Tags notched in two states! What a great season!

[hirshey]

So... I'll be writing a decent bit in here and there'll be a lot of photos added in as well.. sorry for those still on dialup.


This season started off with much anticipation and excitement; it marked the first year my mother was to accompany me on the high hunt. Many people asked me if I was going to take it easy on my mom and I kindly smiled and replied, "she'll be the one taking it easy on me". Anyone who knows my mother would understand that I'm still waiting for the day when SHE isn't hiking circles around ME.

The day before the opener finally arrived, and we started our daunting trek up the steep Pasayten slopes.


Eight hours, five miles and over 4000 feet in elevation gain finally passed and we found ourselves at a small saddle roughly half a mile from our target basin for the next morning. We set up camp and set out to see what promises the basin held for us the next morning. We glassed the basin for a few hours, watching as those wily mule deer slowly revealed themselves for the evening. As the afternoon glow faded into the west, we packed up the spotting scope, headed back to camp and pretended to sleep the starry night away.

[hirshey]

The next morning arrived (as most usually do) and we sprung to life, giddy with anticipation of what the day might bring. Not wanting to use a headlamp to navigate the rocky, steep hillside, we chose our departure so we would arrive at our glassing location a few short minutes before legal shooting light. As we crossed the last rock feature on our way to the glassing spot we heard a muffled shot. Looking back at my mother, it was hard to see her facial expression but I'm certain she was equally as perplexed as me... that couldn't have come from OUR basin, could it? We continued to approach the spine ridge feature we'd used for glassing and set up, only to find that as we were greeted by the day's light, we were also greeted by two hunters gutting out a respectable, mature three point from the bachelor group we'd hoped to stalk. We sat in dismay for a while, watching the gentleman (who never saw us) and debating what this meant for the rest of our day. Finally, we packed up and moved a little further down the ridgeline and continued to glass in an attempt to find where "the rest of the fellas" might have gone. We spotted a small four point bed in the rocks, and a few does feed deep in the draw, but all our big boys were nowhere to be found.

[hirshey]

After discussing it with my mother, we decided to stick it out in the area for a few more days to see if any of the bucks would go back to any sort of "normal" routine. We gave the basin some space for the remainder of the day as the skies greyed to our west.

The wind started rustling as we zipped up our little 2-man tent that evening... just a teaser for what we'd endure that night. At 10 PM, the wind hit like a freight train. The leeward side of the saddle that had seemed so quiet and peaceful just a few hours prior was positively violent; rain pummeled our tent as the wind tore at the subalpine fir and battered our tarp. In the distance, the first rumbles of the thunderstorm could be heard; I prayed for it to arrive if for no other reason than to quiet the winds on the edge of the front. From midnight to 2 AM our ridgeline got pounded with lightning before finally we received some relief! The next morning arrived and the hillsides looked tired and worn; giant cuts in the landscape appeared overnight due to the high volume of rain, but luckily we were dry.

[hirshey]

We spent a few more days tempting the tempestuous weather in the mountains before realizing that our bucks weren't going to be coming back into the open hillsides anytime soon... over four miles of ridgeline was traversed and only a single set of tracks crossed onto the non-timbered slope. A few unsuccessful attempts at still-hunting the timber ensued before we decided to pack it up and go back to the drawing board for the remainder of the season.

We hiked out, and my mom kindly told me she was tired of the tent life for a bit; I was on my own for the rest of the season.







We had a great time, but that chapter of my hunting season was closed, with the feeling of a little unfinished business.

[hirshey]

I spent a day at home drying out, repacking my bag, and conjuring up my next big hunt idea.

This time I was making sure I was going to be alone; fording a major wilderness river, navigating waterfalls and steep hillsides and getting to the type of area that you can still have the illusion you might be the first person to stand there.

[hirshey]

I found that type of area in a different wilderness area; one I haven't spent as much time hunting but one I was excited to experience, nonetheless.

As I sat along the river rolling up my pantlegs, I wondered if I was taking the notion of getting some elbow room a little too far. Crossing the glacier-fed waters, I felt perhaps I had. Once my boots and pack were back on and the endless promise of solitude was in front of me, I couldn't be more confident that it had been worth it; climbing the steep hillside proved easier than I'd hoped with all the game trails!

The wildlife you can encounter never ceases to amaze me...

[hirshey]

As the day turned to evening, I had successfully navigated one of the waterfalls only to determine the next one was tenfold as technical. I realized I wasn't making it to the upper basin that evening, so set camp in between these two beautiful waterfalls. As I was appreciating the fantastic beauty around me, my thoughts were abruptly disturbed by young, very curious black bear. After several tense minutes attempting to shoo the bear, he departed the area, leaving me with dusk and some very uneasy sleep that evening! 

[Stickerbush]

  great writing...

[hirshey]

I woke up the next morning to a very unpleasant surprise... sleeping in between two waterfalls (the mist) turned my tent fly into a hinging door made solid by ice! I loaded up my pack and gun and hit the trail... or lack thereof. The upper basin was less than a mile away, but took me over 3 hours to reach due to avalanche chute vegetation: the maple and subalpine fir saplings were so thick it was almost smothering. Halfway through my battle, I heard the unmistakable sound of an unhappy bear; gnashing teeth and patches of beautiful cinnamon fur were less than 30 yards away through the vine maple. This bear was much more sizeable than the last I'd encountered, and if he'd given me a clear shot and a few more seconds to think about it, I would have made the worst mistake of my life and taken him.  Luckily, when he finally figured out what I was and wanted no part of me, he left a fairly great path through the vegetation for me to follow.

[bankwalker]

I have been waiting all year for your high hunt stories. Well worth the wait

[buglebuster]

Tag

[hirshey]

Finally! My destination! The upper basin! As I worked my way through the alpine forest I started catching glimpses of the back wall and went to work picking apart the hillside. Two small bucks watched from beds as a third bear fed on the edge of the treeline... I sat, enjoying the view, and thinking to myself that there was NO way I would be able to properly take care of the meat and extricate an animal in this beautiful spot all by myself; although this was a great area, it just wasn't in the cards for me during the high hunt this year.

I watched the bear move out of view, grabbed a granola bar, and started the painstaking work to battle my way back to camp and then the trailhead.

I had just about a month to continue to dream of what MY buck was going to look like this season... when I tried again during the general season.

[Wanttohuntmore]

Nice write-up and photos!

[hirshey]

General season came at a snail's pace; my job as a wildland firefighter ended for the season (abruptly this year with the furlough!) and it was time to hit the hills on my terms again.

The season opener came around and was full of the usual ups and downs; two hunters setting up right below me after hiking in by HEADLAMP and chatting loudly during twilight lighting... large bucks being spotted but across boundary lines... an injured buck being spotted, owner of property tracked down only to find the buck had moved during the time it took to gain access... Not any hunter's idea of ideal.

It was time for me to get out and away from most hunters again. It was time (ironically) to head up to the Methow to some of my soft spots.

The particular spot I chose is a far cry from my forte; I am, by admission, a spot-and-stalk kind of girl and this hillside was solid timber. But I knew it held animals, and I was determined to find them.

I spent the first part of the day kicking wolf pellets and getting in staredowns with small groups of does before making the big mistake... getting impatient with one of those 40 minute staredowns, busting some does, and watching high, wide tines disappear alongside them. After busting two nice bucks and needing to cover over six miles back to my rig before dark, I turned back towards the trailhead; but not before stopping to take a call and having a beautiful maroon colored bear walk less than 40 yards away just after hanging up; I was reinvigorated to try this spot again tomorrow.

[bigelk1030]

Loving reading this, can't wait for more......