Saturday the 30th: opening day:
Daughter had to cheerlead at a game Friday night, so we packed, took a nap, and I drove the 4 hours to the naneum starting at 2 am on sat.. We arrived and headed up the road we we're going to start to learn just at first light. Completely new to the area, we were just checking it out..We arrived at a glassing point about 730 and right off the bat, bulls are bugling all around. We slowly tried to make our way down into and up into the draw they were in. Found ourselves in the center of a small meadow filled with rubs and wallows with at least 3 - 4 bulls bugling within a couple hundred around us. A shot rang out from above and things got quiet. Backed out and went exploring. Back out and explore.
Hike down a trail about a mile, elk sign everywhere and all of sudden about 10 dirtbikes come blowing down the trail. Crap.. that's it for that hunt.. back out and call a member who points us in a different direction. several miles up other drainages.
Went back and camped (slept in the rig) near where we were in the bulls the morning.
Sunday 10-1: woke up to a bull bugling in a meadow above us. Moved down into the small meadow and creeped up the draining. Bull getting closer. At some point he crossed and began moving up the other side bugling every few minutes. Pretty soon my daughter spots movement about 60 yds ahead and it is a group of cows crossing the creek in the timber in front of us. Too thick for her to get a comfortable shot so she passes. After they feed up into a thicker patch out of sight we turn to come down the drainage back towards the meadow and cows coming down behind us. Still about 200 yds up from the meadow I was sure that's where they were headed. We get to the meadow and wait.. and wait... And we must've gotten busted, nothing..
Head to a trail head and here some faint bugles. Try to get closer, but with the wind and sleet storms blowing over we just can't get very close to any bugles. Hike in a mile or so to a little bridge and all of a sudden the woods explode, elk running everywhere.. no shot.. dang it. Busted.
Head over and arrive later in the day, a short hike lots of sign, but it's getting dark in unfamiliar area so we back out and take a drive around the area getting to learn the road system hoping maybe we'll hear or see something.. camp up for the night.
Monday 10-2:
Head back down that drainage and hike about a mile in, to hear nothing that morning. Head out somewhat discouraged and go back to the top of the mtn we had been hunting.
Head to the drainage that was filled with elk the day before but decide to come up from the bottom.. we hiked up about 2-2.5 miles to a bridge gaining a ton of elevation. Quite steep. Kid just plugged away, I had to stop her so I could rest, several times. We stop about half way and the daughter decides she needs a break.. she hands me her gun and heads over the drainage ready to dig a hole armed with a roll of tp.. a few minutes later I hear elk running down the rocks and back comes the kiddo ready to stalk these guys.. cliffs on both sides and about 100 yd gap over the mountain, they're no where to be found.
Head the rest of the way up the drainage and bump a nice little satellite bull about 10 yds away and sit for a couple hours glassing, listening to distant bugles but otherwise elk free until we head back down.. on our way down in a rather dusty area we walked through, elk tracks in our boot prints.. grrr. Darn it.. wrong place, wrong time...
Decide to try a new area and drive up colockum Rd in the dark about halfway to the top and find a spot to camp.
Tuesday 10-2:
Wake up and head down to the bottom to see where we are, what we're in (never been there). Daughter spots a cow feeding just above the road. Try to make a quick stalk but the cow gets nervous and starts getting squirrelly, another 10 or so get up and get pushed away by a decent bull. No decent shot except for the bull and no tag for that so on we go exploring, hiking over the hill into some drainages and glassing. Don't see anything so decide that for the afternoon we'll head back where that other member had directed us earlier.
Hike up to the top, quite a ways, ide say over a mile and sit on a bluff and glass. It's getting later and we spot some elk moving about a mile below us. She wants to go after them, but it's just too far too late in the day. As we sit and watch them, I catch movement about a hundred yards below us in the timber. A cow, wait a couple cows feeding around. No shot because of the timber but we sit and watch. A decent bull suddenly appears and begins chasing the cows towards an opening. Over the course of what seemed like an hour he pushed them. A large cow steps out and my daughter takes aim, fires, the cow stumbles and drops kicking. I look over and excitement fills her face as a tear of joy creeps out. After a few high fives and hugs we make our way down to the elk, just as she approaches she stops and admires her accomplishment (first picture). I try to sneak around to try and get a picture of the emotion on her face but she catches me and smiles, but is was a face of respect, accomplishment, and that little bit of remorse some of us get after taking a life. Something almost impossible to capture. We take a quick pic and dress her so she can start to cook while we head back to the rig for the tools we need to finish the job..
The rest is work...in the dark. Of course after loading, there was no where to sleep, so I made the long drive home while she napped as she wanted to get back to school the next day to miss as little as possible.
Overall it was a great experience that tried her patience and proved her perseverance.. Impressed me to a place without words. So proud of the determined woman and Hunter she has become..
Hope you all enjoy our story.