UP ROCK CREEK,,,!,

[rtraverdavis]

This past spring, my hunting partners and I drew tags for UP ROCK CREEK,,,!,

We were excited.



My buddy K and I took our families on a scouting/camping trip to the unit over summer. We went on some hikes and learned the area a bit.





October arrived. After getting off work on Thursday, we drove through the night to ROCK CREEK,,,!, and had camp set and firewood stacked by late Friday morning.



About midafternoon, a real mother of a storm unleashed with heavy rain and lightning cracking so close to camp that it rattled our tent poles. But I was a very brave boy and definitely not scared or nothin’.



It proceeded to rain almost two inches over the next 30 hours. We hunkered and played cribbage in the tent—the rain was supposed to turn to snow on Sunday.

 

[rtraverdavis]

Sunday morning found us up on a high glassing knob before daybreak. It was snowing off and on and windy. When dawn came we discovered we were in a cloud.



Occasionally the cloud would lift and we could see.





It went back and forth like this all morning. Later in the afternoon, we dropped some elevation to glass a basin. We ate freeze dried meals and warmed up, and the sun came out. K spotted a bull feeding across the basin. He went and shot it. Then it started snowing again.



It was his first elk.



I got to use the new knife I got from @NDGuy.



The pack out that night sucked. We got back to camp late.

 

[rtraverdavis]

The following morning we slept in. I shit my pants upon waking because of some cheesecake that I consumed the night before that did me dirty (no pictures) By early afternoon we hiked back in to the area where K killed his bull the day before.

The weather had turned from a sloppy mess to downright pleasant—cold at night and low 50s during the day. We didn’t find any elk in K’s basin so we hiked over a ridge to look into the next. We discovered an elk bonanza. There was a huge herd at the bottom of the basin feeding in a meadow, with a real Hongo of a herd bull running around and acting a fool. There were about six decent satellite bulls as well. Lots of bugling, the whole show. It was awesome. We watched them and tried to figure out how my other hunting partner, B, and I could get close enough to them for a shot without blowing them out. The basin was mostly thick timber and the wind was doing weird stuff.

We blew it. We dropped into the basin and got close, and at one point I had Hongo in my scope for about five seconds but he never stopped moving and was 300 yards away and I wasn’t going to take that shot. We soon found ourselves surrounded by elk, got winded, and the whole herd (probably 80 or so) took off. It was close to dark, and the elk were headed in the direction of our camp. Not terrible.

The next day was a lot of glassing. We got up high again and spent a lot of time looking. Eventually I found what I believed to be either part or all of the previous evening’s herd in the timber about a mile away. This led to another close call and hike back to camp in the dark, and once again, at least part of the herd was moving in the direction of our camp. We’d be up there again the next morning.

 

[rtraverdavis]

Wednesday morning was cold and windy. We were hiking up the ridge in the dark when we heard a bugle down below us to our right. There was a full moon so I scanned with my binoculars and sure enough I spotted some cows moving up an open finger ridge below us. We stopped hiking and waited for light to come on and tried to watch and listen for them in the dark. If we got out in front of them, the wind was such that it would blow our multiple days of hiking stink right at them. We needed them to get out in front of us.

The first edges of daylight came on and the elk were nowhere to be seen, but we had a pretty good idea of where they were headed. We made our way up the ridge slowly and carefully. The sun was just starting to crest the horizon when we got to the top, and sure enough I spotted cows feed in a saddle about 800 yards in front of us. Keeping to the timber on the backside of the ridge, we headed toward them. I belly crawled over the last little rise, saw that there were two bulls in the group, and waved B up.

I shot, then he shot.



Two bulls down. We were elated.







The rest of the day was spent breaking down, hauling, and hanging meat.



The Gene Ingram was fantastic. It smoothly broke down two bulls with no touch-ups to the edge.



We hauled the last load out Thursday morning, and spent the rest of the day boning out and cleaning up the meat. We’d be heading home the following day.

 

[rtraverdavis]

Then we joined a cult.

 

[MTLabrador]

Outstanding work, and that’s some cool looking country. Wouldn’t mind finding some bulls in the open when I head up ROCK CREEK..,,,, in MONTANA!

 

[Potsie]

one point I had Hongo in my scope for about five seconds but he never stopped moving and was 300 yards away and I wasn’t going to take that shot. We soon found ourselves surrounded by elk, got winded, and the whole herd (probably 80 or so) took off.

Not to armchair quarterback or anything, but you should have backed out to about 650-ish and let ‘er rip tater chip!

Well done on the hunt, good story, more gooder elk.

 

[seeth07]

HTM would be impressed. Well done sir.

 

[TN2shot07]

It’s cool to have a nice knife but it’s even better to see one used in the field, too many spend their life in a collector’s knife roll. Congrats on a hell of a hunt!

 

[noharleyyet]

Mighty fine recap, you guys did well.

 

[Dsnow9]

Nice work!

 

[CRJR45]

Cool stuff!

 

[Salmonchaser]

That is very good looking country. Well done.

 

[NDGuy]

The following morning we slept in. I shit my pants upon waking because of some cheesecake that I consumed the night before that did me dirty (no pictures)

@rtraverdavis going up the mountain

 

[NDGuy]

Thanks for sharing @rtraverdavis sounds like a great time pants shitting aside

 

[Irrelevant]

Hot damn! Great trip. 3 for 3 as a crummy NR is exceptionally impressive

 

[rtraverdavis]

@rtraverdavis going up the mountain

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The emergency is actually what woke me up that morning. So the pinched-thigh panic running was accompanied by desperately trying to open the tent. But hey, at least I wasn’t in a Sizzlers. This time.

 

[ShootsManyBullets]

Great hunt!
Hopefully Norris Rd was in decent shape for the drive out.

 

[kansasdad]

That’s taking care of (elk) business.

Congratulations to the whole crew

 

[EastTNHunter]

Congrats on the bulls and fun hunt