Some of you will remember my good fortune last December when I drew a last minute tag for Utah Henry Mountains bison. Extremely tough tag to draw, and a tough hunt. Well, it happened again!
In late July I received a phone call from the Utah DOW. Someone had turned in their Fish Lake elk tag, and my name was next up on the alternate list. They gave me two days to make up my mind on whether to accept the tag or not. I took all of two minutes to make my decision. I was headed back to Utah!
My good friend Paul Van Vaerenewyck (PV here) offered to come along with me and be my personal sherpa, guide, and caller. He flew to WI to accompany me on the drive and we headed west on August 31st.
Our first few days in the mountains were spent primarily driving around the roads and trails in the truck or by atv in an attempt to learn the area and also spending quality time glassing mountainsides to locate elk. I had 11 solid days to hunt, and the plan was to use the first 3 or 4 to get acclimated both to the area and the elevation.
Unfortunately, the elevation took its toll on Paul. He has a mild case of sleep apnea, and although it doesn't cause him any real trouble at home, and he doesn't use a machine to sleep at night, the high elevation was a different story for him. Our base camp was a little over 10,000 feet, and breathing at night got to be more than just an inconvience for Paul. It became downright scary and dangerous for him to stay. He had to get down off the mountain, and on Thursday morning I drove him to SLC to fly home.
For the rest of the hunt I would be on my own. I'll let the pictures tell the story for you.
Base camp was on the far ridge. It is steeper and higher than it looks. From the spot this was taken to the valley floor was about 1,000 feet in elevation.
Topic: Utah Elk Hunt Pics (Read 5701 times)
