Sometimes a simple comment gets me thinking.
Not long ago, I was talking to a friend of mine. As we were catching up on each other’s families, she remarked that Pocatello had sure changed a lot since we were growing up.
I hadn’t really thought about it before, but she was right. There is more construction going on now, and the hills I used to ride my horse over to get to Gibson Jack, located south of Pocatello just off the Old Bannock Highway, are now covered with homes.
These homes have steadily increased in number since I left to pursue my education and teach at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. South Valley Road now connects Bannock Highway to South 5th Avenue, and we now have Walmart, Costco and several of the major franchise restaurants in the area.
Some things haven’t changed though. We still have the trails, such as East Fork, West Fork, Valvehouse, the back side of Scout Mountain and the mountain trails that have always provided an escape from the noise and fast-paced life of a growing city. In addition, the Idaho wilderness areas that I have hunted since 1957 still have plenty of deer and elk, and I still see some moose each year as I scout areas before hunting season.
This year, I have been able to get into some of the areas that I normally like to hunt earlier than I have in past years. My son came to visit during April, and brought his side-by-side ATV with him, and we were able to go all the way into our hunting camp in one area.
Because of all the snow, we were able to see where deer and elk have been traveling through the area. We were also able to determine the various types of animals in the area, including predators whose tracks were often on top of the other tracks. Both the tracks and scat showed us where the deer and elk congregate and have been bedding down during the winter.
One particular surprise was seeing moose tracks and scat in an area that we haven’t seen moose for several years. I have never hunted moose in that area, but always enjoyed seeing them. Hopefully, we will see them again this year.
All the mountain creeks were noisily coming down the mountains and were running over the trails in many areas because the snow is melting really fast, creating soft muddy trails and small marshes in some areas.
Like many hunters, we have given certain areas where we hunt specific names, which everyone in our group are familiar. We checked out the Chute, the Tunnel, Wrong Way Corridor, the Citadel and the Grove.
Every where we checked, we found signs of deer or saw them moving through the area. However, I think the sound of the side-by-side and our screaming whenever my son decided to do donuts on the snow-packed trails probably spooked any deer and elk out of the area that we might have seen otherwise.
We are probably going to find a new camping spot in one area because we found deer and elk. The elk may return to higher ground during Summer and Fall, but we think the deer might keep visiting the area if we leave it undisturbed.
My primary reasons for going into the backcountry this time of year are not for hunting or even scouting for hunting, even though I always look for game when I go into the mountains.
My primary reason for visiting wilderness areas is to hike, camp, take in the scenery and to enjoy and be fully absorbed in a quieter, deeper and older world. I also like to take my family, including the grandkids, on camping trips into the mountains.
It might not be as quiet with the whole family along, but family camping trips are popular with all of our family member. Besides, moving quietly and whispering are more important when hunting.
Like I said, some things haven’t changed.
Smokey Merkley was raised in Idaho and has been hunting since he was 10 years old. He was a member of the faculty of Texas A&M University for 25 years. There he taught orienteering, marksmanship, self-defense, fencing, scuba diving and boxing. He was among the first DPS-certified Texas Concealed Handgun Instructors. He can be contacted at mokeydo41245@hotmail.com.
