…woke up to 45 degrees and showers this morning, the forcast is for a high of 51 and a low of 35 tonight. It will be snowing in the high country today and tonight.
The bull elk have knocked the velvet off their antlers and are begining to warm up their vocal chords. If you listen close you can hear one bugling.
My favorite time of year has arrived.
A lot of the areas that are normally green this time of year and attractive to bears are not very green yet. We have had a cold spring and things are just a bit behind normal it seems. So, we decided to fucus on lower elevations this afternoon, where there is more green. What do you know, we found a bear. We spotted nice jet black bear grazing on a meadow this evening and after careful deliberation made out stalk. The only thing that went wrong is that the bear did not hang around long enough for us to get a close look at him. I think we well find him tomorrow.
Very warm again today. We saw no bears again today. lots of elk and deer again, probably 50 or so elk. Larry saw a one black bear and got a neat picture of the bear and an elk on the same meadow. both of them grazing within 50 yards of one another. The pic was taken through his spotting scope.
Thunderstorms tonight and cooler weather tomorrow. I hope that the bears will be more active tomorrow since they wont be roasting in the sun. I will keep the updates coming.
Late this morning we were visiting with a friend in our backyard. As we visited we heard a squawling bawling noise from across the creek in the woods. It sounded to me like a young bear. Then an eagle flew out from behind the trees and landed in a cottonwood tree along the creek. Then another eagle emerged, and another, and yet another. At least 4 eagles that looked like immature balds landed in the tree. They sat for a few minutes and then flew down the creek, leaving whatever was in the woods alone.
We discussed what possibly could have happened. Perhaps a bear had come upon the eagles eating a carcass by following his nose, and had chased them off to claim it for himself.
Deb and I decided to go across the creek and check it out for outselves. Grabbing our video camera, and a rifle, we headed for the creek. We waded across and into the thicket on the other side. We pushed through the brush as quietly as we could and finally emerged in some more open timber that allowed us about 75 yards of visibility through the trees. We glassed the area repeatedly as we slowly made our way through the area expectig at any time to see a bear feeding on whatever it had taken from the eagles. We spent 45 minutes slowly creeping through the thick brush looking and listening. But in the end we found nothing, no bear, no eagles, and no sign of a struggle, no blood or hair.
Deb, Adair, and I were out this evening scouting and listening for early season bugles. We climbed a steep timbered incline about 1000 vertical feet to the top of the mountain, seeing some scattered elk sign as we ascended. Reaching the top at just before sunset we decided to follow the ridge to some large meadows. As we emerged from the timber and the meadow became more visible a familiar shape caught my eye. A large 6 pt bull was standing on the meadow about 300 yards from us. Well to make a long story short, he was not in a real fighting mood. He did let out a low growling bugle or two with little enthusiasm. We tried our best to sound like a couple of cow elk that wanted to join up with his herd. He watched with interest in our direction, but would not get fired up about a chase. As the twilight came, we watched the elk on the skyline and said so long til another day. Great evening with the family.
Darren
One year ago today…..
Nevada border. I knew he was in hot dry country and thought that the talk of cool Montana weather and elk hunting would be welcome. I also figured he would be busy flying and that I would not be able to get a hold of him until later that evening.
It was a busy day, I had to run some errands in town, and then meet with a new guide to show him some of hunting country.
It was a tough day to show someone the area because of the new snow and heavy cloud cover. There was a good 8” of fresh snow on the meadows at 7000 feet, and visibility was very limited by the clouds and silent falling snow. But the new guide was no stranger to the woods, and with the help of a topo map he caught on very quickly.
It was early evening when I returned home.
I was in the office when the phone rang. Deb came into the office obviously shaken, and told me that Greg’s plane had crashed and there was no word about whether there were survivors. She then left the house to go over to the lodge to tell Ben and LeAnn. We all feared the worst, and prayed for the best, that the crew was hospitalized, and that there was hope for recovery, we knew the odds were slim. Moments later the phone rang again, it was Charlie. Between my interruptions he was able to say that the plane had crashed shortly after takeoff, and that there were no survivors.
Deb was still out of the house. I was numb. I went to the living room, gathered the kids around. Deb walked in to find the kids gathered on the sofa, with me on my knees in front of them trying to find a way to tell them the awful news. She joined us and I shared the news that there were no survivors.
Then, through tears and sobs, we prayed, we held on to one another, all of us in shock. Prayed for Kim and the kids, Jean and Jerry, whose pain must be so much more acute than ours, and that in itself is hard to imagine.
It has been a year now and there is still pain in the space left in our lives. We continue to grieve.
California, and I think about Greg. I head into the woods to go scouting or hunting and I remember Greg. I work on making my cow call better and I think about Greg. I take my family camping and I think about Greg. I see something special in the outdoors, and wish I could call Greg to share it. As we go on with our lives, there are so many instances that he comes to mind.
He is missed in so many ways by so many people too numerous to list.
I find a lot more meaning and hope in looking at how Greg lived his life than looking at how he died. He is greatly missed because of the way he lived his life.
