EastTNHunter
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2018
- Messages
- 2,231
Jasper is not far from where I live, and I work there often. Beware of Monteagle Mountain just west of there when you come back through.
Good luck with the hunt
Idaho 2019 (Re)cap
- Thread starter Exhausted
- Start date
Good luck with the hunt
6 days of hunting, 4 camp locations, 2 Elk encounters, and one big empty cooler.
It was definitely an adventure of highs and lows, in more ways than one. We are on the way home now and I will update more fully when I get back. Thank you all for your support and encouragement.
It was definitely an adventure of highs and lows, in more ways than one. We are on the way home now and I will update more fully when I get back. Thank you all for your support and encouragement.
Ben Sellers
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- Joined
- Oct 29, 2018
- Messages
- 572
Be safe on the ride home! I’m sure it will be a memorable hunt even though you have an empty cooler. Hopefully the memories are of good times with your dad despite the tough hunting.
marshman
Well-known member
Cherish your hunting trips with your dad, mine is gone now. The deer and elk hunting trips with dad are some of my most memorable moments of my life. Some trips were very successful, some not but they all mean the same great memories as the years pass by, I'm tearing up writing this and remembering.
I know that you put a lot of time and effort in for this trip, but for sure you will get a great set of memories out of it.
I leave for Idaho in 9 days, i am going to try and post my trip like you did yours, i hope it turns out half as good as your reports!
I know that you put a lot of time and effort in for this trip, but for sure you will get a great set of memories out of it.
I leave for Idaho in 9 days, i am going to try and post my trip like you did yours, i hope it turns out half as good as your reports!
Scarey
Well-known member
Maybe next time it might help to come for general season deer. You'd have a blast hunting whitetail during the rut. Over all the years I hunted ID prior to moving here I didn't have many days that I didn't see something while I was out. Plus a good way to scout for future Elk honey holes. Just a thought.
Thank you for posting this. This is one of the things we talked about on the way home. He's 55 now and figures he has +/- 10 years of trips like this left. Obviously we're both hoping for more than that but want to make the most of the time that we have.
marshman
Well-known member
Dad hunted till 72. This age thing certainly starts creeping into my thoughts from time to time. I hit 58 in August, got a hip replaced last February...all i can say is keep hiking, walking and keep doing it some more after that.
I'm hoping for 75. Besides I can think of worse places to go than on a mountain.
I'm hoping for 75. Besides I can think of worse places to go than on a mountain.
Day 1 (Saturday) recap
Day 1 found us camped at 8,300' of elevation, waking up to snow several inches deep and very cold temperatures. To be honest, today humbled us and scared us. We (I) didn't have as much experience reading OnX in regards to distance and topography as I had thought and we ended up further, steeper, and higher than we anticipated. We were totally socked in by fog and decided to hike around the edge of a large basin hoping to eventually drop down another ridge line to hopefully look at some new territory.
Between the weather and being unfamiliar with the territory our hike around ended up taking most of the day. What we thought were normal ridge lines that we'd be able to walk ended up being rock ledges which were generally impossible to pass and we found ourselves circling wider and wider to get around them and eventually drop down towards camp. As we wore out and the weather worsened again we admittedly started to panic a bit and what started out as a hunt simply became a hike out. Throughout the hike, dad slipped a little bit on a steep slope and caught himself with his bow hand and broke an arrow, but it stayed in his quiver with the broadhead attached.
Later, in our increasing desperation and exhaustion, we tried to cross over a lowish sadle between two peaks rather than continuing to hike around the further peak to drop down. This would up being the worst decision of the trip. While climbing down a small rock face, dad lost is footing, slipped, and fell head over feet first landing on top of his bow and pack and then over onto his hand and knees. Thankfully he was able to stop himself on his hands and knees as we determined shortly thereafter that another tumble would likely have sent him over the edge of a 20'+ sheer rock drop off. In the tumble, the broken arrow and broadhead were thrown from the quiver, his stabilizer was broken in half, his arrow rest was destroyed, and his cable rod was broken. His bow was officially out of commission for the remainder of the trip on the first day. Thankfully we were able to find the broadhead (not stuck into dad) and dad was relatively unhurt in the tumble. We both thanked God and throughout the trip realized how much worse the day could have gone if he had continued to tumble.
