sixshot
Buckeye
Well the elk are continuing to give me fits, thursday they were right where I expected them to be but it was starting to storm & I was running out of light, I thought it best to back off & work them the next morning.
The next morning was a total bust, it was so fogged in I could barely see my boots at times. I knew I was close to the herd but didn't want to cover that last quarter mile without being able to see. I built a fire & stayed for 5 hrs & it just kept getting worse.
Something you have to be very careful about during this time of year is over extending & getting yourself in trouble, kind of like I did 7 yrs ago in the same area, this very moutain almost got me. In heavy fog you can easily get on the wrong side of a ridge or draw & not know it, then you drop off in a deep canyon & things can go bad in a hurry. The only safe way out on this little jaunt was to backtrack my foot prints in the snow. The deep snow was up to the top of my gaiters & the ground was still soft underneath, the walking was treacherous to say the least. It was a long walk back to my 4 wheeler & then a 10 mile ride out in bad conditions. It was 7 degrees & that beef stew I had in the dutch oven back at camp put a little extra zip in the offense!
Day 3 I'm back on the mountain, its cleared off & I'm in hot pursuit of some elk, I seen them ghost into some heavy pines & just had to wait & see what happened next. I could see some deer, & 2 moose were also part of the view, I was having a good time in spite of the elk being way across the canyon. I built another fire & set down to see how things played out, you can easily wear yourself out in a foot race with elk, better to let them feed out & plan your next move.
A little side note about fires, you absolutley must be able to build a fire in these extreme conditions, a book of paper matches & yesterdays toilet paper just might not be sufficient to save your life or at least bring a little comfort as you wait for something to happen. My little fire kit is some lint from the dryer, also included is some newspaper I've ran through the shredder, I then find some dry wood (if possible) & slice some shavings to add to my starter. Paper soaked in wax is good, also pine pitch is helpful if everything is wet. I alway have a minimum of 2 butane lighters with me, usually 3. Both days everything was wet, you have to be capable of building a fire under bad conditions, it can very difinitely save your bacon! Also, mentally having a fire can really be comforting.
I took a few pictures & waited 5-6 hrs for the elk to reappear, they didn't, these elk are in a slow migration cycle & the area I'm in will get better & better but you just have to be patient sometimes & I"m not a very patient person.
The weather had warmed during the day & a lot of the snow was melting, when I finally reached my 4 wheeler the trail was so muddy I thought I was a contestant in the Calgary Stampede, that 4 wheeler was sideways most of the time & I had 10 miles ahead of me. There were several road hunters that had driven their trucks back into this mess & they were all in trouble, trucks were off the road, some really bad, all of them, even with chains on were duking it out with mother nature & she wasn't real happy with them for road hunting. I've never seen road hunting so bad, makes me sick. One day I did see 3 young roosters walking up my footprints from the day before, I caught & passed one of them & he was probably only 30 yrs old, thats a shame. They throw their beer cans out the window, its way to tough to haul them empty cans out in that 3/4 ton truck!
I knew I had to get my camper out of the mountains until another storm moved in but would have to wait until morning so the ground would freeze, there was no way I could pull it out of there in that mud bog!
Did get a few photo's but when you are in the fog its not much to look at.
Other than getting wet probably nothing is more dangerous than fog.
This cow moose was about 600 yds away, I got a reading on the pine tree below & right of her. She had a boy friend a short distance away, he probaly had "bad" intentions!
Nothing is more comforting on a cold moutain top than a nice, warm fire.
This old tree stump would have been a great photo if the sun would have popped out, I love filming old stumps! They just have character!!
Opps!
I still have 3 more weeks so I'll just wait for the next storm system & head out for a re-match. If I don't kill something pretty soon I'm going to kill something!
Dick
The next morning was a total bust, it was so fogged in I could barely see my boots at times. I knew I was close to the herd but didn't want to cover that last quarter mile without being able to see. I built a fire & stayed for 5 hrs & it just kept getting worse.
Something you have to be very careful about during this time of year is over extending & getting yourself in trouble, kind of like I did 7 yrs ago in the same area, this very moutain almost got me. In heavy fog you can easily get on the wrong side of a ridge or draw & not know it, then you drop off in a deep canyon & things can go bad in a hurry. The only safe way out on this little jaunt was to backtrack my foot prints in the snow. The deep snow was up to the top of my gaiters & the ground was still soft underneath, the walking was treacherous to say the least. It was a long walk back to my 4 wheeler & then a 10 mile ride out in bad conditions. It was 7 degrees & that beef stew I had in the dutch oven back at camp put a little extra zip in the offense!
Day 3 I'm back on the mountain, its cleared off & I'm in hot pursuit of some elk, I seen them ghost into some heavy pines & just had to wait & see what happened next. I could see some deer, & 2 moose were also part of the view, I was having a good time in spite of the elk being way across the canyon. I built another fire & set down to see how things played out, you can easily wear yourself out in a foot race with elk, better to let them feed out & plan your next move.
A little side note about fires, you absolutley must be able to build a fire in these extreme conditions, a book of paper matches & yesterdays toilet paper just might not be sufficient to save your life or at least bring a little comfort as you wait for something to happen. My little fire kit is some lint from the dryer, also included is some newspaper I've ran through the shredder, I then find some dry wood (if possible) & slice some shavings to add to my starter. Paper soaked in wax is good, also pine pitch is helpful if everything is wet. I alway have a minimum of 2 butane lighters with me, usually 3. Both days everything was wet, you have to be capable of building a fire under bad conditions, it can very difinitely save your bacon! Also, mentally having a fire can really be comforting.
I took a few pictures & waited 5-6 hrs for the elk to reappear, they didn't, these elk are in a slow migration cycle & the area I'm in will get better & better but you just have to be patient sometimes & I"m not a very patient person.
The weather had warmed during the day & a lot of the snow was melting, when I finally reached my 4 wheeler the trail was so muddy I thought I was a contestant in the Calgary Stampede, that 4 wheeler was sideways most of the time & I had 10 miles ahead of me. There were several road hunters that had driven their trucks back into this mess & they were all in trouble, trucks were off the road, some really bad, all of them, even with chains on were duking it out with mother nature & she wasn't real happy with them for road hunting. I've never seen road hunting so bad, makes me sick. One day I did see 3 young roosters walking up my footprints from the day before, I caught & passed one of them & he was probably only 30 yrs old, thats a shame. They throw their beer cans out the window, its way to tough to haul them empty cans out in that 3/4 ton truck!
I knew I had to get my camper out of the mountains until another storm moved in but would have to wait until morning so the ground would freeze, there was no way I could pull it out of there in that mud bog!
Did get a few photo's but when you are in the fog its not much to look at.
Other than getting wet probably nothing is more dangerous than fog.
This cow moose was about 600 yds away, I got a reading on the pine tree below & right of her. She had a boy friend a short distance away, he probaly had "bad" intentions!
Nothing is more comforting on a cold moutain top than a nice, warm fire.
This old tree stump would have been a great photo if the sun would have popped out, I love filming old stumps! They just have character!!
Opps!
I still have 3 more weeks so I'll just wait for the next storm system & head out for a re-match. If I don't kill something pretty soon I'm going to kill something!
Dick
