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Deer Hunt 09
Up And Over Scorpion Mountain
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Does on Muldoon Creek
& History left behind.
See Scorpion Mountain and Muldoon Creek on Google Earth at: 43° 37.355'N 113° 53.718'W
(this puts you near the top of Scorpion Mountain with Muldoon Creek to the east)
Deer Hunt 09: Up And Over Scorpion Mountain
Maybe it's because I weenied out of my original plan, but my deer hunt on Scorpion Mountain yielded no deer this year. However, I won't say that I didn't get anything out of the hunt because I always do. I did see a few deer, a whole herd of elk, a couple of grouse, some old mining tools, some really heavy rocks that I'm hoping might be worth something, and I found a great bull elk skull. Plus, there's simply being on the mountain itself, that's always awesome.
So, what was my original plan that I weenied out of? Well, I was going to be all Tell Sackett and camp up on the very top of the mountain with nothing but what I could carry up there. That way, I thought, since I'd already be up high come opening morning, the other hunters starting out down lower would push the deer right up to me.
However, it snowed a few days before the season was to open, and I was certain there was going to be a foot or more on the top of the mountain. So, camping up there didn't seem like such a great idea anymore. In other words, I weenied out and camped down low like everybody else.
As it turns out, the only buck I saw the entire season was a little two-pointer running with the does pictured at the top of the page. But, that was the day before the season opened, and as you can see I didn't even get a picture of him.
Now, since I didn't get a deer, and therefore have no successful hunt to brag about, let me instead brag about a few other things that I did get to do and see that still made my time on the mountain a lot of fun.
For one, there was the hike itself. On opening day, I traveled a little over 7 miles, climbing from 6500ft. up to 9725ft, then back down to 6980ft. That's a climb of 3225ft and a descent of 2745ft. (Hey, I told you I was going to brag.) Did I mention that the top third of the climb was in 8-10 inches of snow? And that I was carrying a rifle, pistol, and backpack? (Hey, if I'm going to brag, I might as well do it good. Besides, there is the underlying fact that I didn't get a deer that should keep you from being too impressed.)
Anyway, it's a great mountain. Here's a couple of pictures saved from Google Earth that shows you what my hike path looks like.
Where I have Scorpion Road marked is an old mining road. It's off limits to motorized travel these days, but back when I first started hunting up this way, I took my truck up that road. I scared the hell out of myself in doing so, let me tell you, but that's a story for another time. Let's just say it's not much of a road and that it's a good thing no one is allowed up it anymore.
Below is the Muldoon Creek side of the mountain. The highest point is the top of Scorpion Mountain, well over 10,000 feet. Where the path ends is where I camped. There's a lot of old mine shafts on both sides of this mountain. Silver and Lead were the main minerals on this side. Copper is more prevalent on the other side as well as silver and lead and a minor amount of gold.
OK, enough bragging about the fact that I can hike over a mountain. (Hey, I had to go on about something. I didn't get a deer, remember?)
Let's get on with what happened and what I saw during the trip.
Deer Hunt 09: The Hunt Photo Set