a day off

[ctdad]

The place we hunted last year, and will hunt again this year, gets some pretty serious wind some days. The open hilltops are straight line and down in the trees it swirls like crazy. We found that our efforts to get within bow range of elk on these days were futile (and we just educated and ran off the elk). They all winded us b/c of the swirling. When the wind was not howling, this wasn't an issue even in the trees.

So, if we only only get a day or two of howling winds this year, we plan to take a break on those days and do some trout fishing in the small creeks. How does one go about catching browns in small creeks in Sept? I was thinking of taking fishing line and a few hooks and tying it to a trekking pole.

[Trophyhill]

Why not pack a fly rod? My buddy takes one that breaks down into small sections and weighs next to nothing.

[treestanding]

cut down a small tree to make a fishing pole, tie on about 6 feet of line with a single hook and then catch some grasshoppers. if you can't catch any grasshoppers, pick a small flower and lightly shred it up on your hook. Trust me, it works. We eat trout every night when we are elk hunting.

[Lark Bunting]

Why not pack a fly rod? My buddy takes one that breaks down into small sections and weighs next to nothing.

This. A four piece rod tube is only 24" long or so.

Or, cut a willow branch.

You using bait, flies, tnt?

[treestanding]

After I posted, i saw my picture. Yes, those are trout cooking on the fire.>>>------------------------------------>>

[ctdad]

You using bait, flies, tnt?

I have no idea what to use. Grasshoppers or flowers seem easy enough. I'm fresh out of tnt, so probably need some kind of bait I suppose.

We are spike camp hunting and use jetboil stoves. Should I just take a small backpacking grill and cook em over a fire?

[Indian Summer]

You should be able to find grasshoppers easily enough. But it wouldn't hurt to take along a little Berkley Power Bait either. Or just take along a couple Rooster Tail brand spinners. You'll get them on those for sure. Weighted flies are good too and you can cast them without using an actual fly rod. I have a 5 piece take down spinning rod that goes into a pvc pipe tube.

You'll learn that mountain trout can be pretty wary. it's best to sneak up on holes instead of just walking right up to them and stay out of the water. Once they see you or if you catch a couple you'll have to move on to the next hole.

As for cooking you can just wrap them in foil and cook them on the fire. remember you don't cook on flames. you need to build a fire and develop some hot coals. then knock it down and cook on the coals. I have a little double sided salt/pepper shaker I think from the Wal Mart camping crap section. If I knew for sure I was fishing I'd take some margarine too.

But really I'd probably just drop down in elevation to where the wind wasn't so bad and keep hunting. There's always somewhere worth trying.

[Trophyhill]

But really I'd probably just drop down in elevation to where the wind wasn't so bad and keep hunting. There's always somewhere worth trying.

This^^^^^^
I like to have multiple areas to hunt for just such an instance.

[ctdad]

This area is 5-6k feet in elevation. There is no dropping down from this one. Relocating would involve packing our camps out to the truck and then driving to another area and setting up another camp. That process takes a full day itself. Better off to stay put and rest IMO.

Last year, we pushed hard even on windy days and we got winded by every elk we got close to on those windy days. It was not smart to hunt those days and we aren't going to do that this year. If we wait for the wind to lay down, there will be more elk left to hunt when we get back on them.

The other thing we might do on these days is get up on top and explore some new areas to hunt that we didn't get into last year.

[Indian Summer]

Every hill has a back side. Can't you go up over the top and get down the other side a little?

Man... a day off sure sounds like a last resort... but a fun and relaxing one I'll admit!

[Swede]

Where I hunt the winds swirl daily. I have found that I can still hunt effectively from a tree stand located 25-30 feet up in a good tree. Have you considerer that as an option?