# Salmon trip



## JB0704 (Sep 29, 2014)

Hey guys, I figured I'd share this with y'all since we all kind-a post these things in this forum......

I just returned from a Salmon fishing trip to Oregon.  But, the best part was that I drove there and back from my home in Georgia.  I'm telling ya, for a country boy who hadn't been farther WEst than Dallas Texas, this was an eye opening adventure.  This country is HUGE!  

I drove north through Iowa, then turned west across South Dakota and Montana, taking a slight detour down to see Mt Rushmore.  Then, across Northern Idaho, Eastern Washington, then Northern Oregon.  On that trip, Western South Dakota and every inch of Montana were the most amazing things I have ever seen.......pics and television do not do it justice.  I saw places and geography that I had no clue existed.  

Then, in Oregon, I did a 4-day river trip down the Rogue river.  This was one of the most amazing places I have ever been.  Deep canyons, rocky cliffs, and mountains, white water rapids.......the scenery was awe-inspiring.  I saw black bear and black tail deer.   The deer on that river, even in a completely remote wilderness, pay no attention to boats.  The fishing wasn't great, but I did catch a lot of steelhead and a few Salmon....both firsts for me.  From what I understand the water was very low.  But, once it rained on day 3, the fishing took off and was great.  Also, I got to see the pacific ocean for the first time......I fished there for a littel while and did no good, but, it was very cool to see.  The Oregon coast is awesome.

Then, I drove home through Southern Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, etc.  As on the trip there, I was seeing places and things that just can't be described.....you just gotta see it (I'm sure most of you have, but I'm a simple person who hasn't been very far west before this trip).

On the trip I saw several elk, and learned that Oregon is actually a big elk-hunting state.  I saw 1000's of antelope all over South Dakota, Wyoming (which had antelope on every hill it seemed), Montana, and Colorado.  Black tail deer in Oregon, Mule deer all over the western states, and white tails.   

You would think the fishing would have been the highlight of the trip, but, it was not......Montana was.  If you have never been, I recomend it.  Every turn in that state is picture worthy.  Southern Wyoming was also absolutely amazing.

Anyway, figured I'd share.  I'm busy catching up on work, so I couldn't get into great detail.....I'm attaching a few pics of the highlights.


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## TripleXBullies (Sep 29, 2014)

I've been to San Diego, but the road trip and activities you did sound great. I'd really like to catch salmon and also see Mt. Rushmore. Thanks for the pics!


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## bullethead (Sep 29, 2014)

Awesome pics JB.
Congrats


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## JB0704 (Sep 29, 2014)

Thanks guys.  Folks acted like I was insane for wanting to drive that far, but, it was worth it!  The trick is getting plenty of sleep each night, and enjoying the ride for the sake of the ride......if I had been in a hurry to get somewhere it would have ruined it.

I got tons of pics, but the experience was amazing.  Catching a salmon was pretty dang cool too


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## JB0704 (Sep 29, 2014)

TripleXBullies said:


> I'd really like to catch salmon and also see Mt. Rushmore. Thanks for the pics!



Mt Rushmore was very cool.  They have done a really good job with that site.  I was lucky that the day I visited was the best weather of the entire trip.

One thing about the blackhills of South Dakota where Rushmore is.......the really do look black from a distance.  Once you are in them they are beautiful, with some absolutely incredible rock formations.  The carving is amazing, but, those mountains are also very much worth driving through if your into hiking and nature type stuff.


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## ambush80 (Sep 29, 2014)

Did you drive through Trout Creek Mt?  How about through the Gallatin range?


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## JB0704 (Sep 29, 2014)

ambush80 said:


> Did you drive through Trout Creek Mt?  How about through the Gallatin range?



Actually, I was a little north of there.  I wish I had several weeks, or a lifetime, to spend in Montana.  When I was a kid I always dreamed of going there, and now I've seen it, I can't wait to get back.

I'm thinking I'll take my kids on a trout fishing adventure up that way at some point.  And, definitely an antelope hunt in Wyoming.


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## stringmusic (Sep 29, 2014)

Very cool JB! Glad you had a good time man.


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## stringmusic (Sep 29, 2014)

JB0704 said:


> Then, I drove home through Southern Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, etc.  As on the trip there, I was seeing places and things that just can't be described.....you just gotta see it (I'm sure most of you have, but I'm a simple person who hasn't been very far west before this trip).



My parents flew out to Utah and rented a car and drove to all the states you've mentioned, they came back saying the exact same thing.


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## ambush80 (Sep 29, 2014)

JB0704 said:


> Actually, I was a little north of there.  I wish I had several weeks, or a lifetime, to spend in Montana.  When I was a kid I always dreamed of going there, and now I've seen it, I can't wait to get back.
> 
> I'm thinking I'll take my kids on a trout fishing adventure up that way at some point.  And, definitely an antelope hunt in Wyoming.




They taste like sage brush.  Not in a good way, in my opinion.


