True Elk Camp 2020
What is your favorite season of the year? James (JJ) & I both agree it’s Fall for us. There is always one specific moment at the very end of summer when one morning, we walk outside & can feel the change in the air. It might derive from a new frost on the ground or the smell of leaves starting to change. We both detect it at the same time & one of us comments, “Hunting Season.” We both start daydreaming about sunrise in the mountains.
This year, James scheduled two weeks off from work for his hunting vacation. On Saturday, Oct 24th, we loaded everything up in his truck & my car, hooked up the flatbed to haul his jeep, & headed for the hills. It’s our long-standing tradition to stop in Cle Elum for breakfast at The Cottage Cafe. We fuel up on food & coffee, often with other hunters converging from all over the state, then say goodbye to civilization for a while.
It takes 5 or 6 hours to set up camp, which is crazy, I know… but it is up for two weeks! We have a 12x20 Alaknak cabin tent, which withstands 70 mph winds & a foot of snow. We work great together, setting it up, which says a lot about our marriage! LOL Just as we finished unpacking, JJ’s brother pulled up to camp with us for a few days. I had to leave Sunday to go back to work for part of the week, so I was glad the two brothers would have some time to share together.
Pat left Monday afternoon, so JJ spent the next 2 days on his own deer hunting. He had a tag for a 3x3 or better but never saw a big buck. This year we didn’t buy a combo tag, and for the first time, JJ saw a black bear! He watched it for about an hour, rooting around for grub. I’m so jealous I didn’t get to see it with him! I worked Monday thru Wednesday then drove 4 hours to join him that night. He had been a busy boy chopping up wood to last us for the remaining 10 days! We need it for the wood stove inside the tent & for the fire pit outside we all enjoy so much!
On Thursday, we were in-between seasons… deer was over & elk started Saturday. We decided to go trail riding in JJ’s jeep. He’d work on it all year, with help from Pat, Jeff & Steve, so I was excited to go four-wheeling on steep trails, tight corners & mud bogs. However, I suggest you jeep with at least one other vehicle just in case you break down! Yep - that happened. JJ pulled out the toolbox for about an hour until he decided we better start hiking back. It was a long walk & I was pondering a quote from one of my favorite adventure stories, “The Hobbit.” Thankfully after a couple of hours but before great despair (LOL), some other hunters found us & drove us another 40 minutes back to camp!
“Bilbo was sadly reflecting that adventures are not all pony-rides in May-sunshine.”
It was growing dark & too late to go back for the jeep, so we poured a drink, turned on some music & cooked shishkabobs! We stayed up late by the fire, enjoying the evening with the full moon illuminating the field beyond us. Later that night, we simultaneously woke to the sounds of bull elk bugling nearby. There was no wind or any other sounds, so we dozed in our nice warm cots, listening to the wild symphony.
Friday morning, we used the car & drove to the trailhead, where JJ strapped on a 5-gallon gas can to hike back to the jeep. He figured the remaining gas must be contaminated & after another hour, he got the jeep started. JJ didn’t turn it off until he made it back to camp! He’ll be working on it all next year, too, it seems :-)
Later that morning, JJ’s cousins arrived to set up camp & prepare for opening day. This year was memorable for all these guys, welcoming Vance’s 11-year-old son, Jayce True, to hunt with them. In turn, each reminisced about the first time they had gone hunting with their own fathers & uncles.
Jayce stayed at camp four days, experiencing just about everything involved with hunting except shooting & tagging an elk. And well, heck, JJ hasn’t experienced that yet either!!! Sunday night Jayce also learned what it means to be part of a family camp. On their evening hunt, Vance shot at a spike elk. They tried tracking it without luck & came back to camp at dark.
We all rallied together with lanterns & flashlights, drove to the trail & hiked out to search for the animal. Seven of us spread out looking for a blood trail & JJ found a thumbnail-sized spot, but nothing else. I realized I was all turned around & had to make my way to the others. Walking through the woods in the dark, with flashlights all around, reminded me totally of the Blair Witch Project! That movie had scared the jeepers out of me in 1999 LOL
JJ & I never saw a spike this year, & nobody in our camp had been drawn for a cow or bull tag. We watched the sunrise from various blinds & experienced some fantastic moments; my favorite happened one morning, 2 hours after daylight. We sat in a blind with the trail behind us. Glassing the hill across the gorge, the mountain felt heavy in the total silence. Then crack!
One single branch broke directly behind us & we both snapped our necks to witness the ghost of the forest! Just 15 yards away, we glimpse the neck, shoulders & body of an elk gliding down the trail. What really impressed us were the horns stretching all the way back to the hindquarters, & then it was gone. Not another sound was heard. We looked at each other with full, intense eye contact & silently mouthed in unison, “BULL!”!
It’s just one of those moments I will never forget. We saw 3 bulls this year, at least a dozen cows, a lot of deer & one bitchy squirrel.
So our 2020 hunting adventure came up short of a tag but abundant with good times as a mountain retreat. Along with his father, Frank True, Jeff came up & cooked the whole camp elk chili from Steve Hanks spike tagged last year. JJ’s cousin, Dewaine’s son Luke Neiffer, came with friends to hunt for a couple of days. He & Kirsten Hanks watched Jayce drive Vance’s jeep & shared their own stories about learning to drive at elk camp. I feel so honored to become part of this family’s never-ending adventure.
“Don’t adventures ever have an end? I suppose not. Someone else always has to carry on on the story.”
Thank you for joining JACT Ventures to share in our adventures. We embrace the outdoors, having fun, trying new things as well as keeping old traditions. We hope to inspire you to plan out your own adventures. Start by writing it down, then set a date, then GO DO IT! Please click the YouTube link directly below to access the 17-minute video from True Elk Camp 2020. Special thanks go out to Jayce True for helping host this year’s video!!! #JACTventures