THIRD TIME’S THE CHARM Also featuring...
BOW & BLACK POWDER ONE LAST LOOK GOD HATES A COWARD Vol. 30 | Issue 1
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APRIL 30, 2019
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INSIDE
THIS ISSUE
Mountain Hunter is the official publication of the Guide Outfitters Association of British Columbia (GOABC), Association of Mackenzie Mountains Outfitters, & Yukon Outfitters Association.
FEATURE STORY
Articles, photos, editorial submissions, comments and letters to the editor should be sent to:
THIRD TIME’S THE CHARM David McNeill
MOUNTAIN HUNTER: c/o GOABC, #103 – 19140 28th Avenue Surrey, British Columbia Canada V3Z 6M3
ON THE COVER
Tel: (604) 541-6332 Fax: (604) 541-6339 E-mail: programs@goabc.org www.MountainHunterMagazine.com
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www.facebook.com/mountainhuntermagazine @MtnHunterMag
David McNeill and his moose
@mountainhuntermagazine
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SEAN OLMSTEAD MICHAEL SCHNEIDER FRASER MACDONALD DOUG MCMANN KEN ROBINS MATT LEUENBERGER MICHAEL YOUNG BRANDON PONATH
President Past-President First Vice-President Second Vice-President Director Director Director Director
LOCAL PRESIDENTS: STUART MAITLAND SCOTT PICHETTE AARON FREDLUND MIKE DANIELSON KIFF COVERT MELVIN KILBACK RILEY LEUENBERGER MIKE LEWIS
Cariboo Chilcotin North Central(Omineca) Northern (Peace) Northwest (Skeena) Thompson Okanagan Southern (Kootenay) Vancouver Island/South Coast
40
46
52
FIELD SCHOOL
GOD HATES A COWARD
BOW & BLACK POWDER
ONE MORE LOOK
Roy V. Rea
Samuel Greer
George Lawrence
David Willette
DEPARTMENTS 2
GOABC President’s Corner
34
Conservation MattersTM
3
News & Views
59
Camp Cook’s Corner
6
Preferred Conservation Partners
60
A Different Perspective
20
Guides Gallery
STAFF: SCOTT ELLIS JENNIFER JOHNSON BRENDA GIBSON CRAIG SWEETMAN BRENDA NELSON
Executive Director Executive Assistant & Member Services Communications & Special Projects Consumer Marketing Director Senior Editor & Content Quality Oversight
ADVERTISERS A Bar Z Outfitters..................45
Grand Slam Club/Ovis..........58
Ambler’s Bighorn Country Guiding................................18
Gundahoo River Outfitters...18 Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation............................44
Raven’s Throat Outfitters....45
Horst Mindermann (Remax)...........................33
Scoop Lake Outfitters............32
HUB Insurance......................59
Sikanni River Outfitters.......23
Bonnet Plume Outfitters.......39
Kettle River Guides & Outfitters...........................19
Silent Mountain Outfitters.....59
Boone & Crockett Club..........32
Kispiox Valley Outfitters....IFC
Bugle Basin Outfitters..........19
Krieghoff International.......22
Cariboo Mountain Outfitters..22
Leupold & Stevens...............45
Copper River Outfitters.......23
Mackenzie Mountain Outfitters.........................39
Arcadia Outfitting.................45 Atna Outfitters.......................23
(403) 357-8414 HAROLD GRINDE KELLY HOUGEN WERNER ASCHBACHER
President Past-President Secretary
(867) 668-4118 MAC WATSON CHRIS MCKINNON SHAWN WASEL
President Past-President Executive Director
Depositphotos.com: MennoSchaefer, LiliGraphie, Halfpoint, PixelsAway, Twildlife, O_april, Kyslynskyy, Slsullivan, RodimovPavel, Eppic, AntonMatyukha All rights reserved. Articles and advertising in Mountain Hunter do not necessarily reflect the view or directions of GOABC. GOABC reserves to the right to refuse any advertisements. Designed in Canada by PG Web Designs Printed in the United States of America by Forum Communication Printing - Fargo, North Dakota
Pelly Lake Wilderness Outfitters............................44
BC Trophy Mountain Outfitters.............................5 Besa River Outfitters.............5
Covert Outfitting................OBC Dallas Safari Club.................9 Elk Valley Bighorn Outfitters.............................5 Eureka Peak Lodge & Outfitters.............................18
McCowans Sporting Properties............................44 McGregor River Outfitters....39 Mervyn’s Yukon Outfitting...18
Gana River Outfitters...........23
Northwest Big Game Outfitters........................IBC
GOABC...........................51
Okanagan Outfitters............44
Safari Club International....38 Shadow Mountain Outfitters..31
Sitka Gear.................................37 Sonny’s Guiding Service.........5 South Nahanni Outfitters.......38 Sports Afield..............................17 Tuchodi River Outfitters........22 Vancouver Island Guide Outfitters.........................38 Wild Sheep Foundation..........57 Yukon Big Game Outfitters.....19
MOUNTAIN HUNTER - WINTER 2019 |
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GOABC PRESIDENT’S CORNER Change is constant – in life and on the landscape. In 2017, 1.2 million hectares of British Columbia’s forest were consumed by forest fire, the highest ever on record for the province. Unfortunately, we saw this record surpassed in 2018. With fires raging across the province July through October, many in the outfitting community were forced to adjust their operations. Yet, as severe as the fires were, the province is almost one million square kilometers in size and many areas had a very good season despite the disruptions. One of the hardest-hit regions was the Tahltan Traditional Territory – the origin of guide outfitting in BC – where more than twenty-one homes were lost in the small community of Telegraph Creek. GOABC was able to assist our friends in the area by moving donations of pork, elk and hay, generously donated by two of our members, Stewart Fraser and Ray Jackson. Telegraph Creek accepted our contributions gracefully and proved its resilience by having everyone back into their homes by Christmas. Counter to the destruction caused by wildfires is the incredible new life they produce for the long-term benefit of wildlife and its habitat. Fire is a natural and vital occurrence on our landscape and, as stewards of the land, outfitters often help Mother Nature along by doing wildlife and habitat burns in areas that have gone too long without. Although the last two years’ fires were enormous in size and left the province under a veil of thick smoke for weeks, in their wake wildlife will enjoy positive conditions for many years to come. While it was generally a safe and successful year, our outfitting family lost an icon in August. Mike Hammett of Sikanni River Outfitters was not only a well-known and widely-respected outfitter, he was a devoted husband, father, “Pops”, son, brother, cousin, mentor, friend, master storyteller, pilot, cowboy, Jack Daniels lover, and pretty much capable of anything. His life was celebrated with two services in two countries; one in the Hammett’s home town of Norman, Oklahoma, and the second close to their spectacular Pink Mountain property in Fort St. John, BC. Both events bore testament to a full life well lived by a much loved and admired man. Mike leaves behind his beloved wife of 40+ years Dixie
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Sean Olmstead, President, GOABC
(who served on the GOABC board for many years including as president from 2008 – 2010), three children Carolina, Zach and Jenny, grandchildren Cooper, Georgia, Dixie Ruth and Melody Star, his mother Georganna Hammett, brothers, sisters, cousins, nieces, nephews and literally countless friends. A huge thanks to the outfitters and Sikanni staff who stepped in to help carry the Hammett family through to the end of the season. It is an understatement to say that Mike will be greatly missed by all who knew him. Change and loss are a reminder to embrace the moment and live life to its fullest. If a hunting expedition in BC is on your bucket list, book it now. January is the perfect time to get out to the shows and connect in person with outfitters from BC. Whether it’s in NE Michigan, Reno, Dallas, Portland or elsewhere, we hope you make it out to catch up, share your stories and dreams, and put the wheels in motion to make the next adventure a reality.
Wildlife FIRST
TM
VIEWS
NEWS &
Scott Ellis, Executive Director, GOABC
Give a rancher 100-head of cattle and he will make a series of good decisions to ensure a healthy and profitable herd. Yet, give a provincial wildlife manager a herd to manage and he will watch and count that population decline to zero (a.k.a. managing to zero). This is the heartbreaking reality in British Columbia. This is partially because there are no set objectives and wildlife managers have little influence over habitat decisions. The Province of British Columbia has recently announced an initiative to improve wildlife management and habitat conservation. This is a $14 million, three-year process, but unless we set wildlife objectives and allow wildlife managers to manage habitats and predators, it will be a waste of money. Money itself will not fix the problem. Thankfully, wildlife management is not rocket science. Key levers have already been identified and include improving logging practices to consider wildlife needs, improving reforestation by ceasing the aerial spraying of glyphosate, planting deciduous trees, deactivating roads and conducting wildlife burns. Wildlife managers need objectives, either population or density, based upon habitat capacity. And most importantly, politics need to be removed from wildlife management. Once this social piece is completed (how many animals you want where), wildlife managers must be empowered to use all the tools available to manage herds to those objectives, effectively viewing themselves as wildlife ranchers. Cattle ranchers provide a proven model we can look to for inspiration. First and foremost, they have the ability to
control the variables to ensure a healthy and profitable herd. They understand the importance of food and habitat capacity. Cattle are moved from summer to winter pastures, based upon the quality and quantity of the feed, and are supplemented with hay when needed. Ranchers protect their cattle from predators and breed the cows at the right time to the right bull(s) to produce healthy calves. They keep the cattle they want and sell the others to market. The money generated goes back into improving the quality of the herd. Ranchers do not try to have more cattle on their land than the land can provide for. Today, wildlife managers are hampered by political agendas, public opinion and pressure from big corporations. This leaves them powerless to enact actual change on the landscape. While ranchers have a stewardship and entrepreneurial mindset and are driven to make decisions in favor of livestock first, wildlife managers have not been empowered to take the steps required to realize change. Without protected sanctuaries, proper habitat management, influence over resource extraction and predator control, wildlife populations will decline. We are hopeful that the government’s initiative to improve wildlife management and habitat conservation will be successful. This initiative should help put wildlife first. This will be a step towards our vision, “a province with a strong and stable guide outfitting industry and abundant big game populations for all to enjoy, both today and in the future.�
Straight shooting and safe travels. MOUNTAIN HUNTER - WINTER 2019 |
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NEWS & VIEWS From all reports, everyone has had a very good 2018 season. We had some very challenging weather in the northern end of the mountains this year—lots of cloudy wet and windy weather made it difficult to fly on many days. We kept hoping it would change, and it did; the rain turned to snow towards the end of August. It finally cleared up and the sun came out early in September, but it also turned really cold—we had temperatures as low as -15 degrees Celsius (about 5°F). The cold temperatures made for the earliest freeze-up that I have seen in my 23 years in the Mackenzies. By the time we headed home on September 20th, most of the mountain lakes were frozen. For those outfitters who stayed later, it meant move out on wheels or by helicopter if they didn’t have an airstrip. The cold Harold Grinde, President, Association wet summer was not all bad though. The caribou were fat and healthy with lots of of Mackenzie Mountain Outfitters calves, perhaps partially because it was too cold for the flies to bother them. The rain made for good grass, there were lots of big healthy lambs and the rams pushed good horn. The moose also seemed to enjoy the cooler than normal summer with good horn growth and, of course, a cold frosty September made for good moose hunting. Moose numbers seem to be on the rise in the mountains which should mean good moose hunting for many years to come. It is really amazing to think back at the past 20 years and reminisce—no matter if the season was hot and dry, windy and wet, or cold and snowy— we have always managed to send home happy clients who have had great experiences in the Mackenzie Mountains. I have truly been blessed to have had the opportunity to earn a living, to meet hundreds of wonderful people, to work with so many great crews, to send home so many happy clients, and to do all of this with my family in such an awe-inspiring country. As a footnote, I have received plenty of wonderful comments about Paul Deuling’s book, “Voices from the Mackenzies.” Book sales are going really well—if you don’t have a copy yet get in touch with one of our member outfitters for your copy of this amazing book. Good Hunting!
