Ski season preparations, what did you do 2 weeks ago?

[DouglasR]

Long story short on August 30th after about 3 days of no sleep and poor nutrition due to excitement, I packed my car full of way too much stuff and headed for Colorado with a deer tag in my pocket in hopes of convincing wllm to take me backcountry skiing this winter.
While I did not fill my tag, I feel like I learned a lot and had an awesome time.
Here’s a quick summary of the trip.

Day 1: Loaded up the car, kissed my cat goodbye, ate dinner with my parents and hit the road at about 6pm. Drove till about 1am, parked out back of some trucking company in Seneca, KS, threw out the bivy sack and got about 5hrs sleep.
Day 2: Got up at about 6 made some hot tea on the jet boil and continued west. Stopped in Denver, bought rad-ass ski boots, drove another 16hrs west to this super secret spot only I know about that’s like 30min north of this chic ski town that has a really Ft. Lauderdale at Christmas time vibe. So many nice people from so many places!
Got to the trailhead, pulled out my snazzy new Coleman 2 burner and began trying to cook some Illinois whitetail chili at 8000ft.
Of course, as soon as I started, after not raining in this area for like a month it starts pouring so I have to cover the chili and take shelter in the car.
Rain blew through, I finished the chili.
The only other person at the TH, a Coloradan in his 50’s comes over right before bed with his bugle tube and’s like “you ready to see if there’s any bulls on this mtn?” And I’m like “let her rip bro.” He put the tube to his mouth and let out a horrible broken kazoo noise that sounded nothing like any animal in the woods and proclaimed
“Damnit bro, I think my reed’s blown out”
He walked to his truck, grabbed a new one, put the tubes to his lips and made the same awful broken kazoo noise.
He was a super nice guy, I hope to stay in touch with him. I feel a little bit bad for poking fun at his calling but that was hilarious.
We went to bed. Somewhere around 2am, while my chili was only 1 alarm, I definitely caught a case of the 5 alarm waves Randy talked about in his shop stories video. I had to crawl out of the bivy twice in the drizzling rain to go seek salvation in the aspens.
In hindsight, I’m kinda glad this happened because it made me realize I’m not man enough for the bivy sack on a multi day hunt. Getting in that thing while you’re soaking wet sucks.
I was glad I’d brought my tent.

 

[noharleyyet]

...rescue kitty from Fair Chase's neighborhood?

 

[MThuntr]

nice. bummer you didn't get to fill your tag. I agree Bivy sac camping is a unique setup for only a few people. Too confining for me especially in nasty weather.

Ski season prep started for me a month ago...snagged some Atomic Backland 107s for dirt cheap and recent got the blue color version of those same shift bindings. They'll be my powder and touring setup (65 resort/35 backcountry) for now. I still could use a thinner ski for super cruddy days for touring but I can't afford them right now. Boots have eluded me but I'd rather pay full price for a fitted set than try to make a pair I bought online work.

 

[nrpate05]

Nice skis! I have the same ones

 

[DouglasR]

Day 3: Me and the Coloradan made conversation as we loaded our packs.
We started hiking in around 9am, went about a mile and split up.
My onx was malfunctioning so I climbed to a ridge where I knew I had service, re downloaded my maps and took this sendy snap.

Got back on the trail, hiked a few hrs, stopped and ate lunch by the creek.
Hiked some more, on trail, off trail, found a flat spot in some timber approx 10 miles from where I’d started, 3/4mi from where I’d planned on hunting and set up camp.
Day 4: I was up and hiking in the dark, but it was definitely daytime by the time I arrived at what I guess you’d call the “alpine meadow” I wanted to hunt.
(a senior member of the forum dropped a pin in this location for me)
I scrambled up into the rocks way too high. Took off my soaking wet boots and posted up at this spot for the rest of the day.
As evening approached I started to remember that even though I’ve watched a ton of docs I’m not a mtn climber so I decided to head down and do some still hunting.
Down climbing from this spot was a little bit of a ish show. I took a different route down than I had going up and I was talking to god for the entire hr long descent. There was 1 v1 bouldering move w/ about 100ft of exposure that took me about 5min to get psyched up to make. I hope someone got a video of this because it would’ve been hilarious to watch my goofy, flatlander, truck driving ass up there fighting for my life.
Walked around the meadow, jumped 4 does at about 200 yds, “still hunted” my way back down and arrived at camp right around the end of legal shooting light.

