home from my high country trip

[high country]

well 6 days later I am back. through an interesting chain of events I was able to view karma from both sides. I typically do not share my location for fear of ruining the hunt for others, but this time, I think I will, to save some folks some time and $$.

I chose to hunt the lake chelan rec area. due to time and $$ I did my scouting by calling up the lake to find out the availability of water, game and lake conditions. the intel I recieved was favorable.

I loaded up and split for 25mile boat launch, a 200mile trip from my place. I pull up expecting to pay $35 for my launch and dock permit, but they forgot to tell me that I would be charged $10 a day to park my truck/trailer there too, $97.00 and I can back into the launch now

as I hop out of my truck to tie up my boat, I see an oil slick under my truck.........sweet, I puked a seal on my transfer case. that works out pretty well 200 miles from home......oh well, like I told my wife, my truck could get stolen and my boat sink, and I could not see a critter...........I am on vacation! I will have fun.

I made my way up lake to about 10 miles from stehekin landing when another boat flagged me down. they had lost a water pump and were dead in the water, 40 miles from their truck. I offer them a ride, and they asked if I would tow them to stehekin.......what the heck, I need a karma boost. 1 long hour later I hit the landing. they were super grateful and offered me some cash, I said, naw, how bout a couple gallons of fuel........two of the dudes in the boat pull out FAT money clips and start handing me bills.......I would have done it for free, but oh well, fair enough......off to the task at hand.

I tied up and went into the fs/nps building to get my backcountry permits. let me say that when you tell them you are gonna be going off trail and you do know EXACTLT where you are going, they are less than friendly. and when you tell them that you can't give an exact location since you will be hunting and deer are where you find them.........that really gets em' looking funny.

I had planned my assult on the east side of the lake, there was no reliable water except fish creek, which was killer area, and just about one mile and one big climb from the rec area........bummer.

I had planned a seconday area that would be up the valley and "should" have water......

I hopped the shuttle and headed up to the trailhead I wanted. I feel lucky to not have caught on fire from the looks I got from the obama pin wearing group, even the wdfw crowd looked at me in awe (they never said a word) I guess there are a lot of folks who have never seen a rifle. the bus driver was stoked to see me show up with a gun and let me ride for free, he said he too was a hunter, but they have to "act green" in front of the tourists.......what is greener then a self guided high hunt?

the next 5 hours were the worst of my life. I fancy myself somewhat of a camel, I can go long periods of time w/o water.....those days are gone. I started my hike at 1100 ft. I found my first water at 4k feet and the next at 5k. folks that was murder. I carried a gallon of water up with me and I was dry by 3500ft. I have never cramped up so bad in my life. I piled up in a rock slide and flat could not move....I could hear the water, I could see the water, but my calves and quads said nope ain't gonna do it.......they did, I slept like a baby...right next to ______creek.

the next day I moved my camp in farther and got into some textbook sweet mule deer country. I was a bit nervous since I had not seen a track or a turd, but the cover was right, the elevation wsa getting there, and the drainage was a huge one and deffinately remote.

over the next few days I glassed some of the most amazing high parks nad rocky out croppings, ecsape routes.......nothing. I bushwacked and bushwacked........not a sign of deer.

I crossed paths with a guy and his son who had come in from hwy 20 and they too had seen nothing.

I could not believe what I was seeing, or not seeing. in the end I never saw a single deer, I did see a band of bighorns, a couple black bears, 2 grouse and no less that 30 miles on my boots and 10,000 on my spotting scope.

I really am not dissapointed though, I did learn that a trip off of the lake is near suicide, and that even though the trip in from the other side looks farther, it is flatter, and I would rather walk 20 flat miles that climb 3k feet, let alone 6k. I also was flat shocked that it could cost me a c-note to be on the lake for a week just in park fees.

on a side note, I did haul my pack rod with me and caught a boat load of fish.

I will get some pics downloaded soon. right now I gotta go pull my transfer case

[WAcoyotehunter]

Holy smokes man...sounds like a tough week.  At least you were in nice country.

[huntnphool]

Good write up, sounds like a learning experience for sure. Cant wait to see the pics.

[Ridgerunner]

Wow, that will be a trip for the memories, one thing is for sure talking about the high hunt and doing the high hunt are two different things, its easy to look at some terrian on a map and say thats doable, but in person it sure can be different(been there done that).  Thanks for the report though.

[high country]

should have read between the lines



but wait!



lets see, snickers bar, or.........



how I roll.



livin' on the road...