As hunters we tend to have better than 20:20 “visions” for rethinking what we have done and anticipating where we need to go next. Successful outcomes are often a result of being prepared and leaving as little as possible to chance. The wilds in general, and the hunt specifically, seem to provide an opportunity to learn by doing and apply the experience to “next time.” The mountains and weather of the Yukon throw tests of skill and deal very harshly with the unprepared and illequipped. Hunting isn’t easy; it is mentally and physically challenging in all aspects. In hindsight, we thrive on these challenges. The hunting community in North America is a relatively small percentage of the population, approximately 6 percent. The Internet has repeatedly thrust hunters unintentionally (and often ill-preparedly) into the limelight, but has also increased the opportunity to have respectful discussions between hunters and non-hunters about the fair-chase pursuit of wildlife. The future of hunting will, in many ways, be Mac Watson, President, decided by how we as hunters behave today. We must be prepared to engage and talk Yukon Outfitters Association about the respectful endeavor of hunting to those who may have no experience with wilderness, wildlife, and hunting. As a majority, non-hunters may ultimately decide our future hunting opportunities. The closure of grizzly bear hunting in British Columbia is an obvious recent example. At the Yukon Outfitter Association (YOA) we remain committed to our strategic vision of conservation of wild places, wildlife, and the outfitting heritage. As part of this, we continue to work on improving our operations and the economic benefits we provide to the communities within which we operate. Activities such as direct spending on aircraft charters, employment, and purchase of supplies. We also continue to grow our relationships with the hunting community of the Yukon and globally. An example of this is “Yukonshare,” a wild game meat sharing program in cooperation with the Yukon Fish and Game Association, Yukon Department of Environment and the Yukon Food Bank. Yukonshare allows hunters to donate meat at participating licensed butchers. The processed meat is then distributed by the Whitehorse Food Bank. The hunting adventure in the Yukon is truly remarkable. We at the YOA hope to continue to make it that way. On behalf of our membership, I hope you can join us for a Yukon adventure. Time to go hunting and enjoy the great wild places! Shoot straight and happy trails!
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MOUNTAIN HUNTER - WINTER 2019
Besa River Outfitters Ltd.
Elk Valley Bighorn Outfitters
Hunting British Columbia’s Rocky Mountains for:
Stone Sheep • Goat • Moose • Elk Black Bear • Caribou • Wolf Summer Fishing & Family Vacation Endre Pipics • Besa River Outfitters Ltd. 10327 Fernie, Deroche BC VOM 1GO Cell 604 812 9821 • besariver@hotmail.com
BC Trophy Mountain Outfitters
Spring Black Bear Special
Elk, Bighorn Sheep, Mountain Goat, Shiras Moose, Black Bear, Mule Deer, Cougar, Lynx, Wolf
Ryan & Denise Damstrom 250.421.0476 | ryden@skcmail.ca
Sam Medcalf | 250.425.5531 sam@elkvalleybighorn.ca
SCI Booth 3372 & Sheep Show Booth 680
elkvalleybighorn.ca Hunt for:
MOOSE • BLACK BEAR • LYNX • WOLF
Tel: (250) 845-3156 Cell: (250) 845-8810 Email: sonny@moosehunting.bc.ca Box 1483, Houston, BC Canada V0J 1Z0
Kevan Bracewell, Outfitter T. 1-800-215-0913 F. 250-984-7538 PO Box 1419, Lillooet BC V0K 1V0 Canada info@bctrophymountainoutfitters.com www.bctrophymountainoutfitters.com Mountain Goat • Bighorn Sheep • Mule Deer • Black Bear • Cougar • Lynx • Bobcat • Canadian Moose Coyote • Timber Wolf • Upland Birds • Waterfowl • Freshwater Fishing
www.moosehunting.bc.ca MOUNTAIN HUNTER - WINTER 2019 |
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SAFARI CLUB INTERNATIONAL
rugs and antlers. Trophies are, after all, Convention Center and Omni Hotel
A Hunter’s Pride
only tangible memories: memories of Dallas in Downtown Dallas. This year, that ridge too difficult to climb, but that the dates are January 17th – 20th, and
The
headline
read:
“Celebrities was climbed anyway; memories of that the show is open Thursday through Slam Hunter.” The article quoted two icy cold stream too deep and swift to Saturday 9 am to 5:30 pm and Sunday actresses’ comments on social media cross, but that was crossed anyway; and 9 am to 3 pm Registration for evening decrying a picture of a lady holding a the heart-pounding patience that the banquets and hotels is open now, and leopard she had taken in Africa. The perfect shot required. And that is not this year, day passes may be purchased comments were, shall we say, less than to mention the comradery of the other in advance of the show—all at www. kind. This was an effort to publically hunters, a clear night sky, a fire, and a biggame.org. shame the hunter. Social media has libation to the Red Gods of the Hunt. The family-friendly 2018 DSC expo is made “public shaming” not only a way open to the public and will fill a record Public shaming by those poor, pallid to react to something you disagree with,
souls who will never know what 800,000 square feet with 1,000 exhibitors but also a pathway to the proverbial nature’s challenges met and overcome and 1,800 booths featuring outfitted fifteen minutes of fame. It’s an old story means, or the flood of memories that hunts, guns, gear and much more. Plan these days and hardly news. But it does we hunters know and cherish? No, on more than one day to see it all! bring up the question of what hunting try as they might, there is no shame, Evening events include the pre-show means to the hunter. public or private, to what we hunters Wednesday Welcome Party at Gilley’s, Hunting is as old as humanity itself, do. There is only pride in taking part in and the gala dinners with live auctions and while it is true that we can feed nature itself, pride in carrying forward a to follow, Thursday through Saturday, ourselves without touching a throwing
stick, an atlatl, spear, bow and arrow, shotgun or rifle, the ancient love of the
tradition as old as time, a hunter’s pride. all beginning with a cocktail hour at 5:30 John Boretsky, SCI p.m. The auction line-up is available on our website - www.biggame.org.
chase survives. We can feed our bodies
We will again host outdoor legends
with only a plastic card, but what about
such as Craig Boddington, Jim Shockey,
our souls? As the hunters of old, hunters today take pride in the effort, skill, and, yes, luck that puts well-earned food on the
DALLAS SAFARI CLUB Calling All Hunters to Dallas for 2019 DSC Convention: Mogambo!
Jim Zumbo, Larry Weishuhn, Blake Barnett, Ron Spomer and others, telling tales from hunt camp. Special seminars
Make your plans now to attend The
on topics from your first safari, to
table. And, despite what is written on Greatest Hunters’ Convention on the
outdoor writing, to improving your shot
social media, hunters can also take pride Planet !
DSC’s annual convention placement will also be part of the line-up in the trophies of the hunt: heads, horns, will return to Kay Bailey Hutchison during the show. TM
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The DSC convention and expo is one of the biggest fundraising events
challenges throughout Central Asia.
GRAND SLAM CLUB/OVIS
WSF presented a horn plugging video
Partnerships Over the past six years, demonstrating this North American Partnerships play an important role the live and silent auctions have program to curb illegal take and trade generated more than $6.7 million for of wild sheep. WSF is proposing to in developing wildlife conservation conservation, education and hunter assist governments in Central Asia to initiatives and strategy. There are many in Texas.
advocacy initiatives around the world. implement a horn plugging program ways hunters and organizations can Corey Mason, DSC for all wild sheep and goats taken and contribute to the future well-being of exported under CITES authorized wildlife. While we may not always agree WILD SHEEP FOUNDATION
WSF Brings North American Lessons Learned to Central Asia As the world’s foremost wild sheep conservation organization, the Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF) was recently admitted
to
membership
of
the
International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the world’s largest and most influential conservation body. In August, WSF sent a delegation of four to Central Asia for our first IUCN meeting. WSF was also a major sponsor of this inaugural Central Asian Regional Meeting of the IUCN Sustainable Use and Livelihoods Subcommittee, held in the Tian Shan mountains outside of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. About 35 delegates from 15 countries attended the two-day meeting focused on community-based conservation on
plus
conservation
regional
updates
opportunities
and
trade. The governments of Kazakhstan,
on the best way to get there, we do have
has already launched a pilot program.
