Originally Posted by
NuttyNative
Ever have a trip that you were soooooooooo looking forward to and have things go so wrong that you wished you stayed home? This Elk hunt was my getaway and I was so jazzed & ready for a break from reality. The Motorhome was packed and ready, running like a top. I tried to get the wife to leave Thursday morning after I got home from work. She wasn't too hip on that and wanted me to sleep a little after working 12 hours. I was just wanting to leave, and get there before it got hot.
She won on that one, strike one. Then she asks if I mind if her daughter comes along. She just broke up from a 1½ relationship & it might help her to be out with no cell reception. I know better than to say no of my trip will be hampered by attitude. So, I smile & say sure she can go, will need the help loading the elk. Scored major brownie points. I was up at noon and everything was a go, just needed to load my bike, the gas cans, and gas up the rigs.
We live 26 miles East of Reno and my hunt unit was clear across the state, above Wells Nevada, 278 miles east (a 4 hour drive in a car), and the unit was 65 miles north of Wells. We are on the road making good time and I'm still stoked. At 5pm we are 45 miles outside of Wells and the motorhome starts missing & loosing power. So much so that it won't get out of it's own way. I switch the fuel tanks over thinking it's a fuel delivery issue and it kinda gets better. Takes us 1½ hours to go the 45 miles. Knowing it's another 65 miles to where we want to camp, we pull into a truck stop for the night for several reasons. I'm starting to get a little flustered.
Morning comes and I tear into finding what the problem is. I found oil in the air filter so I re-routed the valve cover blow by and washed it out. Filled the tank and tried it out while I still had access to a parts store if needed. Things were back on track & running well so we headed up the hill to camp. Halfway there it started acting up again with the same symptoms? We pull off and I take off the new fuel crossover valve I put on and run on one tank direct. Again, things seemed to be back on track.
My arms are covered with gas and it's getting later in the day. Not wanting to waste any water I go back to town to a truck stop for a shower. I have never used a shower at a truck stop so I went into the drivers lounge to ask the routine. Three guys say, hey bro, you don't have to pay one, I have an extra one on my card, if we don't use them we loose it. I'm thinking cool, things are getting better. By the time I get back to the motorhome it's 3pm on Friday, my last day to scout & I wanted to check out two other spots.
We get to the campsite and it looks like a small city. I figured it'd be gone anyway. My second choice was 12 miles up the road so we trudge on. It was 4:30 when we got there, so we set up real quick so I could take the bike out before it got dark. Unloaded the bike and it was having issues with fuel also? Not wanting to mess with it I took the truck. I found a lot of tents set up where I wanted to hunt, a few coyotes, and a few Antelope. I call it a night and finish setting up camp and plan my opening day.
Saturday morning, opening day I take the truck & head out to the juniper trees by a water hole and sit on it for a few hours. During that time 4 other hunters drove right through my set & not a one seen me or the truck. Getting upset at the amount of road hunters I head back to camp to work on the bike. The last time I rode it was in the mud & snow. Seems I forgot to clean the air filter and it was as solid as concrete. After soaking it in the creek for a few hours & cleaning it, it was running fine. I took it out that afternoon and only see Antelope and that a fire has started right in the middle of the unit. The smoke is traveling in the direction I was planning to hunt so I head back to camp.
Now I do a status check on the supplies and see the wife has already used ¼ of the fresh water. I check the fuel & need to add some. 20 gallons later, all the jugs are empty and I'm starting to get worked up. She has the door open and the screen shut. Major wind gust start and rip the door loose from the frame & now I'm pissed. Brought the cordless drill and some screws to hang mini blinds with, so I fix the door & try to calm down a bit.
Just as I get the door fixed two trucks pull up across the road and set up camp 20 yards from us?? Now I'm starting to get steamed again. I tell the wife & step daughter to pack up were leaving. I was planning on going to the bottom of the unit and working the canyons now because of the fire. Driving down for some reason I stopped where we had seen the spike leaving the water hole while scouting. Decided to set up camp there. Lots of junipers, draws, and saddles across the flat that looked promising. It's now 6pm and were all dirty, out of gas, low on water, and high on attitudes ( wife & daughter not getting along because she's whining) so we head to town for showers, supplies, and dinner. When all is said and done it's 11:00pm before we get back to camp.
Not knowing when they water I got up at 5:30 and set in a lawn chair behind the motorhome to watch the flats. Daylight came at 6:15, at 7:15 I had gassed up the bike and was loading my pack for a trip up the hill and I seen dust on the flat. I look through the bino's and see 5 cows, a calf, and a 5 point heading to the waterhole 500 yards from camp. There are two small nobs between us so I wait till they are behind the first (an old cattle loading ramp) and grab the rifle out of the truck and take off running. When I see them moving closer I drop & freeze. They move behind the second and I take off again. I need to cross the in the lower part of the gorge the waterhole is in and beat feet for the old loading ramp because it will hide me all the way and give me an elevated shooting position.
I see the last ones rump as it's going down to drink. Cool, that gives me time to catch my breath, plan the shot, and collect my excitement. Then I notice the second nob 90 yards closer and consider trying to make it over. Not knowing how long they will drink I stay put. I was shaking so bad it took three tries to get an accurate range from my rangefinder, 360 yards. I lined it up for 300 so hold high an inch and should be good.
After 5 minutes I was thinking they slipped out somewhere, after 10 minutes I was getting parinoid because I never took my eyes off where they were. Finally, the first cow came up right where they went in. She stopped right on top of the hill and I let the Weatherby bark. I heard the hit and seen her drop like a rock. Then they all came up, confused and excited they all gave me a good second chance had I missed. I looked at the motorhome thinking the wife & daughter would be out to check out the noise & get to see the Elk running for the trees, but never did.
Walked up to where I seen her go down and there she was, never moved. I cut her throat to bleed out and went back to camp for help. Had to wake both of them up & they asked if I was sure I got one? Showed them blood on the knife, got some high 5's and went out to start the work. Neither of them are too keen on blood & guts but they both helped tremendously. I gutted her out & made the call to skin her in the truck thinking the hair would aid in loading and to keep it clean. Hooked a come a long to the front lower anchor in the bed and the other end around the front feet. The daughter ran the come along up till it couldn't go no more and the wife & I hoisted the hind quarters up and in. An hour later we were packing up for home.
Had to gas up in Wells and found out that Napa was open till 3:00 so I sent the wife down to get spark plugs and while she was in route I found three fried plug wires. I had just done a complete major tune up before the trip and replaced everything. She got plugs & wires and after an hour we were good to go. I only replaced the wires because the plugs look good, had new ones if there were problems down the road. That did the trick and all was good. Had an appreciated , long, uneventful drive home and arrived here at 8:30pm.
Took the Elk over to a friends to quarter it and put it in the cooler and discovered parts of a broadhead under her left front shoulder. Three inches to the right & she would have been a goner. I think it was from last year and it looked like a thunderhead. Lost most of that shoulder as it smelled pretty bad and didn't want to take any chances. I planned to use the bow for the first week but seemed like this was the trip from hell & I just wanted it to end so I grabbed the rifle.
I took two bows, a muzzle loader, and the Weatherby. In the end it was a successful hunt in the fact I got one, but unsuccessful in the fun & relaxing venue. I still have 8 days vacation left so the wife & I are taking the motorhome to the lake ALONE and try and find a few fish. I'm sure there's a few things I forgot that went wrong but let me tell you Murphy was hard at work in a lot of areas.
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