Dilema; Go in high or low?

[Rizzy]

I have an upcoming Elk hunt and I'm still undecided on how to approach the basin. I have been in from both direction so I know more or less what to expect from each direction and more importantly the only ways to get in and out. I have packed Elk uphill for a couple hundred feet, but not in significant snow. My farthest packout was about 3 miles and 80% downhill, so this will be a new level of packing meat out for me either way.

I can come in from the bottom:

-5 miles to camp, then another mile and a half to the Elk. Initial 3.5 miles from the truck is on trail, the rest off.
-3200 foot elevation gain to the Elk, with most of it being in the last 2.5 miles (off trail part)
-Not much snow to deal with, just some where the Bulls will probably be.
-I take a chance spooking cows on the hike from camp to the bulls, or having to go way around.
-The vantage point is from the side of the basin the Bulls will probably be on, the wind is variable this far up. Favorable sun most of the day.
-The technical sections of the pack out consist of 2 steep accents, 1 fallen log across the game trail, 40" log 2 feet off the ground in a cliffed out section, The Elk are jumping it, I have to crawl under or over, 3 creek crossings.

From the top:

-3 miles to camp, all off trail and mostly sidehill, then half a mile or so to the Bulls.
-1000 feet to camp, a couple hundred up through goat country to get to glassing and stalking locations.
-Complete snow coverage, currently 6" to a foot or more. Will be setting up and camping in the snow. Hiking through goat country in the snow.
-The packout will be uphill in the deep snow (north slope) for a couple hundred feet to get out of the basin, then uphill along a ridge for .4 of a mile or so, then downhill and sidehill for 3 miles.
-The vantage point will be on top of the ridge at the center of the basin, the wind is variable, but I'm on the highest ridge in the area so I will have the thermal advantage in the morning. The sun however will be casting my shadow in the basin from my vantage point and from my likely stalking point. Critical skyline if the sun is up.
-Possible snow issues on the FS road driving in and out, especially if it snows while I'm hunting.
-Possibility that the Bulls would have moved down in elevation a little where there is no snow, then I would be way above them.


I could go in high, hunt the elk and then come in low for the packout, but this would add a day and a half to 2 days to the trip plus all the extra hiking. but it may be a viable option.

So what do you think? Based on your packout experience what has worked and what hasn't? What would you do?

 

[weaver]

Id go in high and worry about the packout when you get something down.

 

[tstowater]

You are making my head hurt thinking about the options. Sounds like coming in from the top may be better, but you never know.

 

[Ridge Ghost]

I have had to choose between very similar scenarios in one of my hunting areas. I have had better luck in this area starting high. You can hear more (archery) and see more from up high, and you can maintain elevation and move to different glassing points more easily.

Like weaver said, hunt from the direction you think is most effective, and then worry about the pack out.

 

[bigeasygator]

All things being equal, I find it easier to hunt from above than below. Seems like you can move on game better coming from above and the vantage points are better. In this case, obviously not all things are equal. To me the snow is the big wildcard and it all depends on how comfortable you are with the snow. Everything else you've described points me to going high.

 

[Rizzy]

Yeah the snow is the great equalizer.....if it's deep enough, I'm concerned it will quickly become a more demanding hike than the long route. I don't have snow shoes or even crampons so I'm at a disadvantage.

 

[Jon Boy]

Yeah the snow is the great equalizer.....if it's deep enough, I'm concerned it will quickly become a more demanding hike than the long route. I don't have snow shoes or even crampons so I'm at a disadvantage.

Not only that, but trying to navigate through goat country, in a foot of snow, in the dark is not only fairly dangerous (depending on your experience) but it also might force you to have to wait until it gets light to push to the top, there fore missing the most important part of the day.
If your very familiar with the trails through the goat country though its probably a non issue.

 

[Rizzy]

I ended up going in high for the opener hoping to walk into the same situation I was in during the scouting trip. However, the snow was about 6-8" this time, even on the south slopes. This drove the Elk down about 1800' lower to the lower end of the basin on a southerly slope. It was actually the same slope that I had seen them on in the first place when I scouted in May. Lesson learned

With snow coming in the next day, I needed to get out of there while the road was still passable and so I headed out. It ended up snowing off and on the rest of the week and didn't clear up until the last 2 days of the season.

I now knew where the main herd was and so I hiked in from the bottom and set up camp. The wind was such that I needed to hike up the canyon farther and get up on the ridge above them the next morning.


So that's what I did. After a 6 hour hike up the canyon and then 1000' up a snow covered north slope, I was finally on the top of the ridge.



I still hunted down the ridge about 3/4 of a mile and found the smallest of the 4 Bulls bedded at the snowline out in the open. There was no way around him to look for the bigger ones and it was now in the afternoon of the last day, so I went ahead and pulled the trigger on the raghorn

2013 OTC Idaho Elk



It took a day and a half to pack the Elk and camp off the mountain the 5 miles back out to the truck. This was my toughest packout to date.

The Bikini/Highcamp and BOMB Bags are no longer new and fresh

 

[Brock A]

Congrats Rizzy. Way to get it done!

 

[Mckinnon]

well done Rizzy

 

[Shrek]

Congratulations ! I was reading your thread and I can now say with experience that snow adds a ton of work to a hike. Enjoy your dinners this year and know that bigger horns wouldn't make them any better but chasing horns might have meant tag soup instead of elk steaks.

 

[Eric Bailey]

Congratulations! You earned that meat.

 

[elkmtngear]

Congratulations Ron, you really went the extra mile. Great job

 

[katdaddy2013]

Congrats Rizzy. Cool elk and story.

 

[bikerdavet]

Thanks for a great story Rizzy. Congrats on elk steak.