GSCO is proud to partner with GOABC
America and has offered the same
options with Scott Ellis. We are excited
Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Tajikistan one common denominator – the will and are keen to implement, and Tajikistan desire to see wildlife proliferate. WSF continues to provide free of charge in efforts to enhance wildlife projects every horn plug presently used in North and programs. I have been discussing sponsorship in Central Asia. WSF also presented on North American
to have GOABC attend our upcoming 2019 Convention being held in Las
wild sheep challenges and restoration Vegas at the Westgate Hotel, January th nd successes, as well as the conservation 30 – February 2 . GOABC member permit funding model which provides 74 Leif Olsen has been kind and generous percent of all wild sheep conservation to donate a moose hunt, an exciting
dollars to state, provincial and tribal opportunity which will be auctioned to agencies in North America... 40 percent GSCO members during the convention. of which comes from one organization alone – the Wild Sheep Foundation. The presentation also included WSF led initiatives in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan to conserve argali and markhor. Gray N. Thornton, President & CEO
All proceeds from the sale of this hunt will go directly to benefit GOABC and enhance whatever projects they deem most relevant. This is the beginning of a future relationship we hope to build with GOABC in an effort to develop a meaningful partnership for wildlife conservation. MOUNTAIN HUNTER - WINTER 2019 |
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PREFERRED CONSERVATION PARTNERS
By working together, great things can be accomplished. Many thanks to Scott for his leadership – and to Leif for his generous donation. GSCO is looking forward to a bright partnership. Mark Hampton, Executive Director BOONE & CROCKETT Could Fair Chase Be Your Ticket To Private Land?? While all the buzz lately has been about public land access, let’s not overlook the reality that many of us face—seeking to obtain or maintain permission to hunt private land. It’s simply a matter of logistics and percentages. If you’ve been at this game for a while you know the game has gotten tougher. There is less private land available to hunt for a number of reasons beyond
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MOUNTAIN HUNTER - WINTER 2019
our control. What we can control is ourselves. A guy who has an uncanny ability to gain access to some of the best hunting ranches in Montana finally divulged his secret. He had a bumper sticker made that reads, “Eat Montana Beef.” Clever, but we’re not all hunting, or trying to hunt, prime grazing country and seeking the permission of ranchers who make their living selling beef to let us on their land. Instead, how about a bumper sticker that reads, “Fair Chase Hunter”? Asking and getting permission to hunt someone’s land is a developed skill that starts with not waiting until the day before the season opener, it’s more than that. It’s about respect. The landowner must like and respect you. You must be able to project that you respect their land and the privilege to hunt there, respect
its wildlife, and his or her rules. That’s a lot of ground to cover talking through a screen door, and actions speak louder than words. But, “I’m a fair chase hunter” says a lot in few words. It means you carry with you the respect they seek in how you go about your business. It says you’re the least likely of anyone who knocks at their door to shoot up the place, leave trash or gates open, go where you’re not supposed to go, and fail to abide by their rules. It says you respect yourself and the game you pursue, and they should respect you as well. We seal deals with a handshake. Try speaking “Fair Chase” the next time you go to make a deal. Keith Balfourd, Director of Marketing
2019 YOU ARE INVITED to the Greatest Hunters' Convention on the Planet â„¢
DALLAS SAFARI CLUB with SPORTS AFIELD presents MOGAMBO Jan 17-20, 2019 Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, Dallas
For m o re in f o call Toll Free 1 - 8 0 0 - 9GO-HUNT (800-946-4868) E mai l : i nfo @ bi gg a me . o rg
MY HUNT WOULD BE A LITTLE DIFFERENT THAN JUST LANDING AND HUNTING BECAUSE WE HAD TO TRAIL THE HORSES BACK TO THE LODGE...
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MOUNTAIN HUNTER - WINTER 2019
THIRD TIME’S
the Charm
by David McNeill
Ever since my first trip to northern British Columbia, I have been fascinated by the dark colored Canadian moose that inhabit that beautiful landscape.
M
y first hunting trip for these mighty creatures came in early September of 2009, which proved to be too early for the rut. Many miles by horseback and foot were logged, plus many long hours behind the glasses. Unfortunately, I came home empty handed. Lesson one: Hunt closer to the rut to increase your success. In northern British Columbia, anywhere from September 20th through the middle of October is considered prime rut dates. My next moose adventure in northern BC came in 2015 and this time I hunted with a different outfitter, Dale Drinkall. I had been on a successful sheep hunt with him and his wife Sandra several years earlier and had been longing to get back to have a chance at a moose. After I and three other hunters landed at Dale’s lodge at Terminus Mountain, which stands for the terminus of the Rocky Mountain chain, we were greeted by Dale who showed us to our two-person guest cabins. After getting settled, it wasn’t long before Sandra was ringing the dinner bell and we were heading to the main lodge to enjoy one of Sandra’s great meals. After dinner, Dale verbally handed out our individual hunting plans for the next ten days. He made his way around the table one by one. He came to me last and said, “And you, Mr. McNeill, I’ve got a deal for you.” My hunt would be a little different than just landing and hunting because we had to trail the horses back to the lodge, and to kill a moose it would have to be a very nice one. The next morning, we landed on a high strip and met up with my guide, Jessie Willis, and wrangler, Justin Willis. After breaking down the camp, winterizing and bear proofing, we started the nine-day ride down to the main lodge in search of a big bull moose. MOUNTAIN HUNTER - WINTER 2019 |
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The first day turned up nothing, but we still had another big mountain pass to cross before we could get really serious anyway. The next morning, we broke camp after breakfast, saddled up and continued our pursuit, glassing whenever we had a likely looking spot but still could not find the big one we were after. After ten hours in the saddle, we arrived at our next camp, ready for some hot food and a sleeping bag – especially me! The next day was a repeat of the day before – except we were able to cross the final high pass and start a more serious approach to hunting now that we wouldn’t have to deal with getting our heavy loads up and over any more passes. Jessie’s plan was to slow down and glass harder and more frequently. After picking apart the surrounding hills and still not turning up a trophy moose, we came to our next stop which was a nice, small cabin where we could dry out, call and glass. The next morning, the day greeted us with rain and fog that didn’t let up until late afternoon, which allowed us to take the horses back up the trail where we had noticed a big bowl the day before on our ride down. While on the trail, Jessie heard a bull grunt and motioned for me to dismount my horse. As he was calling I could hear the brush cracking and when the bull finally appeared he sure looked like a shooter to me – but not to Jessie. After careful examination he said, “We can do better.” Lesson two: Always trust your guide. Thus, we continued hunting until we came to our next glassing spot which was a huge bowl that offered excellent opportunities to spot moose. After an hour or so, Justin spotted a big bull on the ridge across from us. He was with a cow and way too far off to attempt a stalk that evening, but Jessie and Justin were confident it was worth another look in the morning. Alas, after much searching that next morning we were unable to turn him up anywhere. We figured that he and his lady friend had moved deeper into the timber where he could keep her to himself during the breeding process. It was time to get another fresh start and keep moving the horses down the trail, all the while stopping to glass along the way. Nothing that day either and after six days without turning up a shooter bull, I was beginning to wonder if it was going to happen on this hunt. The next morning we saddled up and, again, while hunting our way down, stopped several times along the way to glass the countryside. We still could not find that special bull we were after! By this point we were at the lake where Dale would pick me up on floats – but first we had three more days to hunt. Every morning and evening we would overlook the lake, watch, listen and call, but to no avail – it just wasn’t meant to be. Jessie and his brother, Bruce Willis, who Dale had brought in to help hunt while we were still on the trail, couldn’t believe the moose had given us the slip, but hey, that’s hunting.
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AFTER TEN HOURS IN THE SADDLE, WE ARRIVED AT OUR NEXT CAMP, READY FOR SOME HOT FOOD AND A SLEEPING BAG - ESPECIALLY ME!
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THE REST OF THE DAY WAS SPENT RELAXING AND FISHING FOR LAKE TROUT ON THE HIGH MOUNTAIN LAKE THAT I WOULD CALL HOME FOR THE NEXT NINE DAYS.
The final morning was spent glassing the lake and hiking to some vantage points close to the camp but nothing turned up. Dale was prompt on the pickup time and I said my goodbyes to Bruce, Jessie and Justin. “We hope to see you back next year,” and I sure hoped I could make it back too. Back at the lodge the shower felt great and Sandra had another warm meal prepared. When the air charter pilot arrived and all my gear was loaded, Dale assured me that he would get me back to settle the score with that moose and to please be flexible with him and his schedule. We shook hands in farewell and I was on my way to Ft. Nelson and eventually home to Tennessee without my moose. During the summer of 2016, Dale and I exchanged emails a few times and it wasn’t long before I was touching down on his airstrip at Terminus Mountain for another go at the what now seemed to be elusive Canada moose. After my gear was unloaded and secured in a guest cabin, it wasn’t long before Sandra was calling everyone for another delicious dinner. After the reacquaintance and getting all licenses, tags and general information – as well as the current moose behavior and activity update – Dale said to be ready early as we were going to be hunting a high mountain lake, using his float plane for transportation. He also said we would have to get with it early because the winds had been kicking up early with a tendency to get worse as the day wore on. The next morning came quick and Dale and I were soon
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airborne for the forty-minute flight. As soon as we spotted the lake I heard Dale’s words over the headset: “Be patient. It may take a while, and then suddenly these moose just show up.” After landing on the lake, I became acquainted with my guide Garry Willis and soon my gear was unloaded, and Dale was headed back to Terminus. As Garry and I started to make small talk, I was all ears when he mentioned that he had spotted a monster moose earlier that morning. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and fishing for lake trout on the high mountain lake that I would call home for the next nine days. The next morning after an early breakfast, Garry and I started glassing by picking apart the edges of the lake. Unfortunately, after a morning of glassing we hadn’t laid our eyes on any moose and headed back to the lake cabin for lunch. After eating Garry wanted to launch a small Jon boat with a kicker for power and do some fishing while at the same time glassing for moose. It sounded like a good idea to me. It was getting later in the day and the trout were really biting good when Garry spotted a moose across the lake. Immediately we got the boat ready and headed towards the bull. Once reaching the other side of the lake and beaching the boat we realized the bull had given us the slip, so we walked into some spruce trees and tried to gain some elevation to get our eyes back on our quarry.
