Annual elk hunting trip is extra special for teen who landed Toutle mudflows permit
Thursday, October 23, 2008 11:32 PM PDT
By Tom Paulu
Printable version
E-mail this articleA half moon glowed through thin clouds and the Orion constellation twinkled over the pitch-black Toutle River valley an hour before sunrise Monday. Gusts of cool wind suggested that the weather might change.
But 14-year-old Trenton Rowe, his father and grandfather weren’t dwelling on the weather. They were focused on the fact that a herd of elk ought to be out there in the darkness, and Trenton had a coveted permit to shoot one.
Trenton, a ninth grader at Kelso High School, was the lucky holder of a cow tag for the state’s Mount St. Helens Wildlife Area.
After several years of high winter mortality among the elk, the Department of Fish and Wildlife has greatly increased the number of hunting permits in the area, where no general season hunting is allowed.
Trenton was one of only four hunters chosen for the Mudflow youth hunt. Last season, 424 youths applied for the hunt.
The teen’s dawn expedition is a family tradition. Trenton started hunting three years ago with his grandfather, Doug Rowe Sr. of Longview, and father, who’s also named Doug. Doug Jr.’s family lives next to the Carrolls Store, which they own.
Trenton said what he likes about hunting is “mostly shooting and getting to see new places.” His other interests include dirt biking and playing drums in a punk band called Under Control.
What he doesn’t like about hunting is “getting up the morning.”
But, dark and early Monday, the three generations hopped into Doug Sr.’s Chevy pickup and drove up Spirit Lake Memorial Highway.
The Rowes arrived at the wildlife area an hour early and pulled on rubber boots and several layers of clothing to ward off the 50-degree chill. Doug Sr. supervised carefully as Trenton loaded the .30-06 belonging to his father.
“We tried two or three different ones. That’s the one he can shoot best,” Doug Sr. said.
The previous night, they’d gone out target shooting and Trenton had hit a bull’s eye twice at 110 yards.
In the murky darkness, someone in another hunting family thought they could see elk just a hundred yards from the parking area.
A stickler for the rules, Doug cautioned that legal shooting hours didn’t start until 7:10 a.m. that day. He helped Trenton chamber a round. “Safety’s on,” he said, handing the rifle to his grandson.
It turned out that the elk-like shapes were actually posts left over from the corral the DFW erected to round up elk in 2005.
A glimmer of pink dawned on the horizon, highlighting Mount St. Helens. Then it began to sprinkle.
“Looks like it’s going to rain,” Doug Jr. said.
“Did you remember to tell your teachers that you’d miss today?” father asked son.
Oops.
School can seem a long way away in elk country.
In mid-winter, the wildlife area can hold more than 500 elk. So even on this fall morning, it was just a matter of time before a good shot would present itself.
“I’m getting nervous. I love to hunt,” Doug Sr. said.
Forty-five minutes walk from the truck, the pink had disappeared and a steady rain fell. Trenton had forgotten his raincoat, though he didn’t complain. He donned a camo face mask to help deflect the wind-driven rain coming out of the east, in the hunters’ faces.
From time to time, Doug Jr. and Trenton would climb one of the 30-foot-tall hummocks that dot the valley to get a better view. A few spots of light brown turned out to be patches of grass when investigated with binoculars or through the scope on Trenton’s rifle.
“Come on, elk,” Doug Sr. said. “Get out here and get killed and get it over with.”
With no elk to be seen near the road that cuts through the wildlife area, Trenton and Doug Jr. detoured over to the edge of the wide swath of rocky gray sand that the Toutle River has cut over the years.
They spotted three elk across the river, maybe a quarter mile away. Wading the river would probably be possible, but carrying elk quarters back would be tough, even if it weren’t pouring. Plus, those hundreds of elk must be somewhere closer.
After three hours of hunting, the wind picked up, water sloshed inside the hunters’ boots and Trenton’s jeans were soaked. Doug Sr. suggested it was time to go back to the truck and warm up.
Back at the truck, bit of blue sky started to show through the clouds. Doug Jr. fired up a propane heater in the canopied back of the truck, where a good supply of dry clothes waited.
After a lunch of sandwiches, the group headed out again, this time toward a grove of alders that was teeming with elk sign.
Doug Sr. pointed to elk trails cutting through the trees and told his grandson to lead the way.
“Be quiet. Just go real slow and be quiet,” he advised, telling him how to walk to avoid making a sloshing sound in the muck.
“There was a cow and a calf ahead of us for a while,” Doug Sr. said. “Their footprints are still muddy.”
The hunters waded Bear Creek, past places were elk had rubbed the bark off trees, into an open field.
Doug Sr. had a hip joint replaced five months ago, and after walking three or four miles over hummocks and through swampy terrain, his back finally got to him, so he headed back to the rig.
Trenton and his dad continued through the meadows and onto a broad gray sandy reach where the Toutle once flowed.
Not one single elk in sight, so it was back to the truck again at mid-afternoon.
As the daylight faded, the Rowes headed back to the field to wait for an elk to appear in what Trenton had learned was a “really busy area” for the animals.
For two hours, “we sat there and waited but it got really windy,” Trenton said. “It started hailing.”
Trenton admitted to getting cold. “But it was fun,” he said.
Though the weather has been sunny every day since, Trenton had to go back to school for the rest of the week.
His elk permit is good through the weekend, so come Saturday morning, he’ll be back in the woods with both Dougs, looking for the elk that just have to be out there somewhere, amid the hummocks and alders.
loowit wrote on Oct 24, 2008 6:56 AM:
lucky1 wrote on Oct 24, 2008 7:38 AM:
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