24hourcampfire.com
24hourcampfire.com
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Hop To
Page 1 of 4 1 2 3 4
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 8,096
T
TheKid Offline OP
Campfire Outfitter
OP Offline
Campfire Outfitter
T
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 8,096
Halloween saw me pulling out at 6:30 in the morning for a solo ride to the annual family elk camp in SW CO. The rest of the gang had left the morning before and drove the 12 hours to Pagosa Springs to crash in a motel for the night. They would get up and head to our old campsite to set up the big wall tent and get camp squared away. I was anxious and lonely on the ride out and feeling a little bit guilty about leaving them a man short to set up camp, but with limited vacation time at a newish job they all understood.

I saw tons of deer on the way out, whitetails in OK and TX and then scads of muleys at any tinge of green vegetation in northern NM and on to the CO line. Plenty of road killed elk along from Chama to the state line as well.

I swung into the Walmart in Pagosa and swallowed hard as I put down the $661 for a nonresident bull tag, they’ve always been tough for me to stomach even when they were $476 nearly 20 years ago. The beans dad called and told me to grab were a much easier purchase at $1.15! Then it was back into the truck to make the 20 or so miles on to camp before dark.

As I pulled off the forest service road and into the clearing where camp sits it was like coming home again. My family has been using this camp spot for hunting camp since 1956, they camped at Devil’s mountain in 55 and moved over here the next year. Sadly this would be the first trip since 1955 that the founder, my Grandad, didn’t make it. He’s always been the camp superintendent, handling everything from buying the groceries and tallying everyone’s share of expenses, to supervising the trenching of the tent and construction of the schit palace out back. He stayed home due to my Grandmother’s health and we surely missed him, but I guess 63 straight years is a pretty good run.

The gang was all there, Dad and his two brothers who’ve made the trek since the 70’s, one cousin my age whose been coming for about 10 years, New Mexico cousins who showed up in the early 80’s, and friends from as far away as New York state with anywhere from 20 to 0 years with us. This was the 18th year since I started going. The stove was burning bright and they had supper going and a cold beer waiting for me after the handshakes and hugs. After supper I rolled out my bedrolls and after a couple hours of catching up and playing a few hands of dominos I turned in, happy to once again be in the place all of us wait and plan to be all year.

Friday was spent cutting wood and gathering pine knots. After that we dinked around and hunted sheds a little before once again piling in the tent for supper and dominoes. I decided to try something new this year and brought my propane deep fryer along with 10 pounds of bluecat filets, huge hit and not a scrap of fish left. We stoked the stove to keep out the single digit temps and crawled in the racks early in anticipation of the 5:30 breakfast on opening day.

Opening morning we stacked around the breakfast table, 13 of us in all, and wolfed down fried eggs, bacon, and biscuits. I told the guys that morning that I figured I would just get it over with and shoot the first legal bull I saw. I was kidding of course, I always shoot the first legal bull I get a chance at, but the new guys gave me odd looks like they weren’t quite sure. With pink in the eastern sky we all headed off to our chosen spots, places we’ve named over the years that aren’t on any map but that we all know by heart. The Big Bull bowl, Rob’s rock, Kent’s bowl, Dayne’s tree, Antler Knob, The Mine Field, surely every camp has their own landmarks like these.

Heading down the forest service road to the gate I got a sinking feeling as my wheeler suddenly died without so much as a sputter. No luck getting it to fire back up and utterly shocked since this was the first time ever that we’ve had a Honda lay down on us, dad towed me back to camp, about a mile and 30 minutes burned. I was going to tear the carb apart when a couple of the guys who weren’t hunting this year told me they’d take care of it and to just go. So I hopped on double with dad and away we went for the 5 mile ride to our jumping off point.