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It worked! Garry spotted the bull trying to escape back into the timber and advised me to get steady and drop him where he was. After getting a good rest I settled the crosshairs on the bull’s massive chest, about one hundred seventy-five yards away, and squeezed off the first of four rounds. Hearing all of the bullets hit their mark was a welcome sound. After some wobbly walking, the moose laid down and we finally had our bull down for good. We enjoyed the moment and took pictures before the real work started. Garry had done this many times and we had the last haul completed when darkness set in. The next day was spent taking care of the moose to have a European skull mount done and we even got in some more fishing! Dale arrived on the lake the next morning and Garry and I arrived back at the lodge shortly thereafter. That night was spent reliving the hunt with Dale and Sandra. The next morning, after saying our goodbyes, Dale flew me EDITOR’S NOTE: You can reach Terminus Mountain Outfitters at 250-442-8195 or visit their website at www.terminusmountain.com
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to Toad River where he had arranged for me to hook up with a few more of his clients who had also finished their hunt. From there, we drove to Ft. Nelson for the night. I left the next morning for home in Tennessee. The moose hunt is etched in my mind forever. The beautiful scenery and wonderful people that I met along the way wouldn’t have been possible if I had not of made the effort to chase my dreams and never give up. Thanks to Dale and Sandra, Garry Willis, Jessie Willis, Justin Willis – and of course my good ol’ buddy Bruce Willis – for all the extra effort they put into going the extra mile. Yes, beautiful British Columbia had not disappointed, allowing me to make memories to last forever. Terminus Mountain Outfitters has changed hands and the new outfitters of that game-rich concession are Craig Kiselbach, his wife Alana and family. Dale still takes care of the air transport and Sandra – well, she’s still serving up delicious meals.
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Specializing in STONE SHEEP, MOOSE & CARIBOU, MOUNTAIN GOAT, BLACK BEAR
MERVYN’S Yukon Outfitting Horseback Hunts Excellent Dall Sheep Alaska Yukon Moose Mountain Caribou Wild Wood Bison Grizzly and Black Bear Wolf and Wolverine
California Bighorn Sheep mule deer moose cougar • lynx black bear mountain goat
MYO Tim & Jen Mervyn
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www.yukonsheep.com
Email: myo@yukonsheep.com Phone: (867) 633-6188 Box 33036 Whitehorse, Yukon Y1A 5Y5
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BRUCE & TERRY AMBLER 250.459.2367
Clinton, BC Canada amblersbighornguiding@gmail.com
Ad Proof
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Hunts Black bear Colour-phase bear Rocky Mountain elk Mule deer Whitetail deer Shiras moose Cougar Lynx Bobcat Wolf Turkey
full facility lodge with all amenities Tel 250.498.4176 • Cell 250.498.9013 info@KettleRiverGuides.com KettleRiverGuides.com
Let your adventure begin!
BIGHORN SHEEP • MOUNTAIN GOAT • ELK • SHIRAS MOOSE MULE DEER • WHITETAIL DEER • BLACK BEAR COUGAR • BOBCAT • LYNX • WOLF ALEX AND LORI SMUTNY 250.426.8099 1960 Wilson Road, Cranbrook, BC V1C 7H4 CANADA www.buglebasin.ca • Email: info@buglebasin.ca MOUNTAIN HUNTER - WINTER 2019 |
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GUIDES gallery
Wendell Crow, GA. California Bighorn sheep with Dillian Wiens, Vaseux Creek Outfitters.
Grant Benson, MA harvested his Pope and Young class goat with Beaverfoot Outfitting. Packhorse Creek Outfitters guided Joe Kubesch of Ontario, Canada to this majestic goat.
Smokey Andler, WI harvested this Stone ram with Trophy Stone Outfitting. Theirry Caruso, TX with his archery moose. Backcountry BC and Beyond.
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Cariboo Mt. Outfitters guided Norwegian hunters Mats Ulfsnes & Andreas Furuhaug to this double-header black bear.
Cody Sword, Ambler’s Bighorn Country Guiding and Judy Black, MI.
Stan Sjorgen of Sweden with Kiff Covert of Covert Outfitting - color-phase black bear.
WANT TO SEE YOURSELF IN THE GUIDES GALLERY?
Keith Martell, MI with his moose, guided by Love Bros & Lee.
Gary Marlborough, NB harvested this elk with Silent Mountain Outfitters.
Matt Oviatt, UT with Dall’s sheep taken with Bonnet Plume Outfitters.
Submit your photos to info@goabc.org with the outfitter’s name, species, and harvested date of your animal. MOUNTAIN HUNTER - WINTER 2019 |
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Enjoy Enjoy Enjoy Traditional Outfitting Traditional Outfitting Traditional at Finest at its its Finest
tone Sheep Sheep SStone Mtn Goat Mtn Goat Moose Moose Elk Elk Bear Black Bear Black Caribou Caribou Wolf Wolf
MontyWarren Warren Monty Box59, 59,Hudson’s Hudson’sHope, Hope,BC BC V0C V0C1V0 1V0 Box tuchodiriveroutfitters.com tuchodiriveroutfitters.com
Cell:250-263-5537 250-263-5537 Cell:
monty@tuchodiriveroutfitters.com monty@tuchodiriveroutfitters.com
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Ph: 250-412-5209 SSIKANNI IKANNI Outfitters R RIVER IVER facebook.com/sikanni
MIKE & DIXIE HAMMETT P.O. Box 11, Pink Mountain, BC Canada V0C 2B0 Email: sro@sikanniriver.com www.sikanniriver.com
Stone’s Sheep Elk • Bison Goat • Moose Hunt Northwest British Columbia BIG GAME HUNTING
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PO Box 2842, Smithers, BC, Canada, V0J 2N0
BIG GAME HUNTING
FISHING TRIPS Prime Dates Available
Phone: 0046 73 520 54 56 or 250-876-1322 info@atnaoutfitters.com . www.atnaoutfitters.com
GANA RIVER OUTFITTERS LTD. HORSE OR BACKPACK HUNTS RIFLE OR BOW IN CANADA’S NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
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Trophy Dall Sheep Mountain Caribou Moose Wolves Wolverine MOOSE • BLACK BEAR • MOUNTAIN GOAT WOLF • LYNX • WOLVERINE 250-846-5309 • Jladventures@xplornet.com
For A First Class…Fair Chase Hunt… contact:
email:
HAROLD GRINDE • Box 528, Rimbey, AB T0C 2J0
ph: (403) 357-8414 ganariver@pentnet.net web: www.ganariver.com
MOUNTAIN HUNTER - WINTER 2019 |
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FIELD SCHOOL Natural Resource Management Students View Forests and Forest Management Through the Lens of a Guide Outfitter By Roy V. Rea, UNBC
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MOUNTAIN HUNTER - WINTER 2019
“I’d like to see less herbicide spraying, fewer roads, fewer and smaller clear cuts, more partial retention, and a reduction in logging operation activities during the hunt,” stated guide outfitter Scott Pichette.
I
t’s August 2018 and Scott is speaking to 23 field camp students who are taking the University of Northern BC’s third-year course titled Field Applications in Resource Management. “Some forest activities can benefit moose, but only when they are done with moose and habitat in mind.” The students are participating in a two-day stay at Scott and Lynn Pichette’s Bowron River guide outfitter camp on the Bowron River in north central BC.
As a senior laboratory instructor for the Ecosystem Science and Management Program at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC), I have been teaching the August field camp for 15 years. I have been taking students to the Pichette’s guide camp for the last 11. In the early days, the visit was a short, half-day module that included a truck ride from a rendezvous point in the Aleza Lake Research Forest (one of UNBC’s two research forests) to a stretch of beach along the Bowron River.
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There, Scott and his assistant guides would pick us up and run us down river in jet boats to his lodge.
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There, Scott and his assistant guides would pick us up and run us down river in jet boats to his lodge. Once there, we would spend three or four hours with Scott and his wife Lynn as they immersed us in the guide outfitting industry, teaching us everything about what a day in the life of an outfitter is like. Things like how wolves affect an outfitting business, how to hold a rifle, what it costs to run his business, and – most importantly – how he feels about the impacts of logging and forest management within his guide territory. Like all guide outfitters in British Columbia, Scott has an area-based tenure. His tenure overlaps other tenures including, but not limited to, trap lines, mining claims, range tenures, First Nations traditional use areas, and a UNBC research forest that also holds an area-based tenure. Overlaid atop all of these are various cutting permits held by forest licensees that are volume-based and not tied to a particular piece of ground. Scott once worked in the forest industry and acknowledges that jobs and livelihoods depend on such work; however, he suggests to the students that there are things he’d like them to think about when they graduate and become the next generation of forest managers. “The future of the guide outfitting industry depends on how moose and other game animal habitats are managed and, in the next few years, you will be in charge of making those decisions. I hope that what we discuss will allow you to see the importance of this,” Scott tells the students. This is in fact the entire focus of the field camp – namely, to get students to see the value of the forest, not just for its timber, but for all the values a forest holds.
“The future of the guide outfitting industry depends on how moose and other game animal habitats are managed...”
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Since the upgrade to the overnight outing, I’ve seen how this extended trip deeply enriches the experience for our students ...