[high country]

how in the sam he!! can there not be a single deer here??







hardly even steep........



holy carp this thing was a ride.....

[high country]

anyone else have a mouse crawl on their face in the middle of the night........twice! really did not do much foor my good night sleep. I also saw 3 rattle snakes in the first hour off the boat. one was a doozie, if I can figure out how to capture images off of my camcorder I will post them.

[bucklucky]

Wolves, thats why there was no deer  or maybee cougars 

[Ridgerunner]

anyone else have a mouse crawl on their face in the middle of the night........twice! really did not do much foor my good night sleep.

Thats why I sleep in tents, lol.

Great looking country, maybe it was the wolves, cool to see those sheep though, surprised they were that far up the lake.  I could have passed on the rattlers too.

[10Key]

Nice feesh! Did you catch those in the big lake or one of the creeks you were near?

[Muleyslyr]

Oooo....I could feel your pain in that write up.  Gotta love the High Hunt.    As far as no Deer....that's the high country for ya....especially when the weather is like it was.  Seems to really be hit or miss.

Not sure about the wolves, but would definitely say possibly Cats.  Can't see em' runnin' all the deer out though.  Sounds like a great "vacation" anyway....thanks for the pics!

[klikboom]

Ghost deer has been my experience scouting this year in the alpine, I'm hoping for different luck and maybe the crappy weather this weekend will help? 

I feel your pain too man, many miles and no trophies. Great rainbow's they are real beauties, but still not satisfying compared to getting a >3Pt muley.

[sportman1975]

I can also say I feel your pain. We scouted a month before our high hunt. There was lots of sign. We saw a bunch of doe and a small buck. We were really jazzed about this place. We got there with high hopes and expectations of spending hours of climbing to high out of the way places. We climbed 3000 ft. up from camp and no luck. 7 hrs of climbing just to take pictures that do no justice of the country you can only understand by being there. We did find lots of cat sign and tons of bear scat and tracks. Not one deer in the 20 or so miles we put on our boots. so we broke camp a day early for a car campers site and hit the local store for some cold beer and junk food. No point in going home when you got a kitchen pass from the Mrs.

[Sagedawg]

 Maybe not sucessful, but sure looks like a great time was had. Those are some awesom pictures that you posted.Thanks for sharing.



 Sage

[Redmist]

Congratulations High Country.  You accomplished what 99.99% of hunters won't do and about 100% of Greens don't think about.  Just the logistics of hunting the Northend is a worry.  What did your pack weigh? You have a nice looking operation.  That water situation you experienced is especially a problem with the high temps we had.  In a more familiar area a hiker can do it in the dark which minimizes fluid loss.  Many times we do the entry and exit after dark.  Alot of the cramping comes from dehydration and electrolyte loss you probably know.  There are some fluid retention "tricking" techniques that runners use and body builders avoid before contests that a person can utilize on these hunts.  What elevation were the Rattlesnakes? 

[high country]

Congratulations High Country.  You accomplished what 99.99% of hunters won't do and about 100% of Greens don't think about.  Just the logistics of hunting the Northend is a worry.  What did your pack weigh? You have a nice looking operation.  That water situation you experienced is especially a problem with the high temps we had.  In a more familiar area a hiker can do it in the dark which minimizes fluid loss.  Many times we do the entry and exit after dark.  Alot of the cramping comes from dehydration and electrolyte loss you probably know.  There are some fluid retention "tricking" techniques that runners use and body builders avoid before contests that a person can utilize on these hunts.  What elevation were the Rattlesnakes? 

the snakes were from 1100 to 2500ft.

my pack weighed about 40 lbs before water, rifle and ammo......so my climb in was about 60lbs, till I hit 3500 then i was about out of water so dock 8-10 lbs. I would have loved to do the trip in in the dark, but I am sure i would have met god. there were MANY times I had to re-stretch my trekking poles after a minimal bobble. not very forgiving terrain, especially solo. as for the cramping, I knew it was gonna happen, I was just hoping I could get to water sooner. the creek was always there, but much of it was a rappel to goet to. I finally crossed it at 4-4.5k twas a welcom sight. if my wifes b-day was not this weekend I would be up in the passy in my "old reliable" hole.

