Chris (Titan-1) and I met up for an evening hunt in the CF and we decided to hike into an area I know of that has been closed to vehicle access for about nine months. I used to go up there quite a bit when we could drive it but the problem is now it is too far of a walk from where you park. So after scouring the map I noticed a hiking trail that would get us to one of the spur roads with what looked to be only a couple tenths of a mile hike. But paper maps are not 3D and don’t account for ups and downs and switch backs very well.
The trail hike to the old road was actually just over 4 tenths of a mile and from there it was a mile to our first stand. Basically 1.5 miles which is no big deal but with a 1,000-foot drop in elevation, most of that in the first 1/2 mile, it would mean a long pack out if we got something.
On our way we saw a lot of coyote crap and I was debating on shooting one if we could get it on film, but we really wanted bear footage. We also saw a doe and a few deer tracks on our way in.
Upon setting up at our first stand we could hear something in the bottom of the cut and out came a small forkie buck. Not big, basically just crab claws and we could still hear another one down there. Then Chris spotted a doe and fawn off to our right.
I started with some fawn distress and in a few moments I hear Chris whisper, “there’s a doe”. I start looking down in the bottom near the buck and over to the right when he says, “to your left”. There was momma doe at attention with her fawn hanging behind. We weren’t concealed very well and she had us pegged, but every time I called she would come a bit closer. She would raise and lower her head and stomp her feet, then move a bit closer. I am sure if we were hidden she would have come right up to us.
After about 10 or 15 minutes of calling, with the little buck still feeding below, I noticed the doe on the right had not moved an inch the whole time. When I said something to Chris, he responded, “she just moved”. I looked and still saw a doe in the same spot and I told him it hadn’t just as I saw another doe in the foreground. Then out popped a little buck with about 6 inch spikes.
One buck in the hole.
Doe & fawn on the right.
Doe & fawn on the left.
Another doe on the right.
Spike on the right.
All these deer were interested / bothered by the calling except the little forkie. He didn’t care one bit.
We watched for a few more minutes as the forkie fed his way to the other deer and then we decided to move to another spot.
As we got back on the road we had a doe and twin fawns pop out about 80 yards ahead of us and then another doe joined them.
Too many deer and not enough bear.
The next spot was a lot farther then I remembered. It was a small ravine with a recent slide and the bottom was covered with green grass. It looked like a great place to get a bobcat on film or maybe even kill a coyote.
Within minutes of calling Chris whispers, “two deer”. I hear him but I am not paying him any attention as I hear the Salal brush rustling only yards away. He says it again and I see a doe and a fawn making their getaway down in the bottom. I have no idea what was rustling near us, but it wouldn’t be the first time that I have called in a weasel. Nothing else was moving and it was getting late so we decided to head out….then the “hey, is that a cut right there?” And next thing you know we are heading farther from the truck.
Around the next corner we see a medium porky and I tried to catch up to him to get a couple quills but he bailed down the side of the cut and I didn't feel like falling on top of him. So we continued on to another spot.
As soon as we broke over the edge a doe blew out and after a few minutes of glassing and half assed calling we decided we had gone far enough. It was all up hill every inch of the way, the rain clouds were rolling in and neither one of us had a rain jacket.
We were only a few minutes into our hike out when the drizzle started so we stopped to put the camera away. While Chris was doing that we could hear some quads coming. We discussed about asking for a ride back to the trail when we saw that the first quad around the corner was already riding double…crap!
They stopped to talk and were quite surprised to see us back in there. They had a rifle and had seen a bear in there before the season. I recognized two of them and after some bsing about mutual friends / acquaintances and invite to stop by their place, Chris and I were on our way up the road. A few seconds later they asked us how far we were going and offered to give us rides to the trail.
Did we take the offer? Hell yeah we did.
It saved us over an hour of uphill hiking and heavy breathing embarrassment. LOL
Once we were back in the truck we took the long way out. The fog was so heavy and thick that I would rather take our time and go the way I know the best rather then fumble around a short cut and take longer in the fog.
Back at my truck we then headed to the house of the quad riders to bs and thank them again.
No bears, but it was another great evening in the woods.