To make matter even worse, we were totally cliffed out at that point and had to turn around anyways. We were able to find our way around the other peak and eventually begin to make our way down a ridge line, upon which we bumped several deer including a couple good bucks. But at that point both bows were put away and hiking sticks were out. About halfway down the ridge we dropped off the side to start circling back to camp and had to drop +/- 1,000' over about 1,000 yards. In total, we covered about 5.5 miles and from 7,800' of elevation to 9,200' over the course of +/- 10 hours. . We finally got to back with about an hour of daylight remaining, ate dinner, and went right to bed. Dad had been out of water for about an hour and we were both exhausted from the climbing, descending, and side hilling. We stayed in bed either sleeping or resting/recovering for about 13 hours before we got up to pack up camp and move to another location.
No elk were heard, seen, smelled, etc. during the entire hike, even when the weather finally cleared about 2/3rd's through the hike.
Day 1 found us camped at 8,300' of elevation, waking up to snow several inches deep and very cold temperatures. To be honest, today humbled us and scared us. We (I) didn't have as much experience reading OnX in regards to distance and topography as I had thought and we ended up further, steeper, and higher than we anticipated. We were totally socked in by fog and decided to hike around the edge of a large basin hoping to eventually drop down another ridge line to hopefully look at some new territory.
Between the weather and being unfamiliar with the territory our hike around ended up taking most of the day. What we thought were normal ridge lines that we'd be able to walk ended up being rock ledges which were generally impossible to pass and we found ourselves circling wider and wider to get around them and eventually drop down towards camp. As we wore out and the weather worsened again we admittedly started to panic a bit and what started out as a hunt simply became a hike out. Throughout the hike, dad slipped a little bit on a steep slope and caught himself with his bow hand and broke an arrow, but it stayed in his quiver with the broadhead attached.
Later, in our increasing desperation and exhaustion, we tried to cross over a lowish sadle between two peaks rather than continuing to hike around the further peak to drop down. This would up being the worst decision of the trip. While climbing down a small rock face, dad lost is footing, slipped, and fell head over feet first landing on top of his bow and pack and then over onto his hand and knees. Thankfully he was able to stop himself on his hands and knees as we determined shortly thereafter that another tumble would likely have sent him over the edge of a 20'+ sheer rock drop off. In the tumble, the broken arrow and broadhead were thrown from the quiver, his stabilizer was broken in half, his arrow rest was destroyed, and his cable rod was broken. His bow was officially out of commission for the remainder of the trip on the first day. Thankfully we were able to find the broadhead (not stuck into dad) and dad was relatively unhurt in the tumble. We both thanked God and throughout the trip realized how much worse the day could have gone if he had continued to tumble.
To make matter even worse, we were totally cliffed out at that point and had to turn around anyways. We were able to find our way around the other peak and eventually begin to make our way down a ridge line, upon which we bumped several deer including a couple good bucks. But at that point both bows were put away and hiking sticks were out. About halfway down the ridge we dropped off the side to start circling back to camp and had to drop +/- 1,000' over about 1,000 yards. In total, we covered about 5.5 miles and from 7,800' of elevation to 9,200' over the course of +/- 10 hours. . We finally got to back with about an hour of daylight remaining, ate dinner, and went right to bed. Dad had been out of water for about an hour and we were both exhausted from the climbing, descending, and side hilling. We stayed in bed either sleeping or resting/recovering for about 13 hours before we got up to pack up camp and move to another location.
No elk were heard, seen, smelled, etc. during the entire hike, even when the weather finally cleared about 2/3rd's through the hike.
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Dad hunted till 72. This age thing certainly starts creeping into my thoughts from time to time. I hit 58 in August, got a hip replaced last February...all i can say is keep hiking, walking and keep doing it some more after that.
I'm hoping for 75. Besides I can think of worse places to go than on a mountain.
I'm definitely hoping for more years and told him so. His dad, my grandpa, died from lung cancer in his early 60's about 6 months after retiring. From diagnosis to death was only a few months and it left most of us shocked and obviously saddened. I think dad sometimes wants to play it safe assuming he might have a similar fate. Lord willing we have many years/hunts left.
