Hirshey's Hunting Season 2016

[hirshey]

Well, I was planning on typing it all out solidly before putting it to the forum this year, but seeing as there have been inquiries, I'll just fly by the seat of my pants a little bit here... 

[hirshey]

Alright, here goes another chronicle of trials, tribulations, trails, and teamwork.

I suppose the right place to start would be the first serious hunt of the season: October muzzleloader Clockum cow permits. During special permit applications, I had asked my parents what their thoughts were on allowing my close friend Jeff to piggyback on our couple of points and apply with our group for the antlerless elk tags. After a little deliberation, they agreed he would be a fun addition even if it negatively affected our draw odds. In the end, it was the only category any of us saw the coveted “Selected” text, and we were all looking forward to the season (it would be Jeff’s first year with a muzzleloader, and first true elk hunt).

[hirshey]

We converged on the campsite under the fading skies the night before the hunt, and spent more time than intended sharing stories of fire seasons, sea lions, apple harvests, and artwork; although the alarm softly hummed the next morning, it still seemed a rude awakening prior to some caffeine. With the trucks defrosted and firearms loaded, we headed for familiar hills that had provided us great fortunes in previous seasons. Jeff and I hadn’t even stepped out of the vehicle under darkened skies when we had our first encounter, but the animals we continued to find were not those we were seeking; if we possessed bull tags, we certainly would have been tagged out! We reconnected with my parents to discover they had not seen any animals in our normal haunts, so we decided on a change in scenery the following day.

[hirshey]

Our efforts continued to reward us with close encounters of fabulous bull elk, but for the life of us we could not get in touch with their cows. The next two days consisted of chirping at mature bulls and being rewarded by thunderous bugling and impressive displays… Jeff even had one good opportunity at a cow had he not been so entranced by one of the bulls, but alas all the day yielded was close encounters, good video footage, and some photos to share.

[hirshey]

Tree Violence

[hirshey]

Big boy #1

[hirshey]

Big boy #2

[hirshey]

Sharing the elk with other creature beasts

[hirshey]

Wallowing in my lack of skill at finding cows.

[hirshey]

The fourth day, we decided to continue to hunt this new ground that had yielded these close encounters… we knew at some point something had to give. There were two access roads to the area we wanted to hunt, and although the hike between them at a brisk pace was less than a couple of hours the driving distance between the desired parking locations was fairly substantial. It was decided that I would park my vehicle on one road allowing through-hunt access, and my parents and Jeff would start from the other.

As the early morning greeted the skies with pastel hues, I was busy snapping photos of a branched antler bull when the distant sound of shots resounded off the blackened snags and dry earth. I turned on my radio to wait for the news, but hours passed with no voices to answer mine. Eventually, I hiked back to the road with the gut feeling those shots were important to my hunting party. A passing hunter shared he tale of a “gal and a couple fellas, one young guy” that had elk down on the other side of the hill; I tore down the road as (safely) fast as my little Subaru could go, and found my family and friend just in time to assist with the processing and packing of my dad’s (the final of three) animal.

We shared a “Sleigh’r” beer (I thought it was appropriate) and happily celebrated a fabulous, successful hunt. We spent one last (half-hearted) day hunting for an animal for me, but I felt two elk was more than our family could ask for… we considered ourselves fortunate and were grateful for a successful hunt with some stunning encounters, and I had 3 days to pack and report for my secondary job in Seattle (transition from firefighter to biologist came early this year) anyways. Plus, I had a week and some change to prepare for the Washington general deer season!

[hirshey]

Family portrait.

[hirshey]

(Working on adding photos so all users can see them, rather than the facebook links)

[hirshey]

All packed up!

[hirshey]

Gaining the ridge back to the truck

[hirshey]

A still frame from one of the videos we shot.... I'll see if I can work on permission to access it from Jeff so I can share all the bugling action with you.