iDoHunting.com: I'm back

Well, we made it back home from Montana on Sunday evening. Which, the way the weather started for us is pretty extrodianry in it's own.

We headed out for MT on Thursday Nov. 6th at 1:00 am, and made it into Mitchell, SD around 5:30 am. Fueled up and had some breakfast. Weather didn't look good. I talked with a trucker that came from the west the day before. He told me I-90 was closed from the WY line all the way over to Murdo, SD. So, we decided to drop down into Nebraska to try and miss the storm, granted it might add a few hours on our trip but, we would have been stuck in SD for a couple of days if we tried to wait it out. So down we went. We started hitting some weather in Valentine, NE, winds were just crazy...weather reports were coming in with gusts as high as 60 mph. Our visibility was not terrible at the time so we decided to keep on trucking west. Bad Idea...it took us 2-1/2 hours to make it 30 miles further down the road. This is where we ran into the log jamb. It was now 1:30 in the afternoon, we could barely see the front of the truck, let alone the 60-80 other cars, trucks and semi's that were stuck along with us. After 3 hours we decided to shut off the truck to save fuel. It looked like it could be a long night. Thank God for the Nebraska power company. They had trucks stranded with us and they were not going to let them spend the night out there. It was now 5:00 pm, and they were able to open up the road enough to get to the next town and find a hotel. We made into Roseville, NE found a room and figured we could hit the highway at 5:00 am......well it was actually 11:00 am before we were able to get on the road again. Made into WY around 2:00 pm and the roads were mint the rest of the way.

We made into camp on Saturday afternoon, met our guide and settled in for the week. It had been very warm out there for a month and a half, but the temps had been dropping, the muleys were in full rut and the whitetails were starting. We were pumped up to say the least.

First morning we drove to our spot, took a little "Walk in the park" according to my guide...man was I in trouble, if this was a walk in the park. Anyway we sat on a big rock our-cropping and glassed for a couple of hours. That's when the fog rolled in, you can see it below the mountain range here in the before and after photos (1st 3 photos). This is what we had to put up with for the next 5 days. Fog would roll in, fog would roll out, but it was usually only clear for up to 30 minutes at a time.

My second day was my big test, it took my 26 year old guide 2-1/2 hours to climb this mountain, I told him to plan on 3-1/2 for me to make it up there.

I was up at 2:15 am to shower and have breakfast. Loaded up in the truck and drove to the parking lot where my walk was going to start. The guide (Rob) had me pumped up, there was a 400+" bull running this saddle at the top, I wanted this bull so off we went. The first hour was pretty easy, the next 2-1/2 hours were brutal. When we finally made it up the 50-60 deg. hill side with about 3000 dead-fall pine trees in the way, my guide asked me how my legs were. I told him they were absolutely gone, but I wasn't going to stop now. That's when he told me how far I had come....3700' in elevation since we left the truck. WOW, I was only the sencond person in his 5 years of guiding that made it up there. So, I guess I had that going for me. (next 2 photos) 1st is looking down, second is looking up. Again the fog, wrecked our hunt and we only spent 1/2 the day up there.

Day 3 was another fun day, we packed in with the mules and were going to hunt downhill

. Mules were amazing, they climbed that terrain like it was nothing. Archie, Ted, and Maggie (next 2 photos) took us up, we dropped off my dad at about 4000' elev, and Rob took me up to the top 6800' elev. At 9:30 - 10:00 am I started my decent and down I went. One thing about hunting down hill, it saves your legs, but it kills your back and shoulders.

Well, I must not have been pushing hard enough, cause I was still 2 hours from the road at 4:00 pm. I slowly climbed down the mountain for the last 2 hours in the dark, thankfully I had a head lamp.

Day 4 & 5 was more of the same, trying to get out of the fog but to no avail, the rest of camp was having the same luck as us, 16 hunters with 32 tags and there were 4 bucks and 1 elk on the meat pole. Pretty tough going to say the least. Day six was by far the best day of hunting, the fog was gone the sun was out, but it was too little too late. We came out of the forest 1/2 hour after dark with no tags filled.

As far as the outfitter goes, A++ the lodge was mint, the guides were great and the cooks were amazing. There is nothing they could have done more, especially with the weather the way it was. My guide pushed me to my physical limits to put me in front of the critters, and did everything he could to with mini-drives and other tactics, but Mother Nature had her own plans. Would I go again, absolutely. Sure it was disappointing to come home empty handed, but if I could mount a memory, my walls would be full. If anyone want's information to this outfitter send me a PM. I can forward this on. Thanks guys

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"The biggest thing to remember is 'Don't Panic'"