Day 2 (Sunday) recap
We slept in after the brutal hike of the day before. As soon as we woke up and had breakfast/coffee we broke camp and moved to an entirely different location within the unit. We were looking for flatter and lower and ended up camped near the head of a large basin around 7,400' in elevation. It's worth noting here that while we did a lot of scouting via Google Earth and OnX, plans to get boots on the ground before the season/hunt fell through so we were seeing all of the unit for the first time.
On the way to setup camp and while driving around to see what the area holds I was able to put a short stalk on a young mule deer buck, doe, and yearling. The doe had me pegged at 30 yards but the wind was good and she eventually settled down. I drew back and fired as the young buck walked through my shooting lane but unfortunately put a bad shot on the buck. From all of my mental evaluation after the fact, I think that I was gripping the bow too tight with my left hand, in my excitement about taking my first archery deer, and torqued the bow upon the shot. The shot was low and back and broke the near side back leg of the buck in what appeared to be a non-lethal way. He took off like a "buck" out of hell never to be seen/found again. It is worth noting here that temperature will absolutely affect the accuracy of a bow. At our original camp we had taken the time to sight our bows in and found that both of us were +/- 10 yards high in the cold weather compared to back home in the 90+ degree heat. I neglected to adjust for this after moving camps. After setting up the new camp I found that, in the warmer weather of Sunday at lower elevation, my bow was now closer to normal which meant I was holding low when I shot at the deer.
An evening hike down an old logging that, more or less, ran along a ridge line at 7,600' proved uneventful. We found some old elk sign and current cattle sign, but not elk or any more deer. Blind calling to areas which looked like they might hold elk also proved fruitless, but fun practice.
We slept in after the brutal hike of the day before. As soon as we woke up and had breakfast/coffee we broke camp and moved to an entirely different location within the unit. We were looking for flatter and lower and ended up camped near the head of a large basin around 7,400' in elevation. It's worth noting here that while we did a lot of scouting via Google Earth and OnX, plans to get boots on the ground before the season/hunt fell through so we were seeing all of the unit for the first time.
On the way to setup camp and while driving around to see what the area holds I was able to put a short stalk on a young mule deer buck, doe, and yearling. The doe had me pegged at 30 yards but the wind was good and she eventually settled down. I drew back and fired as the young buck walked through my shooting lane but unfortunately put a bad shot on the buck. From all of my mental evaluation after the fact, I think that I was gripping the bow too tight with my left hand, in my excitement about taking my first archery deer, and torqued the bow upon the shot. The shot was low and back and broke the near side back leg of the buck in what appeared to be a non-lethal way. He took off like a "buck" out of hell never to be seen/found again. It is worth noting here that temperature will absolutely affect the accuracy of a bow. At our original camp we had taken the time to sight our bows in and found that both of us were +/- 10 yards high in the cold weather compared to back home in the 90+ degree heat. I neglected to adjust for this after moving camps. After setting up the new camp I found that, in the warmer weather of Sunday at lower elevation, my bow was now closer to normal which meant I was holding low when I shot at the deer.
An evening hike down an old logging that, more or less, ran along a ridge line at 7,600' proved uneventful. We found some old elk sign and current cattle sign, but not elk or any more deer. Blind calling to areas which looked like they might hold elk also proved fruitless, but fun practice.
Day 3 (Monday) recap
Monday was beautiful but boring, lol. We did 3 separate hikes this day which all revealed their own pieces of the iconic Idaho landscape. None produced either sighting or evidence of deer or elk. We hiked high out of camp in the morning, we hiked down to a lower spring and creek, and we hiked up and around a large clear cut knob.
In our beginning desperation, we reached to people that either knew or lived in the area and were guided to try going even lower elevation for the elk. Dad and I had gotten too focused on high, ugly, and roadless in our pursuit assuming that there needed to be some sort of significant weather event to push the elk down low toward private land. But we found an area within our unit that started out much lower, around 6,400' and determined to hike up there tomorrow.
Our camp remained in place for a second night for the first time.
Monday was beautiful but boring, lol. We did 3 separate hikes this day which all revealed their own pieces of the iconic Idaho landscape. None produced either sighting or evidence of deer or elk. We hiked high out of camp in the morning, we hiked down to a lower spring and creek, and we hiked up and around a large clear cut knob.
In our beginning desperation, we reached to people that either knew or lived in the area and were guided to try going even lower elevation for the elk. Dad and I had gotten too focused on high, ugly, and roadless in our pursuit assuming that there needed to be some sort of significant weather event to push the elk down low toward private land. But we found an area within our unit that started out much lower, around 6,400' and determined to hike up there tomorrow.
