Moosie
Grand poopa
It’s funny how a hunt can change a man’s life. I think this last one did. Thursday we went up to Elk camp that had been set up already. From there we drove down the road to check in with some Friends on what their plans were and to shoot the crap around the fireplace for a while. Getting back to camp and thinking of big Elk it wasn’t till after midnight I hit the Hay. Hiking in the dark at 4:15AM is a bit early but we wanted to get to the right spot before Daylight. My dad had come up from AZ to hunt with me. Unfortunately the place I hunt isn’t Hiking friendly and it wasn’t long till the huffing and puffing started with me and my dad. He decided not to slow me down and do a different spot so after the game plan was set, I took off up the hill on a "SOLO" adventure of a lifetime !!
Daylight had me glassing across the way at a nice heard of elk. I didn’t have a spotting scope so I couldn’t identify how big any bulls were but figured with 10 more hours of hiking I’ll be on that side in the right spot for an evening hunt.
The morning went on unsuccessful with jumping a buck up with no shot and seeing ½ dozen deer or so. So I hiked around the mountains till I was where I needed to be for the evening. By 6:30 PM, I knew I was coming off of the hill in the dark but I wanted to be up top because that what a “REAL HUNTER” (Whatever) does *WINK*.
UUUUUUuuuhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeahhhhh (that’s a Bugle if ya didn’t catch that.) came from the Back side of this canyon. It was a Side we never hunted before due to the Rocks, cliffs and just flat out never seeing much in there. But I crested the hill to see. And Elk I did !! About 1 mile off I glassed a heard of elk… So Speaknig of real hunters, a good one would have glassed them till dark and Bolted and came back in the AM. But not Moosie. I’m thinking , “I can Bail off into this Craphole, shoot across the bottom, get an Elk opening day, walk out the stream in the bottom and walla !!!!”
So, the game is on, trying to beat the fast approaching darkness I bail off into this canyon. It’s amazing how a guy can loose 1500 feet of elevation in a matter of 10-15 mins. So I get to a perching spot and look across at the elk. And there he is. The elk I was dreaming about. Right across the canyon. Within my grasp…… So I though !!!
I’ll be the First to admit I can’t judge distance, I can’t say if it’s 20 or 30 yards as well as 300 or WELL over 600. Fortunately we have rangefinders that we can go back the next day and be able to tell it’s 600 and not 300
Long story short, I don’t get a bull and It’s dark now. I still have to bail to the bottom and start the outward endeavor. I cross some canyons (and finger ridges) trying to side hill it but quickly find myself in a canyon I’m sliding down and can’t really get out of. Except down. So I start the slide. I get to were I can hear the Creek below and am in a rocky area full of that Dam thick brush plowing my way through. The Next step was a Long one. I like to exaggerate and Say it was a 50’ vertical slide but realistically it was only 15’ or so of wet Rock face with a slide from here to the river which was another “LITTLE” bit.
So I’m hanging on (with dear life) in the dark swinging like a Jungle monkey trying to get a grasp of something that isn’t vertical or wet or flat and hit a little shelf and then go down a little more and hit the Area I can point my size 123 boot down and Ski the rest of the way.
YIPPEEE !!!! I’m at the river !!! I take off my backpack, re-tie my shoes, put the Backpack on and Grab my gun….. I grab my gun….. I….. CHIT !! I don’t have a Gun anymore !~!~!~!!!!!
I look up the vertical face (As far as I could see with the headlamp) and try to climb it. No luck in the dark. I can’t see anything. I’m tiered, and realize The odds of climbing back up are nil and to find the tracks in the dark will be next to Impossible…
SO….. I give up, hang my head and Start the Trek out without a gun..
Now, It sounds bad until here, Being beat tiered, missing a NICE 6 point bull, loosing a $1,000 rifle/scope and sitting on the side of a Creek several hours from the truck in a canyon I’ve never hiking out before...
... "but Wait !! there’s more to come !!!”
Daylight had me glassing across the way at a nice heard of elk. I didn’t have a spotting scope so I couldn’t identify how big any bulls were but figured with 10 more hours of hiking I’ll be on that side in the right spot for an evening hunt.
The morning went on unsuccessful with jumping a buck up with no shot and seeing ½ dozen deer or so. So I hiked around the mountains till I was where I needed to be for the evening. By 6:30 PM, I knew I was coming off of the hill in the dark but I wanted to be up top because that what a “REAL HUNTER” (Whatever) does *WINK*.
UUUUUUuuuhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeahhhhh (that’s a Bugle if ya didn’t catch that.) came from the Back side of this canyon. It was a Side we never hunted before due to the Rocks, cliffs and just flat out never seeing much in there. But I crested the hill to see. And Elk I did !! About 1 mile off I glassed a heard of elk… So Speaknig of real hunters, a good one would have glassed them till dark and Bolted and came back in the AM. But not Moosie. I’m thinking , “I can Bail off into this Craphole, shoot across the bottom, get an Elk opening day, walk out the stream in the bottom and walla !!!!”
So, the game is on, trying to beat the fast approaching darkness I bail off into this canyon. It’s amazing how a guy can loose 1500 feet of elevation in a matter of 10-15 mins. So I get to a perching spot and look across at the elk. And there he is. The elk I was dreaming about. Right across the canyon. Within my grasp…… So I though !!!
I’ll be the First to admit I can’t judge distance, I can’t say if it’s 20 or 30 yards as well as 300 or WELL over 600. Fortunately we have rangefinders that we can go back the next day and be able to tell it’s 600 and not 300
Long story short, I don’t get a bull and It’s dark now. I still have to bail to the bottom and start the outward endeavor. I cross some canyons (and finger ridges) trying to side hill it but quickly find myself in a canyon I’m sliding down and can’t really get out of. Except down. So I start the slide. I get to were I can hear the Creek below and am in a rocky area full of that Dam thick brush plowing my way through. The Next step was a Long one. I like to exaggerate and Say it was a 50’ vertical slide but realistically it was only 15’ or so of wet Rock face with a slide from here to the river which was another “LITTLE” bit.
So I’m hanging on (with dear life) in the dark swinging like a Jungle monkey trying to get a grasp of something that isn’t vertical or wet or flat and hit a little shelf and then go down a little more and hit the Area I can point my size 123 boot down and Ski the rest of the way.
YIPPEEE !!!! I’m at the river !!! I take off my backpack, re-tie my shoes, put the Backpack on and Grab my gun….. I grab my gun….. I….. CHIT !! I don’t have a Gun anymore !~!~!~!!!!!
I look up the vertical face (As far as I could see with the headlamp) and try to climb it. No luck in the dark. I can’t see anything. I’m tiered, and realize The odds of climbing back up are nil and to find the tracks in the dark will be next to Impossible…
SO….. I give up, hang my head and Start the Trek out without a gun..
Now, It sounds bad until here, Being beat tiered, missing a NICE 6 point bull, loosing a $1,000 rifle/scope and sitting on the side of a Creek several hours from the truck in a canyon I’ve never hiking out before...
... "but Wait !! there’s more to come !!!”
