I went out thursday at 3:30. Got to the road I was going to hunt on at 4:00. Spent an hour driving around the breaks looking for a good spot to glass from and camp. Found a good spot, and parked the pickup down in a draw so the bears in the big Minam canyon couldnt see it. Spent about 20 minuets glassing down into the minam and into a little creek called squaw creek. After 20 minuets of glassing into squaw creek, I saw a big cinnamon bear about 2 miles away. We decide to get back to the pickup, and drive closer to the bear, then hike to it, and try and find it. I got to the pickup, and went to drive, and it was stuck. Sooooo... I pop it into 4 low to get out, and S$%T starts flying everywhere. I get out to look at the front axle, and the CV joint is busted all to hell. Actually it doesnt exist anymore. Neither does half the front axle. Soooooo... I no longer have 4 wheel drive. Soooo... it takes us an hour and a half to get out of the mud hole. Soo were driving along towards the bear that is probably long gone by now. And I look across the canyon (this is not the minam canyon where i spotted the bear, but a diffrent canyon) AND I SEE 500 FREAKING ELK!!!! Thay were in 10 or 12 seperate heards all over the top and sides of this canyon. About a mile as the crow flies. I couldnt believe my freaking eyes. So me and my buddy both decide right then and there that we were going to hike over there and look for and stay the night and look for bears and sheds over there. So we stop the pickup and get our packs ready. To get to the canyon were the elk were, we have to hike to the bottom of the canyon, and up the other side. So we take off... Its getting dark. It takes us about an hour to get to the bottom of this extremely steep canyon, through the deadfall and crap. And then we get to the bottom of the canyon and fill our cantens up in the creek. It is then that I relize that I forgot my binoculars, AND I forgot to lock the pickup, which contains my spare rifle! I almost hiked back up that freakin mountain. So then we take off up the other side, and it takes us about 2 hours. In the pitch black. We get to the top, and set up camp, and go to sleep. We wake up with 1/2 inch of frost on our sleeping bags. It was freking cold. So we get up at 5:00 and start hiking. We hike for about 3 hours looking for sheds. I found 2 . An average 4 point buck, and a spike elk. I did not see a bear. At noon we packed up camp, and went back to the truck. We drove 5 miles to a payphone at a little rest stop. And called my dad to pick us up. My pickup is screwed for the reest of the season.
I'll get pics very soon!
I'll get pics very soon!
