Rimrock Spike Bull Hunt

[elkhuntindad]

Hi Everyone ~

I am a brand new member and have to say what a great site this is.  I am a 30yr old father of 4 (10-8-6-3) and just really starting to get into elk hunting and with being the only income times are a little tight,it's time to really put in some field time and put meat on the table.  I have never been big on getting the biggest deer or whatever just so long as i can provide for my family.  I have hunted south of Spokane all of my life hunting whitetails, with pretty decent success.  As with having a little herd of kids it's hard to get out hunting, but my boys Hunter 8 and Gunnar 6 are starting to tag along with dad on our whitetail hunts which is by far the most amazing and hilarious time especially when you say "we need to be quite" follow by a "WHAT" reply while clanking two sticks together like Tommy Lee    Anyway i have an opportunity to go hunting in the Rimrock area with my father and a couple of his friends during modern firearm for spike's.  Unfortunately the boys wont be with me, but we are going to be setting up camp near Rimrock Lake apparently and i was wondering if anyone may have any suggestions, im not looking for your hot spot or honey hole because i know i need to earn my keep and get out in the field, but a point in a good direction would be greatly appreciated.  I can only hunt Saturday and Part of Sunday because Dad duties call for Haloween    just kidding.  But i look forward to talking with many of you and hopefully returning the favor along the way!

Thank you very much!

[TikkaT3-270Shortmag]

Ive seen lots of elk by the river

[Glockster]

If you're camped by the lake you're central to everything in the unit.  Not knowing the unit, you might want to try stuff down low first day then high the next.

Go up Lost Lake Road or hunt around Clockman Rock or the Chimneys day 1 and take a drive up to the high country that afternoon....Pinegrass ridge, Jump Off Joe, or top of Bethel and get your bearings.  Hunting elk along the river might be good if you found a resident band that got pushed there after the opening volley.  Very rough terain that.

Good luck, hunted there oft and on for over 25yrs.  Guys that get their elk every year there are dialed in to the travel lanes once the first volley goes off.  Back in the 80's we had 2 week modern seasons in Nov and elk were hanging in almost every camp....ah the good old days.  Now not so much!

[bullcanyon]

Biggest problem is the elk numbed in the rimrock unit are way down. There still is enough elk to hunt, but seeing a pile of em everyday wont happen. Best bet will be to get off the road and still hunt. Hope for snow.

[Glockster]

Yes that is true.  Also most of the Rimrock herd will still be up high in the Goat Rocks or the thick stuff up on Pinegrass unless some serious snow happens in Mid Oct....not likely though. 

[elkhuntindad]

Thank you all very much for your input.  I am not a person who typically goes to an area and hunts it without checking it out first, so thank all of you very much.  I just haven't had time with being dad, getting wood for winter, and trying to read as much as possible on elk hunting.  I have heard it is very rough terrain and i have been doing my best with bike riding, walking miles a day, and strapin on my 50lb 2yr old to my back and walking about 1 1/2 miles a day.  I look forward to reporting my hunt when i get back and hopefully with pics. 

Again thank you all very much

[saylean]

Good luck Elkhuntindad, welcome to the site....it is very rough country, but very nice. I think you'll like it.

Best of luck!

[C-Money]

Good luck to you. I hear Yakima is a great place to hunt elk. I too will be cutting my elk hunt short so my wife and I can take the kids trick or treating. This is a good thing, I enjoy seeing the happiness on my little kids faces.

[Morse_FJ40]

I haven't been home for halloween since 1992. My wife understands and takes the kids out.

Good luck.

[Fish4Fun]

I haven't been home for halloween since 1992.

That is why our Elk Camp is called Pumpkin Camp, by the old timers where we hunt. It has been a tradition for 30 years to have Pumpkins on the stumps out from of camp.

[Glockster]

That is awesome!  I have seen a few camps put out pumpkins over the years up there, so i'm sure i've seen yours too.  Where is your camp?  I always thought it would make a cool book to do a story on the major hunting camps of this area.  Some traditions/camps go back generations in that country.  We laid my dad's ashes to rest on Bethel Ridge just up from one of our camps 10yrs ago now.  ~My wife and I were over there last month for rafting the Tieton and took a hike to his place of rest.  The blanket I covered him with is still there but the fork horn from my first deer was, of course, long gone.

Over the years we took deer, elk, grouse, rabbits, even ducks and one turkey from that country.  I hope you post your hunt pics and best of luck!


PS: Be sure to get some water from Goose Egg Spring (it is on the right just before the air strip. 

[Fish4Fun]

Glockster, we camp in the Bethel Ridge area on the Little Rattle Snake side. Our camp is pretty well known by the old timers, they used to judge how good the season was by how many bulls we hung on the meat pole each year.