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## WaltL1 (Sep 29, 2014)

Very nice!
Its like a whole different world out West.
You will have to go back in the winter time though to get the full experience


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## ambush80 (Sep 29, 2014)

WaltL1 said:


> Very nice!
> Its like a whole different world out West.
> You will have to go back in the winter time though to get the full experience



Never again, thank you.  I almost got stuck there.


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## JB0704 (Sep 29, 2014)

WaltL1 said:


> Very nice!
> Its like a whole different world out West.
> You will have to go back in the winter time though to get the full experience





But, being from Georgia, I'd view a good snow storm as an adventure.  The west seems like a different planet.  NExt time I go, I will definitely have more time to soak it in.  I took 3 days each direction, and that basically gives you enough time to see it, but not really experience it.  The only detours I really took were Mt Rushmore, Twin Falls Idaho (Snake river canyon and a HUGE waterfall), and Boulder Colorado so I could eat at some place called The Sink.  Everything else was just driving the interstates.

I also want to see Yellowstone and Glacier National Forest as well.


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## JB0704 (Sep 29, 2014)

ambush80 said:


> They taste like sage brush.  Not in a good way, in my opinion.



I'll take that chance 

HAve you been hunting out that way?


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## JB0704 (Sep 29, 2014)

stringmusic said:


> My parents flew out to Utah and rented a car and drove to all the states you've mentioned, they came back saying the exact same thing.



Actually, Utah is very pretty in the places I saw as well......

One thing I kept telling my wife (as I called her every 30 minutes or so) was "indescribable."  I had seen it on T.V., but had no idea.


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## Israel (Sep 29, 2014)

JB0704 said:


> Actually, Utah is very pretty in the places I saw as well......
> 
> One thing I kept telling my wife (as I called her every 30 minutes or so) was "indescribable."  I had seen it on T.V., but had no idea.


Wonderful adventure, eh?


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## ambush80 (Sep 29, 2014)

JB0704 said:


> I'll take that chance
> 
> HAve you been hunting out that way?



I killed a big 10 pt. whitetail a spike whitetail and some blue grouse (which are more fun to shoot at with a .45LC).  Those elk are something else. I tried as hard as I could for two weeks to get one.  Never came close.   One of the outfitters I worked for gave us some pronghorn meat.  He gave us some moose, elk and mule deer.  All stuff left by hunters. The moose was the best the pronghorn was worst with the mule deer a close second worst.  Maybe because of all the sage brush.


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## JB0704 (Sep 29, 2014)

ambush80 said:


> I killed a big 10 pt. whitetail a spike whitetail and some blue grouse (which are more fun to shoot at with a .45LC).  Those elk are something else. I tried as hard as I could for two weeks to get one.  Never came close.   One of the outfitters I worked for gave us some pronghorn meat.  He gave us some moose, elk and mule deer.  All stuff left by hunters. The moose was the best the pronghorn was worst with the mule deer a close second worst.  Maybe because of all the sage brush.



I didn't know you worked for an outfitter......must have been very cool!  Elk is definitely on my bucket list......right behind moose, I definitely want to get a moose hunt in one day.

I can't believe hunters leave the meat on hunts like that.  To me, that is the "pay-off."  I packed a whole cooler full of Salmon home from Oregon.

I know what critters eat impacts their flavor.  I have always heard moose was by far the best.  I have never had moose, antelope, or mule deer.  I did eat whitetail from Texas once (somebody brought some back from a paid hunt) and I couldn't tell the difference from a Georgia deer.  

Interesting thing, though, one of the guides on this trip said he killed a whitetail last year (they apparently have a few small herds of whitetails in Oregon), and he prefers it to blacktail and elk.


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## JB0704 (Sep 29, 2014)

Israel said:


> Wonderful adventure, eh?



Absolutely!  I will definitely take each of my kids on such an adventure one day......this country is amazing.


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## ambush80 (Sep 30, 2014)

JB0704 said:


> I didn't know you worked for an outfitter......must have been very cool!  Elk is definitely on my bucket list......right behind moose, I definitely want to get a moose hunt in one day.
> 
> I can't believe hunters leave the meat on hunts like that.  To me, that is the "pay-off."  I packed a whole cooler full of Salmon home from Oregon.
> 
> ...



I worked two seasons.  One for a guy in Trout Creek and one for a guy in Big Sky.

Sometimes they got sticker shock at how much it would cost to ship the meat home.  Sometimes the hunters just wanted the horns.  Sometimes they came with brand new rifles in the box that they had never shot. 

One of the guides said he grew up on elk meat and that he was sick of it.  He said he prefers beef.  I liked it.  It seemed a bit less "grainy" than deer.  More like beef.

One of the guys who had hunted all over said that he like Sitka deer meat the best of the deer but everyone likes moose.  I heard caribou is nice.  Maybe someday.....


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## gemcgrew (Sep 30, 2014)

JB, didn't you know that you were home when you entered the Shoshone National Forest? Did you travel 191(Gallatin Rd.)? Can you imagine living there in one of those cabins?


