3 Guys, 9 Days, 116 Miles....Backcountry Adventure!!!

[kellama2001]

Tagging along 

[Skyvalhunter]

That's a beautiful bull.

[chukar hunter]

DAY 2: SCAVENGERS & SNOW FLURRIES

With high hopes of active elk from the previous days encounter, we decide to split up.  C is going back in to grab the rest of the meat and Bro and I are headed deeper into the canyon to explore more elk encounters, exploring new basins and mountain ridges.  We woke around daylight and set off in a slight drizzle, which quickly turned to snow.  Bro and I travel up canyon to the farthest extremities, calling into each ravine without a response.  As we approach a saddle approximately 7 miles from camp, we hear a crackle on radio.  It’s C and he can’t find the meat...

It was dark when we hung it, so we give him a little bit of flack about his navigational abilities, but after a few minutes, he comes to a grim realization….something had gotten into the bags and eaten our meat!  In the cover of darkness, something had ripped open both remaining bags and devoured all of the loose meat and left the shoulder unsalvageable.  Not the result we wanted after our efforts and ultimate goal of providing food for our families.  C documents the situation in case questioned by authorities and makes the sad walk back to camp.  All disgruntled by the situation, we all lament in what we could have done differently and to learn from this experience to make sure it doesn’t happen again.  As if the universe wanted to give C a consolation present, he finds a really nice 4x4 deadhead on the way back down the mountain. 

Bro and I trek on the rest of the day traversing the entirety of a ridge of a canyon.  Little to show for it with the exception of a matched elk shed set, some cold weather, and a few does as we dropped elevation in the evening on the way to base camp.  We covered a ton of good ground, just everything was in lockdown due to the inclement weather.  Gloomy day all around….

[pianoman9701]

  Bummer.

[chukar hunter]

DAY 3:  SPIKE CAMP!

With the main elk canyon explored in detail and not finding another bull wanting to play, we’re convinced the animals are at higher elevations.  We opt to leave the comforts of base camp(no more whiskey ☹) and get our skeleton gear together to spike at a location 5 miles deeper and about 2500 ft higher in elevation.  Planning for two nights we bring little more than the clothes on our backs, sleeping bags, and some mtn houses.  The area we head is known for both deer and elk and we camp in close proximity of a honey hole canyon that in the past has been stuffed with animals.  We’ve harvested a couple of decent bucks there in the past and seen elk.  Not getting to spike until late in the afternoon, we decide to leave the canyon alone and hunt the fringes for the afternoon/evening.  We bump a few deer, couple small bucks, see a 3’ snake at almost 7000’, and come across and elk wallow that was recently used.  Not expecting much today, we hunker down out of the wind next to a raging fire in anticipation of what may come the next day….

[Bowhunter3]

Following! Great story so far

[Alchase]

Only 1 gallon for 3 guys and 9 days?   

Great story so far!

 

What are the other to going to drink 

 

[HereDuckyDucky]

Snake looks like a Yellow Belly Racer!

RW

[chukar hunter]

DAY 4:  WOLVES!

Cold, but excited we wake up to our water frozen in our packs.  We make some quick grub and head up the hill gaining about 1000ft of elevation to the summit of one of the nearby mountains.  At this point we’re over 8000’ but perfect glassing and access point to our honey hole canyon.  Relishing in the sunrise, feeling on top of the world, with snowcapped peaks surrounding us in every direction, we hear a faint howl in the distance.  We drop off of the summit, out of the wind and the unmistakable howl of a wolf can be heard from our canyon below.  At about a mile out, I see a couple of cow elk glowing in the sun, nervously pacing back and forth in the fringe canyon we hunted the night before, looking up to the ridge top bordering our canyon.  Spotter out, I scan the ridgeline and see movement.  8 wolves in total are running back and forth on top of the ridge.  C grabs the elk bugle tube and lets out a long howl.  Instant response!  We call back and forth for a few minutes and then the pack starts coming our way.  We make a gameplan to work down into the canyon as far as the treeline will allow.  Dropping 500ft of elevation we’re posted up on the edge of a vast sage brush filled bowl, concealed by a cluster of 15-20 trees.  C continues to howl and the wolves continue to work our way.  Halfway to our location the entire pack sprints off of the ridge and into our honey hole canyon, into a couple of densely wooded benches.  The howling reaches and all time high and we must of heard 100 howls in succession.  After about 10 minutes of this, we hear the howling grow more distant and think the pack has headed out of the canyon.  This being my third wolf encounter, I was still in awe yet overall disturbed at the impact a pack of this size was having on these herds given the lack of game we were seeing versus years past.  Chalking it up to a close encounter, we begin the hike back to the summit.  About 30 yards uphill, howling again, but this time, much, much closer.  Immediately going back to plan A, we drop to the same location and set up the guns.  The wolves in our haste had come back on top of the ridge and had stopped on a small bench at 600 yards out.  Through the binos I count 6 wolves.  Range 580 yards. 

The lead wolf must have seen or heard us, as it was locked onto our position and not moving.  I figured now or never so I dialed up the MOA adjustments, took aim, exhaled, and pulled the trigger.  The recoil knocked me off a confirmed site impact and when getting back on the scope, all I saw were running wolves.  Two more attempts and they were gone….

Dropping elevation to check for a hit, we were disappointed to find nothing.  We opted to continue to hunt the drainage, found a ton of fresh wolf, elk and deer sign, but every animal we bumped ran out of country like it’s tail was on fire.  The quintessential mule deer behavior or stopping and looking back just wasn’t happening.  After working the drainage til dark, we come across a small buck.  This deer must have thought we were helping him from the wolves as he didn’t want to move off of his rock outcropping.  Good photo op, but just not what we were looking for.  He let me get to 35 yards before he stood up and just walked off.  Being the same distance from base camp to spike camp, we opted to drop elevation and stay the night at base(drink some whiskey) and let the honey hole cool off for a day or two….

[shootem]

Great stuff. Keep coming.

[X-Force]

 

[Jgarrigus]

Would love for a dead wolf happy ending

[Tapp8277]

Loving the play-by-play so far!

[chukar hunter]

Would love for a dead wolf happy ending

Me too.....

[JohnVH]

Would love for a dead wolf happy ending

Not just A, how about ALL of them!