Well my 2011 elk season began like many others on here did; by applying for my special permits. A month later after weeding through all of the fake "Back door results posted" threads I finally found the real one and like usual it said "Not Drawn."
Oh well like usual I would just have to do it the hard way. I really don't know any other way other than taking the most difficult route possible. This year would be extra special because not only would I finally get to hunt elk again but I would get to spend it with my little brother BLRman for five days in the wilderness.
Opening day of elk season found me packing my house up in Ozark, AL. Not the ideal place to hunt for elk but I was getting my family ready for our move from Ft. Rucker, AL to Ft. Drum, NY. On September 8th I graduated from the Apache Longbow course and began the 1,300 mile move north. I think this may have been the most difficult part of my elk season since I have a 3 year old son and a 6 month old daughter.
What a trip! On September 12th we arrived at our new home and quickly unpacked some of our stuff. The next day on the 13th I flew out to Seatac. I hadn't been out west for almost 2 years so saying that seeing the Cascades again was AWSOME, it would be a complete understatement. It was OUTSTANDING to be back home. My brother picked me up from the airport and we drove strait to the trail head in the Goat Peaks Wilderness area. That night in "Camp Powerstroke" (Slept in the back of his truck) we could hear a bull chuckling to his cows nearby. Our hunt was starting out pretty good.
We left the trail head at O Dark thirty and arrived at our spike camp about noon. 7 miles later and a climb to an elevation of 6300 feet had finally brought us to our spike camp.
