Scout Report - 2009 season gonna be good! :): Steelheader.net- Steelhead, Salmon and trout fishing

2008 was a good year on the Peninsula. Tagged a respectable buck, shot a big cougar, had two run-ins with Bears, jumped several herds of Elk (even though they weren't shooters), and of course there were grouse.

2009 is taking place back in Skagit County. I hadn't been looking around, but it appeared to be dead as far as incidental glassing of any game in the pre-season. While still on the Peninsula in May I spotted a velvet buck with an already wide 2x2 rack with big, balled, ready to branch points right along 101. I spotted a Bear near town a few weeks ago and it got the heart pumping and me in the mindset that the time is near. So I decided to take a scouting trip in Skagit, without the boy, and see what I could find.

Saw a lot of promising migration paths up above 600ft elevation, but no sign of life yet other than a little Martin on a stump by a creek. As the afternoon arrived I moved to some more open terrain. Driving along the powerlines put me into what appeared to be a lone Goose standing, neck elongated, on the side of the dirt road. Sucker was huge and I thought I was looking at a small Goose at first until I realized what it really was, a Grouse. I stopped to observe for a moment and moved on. As I got close he and three of his pals (hiding in the fern brush) took flight into the trees, barely able to lift their fat bodies off the ground. I stopped and heard them gobbling above and then noticed movement from the brush followed by close to a dozen more Grouse taking flight into the trees in spurts of three or so at a time. I was literally salivating at this point.

*GPS Waypoint #1 logged

With sunlight beginning to fade I figured I'd head to one of the migration paths I saw earlier and hike in to setup the trail cam. Gas pedal was floored and a dust cloud trailed as I sped along the mountainside and said goodbye to the new growth, and headed for Blacktail country once again.

And then I saw him. The hairs on my body stood tall and made me shiver. Standing dead center on that dirt road. "No way, a freakin' elk up here? Can't be!! Really, it CAN'T BE... Fur is too short, coat is too red, legs are too long and thin....". He turned around and hid in the brush. I approached and as I passed him I peered into that thick old growth, and through the drooping moss-covered branches of the dark woods, I saw velvet. Three big solid ball-ended points on one side for sure. And then.... He turned his head as if to say "nuh uh, give me some credit and count 'em again sucker, but I won't be here Sept. 1st...". 1, 2, 3....4, Eyeguard, and an odd golfball sized velvet-covered mass hanging there on the side of it all. I didn't even look past at his left antler formation, I wasn't thinking straight at this point. As not to spook him any more I just kept going and in my rear-view mirror there he slowly, but confidently walked, head bobbing, across that dirt path. Shoulders approaching cow Elk height, and as proud as a trophy could be. Without a doubt the top dog in his domain and easily the biggest bodied Blacktail I've ever seen and biggest velvet rack ever witnessed in person. (Before I forget, Gooose, did you ever get around to locating those reports on Mule/blacktail hybrids in Skagit?)

*GPS Waypoint #2 logged.

I come back later, grab the trail cam, open it, and can't figure out where my SD Card went. It'll have to get setup another time. There is still time....it isn't darK there is still time!

But darkness came fast and I found myself heading down, with low and high beams tag-teaming the approaching road. A lone Deer darted across the path, eyes glowing, no indication of antlers, but too dark to tell.

*GPS Waypoint #3 logged

Then something ran across that dirt road that I am still unsure about. It was low to the ground like a Coyote, but had a much longer body and tail (I think). It was moving FAST and took one long low stride into, and another out of, the road. Was it a cat? Not sure.

*GPS Waypoint #4 logged

Glassed a Deer's ass in a small private clearcut in Darrington.

Saw a pair of glowing eyes off some maintained road the other day too. It was sitting in a farm's dirt driveway. Eyes were too high off the ground to be a Dog. Maybe I'll ask the landowner if I can hunt there as it's only a short drive from home unlike where I was yesterday.

*No GPS Waypoint necessary. Mental note #5,584 logged.

Saw some nice fat Geese on the rocks by one of my favorite fishing holes. And observed some young Bald Eagles overlooking the valley from the sky above. Beautiful day, hotter than [**whoops**], tons of big black Wasps slamming their bodies onto my truck everywhere I went.

Witnessed some netting below Presentine Creek and above the Dalles off Sauk Valley Rd. That was heartbreaking, but in the end it didn't make my day much worse.

However, the blown transmission at 11pm, and 9hr hike back to Sedro Woolley did, in fact, make the day THAT much worse. But nothing new. At least I didn't have to carry a 3yr old that whole hike.

Gonna be a good season. I can tell.

--------------------
Atheism is a non-prophet organization
There's nothing quite as rewarding as teaching a poacher to swim with waders on!
Half-Time Student
Full-Time Employed
Double-Time Daddy
I miss fishing.....