 

[DouglasR]

Day 4: “don’t leave deer to find deer”
So even though I’d seen those deer up in the meadow the night before (maybe I blew them out?) I decided to load up my pack and head down the mtn to another spot I wanted to check out like 10 or so miles from where I was at. Again, I was loaded up and hiking before daylight. I worked my way down the drainage w/ bad wind, skirting the edges of the meadows. Saw some elk sign, no animals.
Midday I pulled a pro move and stopped at the creek for a quick shower.

I learned this lesson last winter in Az. If you’re by a deep spot midday and you feel like you need a quick rinse. Go for it. Felt like a new man after this.
(*by creek shower I mean jumping in for a quick rinse. No soap. If this is a frowned upon practice because of like contaminating the water or something let me know and I’ll stop supporting it.)
Continued down, got to a spot on the trail above an area I’d found some doe’s the year before so I decided to drop down that-a way and see what I saw... blowdown... no deer.

Cussed my way through this into some meadows and aspens and at about dusk I was at the bottom of this drainage and the base of this big hill that had kicked my ass the year before.
I decided to top off my water and climb this hill in the dark in some weird attempt to like get back at it or redeem myself or something. It was actually really easy in the dark, however the next day when the sun came out. I was reminded that it gets really freaking hot on that hill.
Anyways... I got my camp set up on top of the hill at about 10. And set my alarm to sleep in...

 

[MThuntr]

that last pic hits home for many of us. The struggle is real

 

[Shangobango]

Sounds like time well spent. Thanks
For sharing.

 

[DouglasR]

Day 5: slept way in. Got camp loaded up around 11 and started easing my way toward the drainage I wanted to hunt the next day. Met some Forrest service workers along the way who checked my tags, recommended another spot down the road to check for deer and informed me that there was a group of 6 guys headed for the same area as me.
Kept hiking, met up with a guy who I’d met through a guy from Wisconsin who I’d met the year before. Hiked with him, we split up and I went to the drainage next to the one where the 6 guys were headed. Set up camp. Did a half assed evening hunt that consisted of me hiking like 1/2mi up the trail right before last light. Went to bed.

 

[DouglasR]

Day 6: headed up the trail at first light. Got off the trail and followed a little side creek for a ways. Peaked over the top of a hill, jumped a doe at like 100yds.
Even though she looked right at me and trotted off along the edge of the timber I decided I’d try to circle around with the wind in my face, hopefully see her again and get back on the trail that according to onx she was bedded right next to. That didn’t work out. Stepped in quicksand with my right foot up to my hip. Ended up in blowdown hell. I think it was worse than the picture I posted earlier. Couldn’t find the trail.
Spent a couple hrs just trying to find my way out of there.
Got back to camp, heard it was gonna snow, bitched out and walked back to the car.
Drank a beer. Headed for Wendy’s
Met 5 trucks on the way down the single lane 4wd rd who I very kindly moved out of the way for. *I would think the downhill vehicle would have the right of way
Decided to check out the spot the Forrest service workers had mentioned the next day.

 

[DouglasR]

This is a really long recap for an unsuccessful hunt.

 

[nrpate05]

Do Forest Service Employees have the jurisdiction to check tags?

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Do Forest Service Employees have the jurisdiction to check tags?

Definitely, I believe all LEOs can.

I’ve been checked my more cops than game wardens, actually only 1 game warden in 9 seasons.

