My odyssey began with two weekends of getting to know the area I would be hunting. (see the Scouting trip part 1 and Part 2 columns earlier). From these trips I was hopeful that after a two week break from hunting, the rut was going to kick in and we would be seeing bucks out cruising for does during the day. There were plenty of rifle hunters telling stories about the “one that got away”.

The trip began with a five hour drive right after work Friday night. I had loaded everything I would need in old “Mighty Whitey” , the 2001 GMC crew cab pickup. That included the 12×12 Alaknak II, a borrowed tent woodstove and 4 coolers. The coolers were designated “Frozen Food”, “Cold Food” “Drinks and Ice”, and “Cool food”. I had enough to feed four people for nine days or more. Of course I had hunting clothes and gear as well. I arrived in camp at 11:00 pm to a foggy, misty drippy site where Rich, my hunting partner had already erected a dome tent. Without unpacking more than my sleeping bag and pad, we sacked out and listened to the drips hitting the roof of the tent.

Day 1 , Saturday

We hunted right out of camp on Saturday morning. We still hunted and did some rattling through the scrub oak that lined the side of the hills. I caught a quick glimpse of a buck slipping away one ridge over, but we were not able to verify if it was a buck or not. I’m betting it was. We hunted until noon, then returned to set up camp.

By 3 pm camp was set. Rich’s dome tent was the cooking station, and my 12×12 tent with woodstove was the sleeping quarters and dining area. We slipped out for an uneventful evening hunt and to make a plan for the next morning. We had not anticipated the Quail hunters in the area would be so prevalent, and the echoes of gunshots reverberated through out the countryside. We also saw some bear hunters in the area.