[Glockster]

I have driven by your camp many, many times over the past 25 years.  ~Always a joy to see the pumpkins and the animals hang'n in the good years.    Last time I elk hunted that side of the ridge was near the Devil's Table several years back. 

Another tradition I remember back in the 80's.....when the rifle elk season was 2 weeks long and in mid November.  Back when there was an actual more than likely chance at snow every season....people would cut all four legs off their elk and plant them in the snow in front of their camps. LOL

You probably remember the big snow of 1985 when we got over 4ft of snow in 24hrs.  I remember the National Guard helicopters flying all day rescuing trapped hunters.  We were on the other side of the ridge from you and only a couple miles in from the HWY...we got out but many did not get their camps out until Spring.

[Fish4Fun]

I have plenty of pictures of the big snow in 85' we were the only camp up high that was able to make it down off the edge of Bethel. I used to have a silver and blue short box GMC with 427 tags, the plates were 4X427. With a built big block Chevy,lockers, chains on all 4's and a Warn winch we drug that truck and broke trail going out that day. 8 hours and 25 gallons of gas to go about 7 miles.
Everone knew my Dad back in the day, he was called Whiskey Bill by all the old times. We have killed a lot of elk back in that country. Between my brother and I we have killed 33 bulls and I think 6 or 8 cows over the years. The good old days when it was any bull, no watching 6 and 7 points walk past. The only walking was us walking up to them on the ground.

[Glockster]

That's awesome Fish 4.  I remember it snowed so hard that night there was an inch of snow accumulated on the logs IN the fire.  LOL    The next morning when it stopped snowing I remember seeing the biggest mule deer buck I've ever seen heading down through our camp to get to lower elevations.  ~We could only see his rack above the snow.  He would take one jump rest, one jump rest...took the poor guy almost an hour to cover 300yds.  I was 14 but remember it like yesterday.

Keep up the tradition of Pumpkin Camp.  My elk camp tradition kinda died over there when my ole man passed, but still make it over every once and a while.  Good luck and can't wait to see bull #34 

[Fish4Fun]

Keep up the tradition of Pumpkin Camp.  My elk camp tradition kinda died over there when my ole man passed, but still make it over every once and a while.  Good luck and can't wait to see bull #34 

Say no more, when the Old Man passed away my brother and I stayed off the mountain for a while too. It was his Elk Camp and it was his way or the highway, no discussions. But, you know your Dad like ours would want you back up there just like ours would want us back. We were gone from the elk country for 15 years. Our first year back on the mountain we bumped into guys that didn't recognize John or I. They were a little confussed that they had hunted in there for several years and had never seen the 2 of us.They knew something was up because we killed an elk in the first 30 minutes of dayslight. As they talked to us they noticed we knew every trail and crossing. Then when we would tell them who we were, it was like we had never left. The old guys were glad to see the 2 brothers that they had seen grow up back on the mountain. I was 25 when we got the snow in 85', I remember it like yesterday too. In 1969 when I was 9, I killed my first bull in the North Fork of Oak Creek. I turned 50 this August, the passion is back and so is Pumpkin Camp. with a group that the Old Man would have totally approved of. We have killed 4 elk in the last 3 seasons, we still have it and so do you if you come back too.

[FWilliams]

Keep up the tradition of Pumpkin Camp.  My elk camp tradition kinda died over there when my ole man passed, but still make it over every once and a while.  Good luck and can't wait to see bull #34 

Say no more, when the Old Man passed away my brother and I stayed off the mountain for a while too. It was his Elk Camp and it was his way or the highway, no discussions. But, you know your Dad like ours would want you back up there just like ours would want us back. We were gone from the elk country for 15 years. Our first year back on the mountain we bumped into guys that didn't recognize John or I. They were a little confussed that they had hunted in there for several years and had never seen the 2 of us.They knew something was up because we killed an elk in the first 30 minutes of dayslight. As they talked to us they noticed we knew every trail and crossing. Then when we would tell them who we were, it was like we had never left. The old guys were glad to see the 2 brothers that they had seen grow up back on the mountain. I was 25 when we got the snow in 85', I remember it like yesterday too. In 1969 when I was 9, I killed my first bull in the North Fork of Oak Creek. I turned 50 this August, the passion is back and so is Pumpkin Camp. with a group that the Old Man would have totally approved of. We have killed 4 elk in the last 3 seasons, we still have it and so do you if you come back too.

love this stuff...thanks for sharing it.......

[Glockster]

Thanks the walk down Bethel Ridge memory lane Fish 4! 