Our camp remained in place for a second night for the first time.
Day 4 (Tuesday) recap
There are elk here! Or, at least, AN elk. This morning started with the lower hike mentioned previously and, I'll be honest, neither one of us had high hopes. To this point we had only seen minimal (old) elk sign and no other indication that elk were still in the area(s) that we were. Over the course of +/- 2 miles in we stopped and did 3 calling setups. By the third setup we were basically practicing and fooling around as we'd had no responses or heard any sort of reaction from anything. Just for kick's, I suggested that we try the "cow party" trick that Randy has used on young raghorn bulls during the rut. We called up a storm and were laughing with each other when we heard a couple branches pop not 40 yards away. Dad told me to step in front of him and as I do I look up and a 5x4 raghorn is just staring at us! He caught us completely flat footed as I didn't even have an arrow nocked. As the bull took off we tried calling a bit to get him to come back and present a shot but no opportunity arose. He never really spooked since the wind was good but the jig was up for sure.
From here we made the only move I kind of regret. Since the elk came in totally quiet we determined that he wasn't really rutting. Also, we'd not received any other response throughout the area and we decided to move camps elsewhere to try a couple locations that also started out lower. We figured that we weren't "leaving elk to find elk" since we only found one elk. We moved camps to to a different area of the unit that we later found out had sheep grazing going on and several resident camps in place which appeared to have been abandoned for the mid-week. In retrospect we should have driven down there before breaking camp so we didn't feel obligated to move, but you live and learn. A short evening hike found us on the edge of private/public in thick brush and nothing to show for it.
There are elk here! Or, at least, AN elk. This morning started with the lower hike mentioned previously and, I'll be honest, neither one of us had high hopes. To this point we had only seen minimal (old) elk sign and no other indication that elk were still in the area(s) that we were. Over the course of +/- 2 miles in we stopped and did 3 calling setups. By the third setup we were basically practicing and fooling around as we'd had no responses or heard any sort of reaction from anything. Just for kick's, I suggested that we try the "cow party" trick that Randy has used on young raghorn bulls during the rut. We called up a storm and were laughing with each other when we heard a couple branches pop not 40 yards away. Dad told me to step in front of him and as I do I look up and a 5x4 raghorn is just staring at us! He caught us completely flat footed as I didn't even have an arrow nocked. As the bull took off we tried calling a bit to get him to come back and present a shot but no opportunity arose. He never really spooked since the wind was good but the jig was up for sure.
From here we made the only move I kind of regret. Since the elk came in totally quiet we determined that he wasn't really rutting. Also, we'd not received any other response throughout the area and we decided to move camps elsewhere to try a couple locations that also started out lower. We figured that we weren't "leaving elk to find elk" since we only found one elk. We moved camps to to a different area of the unit that we later found out had sheep grazing going on and several resident camps in place which appeared to have been abandoned for the mid-week. In retrospect we should have driven down there before breaking camp so we didn't feel obligated to move, but you live and learn. A short evening hike found us on the edge of private/public in thick brush and nothing to show for it.
MN_Bowhunter4
Well-known member
I'm enjoying the heck out of this recap thread. Elk is something that's on my bucket list and it's been enjoyable to see the story from your perspective. Awesome thread!
Day 5 (Wednesday) Recap
There's (a) moose here! Despite the sheep and somewhat crowded conditions we decided to press on with what we figured would be our best bet for a morning hike in the new area. We were encouraged early on when we spotted a bull moose working his way out of some timber on a nearby ridge down toward us. He ended up paralleling us at about 200 yards or so as he came down to the water and then worked up the bottom of draw grunting. It was one of the coolest experiences I've ever had as I had never seen or heard a moose in wild. We ended up hearing him grunt several times over the course of our hike. Overall we found very little elk sign, plenty of sheep sign, and had no responses to our calls.
After less than 18 hours we broke down camp one more time and headed back towards the drainage where we saw the only elk of the trip.
After setting up camp in our final location we took a midday hike down an old logging road we'd traversed before and seen some old elk sign. We went further this time and found some beautiful deep meadows with a lot of green grass throughout but, again, no elk sign whatsoever. We didn't expect a lot out of this hike as it was midday and hot, but we needed the thermals to change before we could go back up to where we'd seen the first elk.
