By Ray Fincher

As a young man back in the early 1970s, I made several trips to Colorado by way of a pick-up truck, using a trail bike and tote goat for transportation out of camp. Mostly we had to walk or climb to access our quarry: bull elk or mule deer. Packing game out on our backs was an ordeal. In later years hunts were undertaken through an outfitter who was equipped with horses, mules, and guides.

Five years ago, after missing the draw for bull elk in Wyoming, I received a hunting and fishing brochure from Mile High Outfitters in Challis, Idaho offering a rifle, bugle hunt during the rut with guaranteed tags for elk, deer, bear, and lion.

This was a six-day hunt, flying into and out of the interior of the Frank Church Wilderness Area by bush plane and packing into and out of the “back country” by horse and mule train. I returned from that trip with a nice bull elk, a new-found friend (my guide Steve George), and memories of a great time. This was truly a quality hunt in a territory as rough as I have ever seen.

Mile High Outfitters accommodate 4 to 5 hunters for a week in a main camp and three spike camps. Being a horse lover and owner I was especially impressed with the condition of their stock; well shod, well trained, disciplined, and healthy. This is essential when hunting the Big Creek Basin, the drainages, and the surrounding mountains of the vast back country. Since this is a wilderness area accessible only by horseback or airplane, its inaccessibility limits the number of hunters and increases the hunters’ rate of success.

In January of 2002 I returned to the back country, again guided by Mile High Outfitters and this time accompanied by my close friend Steve Howell from Pell City, on a hunt for mountain lion. We took a commercial flight from Birmingham to Idaho Falls, rented a car and drove 150 miles to Challis, Idaho where we boarded a small bush plane. Making this last leg of the flight with Steve and I were four hound dogs that had no place to sit except in our laps. Meanwhile, our outfitter, Travis Bullock, and his brother Trent were using a mule drawn plow to clear snow off the “landing strip” at the Cabin Creek camp in anticipation of our arrival. To call this area of Idaho treacherous would be an understatement. If the flight into the wilderness area doesn’t get your attention, riding the Big Creek trail will.

Steve and I settled into camp and our hunt was underway. Trent Bullock was guiding me with two hounds trailing while Steve and Travis went in another direction with their two hounds. We were dependent on the snow to find fresh tracks. However, continuous snow fall covered the tracks, making them almost impossible to find. Our guides worked hard from daylight to dark. They hunted with us. They fed us with good food which was flown in regularly, and they tended to the mules and horses morning and night. And despite the unfavorable weather conditions, Travis and Steve harvested a nice bobcat. The hounds with Trent and me treed a small female lion but I had my mind set on a big tom so I opted not to shoot, returning home empty handed.

On the day of our departure I fell through the icy surface of Cabin Creek and managed to strain a muscle in my back. I was forced to sit on the sideline while the others again went about the work of clearing snow from the air strip. The pain stayed with me for days. My thanks to Steve for handling my luggage, driving, and doing all of the heavy work on our trip home. I look back with fond memories of the companionship shared with Steve, Travis, and Trent as we hunted one of the most picturesque and exciting places I have ever known.

I returned to the Wilderness area again in mid-October of 2005 with tags for mule deer and bull elk. Our group landed by bush plane at the Cabin Creek air strip about noon and we hunted what is known as the Cow Creek drainage the first day. That evening we relaxed with a delicious steak dinner at the Cabin Creek spike camp. The next morning found us heading up Big Creek on horseback accompanied by a mule pack train loaded with our gear and the provisions for the main camp, Mile High.

There were four hunters on the trip and each had a guide. All the guides were very courteous and professional. I can best describe them as true mountain men. My guide, Shane Reynolds, and I took two pack mules and rode our horses up Big Creek to a spike camp situated below Acorn Butte, an old lookout station. We saw several average bucks and bulls but I opted not to shoot. It would have been great to harvest a trophy but my hunt was satisfying even without one.

During the second week of December 2005 I made a social call to Travis, realizing that he would be out of the back country and back home in Challis until January. This is what he told me: “The weather conditions are good for finding a mountain lion. There is a foot of snow in the mountains and evening temperatures are 20 degrees below zero. I can guide you for three days if you can get here day after tomorrow.” I did.

I lodged with Travis, his wife Brenda, and their two young sons, Charlie and Clay, in their home. This was not a back country hunt and horses were not used. We searched out the drainages and ridges in the mountains above the Salmon River aboard snowmobiles.

Joe Pool, one of Travis’ guides that I remembered from my first hunt five years ago, accompanied Travis and me and helped search out twice as large an area for tracks which we found the second day. They were not fresh enough for the dogs to follow. About noon on the third day Travis and Joe found fresh tracks and released the two dogs, Daisy and a younger dog. Joe was in hot pursuit of Daisy and the lion. Travis and I were climbing to get as much elevation as possible with our snowmobile which we abandoned to pursue on foot.

he temperature was about zero and I was overdressed for the hike ahead. Travis offered to die my down jacket on his backpack and carry my 223 Winchester M 70 carbine. I agreed and I gratefully acknowledged his help. We were walking perpendicular to the mountain’s slope. I broke off a dead branch to use as a walking stick to help me keep my balance. After what seemed like forever, I could hear the dogs barking. Travis walked patiently with me while Joe waited patiently with the lion. Joe and Travis were talking to each other on their 2-way radios. Joe announced the cat was treed and he was a big tom. This boosted my morale and helped me keep my cramping legs under me.

I will mention a couple of clothing items purchased at Mark’s Outdoors that helped keep me dry and warm. La Crosse 1200 rubber boots that kept my feet dry and Severe Gear fleece crew shirt (to wick the moisture) with only a flannel shirt over.

Upon arriving at the tree I loaded my rifle, Travis set up his video camera, and Joe caught and held the dogs. My first shot dropped the lion to a lower lim b which he raced out on and leapt to the ground, running diagonally toward me with a burst of speed I could hardly believe. The second shot turned him a flip but he continued to run before he finally dropped a few yards away. He was still alive! I approached the lion while trying to keep my footing in the snow above where he lay. I finished the kill with a third shot. The cat had amazing stamina inasmuch as all three shots were vital.

Was the hunt over? Not quite. We still had a long way to go down a steep mountain, slipping and rolling most of the way, while the lion slid behind us and sometimes in front of us. Joe hiked back to where Travis and I had abandoned our snowmobile and later returned with the sled and dog box in tow. Joe skinned the cat with its head attached. It froze solid that night and I wrapped it and packed it in my suitcase for the flight home. When I arrived in Birmingham, the cat was still very cold. The next day he would be turned over to taxidermist Joel Stone for a full-body mount.

I am very grateful to Travis, his family, and guides for their friendship, expertise, and perseverance that have helped make all of my hunts successful, even those when no shots were fired. Thank you.

— Ray Fincher
Travis Bullock, Mile High Outfitters
P.O. Box 1189 • Challis, ID 83226
(208) 879-4500