More lessons from the high buck

[yakimanoob]

Hey folks!

I know some folks are still out hunting hard, but my window has closed on the high buck and I'm still holding my tag.  This was my second attempt at this hunt, and while I did explore a new area, I ended up coming back to the main place I was in GPW last year.  Weather was a little worse this year; pressure was a lot lower. 

I did manage to find a nice buck; spotted from about 2mi away (thanks again to @shallowforks for the deal on the spotter), but when I tried to get to him I found out quickly why he chose that spot as his home--I couldn't find a way to him that didn't involve some sketchy Class 2/3 climbing.  I guess I have another 12 months to improve my route-finding skills and figure out how the heck I'd get the meat out if I was able to connect 

Main lessons:
- I need to be less of a wuss about the rain.  I succumbed every morning to the "just sleep in; hunting in this would be no fun" voice of pattering raindrops on my fly. 
- Fog is the literal worst.
- I have GOT to figure out how to keep my feet dry (see other thread).  It wasn't even that cold, but man, wet feet sure do zap your gumption to hike a few miles to a better spot.
- I need to carry (and learn how to use) a tarp for glassing in the rain. 
- I need more practice hiking at night. 
- I need more mountaineering skills. 
- Watching from above as two F-15s practice flying through canyons is THE COOLEST SH*%.   
- There is, still, absolutely, no such thing as a bad trip to the high country! 

Hope you all had a blast this season, and good luck to those still out!

[7mmfan]

You got out and got after it, that's half the battle. Rain when backpack hunting is a real motivation killer. If looking for a good tarp setup, contact Jonathan_S on here, he makes great stuff. I bought a tent and tarp from him this year, used them both this last weekend. Here was my view during the rain.

[Highhuntin]

 

Same here, I had a great solo  trip and considered it a camping hiking scouting trip in a new area  from the get go so was  not disappointed to not tag out, I  learned a few things and some  things I need to improve/upgrade for next year.

[farmin4u_98948]

Rain then sat nite bout midnight it cleared off and FROZE. Putting on frozen boots Sunday.  BRRRRR. Tried a new area this year up Entiat. Lots of Does. Bucks were somewhere else.

[yakimanoob]

Yeah, I was out by Saturday mid-day.  Weather was bad and only getting worse, and I had at the shop at 7:30am Sunday. 

Thinking more about the rain and fog: another big lesson I learned this year is that I need to change my pre-season scouting strategy.  Thus far, I've been focused on finding glassing points and finding legal animals pre-season.  There's obviously a lot of value in that, but I neglected the simple lay-of-the-land scouting.  I'm thinking for next year (and for a new elk spot I want to try in a few weeks) my strategy will be more of a three-pronged approach:

1. Find good season-specific habitat with obvious sign (done mostly e-scouting but verified on foot)
2. Find glassing spots that overlook said habitat
3. Find the quickest and easiest way to get to the area, including, and especially, walking all the nearby trails. 

That third point seemed less important until this trip.  I found my buck Thursday afternoon, then burned most of Friday morning going slow through the fog along an unknown (and unmapped) trail.  If I had bothered to walk that trail on any of my 5 previous trips to the area, I would have know where it went and would have confidently walked it through the dark and/or fog, and would have had a lot more time to try and navigate the cliffs.  Who knows, maybe I could have found a route through them to get to the buck.  But after waiting out the fog close to camp, I ended up with only a couple hours to route-find and by that point it my window was closing too quickly.  Next summer I will for sure take a route-finding-specific trip up there just to make sure I know how to get where I want to go. 

[Watimberghost]

Good stuff Noob. Every trip to the high country is a learning experience. Way to get out there and give it a shot!

[jstone]

You can always go back for modern rifle season and get him

[yakimanoob]

If I had the time available, I'd be all over it. 

[teanawayslayer]

The weather wasn’t ideal this year that’s for sure. We spent 32 hours straight in the tent. More sleet and snow than rain. The place I camp is in the side of the mountain. It’s hard to do anything except lay in the tent. No place for a fire. Once you get wet you cant get the dampness out. 32 hours of that crap and out we went. You may call me soft.

[Pinetar]

The weather wasn’t ideal this year that’s for sure. We spent 32 hours straight in the tent. More sleet and snow than rain. The place I camp is in the side of the mountain. It’s hard to do anything except lay in the tent. No place for a fire. Once you get wet you cant get the dampness out. 32 hours of that crap and out we went. You may call me soft.

You are soft  You asked for it Heath

[teanawayslayer]

The weather wasn’t ideal this year that’s for sure. We spent 32 hours straight in the tent. More sleet and snow than rain. The place I camp is in the side of the mountain. It’s hard to do anything except lay in the tent. No place for a fire. Once you get wet you cant get the dampness out. 32 hours of that crap and out we went. You may call me soft.

That’s ok I left myself wide open.
You are soft  You asked for it Heath

[Utah]

The single best thing about the high hunt any of you can do is to stop talking about the high hunt on line.  un frigging real..   You want to enjoy it for a long time?  Zip it!      Thank me later.

[yakimanoob]

I get where you're coming from, Utah, but it's my view we need more folks out there hunting, not less. 

[7mmfan]

I think the high hunt does a pretty good job of weeding people out on it's own.

[ctwiggs1]

I think the high hunt does a pretty good job of weeding people out on it's own.

Nailed it!