A man in the wilderness -Part 2

[Snapshot]

Well......, not really the wilderness. spent a couple days in the primitive area most of the hunting was on the west side of Highway 191.

 

I hunted hard for 9 days (Archery Bull)but came up short on arrowing a bull. I got within 80 yards of a nice 5 x 5, but the wind decided to change direction and it was all over on that stalk. The wind was a curse for most of the trip.

 

All and all it was a good trip, even though I did not score, I glassed up 18 bulls with the largest going 360" plus. All the bulls were in wickedly steep country and on the move, always one step ahead of me.

 

The 2 miles of Raspberry trai lthat I went on was a nice area but I could not find any bulls in there, except for one small one way up high.

 

I did not want to hunt on top, but chose to hunt the canyon country which totally wore me out, it is indeed no country for old men.

 

The day before Thankgiving, I decided I was going to abuse myself one final time before the hunt was over. I took the highline trail over to Crabtree, and then proceeded 4 miles down the canyon to Eagle creek. About half way down I had a rock roll out from under my foot and I did the splits and pulled some muscles in my groin and calf , I was hobbling along and starting to stiffen up. Not good!

When I got to the bottom of Crabtree where it joins East Eagle Creek, I saw the trail sign that said Highway 191, 5 1/2 miles. Man was I in trouble. I was hurting and had 5.5 miles of rough trail to go before dark. I did not make it out of Eagle Creek until an hour after dark. I hit the highway and still had 2.5 miles to go to get to my camp at Strayhorse. I stopped at the camp of DC outfitters where a friend of Brian Payne was there and I asked him if he could give me a ride, and he graciously agreed. He is my hero I was hurting bad, and was about ready to fall over from exhaustion. The 11.5 miles of hiking that day took its toll on me. Sometimes my exploratory nature gets in the way of common sense

Anyway, Crabtree was loaded with whitetail. All females, but there were alot. I did not see any elk in that canyon except up higher where I found 5 cows that day, but no bulls. They are in thre but it is thick.

 

All in all I probably hiked 40 miles or better, saw lots of elk and deer, but could not seal the deal. I learned alot about that country and enjoyed my time up there, it was much needed.

 

The second night that I was there, I was in bed and had just started to doze off, when a comotion outside woke me up. I figured a racoon was getting into the garbage. I had a 3 foot tall rubbermaid garbage can right out side the door(no lid), and I opened the door I looked down and saw the grandaddy of all garbage raiding skunks inside the trash can , he had climbed up the folding table and jumped in the trash can.

I looked at him, and he looked at me, and I shut my camper door faster than the speed of light. I was inside thinking, " allright you little turdball, spray my trailer, and you will die a thousand horrible deaths". I had a broom in the camper, and I opened the door slightly and used the broom handle to tip over the garbage can o he could get out. The garbage can tipped over and he would not come out for 5 minutes, and when he did he would still not leave. I had a half a loaf of stale bread I was saving for the squirrels, but decided a peace offering was in order. I threw the bag of bread at him and hit him in the head. He ran in a circle and came right back to the garbage can. Great, "a retarded skunk".

I left him alone, because he was so comical, I could not bring myself to cause him harm. I was hoping he would get a belly ache and go away. at 5:00 a.m the next morning he was still there!

 

Here are some pics.

 

The portable man cave at Strayhorse

 

 

Raspberry peak.

 

 

Still a little snow in places around Strayhorse

 

 

From Raspberry trail, looking down into the "Blue". Maple peak is on the horizon

 

 

 

Overlooking the Strayhorse camground

 

 

I saw a nice 150" plus 4 x4 mule deer buck in this little side canyon of oakbrush

 

 

There are 10 cow elk on this hill, bedded up by the top below the bare tree's. I was hoping one of them would grow antlers while I was watching them.

 

 

Looking down into Salthouse, from the highline trail

 

 

From this spot I glassed up 10 bulls and over 20 cows.

 

 

Looking up into Salthouse canyon from Highline trail

 

 

This tank was a 4.5 mile hike from camp. 5 whitetail does came in for a drink between 12:00 and 1:00.

 

 

 

 

 

Crabtree trail in the bottom of the canyon

 

 

Red Mountain

 

[FlyingW]

Love that area !!! Hunted it going on 20 years now and it's definately not a place for the out of shape .

[russd]

that is some awesome looking country. looks like you spent alot of hard work there also. good job.

[AZP&Y]

Great effort & glad you made it out safe. I too have that disease that keeps , pulling ,pulling beyond the next ridge...

 

27 is just some of the best country around. - True Spirit of the Wild!

 

 

AzP&Y

[CouesWhitetail]

Awesome!! I have been wondering how it was all going for you. Great adventure!! Thanks for taking us along!

 

Amanda

 

[Coues Archer]

Looks like you had a fantastic time great pics.

[cramerhunts]

Sounds like a good trip all in all. Thanks for sharing your hunt with us Brent and you'll get em next time. Hopefully you'll make a speedy recovery on your pulled muscles.

[Snapshot]

Sounds like a good trip all in all. Thanks for sharing your hunt with us Brent and you'll get em next time. Hopefully you'll make a speedy recovery on your pulled muscles.

 

Thanks for the well wishes Phil. The muscle pull was not too serious, just enough to make hiking more difficult and slowed me

down.

[Non-Typical Solutions]

Brent,

Man you gotta quit showing pics of that country, just makes me daydream that much more.

Last year with our hunt, I left hiline at dark thirty on my mule, pulling a mule behind me and bless their hearts, they kept me from getting to lost all the way back to honeymoon. Just a sore rearend and dang proud of the mules.

Sorry you didn't get to whack a bull, but looks like to got the most out of your hunt.

We gotta meet up down there some time.

[Snapshot]

Brent,

Man you gotta quit showing pics of that country, just makes me daydream that much more.

Last year with our hunt, I left hiline at dark thirty on my mule, pulling a mule behind me and bless their hearts, they kept me from getting to lost all the way back to honeymoon. Just a sore rearend and dang proud of the mules.

Sorry you didn't get to whack a bull, but looks like to got the most out of your hunt.

We gotta meet up down there some time.

 

 

I met some guys that had set up a big camp at Strayhorse for the rifle hunt. He just emailed me some pictures of a big 7 x 8 bull that they took opening day. Scored 352" the other they took looked liked 340" plus. It looks like they got some snow after I left on the 27th.