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After two to three hours of chatting about the impacts that forestry can have on guiding, both Scott and the students (some whom have already worked in the industry for two to three summers) have a pretty good idea of where each other sits on the main issues. Until four years ago, that is where it would end. Lynn would fill our bellies with good food, we’d share a few stories, say a quick goodbye and away we’d go back up the river to our vans and away to town to prepare for the next day’s modules. That was until Scott, Lynn and I submitted a proposal to Scott Ellis at the Guide Outfitters Association of British Columbia (GOABC) to ask if the association might consider covering the cost of an overnight trip that would include a trip out to one of Scott’s blinds so that students could see where the rubber hits the road in the guiding business. The proposal was accepted immediately. Funding came from the association’s Wildlife Stewardship Partner Program (WSPP), an initiative where funding is applied to partnered stewardship projects for the benefit of wildlife in BC. Since the upgrade to the overnight outing, I’ve seen how this extended trip deeply enriches the experience for our students and connects a few dots for them that they weren’t able to get from just a chat at the lodge. Instead, they sleep in client cabins, feel the grounding of the jet boat on Bowron River sandbars, smell the exhaust of the Bombardier, listen to sedges whip against each other in the meadow, use their muscles to crawl up into the hunting stand, and listen to Scott bellow a few moose calls across the meadow. This makes it all real. This year, due to the fires keeping us out of some of the other areas we had planned to visit during camp, we asked Scott Ellis if GOABC’s WSPP could possibly cover a second night. The funds were available, and Scott didn’t blink. This enabled us to expand the Bowron River Guides portion once again to have the students focus an entire field camp assignment on the topic of accommodating guide outfitting values in forest planning and management. For this assignment, students worked in teams of six for an entire evening, probing Scott and Lynn, using internet sources and their notes to put together a 20-minute presentation about their findings that they then shared with Scott before receiving his feedback. The connection made between Scott and the students during each of these presentations was powerful and gave birth to the idea behind this article. Students were quick to realize and point out that too many large cuts with the associated road networks, the planting of even-aged monocultures of pine and spruce, the use of herbicides on moose browse, and the activity of logging equipment during the hunt all had negative impacts on someone trying to run a moose guiding business. Interestingly, some students who had preconceived notions about how outfitting was “just a business that profited from killing animals” began to contextualize that those things that guides promote and fight for – namely, healthy populations of game and intact habitats – don’t only profit guides, but also foster biodiversity. Few industries can boast the same. MOUNTAIN HUNTER - WINTER 2019 |
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Ultimately, what students learn with Lynn and Scott Pichette must also be incorporated into their over-arching case study for field camp. This is a high-level plan that focuses on developing a piece of ground in the Research Forest and putting together a strategy to generate revenue from log sales while considering all the values taught at camp, guide outfitting being just one of many. In the end, I see students coming away from camp with a much better understanding for not just the guide outfitting industry, but for a myriad of other values that we hope they take with them into their professional lives. This of course is exactly what I, Lynn and the two Scotts hope to accomplish through this program. “It has already happened twice,” Scott Pichette tells the students as we prepare to head back up river to our vans. “One field-camp student loved what he saw in this module so much that he came and worked for me for five years as an assistant
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guide. Another happened to be on the other end of a licensee’s phone when I called to complain about logging operations near my lodge during the hunt last year. That UNBC grad apologized to me and shut that operation down,” boasts Scott. Of course, our hopes are that it will not just be Bowron River Guiding that benefits from educating the next generation of natural resource professionals in the way we have been doing these past 11 years. In our estimation, if field camp students continue to incorporate what they learn on the Bowron into their work, the entire industry – as well as game animals, habitats, and biodiversity – will all benefit.
EDITOR’S NOTE: You can reach Bowron River Guiding at 250-963-9612 or visit their website at www.moosehuntinginbc.com
Tim & Astrid Faiers SOUTHEASTERN BC TEL/FAX
250.225.3551
1712 Eastman Avenue, Riondel BC V0B 2B0
shadowmtguides@bluebell.ca
•
shadowmountainoutfitters.ca MOUNTAIN HUNTER - WINTER 2019 |
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Garth Olafson GOABC Guide of the Year
Darwin & Wendy Cary 5615 Deadpine Drive Kelowna, BC V1P 1A3
Tel: (250) 491-1885 Cell: (250) 859 4327 Email: info@scooplake.com www.scooplake.com WE HUNT:
Stone Sheep, Moose, Goat, Caribou, Elk, Black Bear & Wolf WE FISH:
Lake Trout, Bull Trout, Arctic Grayling, Dolly Varden, Northern Pike, Rainbow Trout & White Fish
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Online at www.boone-crockett.org Or call toll-free 888-840-4868
Three Guiding Territories in
NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA
1
3,100 KM2 TERRITORY
2
+ 320 acre Ranch & Lodge
PRICE: $5,400,000 (CAD) This very reputable outfitting business is located northwest of Fort St. John and southwest of Fort Nelson in the Muskwa-Kechika Management Area. The ranch and lodge on 320 acres of deeded land form the centre of this thriving guiding outfit. 3,100 km2 of guiding territory with 6 fully developed perfectly maintained fly-in camps with cabins. Game Species: Mountain goat, moose, elk, caribou, deer, wolf are on a general open season with no limitations. On Quota: Stone’s sheep, 4 annually, bison, 23 annually. The outfit and ranch comes with all equipment and horses to operate the business, including 1 airplane, 1 grader, 1 dozer, 1 backhoe, 1 farm tractor. The lodge and the camps are in very good condition with many new cabins added in recent years. The Ranch and Lodge is accessible via gated road from the Alaska Highway. The owners have operated this outfit for over 20 years and want to retire.
3
1,800 KM2 TERRITORY PRICE: $625,000 (CAD)
Approximately 1,800 km2 guiding business and territory located west of Fort St. John in the Northern Rockies region. Game species: Moose, elk, mule deer, whitetail deer, black bear, cougar, lynx and wolf. These game species are on a general open season. There is also a grazing lease on the whole territory. The territory supports a long spring season, a very long fall season and also a winter season for predator hunts. The current outfitter has been running the territory for over 25 years and has earned a large number of awards for outstanding quality of animals taken. The current outfitter will help a new owner to get established.
Also available: 312 ACRE RANCH with the headquarter buildings for this outfitting operation for $1,075,000. On the 312 acres of private land is the main lodge house, a modular home used as bunk house and a shop.
1,580 KM2 GUIDING TERRITORY
D L SO
PRICE: $720,000 (CAD)
1,580 km2 guiding territory and big game guiding business located in the Williston Lake area of the Northern Rockies. Game species: Moose, elk, mule deer, whitetail deer, black bear, cougar, lynx and wolf on a general open season with no limitations. Quota of 4 Stone’s sheep, and one mountain goat in a 5 year period. The area supports a long spring season, a long fall season as well as a very well established winter season for predators. There are three tenured spike camps. The current outfitter will help a new owner to get established.
PLEASE CALL THE LISTING REALTOR OR VISIT BACKCOUNTRYPROPERTIES.CA FOR MORE INFORMATION AND FOR A SHOWING OF THESE TERRITORIES. A guiding territory can be owned by one or more individuals or a B.C. corporation. Territory #2 and #3 (listed above) have a common boundary and could be operated as a combined business. A large lodge on Williston Lake is also listed for sale. It could be used as a luxurious headquarters for one, or both, of two areas.
MINDERMANN PHONE: 250-467-3019
dcr.horst@gmail.com
10224-10th Street Dawson Creek, BC V1G 3T4
Horst is licensed in British Columbia and Alberta. He has also outfitted in Northeast B.C. for 20 seasons and is a proud Life Member of GOABC, SCI and Dallas Safari Club.
CONSERVATION MATTERS
TM
with Shane Mahoney THE POWER OF A WORD HAS “TROPHY” BECOME A LETHAL ADJECTIVE FOR HUNTING?
“But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought...” (George Orwell, 1984) Thank you to Sports Afield for permission to reprint this article.
Shane Ma honey is co nsidered to of the lead be one ing intern a tional auth on wildlife o rities conservati on. A rare combinati on of histo rian, scien and philoso tist, pher, he br ings a uniq perspective ue to wildlife issues tha motivated t has and inspir ed audience around th s e world. N amed one the 10 Mo of st Influenti al Canadia Conservati n onists by O utdoor Ca Magazine nada and nomin ated for P of the Year er son by Outdoo r Life Maga he has rece zine, ived numer ous award including s the Public Service Aw of Excellen ard ce from th e governm of Newfou ent ndland an d Labrador and Intern ational Co nservation of the Year ist from Safa ri Club Internatio nal. Born and raised Newfound in land, he br ings to his writings a nd lecture s a profou commitmen nd t to rural so cieties and the su stainable u se of natural re sources, in cl uding fish and wildli fe.
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I
have always believed in the power of words. They have the capacity to inspire us, to lead us to powerful achievements and to great sacrifice. They can carry us to war, encourage us to peace. Weightless and without physical dimension, words remain agile weapons in our search for good and evil...and for truth. Words carriage our thoughts. They transport our ideas. They give color, tone and emphasis to our impressions. We should be careful when we use them; thoughtful when we hear them. We should remember that Adolph Hitler visited untold misery on the world through his rhetorical power. Nelson Mendela did the opposite. His rhetoric dispatched frontiers of gratuitous violence to the cradles of justice and reconciliation. So perhaps we can all agree: words really do matter. If this is true, then we ought to carefully consider the words we use to convey messages about things we believe in. If our words do not match the true feelings or impressions we wish to convey, then our audiences will hear something quite different than what we intend. Further, if we don’t listen carefully to the words of others, we too run the risk of hearing, and responding to, the wrong message. In choosing a word carelessly we may inadvertently choose sides or create divisions that need not have existed. Over time these crippled exchanges undermine any hope of reconciliation between points of view that often hold much in common, but which eventually settle upon the differences between them, no matter how small. This is how opportunities are lost and coalitions are sacrificed. Words can be the architects of conflict, or the engineers of progress. None of us who care about hunting and the conservation of wildlife can any longer ignore the influence the word trophy now exerts on public attitudes and activism against hunting. The evidence is everywhere, from public opinion surveys to newspaper and television exposés, to the cackling of social media and the slightly more refined discussions in our halls of political power. Indeed, while many of us have tried to explain how the word is misinterpreted and how, in a real sense,we
are all trophy hunters, seeking to acquire mementos or remembrances of our hunting experiences – whether photos, horns, antlers or capes – it just doesn’t seem to matter. Nor does it seem to matter that many of the world’s most respected conservation organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature support legal, sustainable hunting in many parts of the world because they see the proof of its value in conserving wildlife and supporting human livelihoods. Sadly, no matter how we try and argue the case, the public worldwide has taken a clear and likely unchangeable position that is negative to trophy hunting. Furthermore, this has now largely become a values-based debate, not a scientific one. No matter how much hunters wish that animal conservation could be the basis of the discussion, it is the behaviour of the human beings involved and the very nature of the activity that are under scrutiny. This is the negative power of the word trophy. It has driven citizens to oppose a significant conservation mechanism. Lost to the public’s understanding is the idea that classic trophy hunters would pursue only mature animals that have already contributed to the genetic pool of the species, animals that are of an age where death is a pressing reality and likelihood, and animals that because of their physical size and attributes will uniquely attract international hunters and thus provide badly needed income to support local human communities and wider conservation campaigns. Rather, the broad public impression of the trophy hunter is of a wealthy, white male who seeks thrills and self-aggrandizement through the wilful killing of magnificent animals and who cares nothing for wildlife, except that they exist for him to shoot. From this perspective, any benefit to conservation or humanity that may derive from trophy hunting is accidental and not an acceptable reason or rationale.
