I'm old so I have a lot of elk stories. When I lived in Reedsport, Or. there was a good sized elk herd that wintered in the hills and pastures along the Umpqua River on private land. Oregon had a late season Feb. hunt to help with private farm crop damage. I had permission to bow hunt there and one of the fellows that helped coach my wrestling team had a shad boat and dingy moored in the mouth of Dick creek. The hills next to the big pasture were very steep and covered with heavy brush. There had been a logging operation there years before and there was a logging road cut into the hill side that wound its way to the top and was narrow with a good sized cut bank on the up hill side and heavy brush on the down side. You have to remember that I was raised in Cody, Wyoming so hunting the coast was new to me. I took the dingy and poled my way up Deans Creek until I found a place to tie up the boat. Pulled it as far as I could out of the water and tied it to a tree. The plan was to hike up the logging road and wait until the elk fed out and move back into the hills for the day. Well, there wasn't enough time to reach the top before the elk started up country and it amazed me at how fast and easily they caught up to me. There was no chance in seeing them, but I could hear them below me. I hunkered down and nocked an arrow thinking if one came out on the road I would maybe have a shot. There was noise right across the road from me about 12 feet and a cow stuck her head out. The hill was so steep that her head was about level with the road. She was looking right at me and I was frozen with out a clue as what to do. Head shots are a no no and trying to draw would cause her to fall off the mountain. It seemed like an eternity that she stared at me, but when she retreated the whole hill side erupted and there were elk in the road above and below me and all sprinting to get out of there. When I finally got over the rush of excitement I spent several hours following them thru the brush. The plants there do not all loose their leaves in the winter so you can be right in the herd and never see them. When I made it back to the boat it was getting dark and the tide had gone out ant the boat was a good 20 feet out of the water! Did I say it had poured all day and I was soaked! The locals never let me forget about being in tide country. That area has since been made a refuge and you can see the herd from the highway. A/Ho Pokie
