Second time in elk country

[Pat B]

I made it to Durango about 3pm on Sept 2 and was greated by my hosts Kenneth and Kathie Gorman. Kenneth and I hunted back in '06 when he invited me out and ever since has been trying to get me back out again. Finally this year I was able to make the trip.
  Early the next morning we drove out to a parking area off of the Forest Service road. From here it is about a mile to the Salt Creek Trail head.
  This is Kenneth..
 

...and yours truely...
 

From this point we had about a 3 hour decent down the Salt Creek Trail to our Camp. Two weeks before Kenneth had packed a wall tent, wood stove, camp kitchen and some dried food items so we could pack in light(about 40# each).
 At camp we put up the wal tent and got everything set up.
 

 

 

 

[akbowbender]

Nice looking camp. Can't wait for the "rest of the story."

[Pat B]

...and here is home sweet home for the next 6 days.
 
  Later that day Kenneth guided me down Salt Creek to a point below a large pine tree("The General"), this was where we parted and I headed up the ridge towards a stand Kenneth had scouted a few weeks earlier.
 

...after going up a bit the angle became less...
 

  ...then flattened out once I crested the end of the finger ridge. I skirted to the right and down that side of the ridge back into the wooded cove...
 

 I was slipping along a game trail heading towards where this trail meets about 10 other trails at a small creek about 25 yards from where my stand will be.

There was some pretty good sign along the way...
 

 

It was a little darker down this side

[Over&Under]

Same here...Great looking setup and love these elk-hunt-along's!  

[Pat B]

That afternoon I couldn't find Kenneth's stand so instead of tromping the area looking for it I hunkered down between 2 blow down trees to get a feel for the area. I headed back to camp early while it was still day light so I could get my breaings coming and going.  Kenneth had gotten camp in full order so we ate supper, toasted our hunt with a little Canadian whiskey and hit the rack about 10pm. We wanted to get an early start in the morning.
  After discussing in detail the stand area with Kenneth I was sure to find his stand in the morning. And what a stand it is. Again set up between 2 blow downs but this time right where the action should be...
 

 

 

You can see how barren the ground is on the other side of the creek. Only one little problem...no fresh tracks or sign.
  As you know the weather can change quickly in them mountains. Just in case of a thunder storm this would be my shelter. The overhang is big enough to completely get out of the weather and the soil under it is bone dry and lacks vegitation. Fortunately I never had to use it.
 

I hunted this stand from dawn to dusk for the next 4 days and never saw an elk. We heard a few bugles each evening at dush and a few in the mornings on the high ridges but no other fresh sign anywhere.
  On one of my site, shortly after noon I cought movement just across and above the creek. This guy walked out and turned down towards the creek. Just as I got my camera and took the shot he turned and headed down creek. At this point he was about 40 yards...
 

I'm guess this wolf weighed about 50# to 70#(about the size of a German Shepherd). About 2 hours later he came back up the creek, this time passing at about 30 yards just across the creek. I turned to get my camera and when I turned back around he had vanished. What a thrill to be that close to a wild predator like this wolf and not be detected.
 "Did you see that?"
 

[Over&Under]

Pat

How certain are you it was a wolf?  I don't recall the Durango area have a wolf population.

Was it perpahs a large Coyote?

[Pat B]

Unfortunately we never got close to an elk. The last day we slipped along a few game trails, bugleing and adding a few cow calls but to no avail. Here is Kenneth hunkered down as we waited for the elk to bugle the last evening to see if we could get close...
 

...and slipping through a small mountain meadow...
 

...and me playing like I was getting a shot...
 

...and being amazed and awestruck at the beauty of this vast country...
 

...but it was still one heck of an experience for this 61 year old almost flatlander. So much so I had to celebrate with this nice Trinidad cigar that Benjy sent me to take along...
 

[Pat B]

Over&under, I got a good look at his face and a side on view to me it truely looked like a wolf to me. He was about 50# to 70#, about the size of a Greman Shepherd. I've seen many coyotes and this wasn't a coyote that I'm used to seeing. Kenneth said he had heard an odd howel or two over the years but never gave it any tought. Kenneth was as surprised as I was about me seeing it.

[Over&Under]

Pat

The mountains around Durango are definatly rugged enough to be home to wolves...glad you had the chance to see one, I bet there are not many others that get to.

Kinda like mountain lions I guess...I know they are there, but you rarely see them.

Looks like a great hunt and like you said, just being in that awesome country is worth the trip.

[GRINCH]

Looks like you guys had a great time,congrats.

[Green]

Glad you got to go again Pat and thanks for sharing the pics and the story.  Start planning the next one.....you know that third time's a charm thing and all.

[trad_bowhunter1965]

Thank you for posting the story and photos.

[John Scifres]

Cool.  Thanks for posting.

[piggy]

Mate thanks for sharing, I love reading and looking at the pictures you guy's post up of your country and your camp set ups really cool.

[LONGSTYKES]

Pat, Sounds like a good time. Thanks for the pics and the read.

[Can Hahaka]

Guys,

Great lookin camp. must be a lot of snakes out there as I saw the bottle of anti-venom on the shelf.

Looks like you had a great time. Thanks for the post.

[wislnwings]

Looks like you had a good time.  That sure is a rugged area.

[jhg]

Originally posted by Pat B:
[QB]...
  As you know the weather can change quickly in them mountains. Just in case of a thunder storm this would be my shelter. The overhang is big enough to completely get out of the weather and the soil under it is bone dry and lacks vegitation. Fortunately I never had to use it.
 

Pretty cool camp and trip. In case anyone cares, taking shelter under an over-hand or in a cave from a thunderstorm is risky. Your head is the electrode (like a spark plug) if a strike travels in the ground near you. I never understood why you should not do this until it was explained this way. Just some more info for us all to ponder.

I wish I had a tent like that in the other pictures. But until I can take the whole month off and I can stay up there all season...

Joshua

[Pat B]

Guys, this was a fantastic trip. I wish everyone had the opportunity to take a hunting trip out west or even to just visit the Western US. The vastness and scenery is almost unbelievable.
  JHG, that is good to know. Never would have even thought about it. You can see lots of trees up there that were struck by lightening and I thought they would be acting as lightening rods but not a large rock.
  I did notice on this trip that there seems to be a spruce/fir die off. About 1 in 5 of these evergreens were dead or dying. I wondered if it was a natural phenominon or something else. Some of the trees had saw dust around the base indicating a boring insect and you could see where the bark had been pecked off by birds and holes in the trunks. It reminded me of the Southern Pine Beetle damage I've seen in the South East.

[maineac]

Thanks for sharing a dream hunt.