But the situation is even more complicated. Meat hunting, for example, is widely supported. Thus, a motivational line is drawn between the word meat and the word trophy, even though the vast bulk of all meat from all hunted animals is utilized, including from most animals harvested by so-called trophy hunters. Frustrating isn’t it? From this vantage point we begin to see the convoluted world of words in which hunting is now immersed and we can begin to forecast how difficult it will be to disentangle it. It is now undeniable that communications on hunting must enter a maze of misinterpretation, confusion and sometimes deliberate distortion that can squander much of our time, money and talent if we are not cautious in how we approach it. Many great intentions as well as great armies have been lost in swamps of exactly this kind. The point is this: the hunting community now, more than ever, needs to choose its words carefully. Yet communication on this issue is desperately required! Eliminate trophy hunting from areas such as parts of Africa and wildlife will suffer and suffer greatly...especially the big, dangerous and destructive species...the very ones that often plague local communities, but which are the darlings of the western conservation conscience. Funny isn’t it that we in our high-rise condominiums in Brussels or New York want lions and elephants everywhere in Africa but cannot stand so much as a mosquito, cockroach or mouse in our own domiciles! It is marvellous what wealth and distance can afford. But local people will not accept wildlife-caused human fatality and crop destruction. In the absence of incentives, such as income from guiding hunters and the wild meat provided to them as a result, local people will kill the wildlife around them using whatever means they can. Regardless of this likely prospect, the fact remains that trophy hunting is unpalatable to a broad section of our
MOUNTAIN HUNTER - WINTER 2019 |
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modern public. That is the reality we face and must address. This is true in much of Europe and it is true in much of North America as well. What are we to do? How are we to address this hall of mirrors? In this context, the word modern is also highly relevant and highly problematic. It too is a word the hunting world needs to closely examine. Is there such a thing as a modern public and if so how should we approach it? Differently, I suggest. Yet it seems pretty obvious that many hunters think the world is the same one we grew up in or believe it can somehow be transformed back to that time, a time when our classic arguments favouring trophy hunting would be an easy sell to the public. Thus, we promote the word “trophy” and believe that more statistics and better information will be our silver bullet. Once we present the public with our evidence, they will see the light of day and accept trophy hunting as a reputable undertaking of benefit to both wildlife and people, or so the expectation goes. Unfortunately, none of the foregoing assumptions are necessarily correct. First, the world really has changed; and second, for as long as we have been conducting public attitude surveys in the North America – forty years or so – a significant majority of the public has perceived trophy hunting as unacceptable. Thus, presenting our arguments on trophy hunting’s benefits to conservation has obviously been of little impact for a very long time, probably because the public reaction is more against trophy hunting than for wildlife. So why do we think more of the same will work now? This long-standing opposition to trophy hunting also directly challenges the belief of those who see Facebook or other modern electronic communication vehicles as the fundamental cause of the public’s reaction to this activity. Even before Facebook inventor Mark Zuckerberg was born the American public was decidedly against trophy hunting. Who should we blame for this? Is it possible hunters were part of the problem? Could it be that
our messaging, our photos, our magazines, our conventions, our websites, our advertisements, our terminology, our rhetoric, our modern heroes have all been a significant part of the problem, major influences shaping the public aversion to trophy hunting? I am afraid blaming the Internet medium is a childlike fallacy and a conclusion that will lead us down paths of false hope and useless effort. We can analyze the reasons to death, hold town hall meetings, focus groups and phone surveys of public attitudes...but the angst over trophy hunting is now a virus in the public conscience, reproducing itself and presenting unlimited variants to us who wish to challenge it. Like a lot of problems in life, it would be nice if the public reaction to trophy hunting could be blamed on one single cause or instrument. Unfortunately, it cannot. The reasons are many and their collective influence is highly interwoven and complex. We cannot unravel this with a simple key. There is no painless, magic wand. So, is the word trophy now lethal to hunting? I suspect it is and believe we should deal with this reality. We should consider a guerrilla tactic for the language war we are engaged in. Let us leave the landscape of the big battle to those who oppose trophy hunting. Let us quietly retire the term trophy, burn the treasured icon they seek and leave nothing for the marauders to take. For many in the hunting community, surrendering the term will be difficult and a sign of capitulation. In reality, we give nothing over. We hunt for the reasons we do. No one can take this from us. What the public can take, however, is hunting itself. Let us not lead them there. I see no reason to sacrifice the cultural, economic and conservation benefits of hunting for an adjective...for as powerful as the term trophy may be for some, it is just a word, isn’t it? Indeed, while I think of it, why don’t we drop all the hunting adjectives such as meat, trophy, and sport, and simply call it what it is: hunting!
The Guide Outfitters Association of British Columbia (GOABC) wishes to create a fundamental shift among hunters from caring about hunting to caring about all wildlife. Ranchers care about cattle and anglers care about fish, but hunters are concerned for all animals and their well-being. Hunters must be committed to the responsible use of wildlife resources and passionate about preserving a diversity of wildlife species. GOABC is a strong supporter of the North American Wildlife Conservation Model, which stipulates that law and science should manage wildlife. This model is the result of hunters and anglers who were dedicated to conservation. As anti-hunting pressure becomes louder, it becomes increasingly important to continue and enhance the legacy of the hunter-conservationist.
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GOD HATES
a Coward by Samuel Greer
T “What of the hunting, hunter bold? Brother, the watch was long and cold. What of the quarry ye went to kill? Brother, he crops in the jungle still. Where is the power that made your pride? Brother, it ebbs from my flank and side. Where is the haste that ye hurry by? Brother, I go to my lair to die!” -Rudyard Kipling, 1894
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he snow on the ledge outside the mountain cave was churned by the tracks of both dog and cougar, stained with the blood of a Walker hound that got too close. Five hours later, three thousand feet in elevation gain, navigable game trails were scarce as we followed Marc’s hounds and their quarry through hip-deep drifts of snow. Scrambling over, under, and around fallen trees, we kept our eyes on the tops of the old ponderosa pines. Marc Hubbard is an outfitter from British Columbia. He’s a lanky, bearded fellow, laid back and quiet – up to the point when his hounds are loosed on a big cat’s tracks, at which time the switch gets thrown. With the hounds out of earshot in the snow-covered Canadian bush, Marc becomes a man of singular focus. Burning lungs, straining to hear the dogs, we took turns breaking trail. Jack pine thickets shook off their frosty burdens as we passed; the snow melted and mingled with sweat to form orbs of ice on wool and hair. In an area of granite canyons spotted with old growth pines, we heard the dogs’ distant baying at last. The barking was west one moment, east the next – puzzling until, looking down from
a rocky outcropping, we saw a dog bobbing in and out of the mountainside. Marc swore, “He’s in a cave.” The vertical granite face was coated with lime green lichens and dark moss. “That’s good, right?” I said, “We know where he is.” We clambered down to the dogs. Emboldened by our approach, Sitka, a thirty-pound female Walker, rushed into the cave, followed by Tuko. There was a hair-raising yelp and both dogs emerged; Sitka with a clean slash down the middle of her back. The blood steamed in the biting cold. We caught them both and tied them up beside the cave mouth, checking to ensure Sitka’s wound was not serious. Even still, both dogs strained at their leashes, eager to get back to work. There was only one way in and out of the cave. From the darkness, a steady growling, like an idling diesel engine, increased in volume each time we spoke. We took turns crawling into the cave, reaching a choke point narrowing to an eighteen-inch tunnel, but neither of us could see the lion. His presence was only proclaimed by the bone-chilling growl.
At the cave mouth, we discussed options, cat behavior, the setting sun, and the dogs. “Will he come out of there?” I asked. “Probably not,” said Marc. “But if he does, he won’t be polite. There’s no room to maneuver in that tunnel.” He wasn’t wrong. “If I’m in there when he comes out, he’ll go through me like a meat cork. It’s gotta be your decision.” Marc paused. “Just remember – God hates a coward.” Night was falling. Win or lose, we were hours from the trailhead. “If it gets me,” I said, “you grab my ankles and pull me out.” “Yeah, I’ll get you out,” Marc said, taking a few steps back from the cave mouth all the same. I began shedding layers of clothing until I could fit into the narrow tunnel, but I left my sock hat on – for protection, a ludicrous part of me suggested – in case the cat took a swipe at me. Maybe it would get ahold of the hat and be satisfied for a moment. I checked the .25-06, found a pair of foam ear plugs, then looked around at the world. Just in case. MOUNTAIN HUNTER - WINTER 2019 |
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We hunters take photographs, little snippets of life for memories and validation, but the real and lasting proof of our experience is in the moment. The Okanagan Valley was far below, with the vast silvery lake. Empty trees where a cat ought to be silhouetted. Marc, his beard and eyebrows coated with ice. The alert, eager eyes of the dogs. Just in case. The growling was audible even through my earplugs as I belly crawled into the cave, cradling my rifle in my outstretched arms. The tunnel narrowed to the point where I couldn’t bring my elbows back, so I moved primarily by pushing with my toes, boots scraping against rock. Inching further into the cave, I turned a bend and found myself looking straight at a volleyball-sized head. The cat’s expression was one of disdain. Any fear in this confrontation was mine alone. There was quite literally no room for this cat to get past me. He was in a somewhat larger chamber, maybe twelve feet from me, and my mind began storing details for the moment when my life flashed before my eyes – a moment that might or might not occur in short order. Grey fur, a missing ear tip, yellow eyes, ears flattened in rage, open mouth and that ceaseless growling. My scope was useless in such tight quarters. Sighting along the side of the barrel, I squeezed off a shot. The passage instantly filled with dust. Ears ringing through the ear plugs, I threw it in reverse and backed out of the tunnel. Eventually I spilled out into the evening light and rolled clear of the opening, clutching my rifle to my chest as I landed at
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Marc’s feet. He shook his head and shouted something at me. Over the ringing in my ears I heard, “He’s still growling!” “What?” “You did it once,” Marc said, “you can do it again. Get back in there.” In disbelief, shaking and sweating, I took a moment to check my rifle and recompose myself. Then I re-entered the tunnel. I made the crawl back through the cave passage to the lion’s lair. He was a bit closer now, still only his head visible. This time the shot was true. I ducked behind a protruding rock to protect my head and neck from potential retaliation. When the muzzle blast dust settled, I could see the great cat lying still. I crawled back out of the cave and made the rifle safe. “No growling,” I heard Marc say. “I think you got him.” High fives, relief, and solemn joy, there on the edge of the world. Trembling, I gave thanks to God the Creator. “That is the stupidest thing I have ever seen,” Marc said, his big crooked smile framed in ice. “Stupid, but cool.” We took turns extracting the big tom from the cave, dragging out two hundred pounds of carnivore inch by inch. His coat was dark grey, his canines worn down, his face scarred. Marc carried the cape on his back as we bushwhacked down the canyon in the dark. We reached the trailhead around ten o’clock, returned home, patched up the wounded Sitka and ate a late supper. Soon I fell into a dreamless sleep, waking just once to listen for growling.