The thermals changed with about 2 hours left of legal shooting light and we headed out in the area again, but along a different trail to check out another area of the drainage. We hiked in a couple miles and got set up to do our first calling scenario, literally on the fence line of public and private when we heard ATV's somewhere down below us. Sure enough, a few minutes later two ATV's came rumbling by with dad startling them just off the trail lol. They never even saw me 30 yards in front of dad.
Initially, we were tempted to write off the area and head somewhere else, but decided to give it 15 minutes before trying at least one calling scenario. However, about 5 minutes later we heard a soft "mew" coming from somewhere up the trail. Dad and I both did the "is that you?" exchange and realized it was neither of us so dad started softly calling back. The responses didn't seem to change much and I genuinely started to think that it was those other guys screwing with us. But then I heard the rustling of steps coming from dad's direction. When I looked around to see what he was doing I saw that he was standing perfectly still. Looking past dad I saw a spike bull elk slowly making his way up the private towards our setup! Unfortunately, I knew the jig was going to be up from the beginning as he was coming from almost directly downwind. We called back and forth with the spike until he was about 30 yards from dad (who never saw him due to brush in the way but heard him coming) and finally winded us. He never crossed onto public but it was amazing to see the bull react and come in towards our calling. There were no other elk encounters during the evening. We made our way out during the last bit of shooting light with quiet cow calling.
To be honest, this experience and the previous one with the raghorn made the whole trip for us. It showed that our mediocre calling could work and, if we were able to find where the elk are we might get a chance at one. We had accomplished what we set out to do, which was to call in a bull elk during the rut, and I have very few regrets.
Camp stayed in place for 2 nights for only the second time of the trip.
There's (a) moose here! Despite the sheep and somewhat crowded conditions we decided to press on with what we figured would be our best bet for a morning hike in the new area. We were encouraged early on when we spotted a bull moose working his way out of some timber on a nearby ridge down toward us. He ended up paralleling us at about 200 yards or so as he came down to the water and then worked up the bottom of draw grunting. It was one of the coolest experiences I've ever had as I had never seen or heard a moose in wild. We ended up hearing him grunt several times over the course of our hike. Overall we found very little elk sign, plenty of sheep sign, and had no responses to our calls.
After less than 18 hours we broke down camp one more time and headed back towards the drainage where we saw the only elk of the trip.
After setting up camp in our final location we took a midday hike down an old logging road we'd traversed before and seen some old elk sign. We went further this time and found some beautiful deep meadows with a lot of green grass throughout but, again, no elk sign whatsoever. We didn't expect a lot out of this hike as it was midday and hot, but we needed the thermals to change before we could go back up to where we'd seen the first elk.
The thermals changed with about 2 hours left of legal shooting light and we headed out in the area again, but along a different trail to check out another area of the drainage. We hiked in a couple miles and got set up to do our first calling scenario, literally on the fence line of public and private when we heard ATV's somewhere down below us. Sure enough, a few minutes later two ATV's came rumbling by with dad startling them just off the trail lol. They never even saw me 30 yards in front of dad.
Initially, we were tempted to write off the area and head somewhere else, but decided to give it 15 minutes before trying at least one calling scenario. However, about 5 minutes later we heard a soft "mew" coming from somewhere up the trail. Dad and I both did the "is that you?" exchange and realized it was neither of us so dad started softly calling back. The responses didn't seem to change much and I genuinely started to think that it was those other guys screwing with us. But then I heard the rustling of steps coming from dad's direction. When I looked around to see what he was doing I saw that he was standing perfectly still. Looking past dad I saw a spike bull elk slowly making his way up the private towards our setup! Unfortunately, I knew the jig was going to be up from the beginning as he was coming from almost directly downwind. We called back and forth with the spike until he was about 30 yards from dad (who never saw him due to brush in the way but heard him coming) and finally winded us. He never crossed onto public but it was amazing to see the bull react and come in towards our calling. There were no other elk encounters during the evening. We made our way out during the last bit of shooting light with quiet cow calling.
To be honest, this experience and the previous one with the raghorn made the whole trip for us. It showed that our mediocre calling could work and, if we were able to find where the elk are we might get a chance at one. We had accomplished what we set out to do, which was to call in a bull elk during the rut, and I have very few regrets.