To the OP: I hope you find some good family elk hunting grounds of your own in the Rimrock Unit.  Sounds like your sons will be of age shortly and trust me; when they're ready to tag along with the old man they'll be looking forward to it ALL year.  When they know it takes good grades to go hunting they'll get them.  When they've earned the awesome responsibility of holding a rifle in their hands, they'll be anxious to prove worthy of the trust you put in them.  When they make their first kills, there will be no prouder moment.   When they mature, the men they become will not to a small extent be shaped by time they spent with the old man and his friends in elk camp.

There would be a lot less problems in the world if more boys got to go to elk camp.

[Fish4Fun]

There would be a lot less problems in the world if more boys got to go to elk camp.

That is one of the best lines I have read in a long time, and such a true statement.   

[elkhuntindad]

That is an awesome statement  and they get to tag along during whitetail season now here on the east side because it's not so rough, but i think next year my 8yr old Hunter with go but 6yr old Gunnar is prob gonna be a bit upset, but he'll see what it takes i can't wait to get them both out in the woods with me and Papa before he can't hunt much longer, plus getting ready to get over there and work hard and hopefully bag a big spikey

[Fish4Fun]

Never too early to get them involved, my Dad and Uncle would piggy back carry my brother and I, when we were only 5 and 6 through the woods. Never slowed those guys down a bit, and they would kill animals with us clinging on like little animals. We were in Elk Camp at age 9 and both of us were shooting lever action .32 Win Specials. Start them young and right and you will have hunting buddies for life.

[Glockster]

I was 6 when I first got to tag along.  Deer hunting bored the #$@ out of me...mostly because my dad didn't know the good areas or what he was doing so we never saw squat.  But I loved being with him so I went whenever he offered.  Along came his new brother in law in the mid 70's....he knew how to hunt.  This guy had the magic 'game eye'...and got a deer every year.  He took us duck hunting up at Skagit and I got to see my dad get his first kill; a small hen bufflehead.  I remember how soft the feathers were and how earthy and sweet she smelled.  At that point I was hooked.  Under the Uncle's teaching, dad started to kill deer and bear up above Darrington.  I carried a bb gun.

I took hunter ed at 13 and this was the first year we started deer and elk camps in the Bethel unit.  I almost cried when I saw this country for the first time,...it was dry, open forest and there were no clearcuts or blacktails.. This was 1984.  Opening day Dad shot a nice two point that I and another hunting buddy walked right past in some thick scrub oaks.  (Lesson learned!)

Next year '85, after the morning's hunt, Dad said he was gonna go to town to call Mom (which was also an excuse to get more beer) and if i 'wanted' i could hunt on my own that afternoon...I was 14.  I think I was half way down the mountain before he finished his sentence.  LOL.

Anyway, I ended up shooting a deer that afternoon, probably the most unluckiest deer to ever roam Bethel Ridge.  I didn't know the first thing about field dressing except to 'get the guts out'.   Some nice guys near the road heard the commotion and came to investigate.  These guys finished gutting the deer, carried it to the road and even offered to drive me to camp.  I respectfully declined and said one of my dad's friends would be along shortly.  I hid in some bushes and as soon as I spotted the big blue Powerwagon, I jumped into the road and and nearly gave my dad's friend a heart attack as I was covered in blood he thought I had hurt myself. LOL  My dad's friend raced me back to camp and I asked why are we driving so fast.  He said I want this deer hung before your old man gets back....you'll know why this is important years from now.

Well we made it back in time and get the thing hung.  Greg said, do not announce you got it.  Let him ask who got the deer.  Dad comes rolling in and we play cool.  I got to tell him myself when he asked.  He said I'm proud of you son. 

[elkhuntindad]

getting ready day by day, got some maps of the area so i have been reviewing them as much as i can, will find out exactly where base camp is and hopefully will see some of you in the field 

[elkhuntindad]

not much longer, and thank you google earth for valuble scouting and topo maps, can't wait but for now just gonna focus on the whitetails down south of spokane

[DeerThug]

Go up the lost lake road till you are near the top.  The road bends tot he right and it will get thick timber on your left.   There is a big ridge to the east .  Pick an elk trail and sneak back in there.  there are spikes in this area.  Just GPs the truck so you can find it. 

Good Luck
DeerThug

[elkhuntindad]

will check that out, going to be camping about 4mi east of lost lake, should be easy to make it up there

[elkhuntindad]

not much longer to go TG!  Thursday night is going to be like Christmas Eve all over, just waiting for Friday morning to load all the gear up and head to Rimrock and hopefully find a nice fat spikey.  Hope to see some of you out in the field and best of luck and be safe!!   