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## JB0704 (Sep 30, 2014)

gemcgrew said:


> JB, didn't you know that you were home when you entered the Shoshone National Forest? Did you travel 191(Gallatin Rd.)? Can you imagine living there in one of those cabins?



Actually, I think I missed Shoshone.  When I was traveling west, I cut the Northeast corner of Wyoming from Mt Rushmore up to Montana.  Heading East, I cut a line from twin falls Idaho (where the canyon pic was taken, I think that was called shoshone falls, though) down to Salt Lake City, then across southern Wyoming.  Looks like I missed the best part of it all.....northweast Wyoming/Southwest Montana.

Needless to say, there is still plenty of places out there I have yet to see......and I hope one day to get there.  I can't imagine how cool it must be for kids to grow up in some of these places.


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## pnome (Sep 30, 2014)

Nice!  I think a long road trip might just be in my near future!


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## bigreddwon (Oct 1, 2014)

Great pictures. Looks like you had an awesome time!


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## TripleXBullies (Oct 1, 2014)

JB0704 said:


> I can't imagine how cool it must be for kids to grow up in some of these places.



Normal


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## JB0704 (Oct 1, 2014)

TripleXBullies said:


> Normal



But, how cool would that kind-a normal be?  

Maybe it's 'cause this was my first out west, but, I left there itching to go back, for a much longer period of time.


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## TripleXBullies (Oct 2, 2014)

I'm not trying to say it wasn't awesome for you! I would have enjoyed it. I've only been west once. San Diego when I was 15.


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## JB0704 (Jul 22, 2018)

JB0704 said:


> Absolutely!  I will definitely take each of my kids on such an adventure one day......this country is amazing.




Hey guys, I remember posting this thread up some years back.......as a follow up, I did take Buzz on a similar adventure, only to a much greater scale, I know I don't hang out in here much anymore but in case you guys are interested, here is the follow up to this original thread (it's a much longer read, and a much bigger road trip):

http://forum.gon.com/threads/round-the-country-father-son-road-trip-recap.922861/


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## Spotlite (Jul 22, 2018)

Salmon fishing is on my bucket list! Congrats!


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## bullethead (Jul 23, 2018)

That was a phenomenal thread in both the details and the pictures. Your Son and family will never forget that time together.
Congratulations and thanks for sharing.

Ps, be glad you did not get pulled over in NJ, NYC or Massachusetts with that handgun in your glovebox, you'd still be jail. To make it through those places it would have had to have been locked in a seperate not easily accessible area unloaded and away from it's ammunition. And you still probably would have had a miserable experience explaining that.


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## JB0704 (Jul 23, 2018)

bullethead said:


> That was a phenomenal thread in both the details and the pictures. Your Son and family will never forget that time together.
> Congratulations and thanks for sharing.
> 
> Ps, be glad you did not get pulled over in NJ, NYC or Massachusetts with that handgun in your glovebox, you'd still be jail. To make it through those places it would have had to have been locked in a seperate not easily accessible area unloaded and away from it's ammunition. And you still probably would have had a miserable experience explaining that.



In the planning stages I thought about trying to work a beer in with you up in PA, but, I the route took me on the other side of the state, and I couldn't find time for the detour.

About the gun........I didn't think about all that until we got pulled over in Utah.  The Utah Policeman was awesome, and not bothered in the least by it.  But, you aren't the first person to tell me how lucky I am to have gotten through the northern states.

Thanks for checking out the thread, I am glad folks read it.  I wanted to let y'all know about it since the whole idea kinda got kick started with the trip I posted in here.


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## bullethead (Jul 23, 2018)

JB0704 said:


> In the planning stages I thought about trying to work a beer in with you up in PA, but, I the route took me on the other side of the state, and I couldn't find time for the detour.
> 
> About the gun........I didn't think about all that until we got pulled over in Utah.  The Utah Policeman was awesome, and not bothered in the least by it.  But, you aren't the first person to tell me how lucky I am to have gotten through the northern states.
> 
> Thanks for checking out the thread, I am glad folks read it.  I wanted to let y'all know about it since the whole idea kinda got kick started with the trip I posted in here.



Most northern states have concealed carry reciprocity with the other states,  but Maryland, NJ, NYC and Mass are horrendous.
I carry out to, during and back when we travel to Wisconsin.  I have to uncarry and lock it up through Illinois though.
Same when I go to visit my Son in Virginia.  I have to lock it up while in Maryland.
We need a National Carry Permit that is as valid as Drivers Licenses are across the country.

We will get together for that beer one of these years. I'm glad that you were able to spend that time with your Son.


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## JB0704 (Jul 23, 2018)

bullethead said:


> Most northern states have concealed carry reciprocity with the other states,  but Maryland, NJ, NYC and Mass are horrendous.
> I carry out to, during and back when we travel to Wisconsin.  I have to uncarry and lock it up through Illinois though.
> Same when I go to visit my Son in Virginia.  I have to lock it up while in Maryland.
> We need a National Carry Permit that is as valid as Drivers Licenses are across the country.
> ...



Definitely agree.


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