Camp stayed in place for 2 nights for only the second time of the trip.
Day 6 (Thursday) recap (final day)
By this point we had been hunting for 5+ days and we were both getting homesick. Plus we couldn't ignore the 37+ hour driving trip back home. Our original plan was to hunt through Friday after, pack up camp, and hit the road around 6pm on Friday. Figuring a similar driving schedule of 24+ hours, hotel, and then 13+ hours we expected to be home by Sunday afternoon. However, based upon our level of tiredness and overall minimal elk activity, we decided that we'd allow our Thursday morning hike to decide our plans.
We headed up in the drainage along the same trail which brought the encounter with the raghorn nice and early Thursday morning. The hike was beautiful and we enjoyed the weather and peace that Idaho was providing, but despite several calling setups there just did not appear to be any elk to be encountered. We spent a few hours in the hills before deciding to call the morning hunt quits without an elk encounter for the books. We did, however, flush several grouse which were granted grace by us both lol.
At camp we made the strategic decision to head home early to avoid risking driving while exhausted and risking dangerous situations. We were on the road by approximately 12:30pm and hit our first hotel by approximately 10:00pm. The most exciting part of the day proved to be seeing a wolf crossing I-80 somewhere in western Wyoming early in the drive, to say nothing of the hundreds and hundreds of antelope we always see driving through Wyoming.
We drove +/- 12 hours on both Friday and Saturday stopping in hotels both nights before getting home around 2:30pm on Sunday afternoon.
I'll do another post or two with a final overall summary regarding the trip, excess gear, etc. Thank you all for following along and offering words of encouragement. We had empty coolers but full hearts and thankful to the Lord for His protection throughout the trip. The adventure was filled with highs and lows and we look forward to coming back to try again.
By this point we had been hunting for 5+ days and we were both getting homesick. Plus we couldn't ignore the 37+ hour driving trip back home. Our original plan was to hunt through Friday after, pack up camp, and hit the road around 6pm on Friday. Figuring a similar driving schedule of 24+ hours, hotel, and then 13+ hours we expected to be home by Sunday afternoon. However, based upon our level of tiredness and overall minimal elk activity, we decided that we'd allow our Thursday morning hike to decide our plans.
We headed up in the drainage along the same trail which brought the encounter with the raghorn nice and early Thursday morning. The hike was beautiful and we enjoyed the weather and peace that Idaho was providing, but despite several calling setups there just did not appear to be any elk to be encountered. We spent a few hours in the hills before deciding to call the morning hunt quits without an elk encounter for the books. We did, however, flush several grouse which were granted grace by us both lol.
At camp we made the strategic decision to head home early to avoid risking driving while exhausted and risking dangerous situations. We were on the road by approximately 12:30pm and hit our first hotel by approximately 10:00pm. The most exciting part of the day proved to be seeing a wolf crossing I-80 somewhere in western Wyoming early in the drive, to say nothing of the hundreds and hundreds of antelope we always see driving through Wyoming.
We drove +/- 12 hours on both Friday and Saturday stopping in hotels both nights before getting home around 2:30pm on Sunday afternoon.
I'll do another post or two with a final overall summary regarding the trip, excess gear, etc. Thank you all for following along and offering words of encouragement. We had empty coolers but full hearts and thankful to the Lord for His protection throughout the trip. The adventure was filled with highs and lows and we look forward to coming back to try again.
Final Summary
Cost
The total cost of the trip for dad and I each was +/- $1,550. This includes tags/permits/licenses, etc. along with gas and hotel costs. We didn't include the cost of food since we're eating while hunting or at home. It also doesn't include the cost of gear purchased this year that can/will be used over several seasons. Both of us had to purchase several items like trekking poles, backpacks, etc. but figure that cost will get amortized over their useful life and doesn't count. If the proposed license/tag/etc. fee increase gets approved our cost will go up by several hundred dollars each unfortunately.
Unnecessary stuff
Firstly, the list of things we brought but didn't use one time. Some of these things came along because we were supposed to 3 people next time we'll definitely take the time to repack if someone has to drop out.
