After a successful hunt last year, my Step Dad Doug & I decided we'd give the area another try. This year though my long time friend and hunting partner, Travis would be joining us. He was originally supposed to come last year but drew a prized elk tag in our home state of WA and it made for conflicting hunts so he opted out and focused on elk (which payed off). We left town Friday afternoon and got a hotel late Friday night about 3 hours from where we would set up base camp. Saturday morning arrived and we were back on the road. We set up the wall tent and made sure our packs were ready for a few days in the backcountry. We enjoyed one last meal as we knew Mt. House was the main dish for awhile.
My alarm went off Sunday morning next thing you know we had boots laced and we were hiking. With a sunny sky during the day and bright moon at night, we knew the odds were against us. Still, the trekking poles pulled us up foot by foot to the top of the ridge. After some technical navigation through rocks and a well needed snack we found what would be a suitable camp site.
Countless hours behind the razor HD spotter and just as many behind the binos in a day and half, we failed to turn up a single animal. Given that we were as high as we could get we decided to move down the ridge and drop some elevation. That proved to be a good choice because that evening after the move we spotted a nice bull & 6 does.
The next morning had me behind the spotter as the sun popped over the hills. About 1.5 miles out on another ridge I caught movement. With six deer filling my field of view I couldn't tell if any were bucks or not with light still being low. Then all of the sudden one of the deer charged the group of 5 splitting them. Instantly I said "there's a buck in the group". After watching them feed into a patch of trees we decided they must have bedded and Trav & slipped in to try and get a better look. We never could turn him up again that day. The next morning found us in the same spot. Sure enough there is the buck. This time he feeds into the timber before we could make a plan. After not being able to turn any other bucks up and our hunt half way over with, we decided this buck was going to meet his maker given we could get on him the next morning. We could tell he had a good frame but never did get a really solid look as he was always occupied with his lady friends.
That morning we were also blessed with the opportunity to watch a herd of elk across the canyon. The herd had several bulls including what I think was a 340" class stud. That helped pass the slow hot days as they bugled and fought from sun up to sun down.
Morning 3 had us in a closer spot to make a stalk when the sun came up. Sure enough, there was ole horny Hank running around. Immediately I sent Trav & Doug after him and stayed behind in the spotter. They were able to find him and Doug put him down with a 350 yard shot. The buck rolled pretty much to the bottom of the hill and once they got to him it was decided they would cut him up and pack it to a road a few miles below and I would go back and pack out all 3 bivy camps.
Once I got down I drove the road they were supposed to be on and found them. We loaded the deer up and headed back to base camp. Only having 1 day left to hunt we stayed close to base camp without ever turning up another buck. All said and done it was a great hunt. Hard work and we were successful. Great memories with great guys. Looking forward to our next hunt together!
