[REDACTED] Mountain

The first time I started writing down notes of my Dad and my experiences on [REDACTED] Mountain was 2006.  It was August which from a purely hiking and scouting standpoint is my favorite time to be in the woods. 

Since then, I have attempted to document the animals we run into on all of our countless sunrise jaunts to the top and back.

During our most recent trip we spotted:

• 3 cow elk
• 1 small-medium white-tail buck
• 2 big, huge, giant bucks
• 1 hen turkey and her poults
• 1 bull moose
• 1 cow moose
• 6-10 grouse
• 1 ominously fresh mountain lion track at the trailhead that hadn't been there on the way up.

[REDACTED] Mountain is the backdrop behind my grandparent's home in Idaho—a place where many of our fondest childhood memories took place.  As we got older and the adventures strayed further from the back porch, it was only natural that our gaze would shift to the hills that broke the horizon.

This year will be my third straight year hunting [REDACTED] Mountain, and I have yet to fill the tags I've held most dearly, settling instead for a mixed bag of dusky Grouse—which is hardly settling. 

[REDACTED] Mountain is by no means trophy elk country, and the whitetails tend to move down onto irrigated private land by the time rifle season opens, but I keep hunting here year after year.  I have such a history with this place, and so many fond memories.  We continue to see game every hunting season and each year I get more confident that we are closing in on filling our tag.

When I do finally notch my tag on [REDACTED] Mountain, it will be infinitely more rewarding than going somewhere else.  It's a place I hope to continue to go back to year-round for the rest of my life because each time brings fond new memories.