I think about the fruits of the Holy Spirit as described in Galatians 5:22-26
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Greg did a very good job of living out or bearing these fruits.
Was he loving?……yep
Was he Joyful?……no doubt
Was he peaceful?…. certainly
Was he longsuffering?…. he was no quitter
Was he kind?……very
Was he good?…..yep
Was he Faithful?…..you bet
Was he gentle?…….he was, and this was only made more dramatic when you consider his size and physical strength.
Was he self controlled?…..I never saw him lose his temper, drink too much, eat too much, etc…. OK, OK I know he took a deer or antelope out of season, but that was probably my influence. (Long, long time ago, we were young and used all of the meat)
If you knew him, you know that what I am saying is the truth. This is not me blowing smoke up your coveralls. He didn’t seem to make a great effort or struggle to bear these fruits. It just seemed to be a part of him. I think Greg would point out that it wasn’t him, it was Christ in him.
I am challenged today to work harder to bear the same fruits, to be a faithful follower of Christ. Not just to talk about it, but to live it. I am inspired by the courage that Kim has shown this year, the unbelievable God given strength that she has, and the tremendous ways that she and the kids continue to bear these fruits as they struggle forward.
I probably think about Greg most when I am with his lovely widowed wife Kim, and his children. I fight the tears and a lump in my throat when I build a bow with his boys, or play catch, go fishing or hunting. I am blown away by the light in a boy’s eyes and the puff in his chest when I tell him, “Good job, your Dad would be so proud of you.” I keep thinking he should be here, and would be in a great way if he was able. I am heartbroken that he cannot be here for the kids, and honored that Kim is allowing me to be a part of showing them the great outdoors, and instilling in them the values that their father held dear.
We continue to lift Kim, Gabriel, Grady, and Grace (the Doodlebug) in prayer. My prayer for them is that they live a life full and rich in the fruits of the
Spirit, full of adventure as they pursue their God-given passions.
May God Bless and Keep you.
Darren Dunham
Please share your memories of Greg here, hunting or otherwise. I will compile them with photos in a book form at some point in the future for his family. Thanks DD
I recently went on a couple of brief camping trips into some of the more remote reaches of our hunting area. I was fortunate to have some good friends who enjoy some wilderness adventure along for the trip. We shared some new experiences and vistas and saw some familiar sights from a different angle. We took along our fishing gear and a little cook stove and left the security of the 4×4 at the trail head. The primary focus of the trip was to visit some of the back country lakes and try to catch some trout, which we were able to do on some lakes and not on others. It was a great opportunity in the late summer for me to do some preliminary scouting for elk and deer. The weather was summertime warm so I didn’t expect to see a lot of acivity in the open areas other than in the late evening or early morning.
Anyway, we did see severaly elk including one bull in the heavier timber and saw one grazing on the edge of a large meadow in the high country in the late afternoon. On both of the campouts we did not see another person in five days in the woods.
On the first trip my good friend Tim and his son Levi accompanied my son Dawson and I to a pair of lakes in the Flints. It was a hot hike with some smoke in the air from fires west of our area and by the time we got to the first lake it was 5 o’clock and we were hot and tired.
We all dicided to take a quick dip in the cool clear water of the lake. Actually the water was a tolerable temperature. As we were drip drying on the shore and begining to contemplate what we would prepare for supper, we were blessed to see a really nice sized rainbow trout cruise by the shore, his bright red stripe and hooked jaw easily visible in the clear water. Of course there was a mad scramble of half dressed hikers making the quick conversion from swimmer to fisherman in which there were no injuries or incidents other than a fish hook puncture to a finger or a tangle line or two. By the time we had rods ready and flys or lures in the water the fish was moving steadily away down the shoreline and we were unable to catch him or even his interest.
We did later catch a few cutthroats on both lakes and were able to keep a couple of the small fish to flavor our ramen noodles in the morning for breakfast.
We did not see any elk on this hike but did get into an area with several springs and cool dark timber in which there was fresh sign as we walked in and again on the way out. Another great thing about this area is the productive spring we found bubbling from between the rocks. We took the opportunity to refill our bellies and our bottles with the icey cold water.
On the hike out we paused to watch a couple of trout in a pool at a creek crossing. They were hiding under some low hanging branches that acually were partially under water, then zipping out and surfacing to suck moths off of the surface of the little pool. In the end we were content to watch them feed and left our rods packed.
The second trip incolved a bone-jarring ride in the land cruiser to a remote trail head where we hiked into a couple of other lakes. On this trip I was accompanied by Dan and Dustin, more good friends from North Dakota.
We arrived at the first lake in the early evening and decided to camp for the night. After settling in we set up the fly rods and scattered to different parts of the lake and began casting to the numerous rising fish. It didnt take long and Dustin had landed a small brookie, then Dan and then myself. The fishing was steady and good with no fish of extraordinary size, mostly just 6 to 10″ trout. We fished till dark and the highlight of the evening for me was four casts in a row with a landed fish, albeit small fish. We had a quick snack of cheese sausage and crackers and stowed the food away from camp out of the reach of bears. We had a brief discussion of the stars as they appeared in the clear sky and drifted off to sleep one by one.