EDITOR’S NOTE: You can reach Okanagan Outfitters Ltd. at 250-809-8441 or by email at okout@telus.net.
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& BLACK w Bo POWDER by George Lawrence IV
SUDDENLY, THE SILENCE WAS SHATTERED BY THE EXPLOSION OF MY BLACK POWDER RIFLE AND THE WALLOP OF THE 295-GRAIN BULLET CLEANLY HITTING THE VITALS OF THE GIGANTIC BEAR.
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T
he weather was perfect when I arrived at Inzana Outfitters with my wife and two of my business partners. This hunt was special to me; to be back hunting with Paul and Marilyn Trepus and to have my wife Kelly with me. Paul and Marilyn have a wonderful lodge and guest cabins on their private ranch, located at the southern end of their huge guide area north of Fort St James, British Columbia. Their main lodge and guest cabins provided very comfortable accommodation and facilities for my wife and business team, and having the perfect weather filled us with eager optimism for our hunt. On my past successful hunts with Paul, I had hunted wolves, checked the trap lines where we caught every fur species in BC including lynx and wolverine, and harvested a huge, record book black bear with my muzzleloader. This year’s goal was to hunt with my business team and to harvest a fair chase spot-and-stalk bear with my Ravin crossbow and, if things worked out, a second one with my classic .30-30. Last time I’d been up, Paul had shown me plenty of bears and I had been able to stalk several, getting well within bow range of the feeding bruins. This had been great practice. I
had seen so many that I had been able to hold out for both an exceptional animal and the perfect shooting opportunity for my muzzleloader. Paul had to stop me from shooting on several occasions due to my lack of ability to judge the size of black bears. However, on the fourth day of the hunt, we’d found some fresh sign from a huge bear and my level of anticipation spiked. We had already seen five black bears the day before we’d found the giant feeding along the edge of an old logging road. The bear had no idea we were there as the wind was in our favor and he was feeding away from us, steadily moving and head down. Paul and I took off our boots and stalked silently in our socks to within 55 yards of the bruin. The bear was unaware of us as he focused on filling up on fresh greens, with the wind continuing to perfectly mask our scent. Suddenly, the silence was shattered by the explosion of my black powder rifle and the wallop of the 295-grain bullet cleanly hitting the vitals of the gigantic bear. He sprinted for the brush as I reloaded quickly. We waited a bit and then at 8 pm we went in after him. There was an obvious blood trail that led us straight to the bear. We found him still alive but mortally wounded. I put one
Record book bear taken in 2017with black powder muzzle loader
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Giant bear taken with Ravin crossbow and Rage broadhead
Inzana Outfitters lodge and guest cabins near Fort St. James
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Enjoying dinner at
the lodge after a
great hunt!
more bullet in him to seal the deal. As we walked closer, I was expecting the usual ground shrinkage of the bear. NOT! He kept getting bigger and bigger as we approached. “He is huge!” I gasped. As it turned out, he was the largest black bear ever taken with a muzzleloader and recorded with Mountain Hunter’s record book. Friday the 13th turned out to be Blessed Bear Day for me. After seeing so many bears on that previous hunt, I was confident that my business team would be successful on this one and that Paul would get me on a quality bear for my Ravin crossbow. I had been practicing and tuning the bow to be able to shoot out to 60 yards with the Ravin arrow and Rage broadhead. On the second day, we found a nice bear feeding in a freshlylogged area. Again, I removed my boots and began the stalk. The bear fed out of sight and into the bush, so we moved over to a small skid road leaving the logged area. Sure enough, the bear came out of the bush and started feeding on the fresh green grass and clover on the skid road. The weather and wind were perfect, and the bear had no idea we were there. I was set up perfectly, I just had to be patient and wait for the bear to turn broadside. Then, in a flash the bear turned, and the arrow was loosed, hitting its mark. To my amazement, the bear spun twice and dropped dead, proving the effectiveness of a well-placed arrow.
George at centre with guide Larry Fitzpatrick to his right and owner Paul Trepus to his left, flanked on either side by George’s business partners.
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Second bear taken with George’s 100-year-old .30-30 rifle
When we got back to camp that day, we found out that my business team was also having great success. Paul’s guides were working hard, putting my team on great bears. We were 100 percent successful and I still had a bit of time to try for a second bear with my .30-30. It did not take us long to find another excellent bear feeding along another old logging road. We began our stalk, but the bear disappeared into the timber. We decided to continue with the stalk even though we could not see him and worked our way down to where we last saw it feeding. We could see another road some 200-yards down, so we moved and followed it. The road was covered in clover and there was sign of bears feeding on every bit of it as well as abundant bear scat. We were in a perfect area with the wind in our
EDITOR’S NOTE: You can reach Inzana Outfitters at 250-964-2257 or visit their website at www.inzanaoutfitters.com
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favor and with every step I anticipated seeing the bear. Then a twig snapped off to our right and we froze. Paul pointed, indicating that he’d heard the sound as well. Seconds later we saw the back of the bear moving through the timber. Paul set up the shooting sticks and I got into a good shooting position, waiting for the bear to move out onto the clovercovered road. Paul had his binos on the bear and called it as a nice shooter. I was ready when it cleared the brush and gave me the shot. At the sound of the shot, the bear collapsed instantly, testifying to the effectiveness of my 100-year-old .30-30. The rifle is a classic with octagon barrel and open sights, built in 1919. What a great hunt! We saw a pile of bears, enjoyed our time with Paul, Marilyn and their guides, enjoyed great home cooked meals and a wonderful camp, and were 100 percent successful.
26
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E R MO
LOOK by David Willette
Mountain goat hunting is a lot like walking into an outhouse – don’t look down, or you might get sick.
T
hose words were actually said on a recent Stone’s sheep/bear hunt with Lonesome Mountain Outfitters (LMO), of Smithers, British Columbia. This was my second combo hunt with Michael Young, owner of LMO. The previous hunt, two years earlier, had resulted in a nice bear, but no sheep, which had been the primary animal on both hunts. The advantage of going a second time is that I now knew what to expect in terms of the physical needs of the hunt. The day-to-day requirements of the actual sheep hunting portion weren’t too bad, but the hike up and over Mt. Ibuprofen (my name for it) to get into sheep country is brutal. Hunts of this nature actually start months before with a buildup of endurance and strength. I had started right after the snow melted, around May 1st. Slowly but surely, I had built
my stamina and strength by climbing 2,500-3,200 vertical feet twice weekly, incrementally increasing the weight of my backpack with firewood and water jugs to 50 pounds. I never really looked forward to “working out,” but I knew that I had to do it. Along the way, I lost a couple pounds and a couple of toe nails to boot(s). Pun intended. I arrived in Smithers on August 31st after a horrendous experience with Air Canada. Thankfully, I had a couple of national hunting magazines with special features on sheep hunting to help bide my time. Upon arrival in Smithers, I met the two other hunters whom I would be sharing base camp with. John and Kevin Dooley were a great father and son hunting team from Laramie, WY, who were on a mountain goat hunt. After overnighting in Smithers, we all headed north – for nine hours to base camp, located near the Stikine River. The next morning, after the last real meal that I would have for eight days, Mike and I headed towards Mt. Ibuprofen. After an hour of riding on the 4-wheeler, we finally reached the actual hiking part of the trip. I’d dreaded this part of the hunt, like a kid dreads a dentist appointment, ever since I’d booked this hunt two years earlier. At least twice on this climb, and a few times during the week, I told Michael that this was my last sheep hunt. Very slowly we made progress. First across the Stikine River, then through the alders and woods, slowly gaining elevation until we hit the mountain. The previous time this hike had taken six hours to complete. This time it took seven, and we made it to the top only to find that a bear had gotten into Michael’s storage barrel. There wasn’t a whole lot of damage except that there was a ton of toilet paper strewn all over the place.
