Upper Smith Creek Bull Hunt

[3nails]

 As usual for our bull elk category on our special permits we put in for the Skagit tag as our first choice since it is so close to home. There really wasn't a great second choice option so I randomly chose the hardest to draw tag thinking we wouldn't draw anyways. Well wouldn't you know, my son drew it. We were excited with the draw but a little pessimistic since we knew nothing of the area. First thing we did, of course, was to do a quick search on HW. We found a post by luvmystang67 and pm'd him. He gave us a very good idea of the area and how he hunted it. This information was very helpful!
 My son did the first scouting trip on his own in September. (his hunt started October 17th) He had 3 days to scout but after seeing 15 bulls the first day he got excited and came home early.

[3nails]

 Some scouting pics.

[3nails]

 The next trip down I was super excited because my wife really wanted to come with us and see the area around the volcano. We visited Cougar, Ape Caves, and spent the night in Packwood. We only saw a handful of cows in the unit but saw a ton of good bulls in the mudflow area from the Windy Ridge lookout.

[3nails]

Ape Caves

[3nails]

 Spirit Lake

[3nails]

 And of course, St Helens.

[PolarBear]

We use to hunt that area early archery. Smith and Bean.  He should't have any problem filling a tag in that area! One day we called up 26 bulls just from the 99 road.  Spirit Lake has some absolutely monster trout it in.  I'm talking 10+ pounds.

[3nails]

 Two trips gave us a good idea of where we wanted to start. With the rut being over we knew it wasn't going to be a gimme. When the time came for the trip down, the day before the hunt, we loaded our gear and headed for the 5 hr trip to the camping spot we chose, about a half hour drive from the unit. Seattle was not good to us and turned it into a 7 hr drive, putting us there with only 1 hr to set up camp before dark.  As soon as we set up the rain moved in and pounded the tent all night. 4 o'clock in the morning came quick however. Loading up in the truck I was a bit concerned because the clouds settled around the mountain making the seriously bumpy road hard to see due to headlight glare.

[3nails]

 We parked where we wanted to start hiking about an hour before daylight. Shortly after another truck pulled in who turned out to be the other tag holder. We chatted a bit and he graciously retreated to another ridge to start his hunt. We proceeded with our plans. As daylight came it became apparent that the clouds were going to be stubbornly persistent but we continued in case they lifted.

[3nails]

 Fogged out.

[X-Force]

Tagging along

[Skyvalhunter]

Stay at it you will do well

[Karl Blanchard]

Tagging along

 

[HighCountryHunter88]

 

[blackveltbowhunter]

 . Can't wait to hear more