After sleeping a short while Dustin and I were awakened by a sharp angry and repeating deep growl. As it turned out it was not a curious bear but Dan’s snoring. We both did our best to sleep with the rhythmic roar of Dan’s snoring keeping us on the edge of sleep for what seemed like a good share of the night. We probably would have slept better had the noise been a bear because at least we could have chased the bear away. Dustin and I did discuss having Dan sleep fifty or 100 yards from camp by in the end decided that even that distance may not be sufficient and he was allowed to stay.
Dan, as it became apparent after only a few miles of hard hiking, has the uncanny ability in the span of only a few minutes to not only sleep but snore. When informed of this impressive skill, Dan still humbly denies that he even snores.
Well we fished the next morning at sunup since we were awake anyway and caught and released several more brookies. After breakfast we loaded up the packs and headed out to explore another basin and several other lakes. Our trek took us over a 9000+ foot ridge and dropped us into another basin that has several lakes and some impressive rock peaks surrounding it. The hike was steep and hard and it took us nearly 5 hours of hiking to reach the lake we would camp on the next night. Well the scenerey was incredible and the lakes pristine and beutiful but we were only able to catch one small rainbow that evening.
We had hiked a mile or so to another lake and dicided to fish there until dark and then return to our camp sight at the bigger lake. After dark as we were hiking back we began to see distant flashes of lightning and the roll of thunder that follows. It wasn’t long before it started to sprinkle and shortly thereafter it was a nice steady rain. With the lightning flashin and rain soaking we turned back and headed for a small creek crossing in which there were some mature fir trees that provided good shelter from the rain. The downpour continued for nearly an hour, there was water running down the hiking trail, it then tapered off to a steady drizzle for the next hour or so. It was during this time that we realizec that we would be better off dry under the shelter of the trees than to try to go sleep in our now saoked sleeping bags. So there we sat for a long almost sleepless night. by 4 am each of us had drifted off to sleep briefly even in our chilly discomfort. Dan had even snored for a while. by sunrise the skiy was clear and blue and the temperature was around 40 degrees. The mile hike back to camp helped us to shake the chill off and when the sun finally peeked over the mountains and soaked our part of the valley with its light the warmth completely erased the chill of a damp night spent in the woods.
We made a really stiff pot of coffee on the cookstove, had a quick breakfast, packed up and headed down the trail. It was about a 9 mile hike back to the parking spot and we took numerous brakes to pick berries and refill water bottles from springs. Dustin even caught a couple more trout in the stream along the trail.
At one point I wandered up the trail ahead of Dan and Dustin as Dustin was catching and releasing several fish. A mile or so down the trail I was begining to look for a place to sit and wait for the others when I saw a large black bear coming down the trail toward me. We saw each other at virtually the same time and I watched closely the bears response in an effort to decide if I should reach for the camera or the .44. The bear turned and lumbered up into the timber above the narrow trail and I dropped my pack to the ground and clawed my way into the side pocket that held my video camera.
With the camera in hand I crept a few yards above the trail and caught a glimpse of the cinnamon colored bear looping around me above the trail. It was warm and nearly mid-day and the bear did not seem to have any desire to run or climb the steep incline above. He simply took a detour that allowed him to circumnavigate my position by about 30 yards. I was able to get some video of him abling by at close range before he dissappeared into the woods.
A few minutes later Dan and Dustin come up the trail and had no bear sightings to report but were happy to see the video. I kinda kick myself now for going on ahead, it would have been nice for them to see the bear.
Well we got back to the cruiser ok and bounced our way back to the lodge where we could not decide whether to eat, shower or rest first. In the end all three got done.
Thanks Dan and Dusty for a memorable trip.
This week I took an early morning hike into our western hunting area.
On the drive in I saw a big black bear.
He was standing on the road when I first saw him and once he saw the vehicle he galloped down off the road and crossed a couple hundred yards of meadow and the creek.
He didn’t stop running until he hit the timber on the other side of the creek and was out of sight, so I was unable to get any video or photographs.
I was pleased to see that the storm clouds that had passed the previous night had dropped significant rain.
I could see that water had run down the road washing gravel and pine cones out of the way.
This is a real blessing because it has been hot and dry for the past several weeks.
There is a lot of grass in the mountains thanks to good spring snow and rain but it has been drying up quickly.
At least the fire danger in this particular area may be tempered if only for a short while.
Any way by the time I got hiking the sun was up and was begining to warm things up so I didn’t see a lot of game.
I did however run across a couple of nice huckleberry patches.
They are a few weeks away from being ready but they have been duly noted on my map and definitely will be revisited.
There is nothing like filling your face with fresh picked huckleberries.
Originally uploaded by royal.outfitters
Jack Dykes and his 2006 archery bull. Royal Outfitters is a family-run elk hunting business.
