By GERRI SWANSON
I was talking to two of my good friends on Friday, and I found out both had the same elk tag I had last year at this time. The Area 23 cow elk tag is the last big game tag of the season. Talking to my buddies stirred up memories from last year. I had drawn this tag amid fellow hunters that had drawn the same hunt before and remarked how hard it was.
I started off making reservations at the Eagle Valley Resort. It was -13 degrees and a tent just didn’t sound fun. I loaded up the truck, put the Rhino on a trailer, had plenty of food, and all of the equipment I thought I needed.
The next step was picking up my good friend Delmar Leatham. Together we headed up to Area 23 on the December 31, to start hunting on Friday, January 1 last year. We checked in at Eagle Valley Resort and settled into our quaint cabin.
Delmar and I woke up before sunrise to hit the hunt early. The area was experiencing record snow fall and bitter cold. After a brief discussion we decided not to take the rhino and left it on the trailer. It did not have a heater.
We headed out in the pick-up with the heater on. It was -16 degrees when we left.
We hunted hard all morning and saw nothing. However we saw some good tracks.
After lunch in Pioche we decided we would hunt by Pearson’s Ranch. The roads were hard to travel, but we trudged on.
I thought we should go higher, so we headed up Mt. Wilson. Going up the back side past Buckhorn ranch, we were cutting our own trail. No other vehicles had attempted this road.
Sliding around the switch backs I felt we were in good shape; that is until we hit a thick patch of ice. Into the ditch we went.
The only good news: it had warmed up to -8 degrees. After several attempts of trying to dig the truck out, we hadn’t gotten very far. It had been three hours. Most of the food was frozen in the Yeti.
We started to talk about what we would do if we had to spend the night. We would only run the truck for so long. I had a portable heater that we could use.
While we were discussing (and praying and praying), the temperature dropped to -11 degrees.
I told Delmar to start trying to call 911. I had seen an outdoors show that said if you keep trying it might work. Finally he got through to the Lincoln County dispatch. I was able to tell them exactly where we were.
Two hours later, help arrived in the form of an 85 year old and a 67 year old search and rescue team. They were worried about getting stuck themselves, so we left the truck and jumped in with them for a humbling ride back to our cabin. Both Delmar and I were stuffed into the jump seat.
Getting out of the truck was fun. Of course, they had to drop us off right in front of the big picture window so that everybody could see. What’s wrong with usine the back entrance?
After a frozen pizza, I called my good friend Kenny Marshall. Once he finally stopped laughing at our sad tale, he said he would be up in the morning.
Kenny got there early and we headed up to my truck. He was still laughing. After the inevitable comment ‘what moron would try this drive?’ from Kenny, we pulled the truck out. It took only seconds.
We finished off the day hunting hard. Thank you, Kenny, I didn’t have to eat Delmar to survive.
The next week I went back up to try again. Delmar couldn’t go this time, I can’t imagine why. So I took my friend Albert Smith and my son Jeremy.
We still were dealing with the same weather conditions. On this hunt we got to see an amazing sight: 18 bull elk running in a straight line coming out of the fog, from biggest to smallest. It was a sight I will never forget.
All was going good, until a cable chain broke on our back tire. After getting the cable removed, we started hunting again. Soon my son, who was driving, said that he was having a hard time stopping. We figured it was just the snow-packed trails.
We needed fuel, so Pioche here we come. Now stopping had become an adventure. Jeremy checked the brake and we had zero fluid. After realizing we had cut a brake line, we used a pair of vise grips and filled the fluid.
Then we did what anybody would do: kept on hunting!
I never shot my elk. But I got to spend an unforgettable time with friends and family in the great outdoors.