Once we arrived it was pretty much fully light and we had a mile or so to get to where I wanted to sit. As I loaded my rifle and checked everything Dad told me to go on and get up to my lookout and not worry about waiting for him. Taking enough time to be fairly quiet but still hustling pretty good, I was in place in 45 minutes or so. Dad soon showed up and scrambled down under the tree to sit next to me and glass. The fire we laid in the little rock fire ring we built under the tree was still set waiting to be lit from last year but it hasn’t been bad enough weather to light it in several years. We sat glassing and enjoying the morning for a good 43 minutes before Dad needed to pee and I was starting to get a little chilled so we decided to move up the slope to another tree that was in the sunshine. Just as we started to get up and grab the packs I saw movement on the other side of the bowl. “Dad, Bull by the lone pine”, I said as I grabbed my binocular. He was making his way up the slope opposite of us and I just got him in the glass long enough to see that he had plenty of browtine to be legal before I swapped binos for my rifle. I knew from ranging it previously that the lone pine right below the bull when he stopped was 376 yards. I took a rest on my knees in the sitting position, held right along the hair on top of his back as he stood broadside and sent a 130 Nosler ETip on it’s way via 270Wby. At the shot he crow hopped and went uphill to the next bench before stopping again quartered away from me. I lined his neck and front leg with the vertical crosshair and the horizontal with the top of his back again and let drive another one, this time I heard bone crunch and he went down in a heap. Bull down! at 8:45 on opening day. I’ve filled tags on opening day before but never in 45 minutes.

To be continued tomorrow.....

BP-B2

Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 4,016
8
805 Offline
Campfire Tracker
Offline
Campfire Tracker
8
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 4,016
Awesome! Can’t wait for the story to continue.

Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 5,787
Campfire Tracker
Offline
Campfire Tracker
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 5,787
Jouwsa, ...


Member of the Merry Band of turdlike People.



Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 19,029
S
Campfire Ranger
Offline
Campfire Ranger
S
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 19,029
Family traditions are what makes these hunting trips great. I envy you . A few years I got to hunt with my brother,but only one deer hunt with my father.Treasures those memories as they will last a lifetime.

The bull was just icing on the cake


If God wanted you to walk and carry things on your back, He would not have invented stirrups and pack saddles
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 21,125
J
Campfire Ranger
Offline
Campfire Ranger
J
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 21,125
Nice...


Ping pong balls for the win.
Once you've wrestled everything else in life is easy. Dan Gable
I keep my circle small, I’d rather have 4 quarters than 100 pennies.

Ain’t easy havin pals.
IC B2

Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 10,843
M
Campfire Outfitter
Online Content
Campfire Outfitter
M
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 10,843

It’s great when a “plan comes together”! Congrats! memtb


You should not use a rifle that will kill an animal when everything goes right; you should use one that will do the job when everything goes wrong." -Bob Hagel

“I’d like to be a good rifleman…..but, I prefer to be a good hunter”! memtb 2024
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 41,760
Campfire 'Bwana
Offline
Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 41,760
Gotta love it when a plan comes together.

I love the traditions of a good family camp. Sounds like you guys have got a beauty !!

Pics & more to come I hope ?


Paul.

"Kids who grow up hunting, fishing & trapping, do not mug little old Ladies"
Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 40
I
Campfire Greenhorn
Offline
Campfire Greenhorn
I
Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 40
This is a great read! Love the story and can't wait for the rest!


That calls for a left handed fist bump bro
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 56,125
Campfire Kahuna
Online Content
Campfire Kahuna
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 56,125
Good writing! Wow, great thread.


_______________________________________________________
An 8 dollar driveway boy living in a T-111 shack

LOL
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 3,096
I
Campfire Tracker
Offline
Campfire Tracker
I
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 3,096
Don't leave us hanging brother...not cool. Finish the story!

dave


If you're not burning through batteries in your headlamp,...you're doing it wrong.
IC B3

Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 8,096
T
TheKid Offline OP
Campfire Outfitter
OP Offline
Campfire Outfitter
T
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 8,096
After we watched for a minute to be sure he was anchored we radioed my uncle Kent who was about a mile down the ridge opposite us looking into the Okie Pocket, a notorious hellhole where he and I once killed two big old bulls minutes apart. He replied that he was on the way and would meet us there as soon as he could. We decided to circle the bowl the bull was on the other side of from us to keep from making the near vertical climb down and then back up. We were hoping to find a good route to bring the quarters out that way to avoid the inevitable knee shaking descent and lung busting climb that would accompany every load if we went straight across.

