though his leg's condition called out - this was not happening. He is a tried and true tough guy with one of the kindest of hearts I know.
He gave it everything and more and still, pulled his sled onward back towards the truck at least this time along a road. Least we had done the tough portion of the pull the day before we only had two miles, give or take to reach the closed gate.
RECOVERY...?
I played a quality role as a wounded, pouting, bruised and beaten hunter when I arrived at home later that evening. My wife had the wambulance prepared. The next day I laid up and conjured up a plan to give it hell one more time. Routed to Sporting store and somehow wimpered my way to becoming the proud owner of a cycle trailer... Off I returned the next morning.
THE NEXT EVOLUTION BEGINS
What day was this? Oh heck it all blended together... I set up camp a bit further along the grassy forest road the morning / early afternoon the next day and propped over to a location that offered a reasonable glassing advantage. Doe and her fawn and what looked to be a buck a bit further up from them. That was it. No wapiti.
Hit the sack a bit earlier, still licking my own wounds from the prior... drag. Next morning, I woke pretty early and slep (word?) walked over to the glassing point... still nothing. Went back to the tent and snoozed another hour. I woke to the sound of steps outside my tent. Human. I spoke through the tent and said my hellos. A brief, cordial conversation took place and wished him luck in his hunt. Even though one drainage, if the wapiti are holed up there, maybe he'll push 'em my way or I'll push them his. I was a bit bummed though it is OUR land and with that, I took off onto the other side of the basin's bowl... a crispy side with little vegetation. Few prints though made a plan to see the other side. Not much else for options as it was a bit tight.
GAME ON!
Interesting... it was about 1330 while perched, taking a break, I glassed the other side and saw a spot of orange. Then... he bumped out some ELK! Yup... There's wapiti in them woods! Seems he didn't catch onto the bullish headed looking ones that moved to the right at that moment, I was happy to have my weighted, 10x50's.
I think he split a group as he worked his way to the left. I was a good distance away though I did not return to the woods to tickle my tummy! The Bob Marshall bordered the other side of the ridge along a trail and that was my objective! Get to the trail and work towards a little lake on the other side where I believed those elk were headed, least that is where I would go if I was an elk, right? Haha! The other side of the bowl, it looked like a good safe haven and about the right distance for elk run where water and good green was waiting... It was ugly hiking through the burned area with some blow down though not too bad... Then the steepness proceeded to increase and the degree of blow down increased as well.
TO BE CONTINUED
We reached the point of the hairpin around 1500 and set up the full camp. The tent stove was a nice treat over the prior star filled canopy, even though that was a great view - simply too exhausted to make the most of it... My BHA hoodie sure made for a stuffed, comfy pillow.
View attachment 75952
His leg was hurtin'... No doubt a limitation that weighed heavy on our thoughts. We filtered some water and glassed the drainage. Didn't see anything though a burn from 2015 had some potential good opportunities, had the magnificent wapiti showed themselves.
I'll show ya a pic of the area we were glassing further on..
We sacked in for the night.
DECISIONS, DECISIONS, DECISIONS
I didn't want to exit my mummy bag cocoon. His leg had tightened over night. I was the slow poke to get rolling though we eventually took a walk along a greened up old forest road a little later than normal the next morning. Glassed the drainage as much as possible, made an attempt to route our way up though his leg's condition called out - this was not happening. He is a tried and true tough guy with one of the kindest of hearts I know.
He gave it everything and more and still, pulled his sled onward back towards the truck at least this time along a road. Least we had done the tough portion of the pull the day before we only had two miles, give or take to reach the closed gate.
RECOVERY...?
I played a quality role as a wounded, pouting, bruised and beaten hunter when I arrived at home later that evening. My wife had the wambulance prepared. The next day I laid up and conjured up a plan to give it hell one more time. Routed to Sporting store and somehow wimpered my way to becoming the proud owner of a cycle trailer... Off I returned the next morning.
THE NEXT EVOLUTION BEGINS
What day was this? Oh heck it all blended together... I set up camp a bit further along the grassy forest road the morning / early afternoon the next day and propped over to a location that offered a reasonable glassing advantage. Doe and her fawn and what looked to be a buck a bit further up from them. That was it. No wapiti.
Hit the sack a bit earlier, still licking my own wounds from the prior... drag. Next morning, I woke pretty early and slep (word?) walked over to the glassing point... still nothing. Went back to the tent and snoozed another hour. I woke to the sound of steps outside my tent. Human. I spoke through the tent and said my hellos. A brief, cordial conversation took place and wished him luck in his hunt. Even though one drainage, if the wapiti are holed up there, maybe he'll push 'em my way or I'll push them his. I was a bit bummed though it is OUR land and with that, I took off onto the other side of the basin's bowl... a crispy side with little vegetation. Few prints though made a plan to see the other side. Not much else for options as it was a bit tight.
GAME ON!
Interesting... it was about 1330 while perched, taking a break, I glassed the other side and saw a spot of orange. Then... he bumped out some ELK! Yup... There's wapiti in them woods! Seems he didn't catch onto the bullish headed looking ones that moved to the right at that moment, I was happy to have my weighted, 10x50's.
I think he split a group as he worked his way to the left. I was a good distance away though I did not return to the woods to tickle my tummy! The Bob Marshall bordered the other side of the ridge along a trail and that was my objective! Get to the trail and work towards a little lake on the other side where I believed those elk were headed, least that is where I would go if I was an elk, right? Haha! The other side of the bowl, it looked like a good safe haven and about the right distance for elk run where water and good green was waiting... It was ugly hiking through the burned area with some blow down though not too bad... Then the steepness proceeded to increase and the degree of blow down increased as well.
TO BE CONTINUED
