Tagging along at elk camp
9.15.18 We didn’t sleep for most of the night. We heard a female elk making calls starting about 2 am just outside of camp. She would call about every 2 minutes or so it felt like. Barrett was sound asleep between Kyle and I. Dreaming, kicking his paws into my back and making little ruffs. He was probably chasing some deer in his dreams. Pea took a while to figure out that she could curl up in the sleeping bag with me to stay warm. It had to be 32 degrees out. The stars were out and you could see sparkles in the air like the moisture was beginning to freeze. Daisy stayed on top of our feet and we had a sleeping bag covering the dogs and us. Kyle and I slept in military mummy sleeping bags. They were surprisingly warmer than I thought they would be.
Throughout the night we could hear little critters making sounds. Some were hard to identify as to what sounds belonged to each animal. Branches would snap and we would all wake and jump. At one point we were quite certain an elk walked through our camp. Around 4 we finally fell asleep and woke about 7. We woke to a raven calling in the woods. They are so peaceful to listen to.
Kyle headed out for his morning hunt and I stayed in the tent with the dogs. Shortly after Kyle left I could hear either a bobcat or a cougar just up the hill from our tent. It was making all sorts of sounds. The cat would make this growling croak like sound. It was so unique. Every 5 minutes or so you could hear it calling. I forgot how alive the woods can be. We get so busy in our lives and it’s nice to be in the mountains where there’s no cell service, no cars rushing by and no trains. We live in a town that has train tracks running through so you can always hear the trains. Up here you hear the occasional plane fly over but that’s it.
The night we arrived Kyle stopped just before camp and spotted a beautiful bull elk with several other elk. A few cow and a spike that we could see. He hiked up the hill after them on the chance that he could get the spike since cows weren’t open until the morning. It was neat listening to them move around the hillside. You would hear the occasional snap of a branch. Everything is still so dry this time of the year. Kyle looked for them for about 45 minutes but they went up the hill faster than he could keep up with them. Just before he came back to the truck I heard the bull let out a loud bugle. He heard Kyle once Kyle started heading back and wasn’t as quiet. The sounds elk make are so majestic. At first I thought it was another hunter that saw Kyle and used a call to warn him he was in there too. When Kyle got back to the truck I asked him if that was the bull or someone calling? It sounded too perfect for a call but you never know. Kyle said the bull heard him and warned him off.
In all the times I’ve been in the mountains I have never heard it so alive. Perhaps hunting season keeps the animals moving and vocal? It would make sense.