idabigbuck
Active Member
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- 134
Just got back from a hunt that could have had a much different outcome.
Elk hunting 2018
My buddy was only able to meet me at my campsite for one day of accompanying me on a late season bull hunt in Southern Idaho's Owyhee County. I had been there a day and a half already, and was excited to report that I had seen several smallish bulls.
When he had to bypass the start switch on his motorcycle in order to get it started, that turned out to be an inauspicious beginning!
The country is open sage and bitterbrush, with pockets of quakies and brush along the north and east facing rims of the plateaus and canyons that characterize this remote and desolate landscape. Sporadic creeks in the canyons and valleys, some dry, others with water in them, meander and meet up with the main tributaries of the Bruneau River. The whole unit seems to be comprised of rocks and boulders. A couple of good roads allow access to the other ATV trails that pass for roads into the most promising country. What soil that remains on the trails turns into a slick, rutted, bone jarring mush after any moisture.
After a couple of hours of fighting the "roads", stopping to glass occasionally. My buddy glassed a distant hill and said it looked like it had some elk on it. I pulled out my spotter and confirmed several hundred in a large herd. Being a couple of miles away and with the day slipping away we decided to start off toward the elk. There were no "roads" heading close to that direction so we decided to cross country to try to get close enough for a better look. There are no off trail restriction in this part of the state. I suspect because of the remoteness and ruggedness of the terrain.
About an hour later we arrived at the brushy cut in the plateau that would allow us to approach undetected. About a quarter mile and about three hundred feet of elevation gain later we were still several hundred yards from the herd. There were no big shooters that we could detect and with daylight fading we decided to back out and I would come back in the morning to find a shooter.
We arrived back at our machines, him on his motorcycle and me on my ATV and we slowly picked our way back toward the trail that the onX said would take us back to my nice warm, comfortable camp trailer. As the light faded it became increasingly difficult to avoid the rocks, boulders and sage. We also had to try to find a way around or through the meandering creek that threatened to keep us from our destination. We split up because it was easier for him on the motorcycle to get through to tangle of rocks and brush.
Soon the walkie-talkie in my pocket squawked that "I'm stuck in he creek!" I made my way to the light from his headlight and found his machine had broken through the ice. With a little effort we were able to free the bike and continue trying to find a way through the darkness and obstacles toward a hot meal.
I knew I had to be on the other side of the creek to make it to the trail several hundred yards beyond that onX promised was there. I found a likely looking crossing point with a gentle slope on both sides. I gave it the gas and made it most of the way across before breaking through the ice and getting stuck myself! My front wheels were on the bank and back wheels in the water. My turn to call for help. After about an hour and with the horsepower from his bike we finally freed my ATV.
By now it was pitch black and the boulders were getting bigger and seemingly impassable for my machine. We came to the realization that we were going to spend a cold night in Owyhee County.
We set about gathering up as much wood as we could find, with nothing but Sage and Bitterbrush to choose from. Fortunately the weather was favorable and no rain or snow was forecast. But it was cold!!! We soon got a fire going and used the game bags from my storage compartments as insulation on the ground. We took turns dozing and tending the fire. Our packs provided pillows as we waited for enough light to get back to camp. We had water and trail mix for dinner. We had to get up a couple of times during the night to gather more wood to fight off the cold.
We never felt in danger. I had my Spot GPS locator I case things went south. I had to turn off my phone to preserve enough battery for the ride out in the morning.
What I learned from all this is.... Stay on the trails and make sure I have enough provisions and supplies to survive a night in the woods. If worse came to worse we could have abandoned the ATV and rode out on my buddies bike. But the safe call was to spend a cold night out and ride out safely when we could see where we were.
An interesting side note, we were literally only 300 yards from the "road" where we ended up spending the night, but there was a pretty significant boulder field between us and the road. It was easy to pick through in the light but pretty intimidating in the dark!
Elk hunting 2018
My buddy was only able to meet me at my campsite for one day of accompanying me on a late season bull hunt in Southern Idaho's Owyhee County. I had been there a day and a half already, and was excited to report that I had seen several smallish bulls.
When he had to bypass the start switch on his motorcycle in order to get it started, that turned out to be an inauspicious beginning!
The country is open sage and bitterbrush, with pockets of quakies and brush along the north and east facing rims of the plateaus and canyons that characterize this remote and desolate landscape. Sporadic creeks in the canyons and valleys, some dry, others with water in them, meander and meet up with the main tributaries of the Bruneau River. The whole unit seems to be comprised of rocks and boulders. A couple of good roads allow access to the other ATV trails that pass for roads into the most promising country. What soil that remains on the trails turns into a slick, rutted, bone jarring mush after any moisture.
After a couple of hours of fighting the "roads", stopping to glass occasionally. My buddy glassed a distant hill and said it looked like it had some elk on it. I pulled out my spotter and confirmed several hundred in a large herd. Being a couple of miles away and with the day slipping away we decided to start off toward the elk. There were no "roads" heading close to that direction so we decided to cross country to try to get close enough for a better look. There are no off trail restriction in this part of the state. I suspect because of the remoteness and ruggedness of the terrain.
About an hour later we arrived at the brushy cut in the plateau that would allow us to approach undetected. About a quarter mile and about three hundred feet of elevation gain later we were still several hundred yards from the herd. There were no big shooters that we could detect and with daylight fading we decided to back out and I would come back in the morning to find a shooter.
We arrived back at our machines, him on his motorcycle and me on my ATV and we slowly picked our way back toward the trail that the onX said would take us back to my nice warm, comfortable camp trailer. As the light faded it became increasingly difficult to avoid the rocks, boulders and sage. We also had to try to find a way around or through the meandering creek that threatened to keep us from our destination. We split up because it was easier for him on the motorcycle to get through to tangle of rocks and brush.
Soon the walkie-talkie in my pocket squawked that "I'm stuck in he creek!" I made my way to the light from his headlight and found his machine had broken through the ice. With a little effort we were able to free the bike and continue trying to find a way through the darkness and obstacles toward a hot meal.
I knew I had to be on the other side of the creek to make it to the trail several hundred yards beyond that onX promised was there. I found a likely looking crossing point with a gentle slope on both sides. I gave it the gas and made it most of the way across before breaking through the ice and getting stuck myself! My front wheels were on the bank and back wheels in the water. My turn to call for help. After about an hour and with the horsepower from his bike we finally freed my ATV.
By now it was pitch black and the boulders were getting bigger and seemingly impassable for my machine. We came to the realization that we were going to spend a cold night in Owyhee County.
We set about gathering up as much wood as we could find, with nothing but Sage and Bitterbrush to choose from. Fortunately the weather was favorable and no rain or snow was forecast. But it was cold!!! We soon got a fire going and used the game bags from my storage compartments as insulation on the ground. We took turns dozing and tending the fire. Our packs provided pillows as we waited for enough light to get back to camp. We had water and trail mix for dinner. We had to get up a couple of times during the night to gather more wood to fight off the cold.
We never felt in danger. I had my Spot GPS locator I case things went south. I had to turn off my phone to preserve enough battery for the ride out in the morning.
What I learned from all this is.... Stay on the trails and make sure I have enough provisions and supplies to survive a night in the woods. If worse came to worse we could have abandoned the ATV and rode out on my buddies bike. But the safe call was to spend a cold night out and ride out safely when we could see where we were.
An interesting side note, we were literally only 300 yards from the "road" where we ended up spending the night, but there was a pretty significant boulder field between us and the road. It was easy to pick through in the light but pretty intimidating in the dark!