[sporked horn]

This post is what hunting and the outdoors should be about, sharing stories and history, showing respect to others and helping where you can.  I love this site, just wish I was out hunting with you all this year, started a new job and can't take time off

[Hungry Horse]

Very well said  Sporked Horn,  sportsman helping  others to enjoy the sport and having enjoyable hunts. 

[Wyoming08]

This is an awesome post.  I got invited by my wifes cousin last year to go hunt up there. So we had a great camp. We had grandpas, uncles, cousins, sons, nephews, and a couple friends. We camp by the creek about 5 miles in.  Past the water spring. We had 2 trailers, and 2 big canvas tents. It was such a great couple of weekends. It was truly what a hunting camp was all about. We already set up the canvas tent last weekend, and I think the trailers went up today?? I Can't wait until Friday.  And there is already SNOW!!!!!!!!!! Goat wilderness here I come.... YEEEHAAAHHHH

[KillerBeee]

I went up there last year as well with an experienced crew. Great multi-generational family deal with some friends to boot. It was a great time and I will be headed up on Friday as well.
    My buddy has an any bull tag and started yesterday.
      Stoked for Friday!

[Glockster]

Bring your chains and good luck!  Should be a good elk opener with this weather! 

[DeerThug]

Yup should be a g ood  elk season.  snow already.  And i agree a good post.  None of the crap about PM me or you are new so I anint  gonna giive you info.

Hunters should help hunters.


Good luck.  Paste a spike for me..

[steeleywhopper]

Good luck on the hunt. There has been some good advice offered here and some great stories told as well. I myself get to head out Thursday to hunt back in the Blue's. This will be the second year that my Grandfather will not make it to camp, but on the other hand my 18yr old daughter said that she would love to come check it out. She took her hunter ed when she was 11 and then figured that she could not kill a animal and I told her I respected her wish. This will be her first time at camp and hopefully not her last. Might get to spend halloween with her for the first time in a lot of years. Good luck to all!

[Glockster]

Top areas I would hunt given this snow up above 5,000 this weekend would be:

Pinegrass Ridge / Goat Rocks
Jump Off Joe/Lost Lake
N. Fork Tieton behind the ski area

Day 2:
Breaks of the Tieton River (rough country, but that's where they'll go once pressure hits).

Good luck you guys!  Especially Elk Hunt'n Dad and the Pumpkin Camp Crew!

[elkhuntindad]

Thanks for the well wishes, unfortunately a severe flu struck me Wednesday evening  and now this morning i am feeling somewhat better with my temp around 100 and only swollen tonsils.  I was talkin with the toilet most of Friday and Saturday and temp of about 103 - 104, cold chills, massive body ache, headache and everything that the nastiness can bring.  Good luck you all of you out there and i can't wait to see pics of all of your harvests.  At least i was able to get a nice 4pt buck before i got sick so at least some meat in the freezer.  And will be out there next year, you guys have been great!

knock em dead boys but be safe heard its supposed to be some nasty weather over there!

[Glockster]

Sorry to hear that Elkhunt'n dad.  It's still open thru Sunday.

Maybe next year.  It's a fun place to camp, very beautiful, you should go up there in the Summer and spend some time with the family poking around.

Hope the Pumpkin Camp scored!

[Wyoming08]

  Had a great hunt up off the Teiton Rd. area. Opening morning we were up off the 1040, and after sitting in the snow for a few hours and not seeing anything, my son and I start heading back to the truck. We came across some fresh tracks. 2 smaller sets and one big set. Well we start looking at these tracks and there was blood in the front right one. About every other step there were a few drops of blood. This was opening morning, we didn't hear any shots, so I figured someone with a branched tag had hit one, and it was still moving.... Anyone missing a bull?  We followed it for quite a while!! Still blood in every other step.

[Wyoming08]

We Didn't shoot any ELK!!! But we sure did kill some trees...
We will be back up on Wed night. Come say HI. 9.5 miles up the Tieton...

[Wea300mag]

That looks like a DOT job there, one guy working and 8 standing around watching.

[Jason]

That looks like a DOT job there, one guy working and 8 standing around watching.

Damn you beat me to it..yep city employees for sure.

[Wyoming08]

That looks like a DOT job there, one guy working and 8 standing around watching.

  Ya and to boot...He's mexican... I can say that cause he's my bro-inlaw..

[Glockster]

Fish 4 Fun, how did the Pumpkin Camp crew make out?

[Morse_FJ40]

I saw that you guys left the rest of the tree up on the hill.

We cut a nice downed tamarack also. Tough hunting with the snow pushing alot of the local resident elk down, and few of the high country elk moving in. The warm weather really didn't help.

Good times though

Ryan