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Scary

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Scary

Postby Swede » 06 12, 2017 •  [Post 1]

What was the scariest situation you ever found yourself in while out elk hunting?

Years before GPS when I was out in unfamiliar country in a snow storm. I was getting nervous. My brother in law thought the camp was in one direction while I insisted it was in the exact opposite. One of us was wrong. I had a compass but no map. I won out and we went in the direction I recommended, but inside I was concerned. That was not too scary, but it could have been.
The scariest situation I remember was back in the early to mid 1970s. I was out alone one afternoon elk hunting. I had an old Chevrolet pickup, but no chains. On the west side of Oregon, in the general elk season it is always wet. I decided to drive down a dirt road onto this large flat and see if there were elk there. As I went down the road I started getting nervous. The road was partly washed out from erosion. There was just a little more than half the normal width of a single lane dirt road left. I wanted to back out, but the road was too wet and greasy. I had no alternative but to continue to the bottom and take full a run at it. All of a sudden I see a tree sticking out into the road way. It is about 16 inches in diameter where it had broke, and there was very little room to get around it. I stopped before I got to the broken log. I got out of the truck to look around and decide what to do. Instantly I noticed the truck is sliding sideways to the outer bank of the road. I jumped back in the truck and somehow tightly moved around the log. I barely cleared it. On to the bottom I drove.
When I got to the bottom I decided I was there, so I might as well go hunting. That was why I went there in the first place. I hunted for just a few minutes, but was so nervous about the trip out that I could not stay. I got back in the truck and started it up. I looked again, prayed, and got a run at the long muddy slick hill. I got the truck in third gear and the speed up. I did not want to shift or lose momentum. That truck needed to stay on track like it was on rails. I flew up the road and again saw the log with the ravine next to it. I would need to barely clear the log, turn slightly and hope the road did not give way under the weight. The tires would need to maintain their grip or disaster would ensue. It was nearly petal to the metal when I cleared the log. The truck lost little or no momentum, and I made it to the top. I stopped on the gravel road above, laughing uncontrollably like an idiot. When I regained my composure, I thanked the Lord for His help and went straight home a few miles away. Scary!
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Re: Scary

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 06 12, 2017 •  [Post 2]

Good ones Swede! I'm usually too dumb to realize the "what ifs" until after the event has occurred and just power through them at the moment in time they occur. I have a good handful of close encounter bear stories that coulda went south real quick (and a couple of big cat stories that aren't necessarily close encounters but give you that "oh wow" reaction). I was almost trampled by a herd of Roosevelt elk in the late season in WA many years ago, that was fun. I had to dive behind a very small stump as 20+ of them decided to stampede my way; I had a few of them jump over the stump/me in their haste to leave the location. Was caught in a crazy snow storm in early September (on a day hunt with zero inclimate weather clothing in our possession) way, way back on a high ridge trail in MT with my buddy and when we realized we couldn't get a fire going with our meager emergency supplies, we ran out of there on said ridge trail after dark many miles to the truck....that was no good at all..took me a week to warm back up. I called a bull in for my pop one time in MT and he was bull dozed......; wait, let me preface this story a bit. We locate called the night before and had no less than 10 bulls answer us (from above, below, and I think even on the road we were parked.. it was bullelkapalooza). The next morning, we parked lower on the old logging road and could hear them screaming in the dark as we walked in. Once we got to the finger ridge we were gonna work down/sidehill down and then pop over the other side and call... Dad said "where do you want me to set up". I remember telling him, hell they are everywhere so just go down that alder trail 30 yards, find a spot to set up where you may have a shot, and I'll call. LSS (long story short), I called and all hell broke loose. We had at least four bulls crashing towards me and at some point, I heard Dad yell "RORY... RORY, GD it, I'm hit!"... Umm, OK.. I worked my way down the alder trail with the bulls are still hollering all around and there sat my pop, with his shirt lifted up and blood on his side.... He said "I don't know exactly what happened, but when you called, there was a bull that screamed up the trail and bowled me over; I couldn't of put an arrow in him if I had had it in my hand". Not sure if the bull's antlers cut his side or a piece of jagged alder but pop said I didn't wait long enough to call and he was standing in the tight trail when the bull crashed through. Fun times :lol:. Oh, I've got a bunch more but will wait for others to chime in a bit.
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Re: Scary

Postby ElkNut1 » 06 13, 2017 •  [Post 3]

Nothing to add at this time but sure enjoyed your story swede! (grin) I bet you carry a chainsaw & have a 4x4 these days, maybe even a set of chains! (grin)

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Re: Scary

Postby Swede » 06 13, 2017 •  [Post 4]

I realize that I demonstrated a terrible character flaw that day. I always have had a tendency to be impetuous and in hurry. Lets get it done now could be my motto. It has served me well many times, but taken too far it is not good. What I did was dangerous and stupid. I could have walked home in a couple of hours or LESS. I could have got help with a chainsaw. I was living in a Forest Service community encampment at the time.
Yes, I throw my chains in the truck in the early Fall and have a shovel. I just took the chains and shovel out this past Saturday. My truck is a 4X4. Being prepared with chains and shovel includes a rain coat in a neat box with the chains and a pair of gloves too.
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Re: Scary

Postby Lefty » 06 13, 2017 •  [Post 5]

Swede:
Any time, I've had to ask for help, offering a prayer, I know I just made a bad desicion.

Hunting the Klickitat bottoms I was following a big deer track in the soft rain soaked ground.
The track lead into steeper and more isolated ground.
The buck kept going up and up. I was glassing expecting the buck to ledge and face out.Eventually I realized I was in a real perdicument.
Was I following a sheep track, no, but the buck kept climbing. I was faced out before the top.
I had cosidered I wasn't going to make it out without a fall and injuries. Injured how would I make, do I stay on the face.
.
WhIle a long process I made it down.

Scariest elk hunting
Maybe last fall, left a calling stand 30 minutes earlier , 150 yards from where we had parked the atv was the largest recorded by weight grizzle in the lower 48.

I've told this story, woke up to headlights coming my direction at 2 am.in my desert elk camp. Then they left
Next day a freezer with a tied shut door , a stentch, , bloody juices leaking , from it.
And this was a prayerfull moment:
I decided to check the contents,
How thankful I was it,was rotting game birds
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