Day two was one where getting to the hunting area was our greatest challenge. We awoke at 3:30 AM to find 10” or more of snow on the ground with temps well below freezing. As we pulled away from camp in 4-wheel drive we decided to head for the south check-in area of Snake River Ranch. While it was no closer, half the distance was paved roads and the remaining gravel sections were in better shape than the roads to the northern area. The snow plows had been down the road but a half-inch layer of glaze ice remained on the road.
We arrived at the southern check-in area at 5:30 after an hour of slow, sometimes white-knuckle driving. Following check-in we went back outside to chain up all four wheels. At 6:30 the guides took us to the hunting area, leading the way on ATV’s. The hunting area was a valley parcel roughly 2 miles long and a mile wide with a road running around three sides. Dave and I were positioned at ‘Gate 2’ on the far side of the valley. We walked out 100 yards or so on a hill and sat where we could see over the edge. Below us to our right there was a pond with some cottonwoods next to it. Beyond the pond there were multiple hills with ridges running up from the valley floor. Our hill was barren, as were most of the hills to our left, but the hills to our right got progressively more covered with scrub oak. Mountains and high ridges surrounded the valley and Dave and I saw a lot of elk and deer on their slopes at ranges of 1-2 miles. Unfortunately we did not see any elk in the valley. By 9:00 we decided to call it quits and head to the northern check-in area for the evening hunt.
The snow made for slow driving and we arrived at the north area at 11:30. We checked in and waited for the guides to position the hunters. We had requested the same spot we had hunted the day before. Our particular guide took us well beyond that spot to the end of the property and began describing the property boundaries. It was clear from his answers to our questions that he wasn’t at all sure just where they really were. Fortunately we had good maps showing the property lines. Dave and I drove back to ‘our’ spot, pulled off the road into the aspens, had a bite to eat, reclined the seats and promptly took a two hour nap.
We arrived at the southern check-in area at 5:30 after an hour of slow, sometimes white-knuckle driving. Following check-in we went back outside to chain up all four wheels. At 6:30 the guides took us to the hunting area, leading the way on ATV’s. The hunting area was a valley parcel roughly 2 miles long and a mile wide with a road running around three sides. Dave and I were positioned at ‘Gate 2’ on the far side of the valley. We walked out 100 yards or so on a hill and sat where we could see over the edge. Below us to our right there was a pond with some cottonwoods next to it. Beyond the pond there were multiple hills with ridges running up from the valley floor. Our hill was barren, as were most of the hills to our left, but the hills to our right got progressively more covered with scrub oak. Mountains and high ridges surrounded the valley and Dave and I saw a lot of elk and deer on their slopes at ranges of 1-2 miles. Unfortunately we did not see any elk in the valley. By 9:00 we decided to call it quits and head to the northern check-in area for the evening hunt.
The snow made for slow driving and we arrived at the north area at 11:30. We checked in and waited for the guides to position the hunters. We had requested the same spot we had hunted the day before. Our particular guide took us well beyond that spot to the end of the property and began describing the property boundaries. It was clear from his answers to our questions that he wasn’t at all sure just where they really were. Fortunately we had good maps showing the property lines. Dave and I drove back to ‘our’ spot, pulled off the road into the aspens, had a bite to eat, reclined the seats and promptly took a two hour nap.
About 3:00 we decided we had better get in position on the hill. We broke out the binoculars and started glassing for elk. There were elk on a far mountain slope and we watched a bull come down the slope across the road and start feeding just 100 yards from us but behind a slight rise. The bull was safe as Dave had no licenses for Snake River Ranch and mine were for antlerless elk. For 45 minutes or so we watched a herd of 9-10 deer down by and on our side of Slater Creek but we had no licenses for them, either.
At 5:45 we decided to head back to check out for the day. Check out time was supposed to be 5:30 but we think that time was set before they changed the daylight savings time dates – there was still plenty of good hunting time left as the sun had not yet set. Back at camp we talked to Ken and company and found they had not had any success either.
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