Nevada Units 071, 072, 073 elk hunt - 11/13/16
Eight years of buying a Nevada hunting license and applying for various deer and elk tags paid off for good friend Jim last year as he scored a muzzleloader deer tag in Central Nevada. I went with him to help glass and hopefully pack meat as we hiked to over 11,000 feet in search of a good buck. While there, we also called and photographed some good bulls and wished we could have been elk hunting as well! He ended up tagging a nice 4x3 buck with his Traditions rifle, but the thought of those Nevada bulls played in my dreams for months. My screensaver forever reminds me of the great time and beautiful elk country.
Here's our spike camp last year at 9000'. Really nice elk country.
One of the bulls that went unhunted last year.
The bulls were hot in this area last year.
Jim's respectable buck was taken in a freak blizzard.
Fast-forward to this year, Jim contacts me to ask me if I can go on a rifle elk hunt with him in units 071, 072, and 073. I don't think he even finished asking and I was blurting out, "Heck yeah!".
Not having time to scout this year, Jim did his homework from home, calling and asking around until he settled on the Jarbidge wilderness area as the first place to set eyeball to.
Jim retired this year, but as is usually the case, my work kept us from leaving until right before the season opener. We used my enclosed work trailer for hauling gear so Jim, another of Jim's retired friends Dick, and I left for Elko, Nevada the 4th of Nov., with season starting the 6th. We pulled in late and got a room for the night of the 4th. The day of the 5th we left the trailer secured at the motel and after eating a good breakfast headed north to Jarbidge, NV to scout it out. Since the Jarbidge area is 60-80 miles from Elko, we figured on one more night in Elko leaving us travelling back with the trailer to set up camp on opening day. An unfortunate timing snafu to be sure, but Jim's real laid back and deliberate, and being a day late didn't even ruffle a feather.
The elevations in this area were several thousand feet lower than what we hunted last year, and at the lower elevations we could see for miles, open grassland and sage country. As we approached the "mining/ghost town" of Jarbridge, we decided to get a burger and fuel up before continuing on into the higher wilderness access areas.
We found the townspeople very friendly as they rode up on atv's to strike up conversation with these out of towners in the shiny new truck. We learned from Chuck and Lloyd where we might begin looking for elk. They told us to run north a few miles to Murphy hot springs and look for the small two track leading up the hill over the bridge. That would take us up above the lowlands and to the wilderness edge. After thanking them and some friendly back and forth kidding, they told us that the only place open for food was the Red Dog Saloon.
As we approached, the two gals on the front porch met us with a smile and welcomed us in to the little old building that was the hub of activity for the area. More joking and carrying on and after a good meal we headed out. Chuck and Lloyd had mentioned a Jeep trail heading uphill out of Jarbidge that would connect with the Murphy hot springs road, but we elected to take the county road to Murphy instead since Jim's retirement truck still had a shine on it. They were the first of several people on this trip to mention that last year at this time there was over 20" of snow on the ground. We had a hard to imagining it with temps in the 60's and 70's in the canyon and us being clad in t-shirts. Jarbidge is an old mining town, like others I have seen, just a few old buildings and a handful of hearty souls that call it home.
Here's our spike camp last year at 9000'. Really nice elk country.
One of the bulls that went unhunted last year.
The bulls were hot in this area last year.
Jim's respectable buck was taken in a freak blizzard.
Fast-forward to this year, Jim contacts me to ask me if I can go on a rifle elk hunt with him in units 071, 072, and 073. I don't think he even finished asking and I was blurting out, "Heck yeah!".
Not having time to scout this year, Jim did his homework from home, calling and asking around until he settled on the Jarbidge wilderness area as the first place to set eyeball to.
Jim retired this year, but as is usually the case, my work kept us from leaving until right before the season opener. We used my enclosed work trailer for hauling gear so Jim, another of Jim's retired friends Dick, and I left for Elko, Nevada the 4th of Nov., with season starting the 6th. We pulled in late and got a room for the night of the 4th. The day of the 5th we left the trailer secured at the motel and after eating a good breakfast headed north to Jarbidge, NV to scout it out. Since the Jarbidge area is 60-80 miles from Elko, we figured on one more night in Elko leaving us travelling back with the trailer to set up camp on opening day. An unfortunate timing snafu to be sure, but Jim's real laid back and deliberate, and being a day late didn't even ruffle a feather.
The elevations in this area were several thousand feet lower than what we hunted last year, and at the lower elevations we could see for miles, open grassland and sage country. As we approached the "mining/ghost town" of Jarbridge, we decided to get a burger and fuel up before continuing on into the higher wilderness access areas.
We found the townspeople very friendly as they rode up on atv's to strike up conversation with these out of towners in the shiny new truck. We learned from Chuck and Lloyd where we might begin looking for elk. They told us to run north a few miles to Murphy hot springs and look for the small two track leading up the hill over the bridge. That would take us up above the lowlands and to the wilderness edge. After thanking them and some friendly back and forth kidding, they told us that the only place open for food was the Red Dog Saloon.
As we approached, the two gals on the front porch met us with a smile and welcomed us in to the little old building that was the hub of activity for the area. More joking and carrying on and after a good meal we headed out. Chuck and Lloyd had mentioned a Jeep trail heading uphill out of Jarbidge that would connect with the Murphy hot springs road, but we elected to take the county road to Murphy instead since Jim's retirement truck still had a shine on it. They were the first of several people on this trip to mention that last year at this time there was over 20" of snow on the ground. We had a hard to imagining it with temps in the 60's and 70's in the canyon and us being clad in t-shirts. Jarbidge is an old mining town, like others I have seen, just a few old buildings and a handful of hearty souls that call it home.