Whats Hunting What
by: Gary Sorenson
My Father in law Ed was seventy seven years old last year, so when he was telling me he slept out over night during an early elk hunt, I was all ears. It seems there was four or five other hunters in camp and all were quite a bit younger then he. But knowing Ed, laying out over night is part of the hunt. Others in camp had tried to dissuade him from doing it but they finally reluctantly helped him get ready but I note none of them offered to spend the night out with him.Â
He was telling me everything he enjoyed about the night including the anticipation of waking up to the elk bugling before they headed back up to their bedding grounds in the morning. It was here that he was planning to intercept them and lay his claim on one of these buglers with an arrow.  That’s why we love planning, because everything is so perfect in the planning stage. Anyways while he lay there in the full moon light drinking in the night sounds and enjoying all the shadows the moon cast, he all of a sudden got this weird feeling that he was being watched. Slowly he turned his head sideways and there sitting about 25 yards away was an old coyote. I suppose he was trying to figure out if this thing on the ground was a possible dinner or was it something to fear. Ed has very wavy hair but he said it all of a sudden all straightened out. He’d never given to much thought of predators before but all of a sudden the realities of his age and not being as able to defend himself made some in-roads in his mind. He said he slept very light that night, but he loved it. Of course a story like this breeds 20 more, as I got to thinking of times that I had laid out too and have had some interesting experiences.
Six years ago I had planned to hunt a certain draw and the only proper way to do it was to sleep out there. I had found a very small creek bed that was sandy and since there was no rain in the forecast, I threw my bed right there. There was a lot of dried wild sun flowers around and they are about the noisiest plant I have ever hunted in. Sometime in the middle of the night I heard what sounded like a herd of buffalo coming my way. I sat straight up in bed and could just see over the bank and there stood a cow elk just feeding away. There was no danger but the adrenaline rush kind of ruins the rest of the night for sleep.
Another time about thirty years ago I was hunting deer with my younger brother Scott. We were in the Steens Mountains in Oregon and we often just bedded down out in the sage brush. Because of the consciousness of rattlesnakes we always kept a .22 pistol within reach, usually between us. This night was a little chilly so we were pretty well snuggled down in our mummy bags and being younger we could really sleep deep.  Sometime in the night I heard a deep growl and at first I was trying to figure out if I was dreaming this or was it for real. Finally I got the fog beat back enough to realize it was for real and there out in front of my face about three feet was the toothy face of a badger looking back at me, growling. I was afraid to move fast and being in a mummy sleeping bag you just don’t do a lot fast movement, so I asked Scott if he was awake to get the .22 and lean over my sleeping bag and take care of my little problem. Fortunately Scott came awake about as much as he could and fumbled around for the pistol, not really comprehending what I needed it for. But his movements and noise was enough for Mr. badger to realize he didn’t fully know what we were either and he disappeared back in the sage brush. I don’t believe Scott really believed my story so he was anxious for me to shut up so he could get back to sleep. I was laying there staring at that same sage bush five minutes later when that same growling started, only now it was coming from the direction our heads were pointed and it was more towards Scott’s side and a little closer then before. Scott was now a believer, and a wide awake one. With all the movement we made, the badger disappeared again and this time for good, we thought, but our minds wouldn’t believe it.  Anyway he left two very wide awake deer hunters in his wake who became two very tired deer hunters by three oclock the next afternoon. I’ll agree with Ed though, I still love that part of hunting.
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6 Responses to “Whats Hunting What”
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I’ve slept out under the stars a time or two, mostly when I was a kid.
The one thing I’ve learned is this: If you see something moving near the tents in camp, don’t automatically assume it’s a raccoon and throw a rock at it. The animal might be a skunk instead.
Yikes Kristine, sounds like there is a story that goes with that one!
Seems like everything is bigger and meaner after dark. On a pack trip in the Marble mountains, there were 7 of us kids between the ages of 10 and 14. Seemed like every night there was a critter of some sort in our camp.
the first night one of the younger kids left a saddle out uncovered. a doe came in and chewed off the saddle strings. She sounded like a bear to us.
The next night I awoke to the biggest buck I had ever seen feeding just yards away from me. That image has me wanting to go back there still.
The third night we heard the horses snort and start running. We shone the flashlights towards the treeline across the meadow and picked up eyes. Then the eyes elevated to 4 feet higher. Yep that was the bear…
The next morning we retrieved the horses from a meadow miles away and got packed up to head home. We slept at the trailhead that night.
Good stuff!
Had my early morning/late night experiences enough, and they’re always great stories to tell and to hear around the campfire.
Sounds like we need to get the coffee on and a good camp fire going and tell some stories. Love them all.
Tom, that story brings up great memories of sleeping out under the stars growing up in Colorado. So many awesome adventures as a kid during those long warm summer nights with a million stars all around. Good stuff.