Rocks flipped, logs busted, and some scat in a few of the clearings....
I had made pemmican for the trip with dried meat and rendered beef tallow. This was my breakfast and dinner. At around 1-2 I made it back to camp for my main meal, a pot of coffee and a rest. I had made my own dried food from dried meat, rice, and veggies and would boil this stew. Often at this time I would be frustrated and the break would revitalize me and get me ready for the second part of the day...
In the afternoon I got another long hunt. I would end the day setting up over a meadow where I had seen sign. It was beautiful over the mountains with wildflowers in full bloom. I saw both mule deer and whitetail every day. I saw 5 bull elk total and each wearing their velvet antlers. The trails were amazing to a flatlander from the UP with almost zero deer per square mile in some areas!!
My highlight was on about the 4th night when I was setting up over a creek meadow that had bear tracks along the silt. Just before dark I heard a stick crack to my right and looked over 20 yards to see a big bull elk slipping down the mountain into the clearing where he fed at about 30 yards!! I was stoked!!
One of my biggest challenges was mental. Every day I asked myself if I were hunting hard enough, was there anything I wasn't doing that I should be doing, was I being careful enough, aware enough, looking hard enough,.....I'd say to myself 'what would the greats do if they were here (like Fred Bear) and am I falling short of that?'. 'How can I be a better hunter TODAY...right NOW'. I really struggled with this and it would often be easy to become frustrated by not feeling like I had as high 'success' strategy (spot and stalk?) as I had planned to enjoy on the trip. So...I just kept asking the questions and making sure I pushed myself.
My fears of being alone (My local contact had said he'd heard of mountain lion following bowhunters up there...and there was a slight chance of grizzly) were present much of the time and really became a challenge when shadows turned to dark. At one point I found a nice meadow about an hour walk above camp with bear sign. The nagging questions were going through my mind of how I should hunt it ('what would Fred do here?'). I knew I had to stay near the clearing and be sitting above it at first light. The best way to do that was to set up my tarp in the timber and do an overnight. This took pushing myself because now I was really back in there and brought up my fears...but this was a trip to face those limitations and hear the answer to what I 'should' do and to not be a candy cane. So, camping away from the main camp became part of my technique...
All night I kept thinking: 'if a grizzly jumps on my tarp in the night I play dead; if a black bear I fight back...but, how will I know which it is in the dark!!?'
Another challenge was just coming back from a hunt in the dark. There was a grouse hanging around camp. One afternoon I came back and he was just a pile of feathers and nearly steaming it was so fresh. I made my mid-day meal and prepared to go out for the evening. As I left I pushed through the thick shrubs along the creek. Suddenly I heard a loud and awful mammal cry. Like a woman's scream mixed with mammal tones. The birds everywhere began to call their alarm calls. I knew I needed to be off hunting and would have to push my way home through this same thick area in the dark that evening. On the way back I used the mantra 'Im the most dangerous predator in these mountains'...it kinda worked...but I couldn't zip up the tent fast enough when I returned.
Gradually my 5 days turned into what feels like one long day of hunting that sped by quickly. I never saw a bear. I learned lots about myself and the mountains...and I guess that was the main point of the trip. I had seen that I was capable of walking up and down the steep all day (would be real sore in the mornings up until day 3). I felt good about the Commitment I had made to learn and push myself so that I can experience hunting to its fullest.
My questions to you that have had these same challenges: What have you done to deal with things like scent? I am used to whitetail hunting where I have to have scent control maximized. Here in the mountains I am sweating up for 1 and 1/2 hours up the mountain before I even start the hunt. I washed up in the cold creek but still could smell odor. Suggestions?? Guess I still got close to the elk and deer by using the wind factor. Is that what it comes down to? How about the mental game? Have you asked similar questions to yourself? I would hear my mind wandering with doubt and frustrations and then try to bring it back and focus on a 'mindful predator' mentality/focus. Seemed to work somewhat... what have you done?
I liked having my day pack (Bison ) and brought it in with the main pack which I ditched. My plan was to bring down what meat I could with the smaller pack (expandable game bag) and go back to the meat with the larger pack (hung or submerged in cold creek). Do you hunt with separate packs?
What would you add to this trip next year?? Is there better topography to glass and stalk than I had here...or is that part of the mental game (grass always greener)?
What do you think about solo trips like this vs having a partner? Probably help with the mental game I bet...seems like lots of advantages to having a partner...though I wouldnt not hunt just because I didn't have someone to go with.
Anyway...please give me your suggestions and help me add to my experience so that my future hunts will be even more efficient and fruitful!
Topic: did it...my first out-of-state hunt! (Read 950 times)