Overall, we had a great trip but there are definitely some lessons learned and things I would approach differently next time. We had to drastically change our hunting style for this (and future) trips and I'm generally proud of how we did. We are still on a learning curve but I'm hopeful that future years will find more success in terms of harvesting an animal. While we came home empty handed in terms of meat, we have many lasting memories and plan to try it again. Life has a way of throwing you curve balls from a variety of directions, be it health, finances, or time constraints, but nothing can replace memories built with people that we love. We have a finite amount of time of this earth, and a further more finite amount of time to accomplish physically difficult things.
In addition to the memories, both dad and I ultimately accomplished what we wanted to when we set out on this trip: we wanted to call in a bull elk. I didn't get to hear an elk bugle and I didn't get to full draw on an elk, but our most immediate goal of calling an elk to within archery range was accomplished.
Some lessons we took away from this trip, in no particular order.
Cost
The total cost of the trip for dad and I each was +/- $1,550. This includes tags/permits/licenses, etc. along with gas and hotel costs. We didn't include the cost of food since we're eating while hunting or at home. It also doesn't include the cost of gear purchased this year that can/will be used over several seasons. Both of us had to purchase several items like trekking poles, backpacks, etc. but figure that cost will get amortized over their useful life and doesn't count. If the proposed license/tag/etc. fee increase gets approved our cost will go up by several hundred dollars each unfortunately.
Unnecessary stuff
Firstly, the list of things we brought but didn't use one time. Some of these things came along because we were supposed to 3 people next time we'll definitely take the time to repack if someone has to drop out.
- Rooftop cargo bag (soft bag in case we needed to move stuff up on top of truck after buying and filling a cooler with a second elk lol)
- 1 of 2 tarps
- Extra air mattress
- Extra 6' table
- Hatchet
- Propane Lantern
- Ground blind
- Regular cameras (phones used exclusively)
- Extra gas can
- Lawn chairs
- Sidearms (in the truck, never carried or even looked at once we hit the road)
- Small backpack tent (started in my pack, later removed and left at camp)
- 2 dinners (we ate them at the hotels on the way back or it would have been many more lol)
- Water flavoring packets
- Tons and tons of lunch/snack foods (vienna sausages, fig bars, apples, and trail mix packs)
Overall, we had a great trip but there are definitely some lessons learned and things I would approach differently next time. We had to drastically change our hunting style for this (and future) trips and I'm generally proud of how we did. We are still on a learning curve but I'm hopeful that future years will find more success in terms of harvesting an animal. While we came home empty handed in terms of meat, we have many lasting memories and plan to try it again. Life has a way of throwing you curve balls from a variety of directions, be it health, finances, or time constraints, but nothing can replace memories built with people that we love. We have a finite amount of time of this earth, and a further more finite amount of time to accomplish physically difficult things.
In addition to the memories, both dad and I ultimately accomplished what we wanted to when we set out on this trip: we wanted to call in a bull elk. I didn't get to hear an elk bugle and I didn't get to full draw on an elk, but our most immediate goal of calling an elk to within archery range was accomplished.
Some lessons we took away from this trip, in no particular order.
- We got ourselves into a dangerous situation at least partially because we couldn't read the maps as well as we thought and partially because we started to panic. The trip could have ended on day 1. Always take the safer way, even if it's going to take more time and you're tired.
- We went into an area blind because we were too late to buy the tag for the area we really wanted and had been to before. We had plans to fly out for even just a weekend but other things got in the way. Boots on the ground experience cannot be replaced in terms of understanding the terrain/animals of the area.
- Related to the above: If you can't see where you're going because of the fog/weather, wait it out or back the way you came.
- We ended up with 4 different camp sites and only found elk near the last one. This was a total departure for us we typically would have put down camp and stayed in the area. You can't find elk where they aren't.
- In this unit at least, we were unable to turn up elk where we found deer and didn't turn up any deer where we found elk. Our priority was always elk so we ended up leaving some deer area behind to chase elk. I'm sure this isn't true everything, but it was here. Be committed to your goal species if it's important to you, and perhaps considering not buy extra tags.
- Although we prepared as best we could by "hiking" the only hill in the area, everything in Idaho was so much bigger and steeper. By far the easiest way to cut weight from our overall hiking weight would have been from our bodies. Losing 20-30lbs would have made hiking easier and some hills less intimidating. Physical conditioning cannot be overstated.
- Embrace the adventure fully, and leave it all on the mountain.
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