Ended up that the slope the bull was on was just plain steep any way you go at it and the way we attempted was covered in head high oak brush and a grease slick carpet of frozen oak leaves, enter plan B. As we arrived at the bull Kent was just getting there and we all scrambled down to him together. He was hung upside down with his antlers tangled in the brush and his hind end hanging off a ledge and as we dislodged him he skidded down another ten or fifteen feet before hanging up again. Eureka! With the three of us pushing and pulling we managed to get him another 100 yards or so down towards the bottom and onto a little flat about 10’X20’. There was a sturdy juniper nearby to hang the quarters so we decided that was far enough.

Out came the knives and Dad held legs while Kent and I started schucking the hide off one side. Not being our first time at this I’d guess we had him broke down and hanging in 45 minutes or so. After removing the quarters, backstraps, and assorted loose meat I used a small folding saw to cut two ribs off where I could reach in and retrieve the heart then cut through the diaphragm and took the liver as well. About this time one of the New Mexico boys popped up across the ridge and waved. He wasn’t hunting this year but had gotten the message and brought 4 frame packs to help with the hauling.

After a quick lunch on the little bench of crackers, canned elk from last year, a thick slice of some amazing cranberry bread a wonderful little lady in NM always sends up with her sons, and the best can of Coke a man ever drank, we loaded up the packs and eased down the slope toward the bottom. By this time another New Mexican has showed up and he volunteered to carry the rifles along with a giant 6X shed he’d found on the hike to us. When we made the bottom we took a short breather before heading up the steep rocky slope in single file like a pack of donkeys.

Now as a short aside I’ll tell you where the Heavy part of the title came from. A guy I used to work with swore to me that his dad killed a 1400lb elk near where we live in OK. We have elk so that part was believable enough, but the wildlife department has never in 25 years of seasons encountered one weighing over 500lb dressed. Furthermore he insisted that him, his dad, and his brother had slid it down to the lakeshore on a blue tarp and loaded it into a 12’ johnboat along with the three of them for the 1/2 mile trip back along the lake. Then the butcher delivered back to them 900lb of boned meat. Absolute BS and we still laugh about it.

So as we make our way up the steep slope my other uncle radios saying he heard that I’d gotten a bull and wanting to know how big it was. My Dad, bless him, chugging like a locomotive grabs his walkie and replies with the most perfect two words anyone could have uttered. “Fourteenhunnerd pounds!”

Once we got over the top it was smooth sailing back to the wheelers and we decided to go get what we had on the meat pole and have a cold one, planning to come back the next day for the last load. We got everything hung up and started supper going we burned the day’s trash and kicked back while we waited for the rest of the gang to get back off the mountain. At supper everyone agreed that I must not have been BSing about getting it over with and shooting the first one I saw.

The next day I helped with breakfast and hung out in camp for a while to give everyone else a chance to hunt before Dad and I piled off into the bowl after the last quarter and the head. We made good time and only had one near miss on the way back out. In hundreds of years of combined experience in the area nobody has ever run into what could have been a serious problem for us. As we neared the top of the slope on the way out Dad suddenly started backpedaling and saying “whoa whoa whoa”. Not knowing what to expect and being unarmed I was surprised and startled to see a huge skunk about 20’ in front of him! At 8000 feet or so elevation no less. Thankfully he didn’t seem to want our company any more than we wanted his and he quickly departed without spraying.

We hung the rest of the meat and boiled ham bones before putting the beans on to simmer in anticipation of supper. I peeled potatoes and sliced them and we used the big deep fryer I brought for the fish to make a huge pan of golden fried potatoes to go with the beans. I had to get creative for the cornbread when I discovered that we didn’t have any cornmeal. I had an extra bag of Louisiana brand seasoned fish fry, which is more or less Cajun seasoned cornmeal. An egg, some milk and flour and a dash of baking powder and I had a batter that I poured into a preheated iron skillet with melted ham grease in the bottom before sticking it back in the oven. The consistency of the cornbread was just how I like it, crispy bottom and top and chewy in the middle. The flavor was different but there wasn’t any leftover and nobody complained so I guess it was okay. More dominoes and dirty jokes were the order of the evening until we banned the big stove and crawled into our bunks. I had a smile as I bedded down, three days in and I’d laughed harder, ate better, and had more fun than I had in the last 6 months combined and knowing the next day would bring more of the same.

