drop camp elk hunt a bust

[vandeman17]

Just thought I would update everyone on our drop camp elk hunt. We left Thursday night for a trailhead head in the Eagle caps of Oregon and were on the trail mid morning Friday. The ride in was pretty and long with some aches and soreness along the way. When we finally arrived at camp, I wasn't sure what to think as the camp area itself was beautiful but we were REALLY high. After getting unloaded, I hiked around a bit to try and glass up some areas to hunt the following day. Everything I could see on my hike was rock slides, avalanche shoots and sheer rock faces. Being that we only had two directions to hike from camp and up only lead to an alpine lake that was surrounded by rock cliffs, I headed down. I ended up putting on 13 miles Saturday and dropped 2k feet in elevation to find one pile of elk poop that I would have guessed to be within a few days old. What made it worse was that there wasn't even areas that you could actually hunt, let alone that had sign. The hike back up to camp was miserable and kicked my butt. The next day was 14 miles of walking, looking at different area and no elk sign and again, no places to hunt. The hike back out dominated me again and I was hurting and so frustrated I didn't know what to do. I would have been ok with not seeing elk and even if there wasn't much sign but there literally was, maybe 2-3 spots that I would have even wanted to go back again to give a second look but those were only because everything else was that much worse. On normal hunts, the areas that I would bypass and not even look at were the quality of the ones up there that I said were the only even huntable areas.

During this time, we were trying to get in contact with the packer to see what our options were. We were told that he was busy and wouldn't be able to come get us or do anything until our original pack out date which was a week later. I knew there was no way we could sit at camp for a week and hiking within 6-8 miles of camp was a waste of time and energy. We made the tough call to hike ourselves out of camp and back to the trailhead. We left camp yesterday morning at 4:15 am and made it to the trailhead at 1:45 pm. All said and done, we showed a little over 19 miles hiked and 7k feet in elevation change. That was followed up by a 5+ hour drive home and here I sit, back at work a week early, still in shock of what all went down. On top of this, I get to drive back down there next week when he gets our gear back off the mountain so we can get it home. Pretty weird knowing how much expensive stuff I have sitting up in a tent at 7500 feet. 

[Timberstalker]

Tough decision.
I may have waited it out. Surely sitting in the Eagle Caps is better than sitting at Work?

Sorry it didn’t turn out though.

[Buckhunter24]

Ouch. Sorry to hear that

[buckfvr]

Id say you got gooned......

[vandeman17]

Tough decision.
I may have waited it out. Surely sitting in the Eagle Caps is better than sitting at Work?

Sorry it didn’t turn out though.

It was a brutal decision, trust me. I just know I would have went bat .... crazy sitting in camp for a week with nothing to do. I can honestly say, the area that was within a day's hike, which was miserable getting back to camp, wouldn't even be like a "plan J" if I was scouting a new area.

[trophyhunt]

Did he tell you previously that it was good elk hunting up there?  I wonder if he would be willing to take you in a different spot this or next year?

[vandeman17]

Did he tell you previously that it was good elk hunting up there?  I wonder if he would be willing to take you in a different spot this or next year?

This was the first time he had ever set a camp in this area. He said he had seen sign in there riding through before and it looked good from google earth. I actually talked to him this morning and he mentioned something about next year working out a deal but I don't know. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice....

[bobcat]

Sorry to hear about the bad trip. Was this a bargain priced drop camp? Were there any promises made, such as the outfitter telling you they'd put you in a location close to elk? Or, did you choose the location? This is what I've so often heard, that outfitters will put their drop camp hunters in less than desirable locations, as the good spots are saved for the guided clients.

[vandeman17]

No, this was a full priced deal. He has a camp down lower, about 6 miles away that he has dropped people from for a while. We actually hiked down to it and hunted around it as well. It wasn't good either. He only does drop camps and no guided hunts

[bobcat]

Makes you wonder if he has any repeat customers, or does he need to recruit new clients every year.

That's a bummer. Really sorry to hear that happened to you. I probably would've hiked out early too. At least you didn't also waste a week of vacation.

[Henrydog]

Man that sucks...

I have a feeling this is the outfit that was on Northwest Outdoors man radio this spring talking about the Eagle Caps saying he was not a guide but had very high success rates.  I think he was at the Bighorn show in Spokane, is this the right outfit without naming names?

[jstone]

That really sucks.!!!
That is why I am nervous about paying that much money and getting hosed.

[vandeman17]

Man that sucks...

I have a feeling this is the outfit that was on Northwest Outdoors man radio this spring talking about the Eagle Caps saying he was not a guide but had very high success rates.  I think he was at the Bighorn show in Spokane, is this the right outfit without naming names?

I am not sure. You can pm the name if you want and I can confirm or deny

[h20hunter]

My "I wonder" is what were the discussed expectations and reactions if things change regarding camp location and game. What was the expectation set regarding the area and who picked it. Can't control the game. Did the outfitter provide the service agreed upon?

[Rainier10]

Wow, sorry it didn’t work out. I know you were really looking forward to this hunt.