The Story Part Five:
Wednesday, November 3 Day 14 of Deer Season

So I got up early on Wednesday, at 8:15.  Lately it'd been difficult to sleep late.  Three days left in my season.

     I glassed the hillside south of camp, still in shade.  Nothing, again.
     The weather report called for good weather again, but I also added up all of the inconsistencies I'd been noticing between Ely and my camps, and decided that Ely must have its own microclimate.  And whenever I saw the town from a hilltop it seemed to have clouds hovering over it and coming out of the canyon of the Egan range where it's nestled.
     Discovered two mice in traps, and the other trap sprung.  Also noticed that somehow a mouse had gotten on top of the rollup table in the vestibule.  It had licked grease from the spatula, had eaten the leftover bits of diced onion, and pooped, in my bowl, and shredded a little paper towel.  And then while I was comfortably reading in the tent, the trap next to the food exploded, sending the link flying by my face.  What a surprise!  The staple holding in the link had come loose.
     A BLM ranger drove up on an ATV just before noon, checking to see if any of the wilderness signs needed replacing.  (I was camped at the end of the allowed road.)  I learned that the little spur to the stock springs was officially closed- but that folks repeatedly yank the blocking signs.  The ranger didn't really care; the road didn't go far, and the lessee was still permitted to drive it.

     I left at 1:30 for last night's spot.  I hoped this time to park somewhere directly below my outlook ridge, but couldn't find a good spot to pull off and I couldn't tell how thick the forest might be (chary after 'the maze'), so I continued to where I'd parked last night.  Besides, it does gain me some elevation by car.
     During the hike I found a small, partial buck shed, and elsewhere an old skull.  Relatively warm; I was sweating, though in my shirtsleeves.
     Got to my spot, settled in.  After the sun went down, about 3:45, so that I wasn't moving with the light shining on me, I put on my fleece vest, stocking cap, and waterproof coat (see what I mean by 'relatively warm'?), and munched on two pieces of my 'birthday cake' -small Swedish rye loaves- , two strips of my Rancho Hondo deer jerky, and two small Milky Way bars.  I had no "4:15 bucks" this time.  And no elk, but I didn't expect any; I'm pretty far north in the range to see many elk.
     Fairly late I noticed a doe lying down near the skyline, even higher up the mountain than where the bull had been.  I left my nest a little early, in order to learn about the higher parts of my ridge. Since all of the animals I'd seen so far had been higher on my target hill, 425 yards and more away, I wanted to see if I could find a closer shooting spot.  I didn't have to go too far to reach a place that gave me a good view of the upper part of the hillside, which had been blocked by a tree.  I went no farther then, though I'd have to to shorten a shot.  While there I saw a fawn near the doe, and another deer- likely a doe, though at over 600 yards who can really tell?
     Heard some bugling, most of it seeming to come from far out in Spring Valley.
     Headed back at the end of shooting hours, which became can't-see on the way.  Again I got all bollixed up right near the car, wandered around for 20 minutes.  Gotta love them GPS and 4Sevens lights, though!  Got back to camp at 7:15; 40 degrees in the tent.  Granted my thermometers are the cheap key-chain type, I saw 40 and 25 very often.
     There were two mice in the traps when I arrived, I caught another during dinner (yum) and another before bedtime.
     Chef Boyardee spaghetti & meatballs and coffee for dinner.  Used up the last of my large can of coffee grounds, have a small can in reserve.
     I had a nice pile of firewood stacked up but I've been scavenging for each evening's fire, to save the pile, tarped, against weather.  Camp was in a wide spot off the road up the canyon, near the wilderness signs blocking further traffic.  A rancher, I presume it was, had killed all the sage there (by dragging?), making a small meadow.  There were sage sticks scattered all over; the small twigs were long gone, so I had easy pickins of great firewood.

Read in the tent after dinner, bed at 11:15

I found a number of these:

Here is a good view of The Pocket (click here for larger image):

The tree on the right is mainly blocking more trees, most of the open Pocket is visible here.

My encouraging ornament at my lookout: