Looking Back and Dreaming Forward
I received an email from the Utah Division of Wildlife last week. The email basically said that it's time to apply for permits if you plan to hunt in Utah this fall.
I'm not planning to hunt in Utah this fall. It's not the right year for me. Not that I don't want to, but something that I need to put off and maybe make happen next year. But it did stir up memories from a hunt several years ago.
I had never hunted out west with a bow before. Because of the cost and the effort involved, the thought is that if you're making the investment to hunt out west, you should give yourself every advantage possible so that you have a better chance at being successful. And so most people head out west during rifle season. It's usually later in the fall. The elk are concentrated because the snow high in the mountains causes them to move down to the lower elevations.
Bow season is usually earlier in the fall. The elk are generally higher up in the mountains and a little more scattered. It's also mating season which gives an opportunity for trying to call an elk into bow range. But it also requires a little more work to hike back in. To me it sounds like a much more exciting hunt, even though the odds of harvesting something aren't very good.
And so I decided that I needed to make it happen. My friend Nate said that he would go along. After pouring over maps and figuring it all out, we pulled everything together and headed to the High Unitas in Northeastern Utah.
We hiked a couple of miles and set up camp. I had wanted to go further in, to Bolie Lake, which was six miles from the truck. The temps were getting up into the 70s and the fear was if we took an elk that far back in, by the time we would get the meat out, it would spoil.
Although the hunting didn't turn out to be the greatest, it was a great trip. We did see several elk, but couldn't get within range.
The beauty in the mountains was almost surreal. The cold and clear lakes, seeing moose in the water, and fishing for trout, the weather that changed on a dime, it all made it a worthwhile trip.
Since the lakes are pretty remote, the fishing is superb. One of my favorite memories happened at Lily Pad Lake. We hunted and hiked our way down to the lake. We had also packed our rods with the intent of catching some fish for lunch. The lake was just gorgeous. We started fishing and Nate hooked one, and then two beautiful trout. I got out the stove and started to prepare the fish for lunch. In the process, I mentioned to Nate that I probably brought the wrong spinner which was really a bummer. Since we were backpacking, we didn't bring a lot of fishing tackle which meant that I really didn't have much variety when it came to choosing lures. Nate picked up my rig and proceeded to cast it into the water. On his first cast he caught a really nice trout. After eating, I tried some more with no luck whatsoever.
And then it started to rain and snow and we never made it back to fish there again.
But one day……
Hopefully I'll fish it again. And there is another lake that is several hard and cruel miles away named Crow Lake that has a ledge where the fish like to hang and is supposedly teaming with giant cutthroats. And I hope that one day I will make it there too. And that I catch at least one more fish than Nate!
Yeah, I think that I'm ready for another bow hunt!
