Rough Night in the Elk Woods?

[WapitiTalk1]

It seems like I've had more than my fair share for some reason. I remember one time/hunt in the late 70s/perhaps very early 80s (NW Montana/third week in September) where a buddy and I grabbed our bows and headed into a high place with our quality gear in our packs (a cheapo two person pack tent, thin down sleep bags, enough doughnuts, candy bars, chips, and maybe a couple of bottles of soda to get us by for two nights) and headed out on a Friday night after work. We hiked the trail in till it ends (probably about 3 miles), found our spot, set up our tent, and excitedly walked over to "the edge" of the canyon to do some locate bugling. I did not have to deploy my super awesome PVC bugle tube to solicit an answer as the canyon/basin below was literally screaming with elk. OK, by now it's well past dark so we hit the tent for a restless night's sleep with the sounds of the elk echoing off in the distance. At some point in the middle of the night, the snow came and it came large! The tent completely collapsed under the weight of the wet snow, started leaking through, and eventually soaked through our flimsy down bags. No problem! Up at the crack of dawn we roughly re-set up the tent and off down, down, down the side of the canyon we went to the singing bulls that were luring us. Wasn't too bad going down as we slid most of the way in the foot plus of snow. After we chased a few bugles around that morning with no shots we started thinking about getting back up that steep, snowy hillside to camp and perhaps, getting a fire going to dry our soaked clothes and bodies (it snowed all that day). It literally took us hours to get back up the hillside (using vine maple and huckleberry brush as helping handles to grab and ascend up and not slide back down). That was an adventure in itself; I was really worried we could not get up that hillside. Once at camp, there wasn't a dry match in the mix so we eventually just crawled into our wet bags, with our wet clothes, and tried to get warm and sleep. Neither happened and we both shivered all night and, the tent collapsed yet again. We discussed getting "outa there" at some point that night but I'm pretty sure our old D powered flashlights were about spent after a few nights of using them and pretty sure we couldn't find the trail in the dark/snow. At the crack of dawn, we stuffed everything we had into our old packs and "ran" down the snowy trail to the truck. That was not a fun night in the elk woods.

Please, share one of those "rough nights" you've had in the elk woods.

[Lefty]

Over all I sleep much better in elk county My worst night was a family fishing trip on. Utah’s Stawberry resivour , a kids sleeping bag landed in a puddle of water

I sleep warm and comfy a few storms where I needed to stay away from the tent walls
My last migraine head ache 7-8 years back was bad
Strong winds destroyed my cheap tent. I slept in a Springbar that night and next day

Then there was the night I don’t remember, I think I took a double dose of meds at my standard time with plans to drive home for Sunday obligations. 20 miles from the nearest real road and ranch I called my wife, tossed the tent out of the truck then my skeeping bag , woke the next morning with the sun in my eyes I ha used the tend as a pad, well rested, with a herd of antelope staring at me. Made it to church on time too

[Swede]

Stringunner was up with me almost all of one on my worst nights. My cousin had killed a nice 6X6 and found it just at dark. I had helped track his bull until it was getting late and I had to head for the truck. I had lent him my flashlight and was not prepared to stay out in the dark. He was late getting in. We had a quick meal then headed back down in the canyon to butcher and haul out that bull. It was a mile and a half down to where the bull was from the trailhead. I walked in and out three times that night. On one trip I was going to ride out on the back of my cousins motorcycle to make things quicker and easier. After he turned it over with me underneath, I decided it was easier and safer just to walk. By the end of the night I was totally beat and so sore I could not get to sleep when I finally turned in well after 3:00 AM.

That may have been my toughest night in the elk woods, but another is right up there in contention too.
For dinner I heated up the contents of a can of Stagg Two Bean Chili. I had the absolute worst case of gas ever. I wanted to go to bed but I stunk so bad and the gas just would not let up. I had bought two cans of the chili. When I got home from the hunt, one can was definitely left over. After telling my wife about the experience with the Stagg chili, I saw her take that left over can of and set it aside for the next canned food drive. I thought "ok--it probably is better than dying from starvation."

[Lefty]

I had the absolute worst case of gas ever. I wanted to go to bed but I stunk so bad and the gas just would not let up. ,,,,,,"

Another reason to solo hunt

[Chuckler]

One of my most miserable nights was on a solo hunt. When I walked in, it was the first snow of the year. It proceeded to warm up and the snow became sticking slush that completely soaked my lower half. I obviously should have put rain pants on. That night, temperatures dropped into the teens. I could not feel my feet and I was freezing. I boiled water and filled my nalgene bottle. That bottle is what got me through the night! I put it on my feet and it slowly warmed my lower extremities in my sleeping bag. A few lessons were learned that trip.

[saddlesore]

I can't remember any single night, but I can remember sitting an a lot of mountain passes with it blowing snow sideways trying to convince myself I was having fun when elk hunting.

Fishing wise,it was pack trip it a high mountain lake.No rain going in,but it rained fro three days day and night.Only thing dry was what was sitting on top of my air mattress in a tiny backpack tent.Trying to cook scrambled eggs on a little coleman stove outside,and the rain was adding so much water, it was like eating egg nog.Then packing out in the rain. 6 mile walk and tightening the latigos every mile or so because the leather kept stretching from being wet.

[Lefty]

Swede Make your own chili: put burger in the chili inside beans

[Swede]

At home I enjoy cooking beans in the crock pot. There is no gas when they are done. I never get tired of them either. I take some to elk camp, but they only last so long. After that it is canned whatever, but no more Stagg beans. Life is just too short for any of that.

[saddlesore]

Throw out the water the beans are cooked in and you get rid of the gas. Then go ahead and add what ever you cook with the beans.
I cook my pinto beans first in a pressure cooker, or used canned cooked beans if I am short of time.Then add 1 # diced ham, about 6 fresh roasted, peeled ,diced chilies, a can of diced tomatoes, 1/2 can tomato sauce, garlic, Chile powder, a few diced jalapeno slices, black pepper, Greek seasoning and 2 cups or so of beef broth.Simmer a few hours on low heat until a lot of the water is cooked off and it is about stew consistency. Serve with fresh cornbread or tortillas with honey.

[Waygoner]

When I first started elk hunting many years ago, my brothers and I hunted a spot on Wolf Creek Pass. Wolf Creek is notorious for getting some nasty weather. We chipped in and bought a cheap nylon tent for the 3 of us. It was a strange rounded thing that looked like a Conestoga wagon. My brother knew some guys that had hunted the area for years and we set up camp near them. I think it was the 2nd day of the season when a horrible storm blew through. The wind was howling and when we got back to camp the tent was gone. We had staked it down with the flimsy pegs that came with the tent. They were no match for the gale force winds and the tent sailed off like a kite. We never found it. Spent the next few days sleeping in the utility trailer the other guys had. It was like being in a meat locker.

We finally got wise and borrowed my dad's little camper. We never had enough vacation time to spare, so we typically left after work the day before the season opened and arrived after midnight. One year the weather was nasty and we hit snow on our way there. The snow was piling up and about 2:00 am we finally found a spot just off the road that would hold the trailer. After sleeping a few hours we got up to find the door knob on the trailer was frozen solid and we couldn't get out. We used a bunch of stick matches to heat the door enough to thaw out. The snow kept pounding that day and we bailed out of there. We saw a few camps on the way out that had been abandoned and later heard that some hunters had to be rescued.