As to FS, someone whose an actual employee can probably go into more detail but there are FS LEOs they carry firearms, but any FS employee at a certain level can write citations. My dad worked for the FS, he wasn’t and LEO but wrote citations occasionally.

 

[TOGIE]

if you're not a certified LEO with the forest service you're on iffy ground checking tags

volunteer rangers can certainly ask to look at your tags, but i don't think they have any legal standing to force you to show your tags or identification, and as far as i know have no law enforcement authority beyond that of an ordinary citizen

 

[Deleted member 28227]

if you're not a certified LEO with the forest service you're on iffy ground checking tags

volunteer rangers can certainly ask to look at your tags, but i don't think they have any legal standing to force you to show your tags or identification, and as far as i know have no law enforcement authority beyond that of an ordinary citizen

I think it depends on the GS level and job title. Volunteer or part time trail crew, no. Wilderness Ranger GS 3+ and Patroller GS 5 definitely.

 

[LuketheDog]

The only other person at the TH, a Coloradan in his 50’s comes over right before bed with his bugle tube and’s like “you ready to see if there’s any bulls on this mtn?” And I’m like “let her rip bro.” He put the tube to his mouth and let out a horrible broken kazoo noise that sounded nothing like any animal in the woods and proclaimed
“Damnit bro, I think my reed’s blown out”
He walked to his truck, grabbed a new one, put the tubes to his lips and made the same awful broken kazoo noise.
He was a super nice guy, I hope to stay in touch with him. I feel a little bit bad for poking fun at his calling but that was hilarious.

 

[Wildabeest]

Great scouting thread! To the OP topic though, went for a custom boot fitting today at SureFoot. Trying to support local businesses here in Park City. Since I’ve moved out west and now skiing 50 days a year vs. 20, I now can justify spending the money to deal with my foot issues to get custom boots.

Long story, but basketball injury in college resulted in torn ligaments that were never fixed, which resulted in subsequent fractures and more torn ligaments, which 35 years later looks like this:


With modern technology, their foot scan looks like this:



I’m sure it’s the only thing standing between my sorry ass current ski form and my Olympic aspirations. Actually, I’m just hoping it can help get a few more years of skiing out of this body that I’ve spent 55 years abusing. Folks at SureFoot are awesome! They’ve expanded out to several of the major ski destinations, so if you have one nearby you should check them out. I’ll post a follow up once I test the new boots out on the slopes this winter.

 

[DouglasR]

Alright let me bring this thing home.
Day 7-
Started hiking from new trailhead around 10. Hiked up the mtn until I decided it was getting too steep and rocky for me to hunt above tree line so I went like halfway down and side hilled into the same sage grass meadows I’d hoped on entering from above.
Set up camp.
Climbed to glassing knob.
Just before dark, I was looking at some bushes on a ridge about 500yds away when they started moving.
At first I thought I’d found the world record mule deer but then he turned broadside and I realized it was a bull elk. I ended up seeing 2 legal bulls, a spike and 2 cows walk up the ridge and into the timber. This pretty much made the trip worthwhile for me. This was only the second time I’d ever seen elk in real life, so yeah that was pretty cool.

 

[DouglasR]

Day 8-
Wind switched.
Hiked up to same glassing knob from previous evening. Made a racket getting there.
Sun came up, it was Smokey.
Sat till 10, walked around.
Saw no animals.
Got scared of snow.
Walked down to car.
Talked to Amish people with cool bowl cuts that’s weren’t afraid of snow.
Talked to a guy who had a moose tag for later in the year.
He showed me pictures of cool bulls.
Slept in parking lot.
Wind picked up and blew dust in my tent.
Chickened out
Drove home.

 

[rtraverdavis]

Love the honest accounting. If my hunt reports focused on what I actually spent most of my time doing and less on the exciting moments, I’d have some long expositions about tripping on rocks and dropping stuff.