I never consider my high hunt trips a failure unless I quit. I use the hunt as an excuse for me to visit our states wilderness areas, one by one. I can easily get motivated to hunt, but I just can't see a 10k vertical trip for fun, I would rather eat a twinkie

[timbo]

I just got back from my high buck trip about an hour and a half ago. We were up in the Pasayten and same type of deal, glassed for 3 days and not one thing moving. Lots of sign and tracks but no sightings until wednesday night I saw a spike in the woods about 150 yds from camp. We spent the next day hunting that area and not one sound or movement. We talked to several other hunters and we were lucky just to see a spike. Even the drop camps hadn't seen anything. On the plus side it was beautifull weather and a great experience with a good buddy. Hopefully someone got something this past week!
Tim

[Guy]

Back from three days in the Pasayten myself. Solo. Saw one doe... 

Warm. Very dry. Full or nearly full moon every night... Blah!

Still it was a good trip - despite the lack of deer-type-critters!

Camp:


Scopin' out the mountain:

[actionshooter]

high country, A trip like that is always succesful, even if you never saw a hair 
being there is what its about.

[PacificNWhunter]

AWESOME....can't wait till modern opens so I can hit the high country. Heading out next week to do a little scouting in the methow...these pictures are getting my blood pumping.

[300rum]

Hey Guy!

Tell me about that tripod on the spotting scope, where can I check one of those out at? 

I have a lite one but it just doesn't extend enough, I would like to be able to sit on my butt and use it instead of having to find a rock or a log or always have to be on the ground.

[Guy]

That's one of Al Ewing's little scope stands that he builds in Spokane. He's been making bigger ones for the highpower competition crowd for decades, and in recent years expanded into making these little ones for the "tactical" market. I've found it works great for hunting. There are three more sections, so a guy could actually sit in a folding chair and use the scope. There's also a hardened spike tucked inside the vertical post - which can be pushed into soft ground to stabilize the thing in windy conditions.

http://www.scopestands.com/

Al Ewing is one of the good guys and has been a big part of rifle shooting for many years.

Regards, Guy

[Buckoholic]

I know how you feel!!!!  I started my high hunt at 6500 feet dropped down to 3200 feet and decided the honey hole was up around 7500 feet. After a 12 hour hike, 5 tree hugging *censored* and 1 black bear I got back to the trail head!!! The next day we seen 4 does and the day after 7 does. Not a Buck one!!! I have never hiked so far in my life!!! round trip as a crow flies was only 10 miles but felt more like 100..

[Buckoholic]

Guy where did you go in  at??

[high country]

c'mon shag and su.......show us that thing!

[elkaholic]

Awesome story and adventure, wish i wa sthere to feel the pain with you. it would have beat the last week of work.

[grizzlygibbs]

good write up,  I think i will stay away from the REC area until i can get adequate scouting in next year!    Thanks for the tips and good luck on your future hunts

[Wea300mag]

Dock permit $35
Parking $10 per day
Spending 6 days in the wildernesss and not seeing any deer. . . PRICELESS

Thanks for the recap and pics.

[high country]

guy, is that a 8 1/2 lb rifle I see there? you must be the arm wrestling champ of the world.

well mife is gonna kill me. I just went out and bought a megalight, ti cookware and a 3oz. stove. in total I will save about 1.5 lbs and just about no bulk..........I suppose I could have just not ate for a day or two and dropped that much weight but I am addicted.

[DOUBLELUNG]

High Country, were the bighorns along the lake, or on your hunt above Stehekin?

[high country]

they were seen from my boat, 10ish miles south of the big city.

[Tony 270WSM]

Great story! Too bad there wasn't much around.

[Little Fish]

Great story and pictures high country. Thanks for taking the time to post. Aren't there some fresh burns at the north end of the lake? Is so how did they look for next year?

I hiked into the GPW area via Trinity and bushwhacked straight up once inside the wilderness. Tough going especially with all the alders that grow sideways along every stream bed. I didn't have any shot opportunities, but did contemplate a head shot on a 4-point opening morning. I was hoping for a better shot so therefore got none. Scenery was awesome and the hike tested our groups metal. Also got some good ideas for other areas to check next time I hunt that area.

[popeshawnpaul]

I had more success in finding deer this year on the lake.  I think there are holes with some deer in them.  I'm hoping for snow and I'm going to late bowhunt them on the lake from Dec 1-6...

[high country]

I think you will do fine, you always seem to bring great pics. I saw lots of deer by.........well you know where

the burns are re vegitating well, but the available water is the killer for me.....there is a 3000 ft zone w/o any.....that sux.

[Little Fish]

Thanks high country. I'd think those burn areas would be good hunting over the next 5-10 years??? We had to look a bit for water ourselves after getting above 4500'. I assume the water was coming from snow which was getting a little thin in the area we hunted.