This is a muzzle loader elk hunt in the wilds of Idaho.
Mike was really excited as harvesting an elk was one of his bucket list items.
"This hunt will test just about every area you can think of," I told him, speaking around a doughnut, and sipping hot coffee while adding to my growing layer of winter belly fat. I glanced at the doughnut and commented, " Why, I shouldn't even be eating this, but should be feeding on carrots and apples before the hunt. One extra pound really feels heavy hiking the extremely steep mountains on this hunt." Mike nodded like he knew what I was talking about, but I knew he didn't have a clue.
Fast forward a couple months. My phone chirps in a new text message. It reads: "hey buddy, I've decided to go on the elk hunt. Am booking tickets now."
Mike was now committed. "Just make sure you get a non-refundable ticket," I commented back, making sure he couldn't back out at last minute.
Mike arrived in Idaho after digging his way out of a couple feet of fresh snow in Alaska. It was warm and raining in Idaho.
"Wow, this is great weather down here," he commented.
I read the mountain weather report to him, "rain tomorrow, rain the next day, then three days of snow and dropping temperatures... as low as zero degrees."
That didn't sound too bad to us sitting in that coffee shop sipping steaming lattes.
Mike and I met up with my brother, Gary, his son, Nick, and Jimmy. I was dragging a snowmobile trailer filled with machines, Gary and Jimmy both had camp trailers clamped to their truck bumpers. The hunt was on.
Mid way to our hunting area in the mountains Gary radioed that he was having truck engine problems. We pulled off the road to have a look. His truck had been in the shop just the week before, with the same problem. The engine sputtered, wheezed and missed like something that has had a few miles placed on it.
"Don't know why it is acting up, it only has 325,000 miles on it," Gary commented while slamming the hood to dampen the not so good sounds.
"It will make it. Let's get back on the road."
"Just do like my wife does when she hears strange sounds coming from the car... turn up the radio so you can't hear them," I commented to Gary, "That fixes everything!"
Yup, the hunt from hell sure had started.
The three hour drive flew by as Mike and I excitedly planned our hunting strategies. We pulled into the campground and quickly helped get the trailers set up. The rain was hardly noticed.
"Looks like we won't need snow machines for the first couple of days," I told Mike as we cranked the trailer up off my truck. "I guess we will just have them here on standby until the snow hits."
Jimmy took Nick and Mike up the mountain that evening while Gary and I drove a lower road, to get a feel for where the elk might be.
Listening to the rain hiss it the fire late that evening we decide to make a long hike the next day. It will require dropping off one truck, taking everyone up the mountain in the other truck. We will hike the entire mountain to the lower truck, and then make a late night drive back to the top to retrieve the top truck.
It sounds easy.
I keep telling Mike that morning to make sure you pace yourself. It does not look that far, but it is quite a hike.
Rain drizzles on us the entire day. We are soaked and most of us are sure our powder or caps on the muzzle loaders are probably too wet to fire if we did see an elk.
Just over half way down Mike tweaks his knee. He keeps going but we can see he is in pain and working hard to manage the super steep decent on a bum leg. The hunt from hell is under way for sure.
At dark we make it to the dropped off truck. We are all tired, wet, and beat.
"Wow, that's some steep country," Mike commented as we rumbled towards camp. "I was not expecting it to be quite that steep."
At the fire that evening we rubbed our tired legs while cooking our tube steaks (hotdogs).
"This looks like it might be a tough hunting year," someone commented and we all agreed
to be continued...
Jimmy, Myself, Gary, Nick, and Mike first days hike
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