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We set up camp, ate the usual freezedried supper and went to bed. Not to sleep, but to bed. For some reason I couldn’t fall asleep – not even close. Thank heavens that the actual sheep hunting isn’t difficult at all and I made it through the next day on the typical sheep hunter’s diet of instant oatmeal, chocolate granola bars, trail mix and Mountain House®. Speaking of instant oatmeal, on the plane I’d read a tip in a hunting magazine to never eat oatmeal every day on a sheep hunt because you won’t be able to eat it again for a year (like that’s going to happen!). But the tip was spot on. I can’t even look at a box of oatmeal anymore, even though I would enhance my breakfast each day by crushing some nuts from my trail mix with a rock, caveman style, and add it to the tasteless mush. It didn’t help much. For the most part, the hunting was uneventful. We spotted a few animals way, way, off in the distance and basically entertained ourselves by watching mountain goats and a sow with cubs. We even stalked within 50 yards of a band of ewes with their lambs. The days started to wind down, as did the food, and because this was a combo sheep/bear hunt, we decided to pack up and climb/fall down Mt. Ibuprofen, back into the river bottom and hunt bears. But first we had to stop at the storage barrel to offload the stove, etc. and clean up the ticker-tape parade of toilet paper that the bear had left us. While Michael tended to the supplies, I picked up bear litter. Finishing first, I decided to look back at the landscape forlornly as this would be the last time that I would ever see this part of the world. There was one section in particular that we had glassed first thing every day. It was near our tents and a huge horseshoe-shaped area that really looked like a commercial gravel bank operation. A creek ran down the middle of it, creating small patches of lush grass that the sheep liked to graze. Every day we had glassed this half oval for sheep, and every day there hadn’t been a single
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sheep in there. This had happened on both hunts. No sheep in there, ever. We had looked in there so often and for so long that I had the place memorized in my head. As I looked back in there with my naked eyes this time though, some two miles distant, I thought something looked different. There were some white dots that I didn’t remember ever seeing before. “Michael,” I said, “what are those six white dots on the back wall?” He wasn’t quite done packing up but when he finished he looked through his binoculars and said, “It looks like sheep.” Quickly he set up the spotting scope. “They’re rams,” he said with a higher level of excitement, “and a few of them look legal!” We still had plenty of daylight and (barely) one more day of food, so we offloaded our packs and made a plan. Michael thought that the rams would continue to feed down to some of the grassy spots along the creek at the bottom of the gravel pit. The thinking was that if we could get between them and their supper, then we might have a good chance of getting a ram. That is, of course, if the wind was right and they didn’t see us sneaking into place. After two hours of stalking up, over and around various forms of rock and dirt, we were finally as far as we could go. We were exactly where we wanted to be with the grass behind us and the rams in front of us, about 700 yards away. But the wind wasn’t great, blowing in all four directions, and by this point it was drizzling. With a 500-yard maximum range for me and my 06, we couldn’t do anything else except wait. We watched them through the spotting scope for over an hour. The most distant ram was heavily broomed, two were borderline, two were dinks but the closest one was very long. Its horns were three to four inches above the bridge of its nose. That was the ram we had in the spotting scope and the image I can’t get out of my head. The rain made its horns glisten as it sat there chewing its cud. Slowly it would
He wasn’t quite done packing up but when he finished he looked through his binoculars and said, “It looks like sheep.”
MOUNTAIN HUNTER - WINTER 2019 |
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turn its wide head with a huge roman nose from side to side. Its body, looking like it was built from blocks of granite, firmly planted on the steep embankment. So close, yet so far. For over an hour we watched as the sheep would get up and then lay back down, but they wouldn’t commit to getting any closer to us. Finally, the heavily broomed ram rose and started up the gravel slide away from us. Slowly but surely the rest of the rams followed their alpha and, as Jack O’Connor once said, “The sheep walked out of the canyon, and out of this story.” We hunted the next day in gale-force winds, never seeing another animal. The following morning, splitting a breakfast of Ramen noodles (it was actually a treat), we packed up for good and headed down Mt. Ibuprofen. On the way out, we had to stop one more time at the storage barrel to drop off the stove and such. While we were there, I took one last look at the horseshoe-shaped gravel bank that just a few days before held one of my rams and kept my dream alive, but there were no new white dots decorating it today. Just gravel. Like the gravel that was in my throat as I swallowed hard once more and headed out of sheep country. My sheep hunting career was over. We had two more full days to hunt and after hitting base camp, we cruised for miles on an abandoned railbed, glassing until our eyeballs fell out, trying to find a decent bear in the valleys foraging on berries. We saw a couple of bears, but nothing large enough to shoot or close enough to get on in a timely manner. On the last night, we had to time our bear trolling so that we would end up near camp at last light. Fortunately, this last basin is also Michael’s best basin to see bears. But not on this night though. I scoured very nook and cranny there, a couple of times, hoping to get one last look at a bear, but it was to no avail. My bear hunt was over too. Then that awful, empty feeling started to kick in. The sensation that a hunter gets after a long, strenuous trip comes up zero. Not that it’s anyone’s fault or that I’d had an opportunity and hadn’t capitalized
EDITOR’S NOTE: You can reach Lonesome Mountain Outfitters Ltd. at 1-866-878-5746 or at www.lonesomemountainoutfitters.ca
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on it. By all accounts, I had been on this hunt since May 1st, and I hadn’t taken a single animal. And it just hurt. It’s a selfish feeling of self-pity and I really didn’t have anything to feel badly about. It was a long night in base camp even though we celebrated the success of John and Kevin Dooley, who had taken a fine billy. I was hurting inside. It was an even longer, quieter, ride back to the motel in Smithers. Fortunately, again I had the Dooleys to keep me company at dinner. Sitting in the motel room the night before my long flights home I was of the mindset that I couldn’t possibly climb up Mt. Ibuprofen again. I had told Michael a few times that this was my last sheep hunt and besides, even if I wanted to rebook, Michael was already booked until 2020. I’d be 65 by then and probably not in as good of health either. My body wouldn’t be able to take the training required to get into sheep country, or the pounding and lack of nutrition on the hunt itself. I called an old friend who hunts all over the world and who is eight years older than I am to discuss my plight as misery loves company. He’s not much for words and after I was done crying on his shoulder he simply said two words: “Book it.” Jack O’Connor also once said, “Sheep hunting is a young man’s game, so what am I doing booking a hunt at 65?” I took my friend’s advice and am following in Mr. O’Connor’s footsteps (kind of anyways) and I booked the hunt for 2020. It looks like I’m going to get one more look after all.
Goat Hunters John & Kevin Dooley
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Elk, Black Bear, Mule Deer, Whitetail, Shiras Moose, Mountain Goat, Cougar, Bobcat, Lynx, Wolf, and Family Recreational Trips.
• • • • • • • • • •
4-6 steaks (any wild meat) 1 cup bread crumbs ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese 2 eggs 2 tbsp water ½ tsp salt ¼ tsp pepper 1 - 14 oz can Hunts Italian Tomato Sauce 1½ lb grated mozzarella cheese Oil for frying
Tom Kotlarz OUTFITTER/OWNER
250-464-9565 silentmtn@gmail.com
www.silentmountain.ca
Pound steaks thin as for cutlets and cut into serving size pieces. Combine bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. Mix eggs, water, salt and pepper together. Dip steaks in egg mixture, then dredge in crumb mixture. Brown in medium hot fat (bacon grease is good). Pour approximately ¼ cup water in a 8x11” or 9x13” pan. Place steaks in pan, one layer only. Use another pan if needed. Pour Hunts Italian tomato sauce mixed with ½ cup of water over steaks. Cover pan with foil and bake in 275° - 300°F oven for 1-1/2 to 2 hours, or until steaks are fork tender. Uncover and add mozzarella cheese. Bake until cheese melts. Serve with spaghetti. If using two pans, more Hunts Italian sauce may be needed.
Ellie Wiens
More recipes are available in our 50th Anniversary Cookbook. Email info@goabc.org or call (604) 541-6332 to purchase your own copy for $25 +shipping & handling.
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A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE Michael Sabbeth is a lawyer, author & consultant in Denver, Colorado. See his book The Good, The Bad & The Difference: How to Talk with Children About Values. Available at Amazon.com http://tinyurl.com/c5flmmu Now available as a Kindle EBook.
Fun Can Insure Hunting’s Future In the hunting world these days, the most promoted combination of letters and a number is the “3Rs,” which stands for the recruitment, retention and reactivation of hunters. The Council for the Advancement of Hunting and the Shooting Sports and the National Shooting Sports Foundation hosted an intensive symposium on the 3Rs this past May in Lincoln, Nebraska. The overarching message of the symposium, which pervaded the atmosphere like a dark cloud, was, to be blunt: hunting will cease to be a viable activity in the near term if new hunters are not recruited, retained and reactivated. The data on hunting’s future is disturbing. In the United States, total wildlife restoration revenue generated from the sale of firearms and archery equipment decreased 22 percent in 2018 from the comparable period in 2017. Game management, habitat reclamation, law enforcement and education programs, among other activities, are increasingly vulnerable to financial diminution. Despite all this, hope exists for recruiting new hunters and for reversing or at least stanching the loss of hunters. One basis for such hope is delightful: make hunting fun for new hunters. I have interviewed dozens of hunter education students and young hunters. The thread that unites them all is that hunting is fun. Well, so is eating ice cream! Thus, the intriguing question to be answered is, “What does ‘fun’ mean to these youngsters?” Understanding what fun means to them may likely result in hunting’s survival. Let’s start with the obvious observation. Hunting can be fun if the experience is not physically tormenting. An elevenyear-old sitting in a duck blind or deer stand in sub-freezing temperatures is unlikely to hunt again. Likewise, giving a new hunter a firearm that produces punishing recoil will not be viewed as a happy experience desired to be repeated. Chris Willard, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife R3 Coordinator, said the hunting industry should be “customer obsessed.” The young customer wants to have fun. Many activities compete for the time and interest of
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youngsters. The hunting experience must be competitive with other options for spending time. A persuasive way to show youngsters that hunting is worth their time is to give examples of how hunting is in harmony with their existing values. They want to see wildlife; they want animals to be conserved. Hunting achieves those goals and thereby enriches their lives. The young hunter feels proud by becoming part of something larger than him or herself. Being outdoors, being physically active, getting away from the powerful gravitational forces of TVs and iPhones and social media to experience the soul-churning beauty of the wild are unique expressions of fun. Hunting requires discipline, planning, judgment and skill. Bringing those qualities together is fun. Being an ethical hunter is fun. These qualities build ethical character. That’s fun in the most significant sense of the concept. Engaging in a noble pursuit is fun. Appreciating the beauty of Nature as well as Nature’s whimsical brutality enriches one’s life and makes a person stronger. Being stronger is fun. Empowering young hunters to experience these aspects of fun is the best method for ensuring hunting’s future.
Northwest Big Game Outfitters
Black Bear • Moose • Sheep • Mountain Goat FREDDY DODGE
World Record
Muzzleloader Bull Moose
Jack Goodwin Box 344, Mile 5 Atlin Highway, Atlin, BC Canada V0W 1A0 Tel: (250) 651-7766 Email: nbgohunt@gmail.com • www.bcbiggamehunting.com MOUNTAIN HUNTER - WINTER 2019 |
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covertoutfitting.com