More later and I have a bunch of pics to hang.....

Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 18,895
S
SLM Offline
Campfire Ranger
Offline
Campfire Ranger
S
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 18,895
Good read.

Congrats.

Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 49
Campfire Greenhorn
Offline
Campfire Greenhorn
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 49
And like the rest here, I can’t wait for the rest.

Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 4,696
Campfire Tracker
Offline
Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 4,696
Great story! Congrats on the bull.

Glad to hear you're carrying on traditions and making memories.

Thanks for sharing.

Joined: May 2011
Posts: 56,125
Campfire Kahuna
Online Content
Campfire Kahuna
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 56,125
Man you should write books.


_______________________________________________________
An 8 dollar driveway boy living in a T-111 shack

LOL
Joined: Sep 2019
Posts: 241
H
Campfire Member
Offline
Campfire Member
H
Joined: Sep 2019
Posts: 241
Awesome write-up this far! Thanks for sharing not only the hunting details but also the camp adventures. That is the part that non-hunters do not understand about hunting. It is the whole experience, not just stalking the animal and taking the shot.


If ifs and buts were like candy and nuts, it would be Christmas every day.

“The .30-06 is never a mistake.” - Col. Townsend Whelan
Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 40
I
Campfire Greenhorn
Offline
Campfire Greenhorn
I
Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 40
Another great read. Keep it coming! I've always told iddave that he needs to write a book someday. That guys has some great great stories to be told, and you, sir, seem to be cut from the same cloth. Love it. Can't wait to see the pics!


That calls for a left handed fist bump bro
Joined: Sep 2019
Posts: 241
H
Campfire Member
Offline
Campfire Member
H
Joined: Sep 2019
Posts: 241
Awesome write-up this far! Thanks for sharing not only the hunting details but also the camp adventures. That is the part that non-hunters do not understand about hunting. It is the whole experience, not just stalking the animal and taking the shot.


If ifs and buts were like candy and nuts, it would be Christmas every day.

“The .30-06 is never a mistake.” - Col. Townsend Whelan
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 41,760
Campfire 'Bwana
Offline
Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 41,760
Thumbs up icon here, for a great story so far !!


Paul.

"Kids who grow up hunting, fishing & trapping, do not mug little old Ladies"
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 5,335
R
Campfire Tracker
Offline
Campfire Tracker
R
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 5,335
Great read thanks for taking the time. A hunting camp with that much history is something to cherish.even more amazing that it’s a travel destination.

Thank your elders for that incredible job,keep it going! rare thing in the west with tag quotas and high prices. Utah is a draw for about everything, and most of the old time camps and hunting groups you could count on seeing in the same places year after year are all but gone.

Congrats, can’t wait to see the pics .

Page 1 of 4 1 2 3 4

Moderated by  RickBin 

Link Copied to Clipboard
YB23

Who's Online Now
661 members (1lessdog, 2500HD, 257 mag, 17CalFan, 22magnut, 10gaugemag, 71 invisible), 2,728 guests, and 1,301 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Forum Statistics
Forums81
Topics1,187,648
Posts18,399,108
Members73,817
Most Online11,491
Jul 7th, 2023


 







Fish & Game Departments | Solunar Tables | Mission Statement | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | DMCA
Hunting | Fishing | Camping | Backpacking | Reloading | Campfire Forums | Gear Shop
Copyright © 2000-2024 24hourcampfire.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5
(Release build 20201027)
Responsive Width:

PHP: 7.3.33 Page Time: 0.108s Queries: 15 (0.003s) Memory: 0.9067 MB (Peak: 1.0841 MB) Data Comp: Zlib Server Time: 2024-03-28 18:01:39 UTC
Valid HTML 5 and Valid CSS