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How To Hunt Big Game
What’s your spookiest hunting experience?
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<blockquote data-quote="marksman1941" data-source="post: 2890080" data-attributes="member: 68542"><p>Slight navigational errors can turn big! </p><p></p><p>Last elk season I was chasing a huge 6x7 on my own. I'd seen him cross the road, so I drove down 2 miles to another cross cut road and parked at the head of it and hiked down until I cut his very fresh tracks. So, being in decent shape and well prepared, I dove off the roads edge right at noon. Silly me to think I could catch an elk who was on the move. </p><p></p><p>I chased tracks down off the cut bank of the road and into a flat basin for about 300 yards, and then the tracks went straight up a mountainside. In my excitement I just trucked up it as fast as I could. It was one of those mountains that's at least a 25-30 degree slope, covered in bark less conifer branches under the snow. Half of your steps end up sliding backwards because you hit one of those slick wet branches. </p><p></p><p>I hit the log landing on the hilltop finally around 3pm, and here was my big mistake. I checked my GPS and saw I was at the end of a skidroad that tied into a road system, which looked like it dropped straight back to my truck. If I had zoomed in farther, I would have seen that the roads did not connect at all, and instead the system I was on was a 9 mile walk back to pavement, then 7 miles North to the road I was parked on. But, I did not look closely enough. </p><p></p><p>I started hiking down the skidroad and realized that without timber cover, the snow was mid shin deep and slow and exhausting to walk through. It was only half a mile to the nearest junction, but it took me 45 minutes to get there. Thankfully, that was a traveled road that had tire tracks to walk down. </p><p></p><p>By now it was nearly 4, sunset is at 5:15 or so. I changed into dry, not sweat soaked clothes for the hike down, and headed out. And kept going, and going. About an hour in I got worried I wasn't on the right route, and checked my GPS thoroughly and realized the mistake I had made. But at that point it would have been dangerous as hell to cross country back to my truck, so I stuck with my choice and kept heading down hill. Thankfully, I was prepared as I could have been. Extra clothes, bivvy, fire supplies, food and water, wearing all quality gear, several headlamps and batteries. It would have been uncomfortable to spend the night out there in the 15 degree weather, but I would have survived. </p><p></p><p>When the sun went down I started panicking a bit. I had to continually remind myself that I was on a traveled road, was well prepared, and would certainly have people out looking for me by dark. This was a bit fallacious, as my hunting camp thought I may have gone home without telling them so they drove into town to get cell service and start making calls, and weren't looking for my truck. I learned a lot of lessons this trip...</p><p></p><p>Finally around 8:30pm I saw headlights, and it was a guy heading back to camp. He very kindly gave me a lift, and I was shocked that it was nearly a 45 minute drive just to get back to my vehicle. That hike would have been brutal. We did start passing some camps within 3 miles so I would have had shelter and help soon enough, but I'm glad he came by when he did. </p><p></p><p>Getting back to camp, everyone was pretty angry that I didn't tell them where I was, and they were scared. But happy I wasn't dead! The only bad part, I jumped in the truck with my grandpa (who was too angry to talk to me for at least 30 minutes) and we drove into town to call my folks and let them know I was alive. Then I called my fiance, who is new to the hunting world, and got about a 30 second "Hi I'm safe I love you!" before my grandpa drove back out of cell coverage. She was pretty upset with me for not explaining things a bit more to her, which was fair. The next day we all stuck pretty close to camp.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="marksman1941, post: 2890080, member: 68542"] Slight navigational errors can turn big! Last elk season I was chasing a huge 6x7 on my own. I'd seen him cross the road, so I drove down 2 miles to another cross cut road and parked at the head of it and hiked down until I cut his very fresh tracks. So, being in decent shape and well prepared, I dove off the roads edge right at noon. Silly me to think I could catch an elk who was on the move. I chased tracks down off the cut bank of the road and into a flat basin for about 300 yards, and then the tracks went straight up a mountainside. In my excitement I just trucked up it as fast as I could. It was one of those mountains that's at least a 25-30 degree slope, covered in bark less conifer branches under the snow. Half of your steps end up sliding backwards because you hit one of those slick wet branches. I hit the log landing on the hilltop finally around 3pm, and here was my big mistake. I checked my GPS and saw I was at the end of a skidroad that tied into a road system, which looked like it dropped straight back to my truck. If I had zoomed in farther, I would have seen that the roads did not connect at all, and instead the system I was on was a 9 mile walk back to pavement, then 7 miles North to the road I was parked on. But, I did not look closely enough. I started hiking down the skidroad and realized that without timber cover, the snow was mid shin deep and slow and exhausting to walk through. It was only half a mile to the nearest junction, but it took me 45 minutes to get there. Thankfully, that was a traveled road that had tire tracks to walk down. By now it was nearly 4, sunset is at 5:15 or so. I changed into dry, not sweat soaked clothes for the hike down, and headed out. And kept going, and going. About an hour in I got worried I wasn't on the right route, and checked my GPS thoroughly and realized the mistake I had made. But at that point it would have been dangerous as hell to cross country back to my truck, so I stuck with my choice and kept heading down hill. Thankfully, I was prepared as I could have been. Extra clothes, bivvy, fire supplies, food and water, wearing all quality gear, several headlamps and batteries. It would have been uncomfortable to spend the night out there in the 15 degree weather, but I would have survived. When the sun went down I started panicking a bit. I had to continually remind myself that I was on a traveled road, was well prepared, and would certainly have people out looking for me by dark. This was a bit fallacious, as my hunting camp thought I may have gone home without telling them so they drove into town to get cell service and start making calls, and weren't looking for my truck. I learned a lot of lessons this trip... Finally around 8:30pm I saw headlights, and it was a guy heading back to camp. He very kindly gave me a lift, and I was shocked that it was nearly a 45 minute drive just to get back to my vehicle. That hike would have been brutal. We did start passing some camps within 3 miles so I would have had shelter and help soon enough, but I'm glad he came by when he did. Getting back to camp, everyone was pretty angry that I didn't tell them where I was, and they were scared. But happy I wasn't dead! The only bad part, I jumped in the truck with my grandpa (who was too angry to talk to me for at least 30 minutes) and we drove into town to call my folks and let them know I was alive. Then I called my fiance, who is new to the hunting world, and got about a 30 second "Hi I'm safe I love you!" before my grandpa drove back out of cell coverage. She was pretty upset with me for not explaining things a bit more to her, which was fair. The next day we all stuck pretty close to camp. [/QUOTE]
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