Spatsizi sheep access help needed

My greetings to sheep hunters. I got my Spatsizi sheep draw and looking for advice.
I plan to do fly in to Cold fish or Bug lake and try trail via Cullivan or Donahue to Ice box.
Plan to stop at Ice box camp or down south at Mc Donald. It is quite bit of hike. The East side is off limits due to Gladys eco reserve.
I would appreciate if anyone could point me at right access locations to range. Or is it pretty much glass from trail level and stalk ?
Also I guess this where other 109 LEH hunters going to be ? Did anyone got sheep on other side of lake at plateau or Black fox ?
Is Eaglenest range peaks or plateau accessible with horse ? Or better horses should stay at trail/camp level?
I know success rate are low but I still want to try my luck
any help or pointers are appreciated

Sneg

When are you going?

I've hiked but not hunted that area so take my words with some salt. First there is no road access this year (at least not yet) so not likely to be any residents on horses up the eagle nest trail That means people have to use the handful of lakes for access. It's always a little busy at cold fish in early August but people spread out fast. Once you are past Danihue pass you can spot sheep from the valley bottom. But it's a big area and Rams could be anywhere. Its a great area to hunt so have some fun.

Anyone have any ideas of what shape the road was in last fall. I guess time will tell what shape its in after spring run off.

Hopeful for some kind of access ....

Cheers, RR

Virtually nothing for road access u basically have to fly in

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Originally Posted by 604redneck

Virtually nothing for road access u basically have to fly in

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Confirm the road was not drive able last year past the klappan. Some people might have got past on quads. Not likely to get opened soon as the washout is bad.

Cordillera thanks for comments.
Yeah, it is actually posted on park website that Klappan road is washed out. I guess it will limit horse crowds.
I plan for Aug 1, so not to waste any hunting season.

I cant tell u about sheep around Coldfish, because i havent hunted sheep there, but i do know nobody will fly u into Bugg Lk.
I've heard the charter companies have an agreement with the outfitter. (Just hear say tho)

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Originally Posted by sneg

My greetings to sheep hunters. I got my Spatsizi sheep draw and looking for advice.
I plan to do fly in to Cold fish or Bug lake and try trail via Cullivan or Donahue to Ice box.
Plan to stop at Ice box camp or down south at Mc Donald. It is quite bit of hike. The East side is off limits due to Gladys eco reserve.
I would appreciate if anyone could point me at right access locations to range. Or is it pretty much glass from trail level and stalk ?
Also I guess this where other 109 LEH hunters going to be ? Did anyone got sheep on other side of lake at plateau or Black fox ?
Is Eaglenest range peaks or plateau accessible with horse ? Or better horses should stay at trail/camp level?
I know success rate are low but I still want to try my luck
any help or pointers are appreciated

Sneg

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Be glad to share any info that increases the resident harvest in the Spats! According to the guides and their buds we "don't hunt hard enough" ... so let's give 'em a run in 2015.

Anyone that has drawn a tag this year can pm me and I will be happy to share my knowledge. I think it is time for resident hunters to start helping each other out where we can ...especially given the attack on our common-property right to the wildlife resource that occurred on December 10, 2014!

I would also encourage other resident hunters with knowledge of the Spatsizi sheep hunt to do the same ... especially for first-time hunters who were lucky enough in the draw this year.

If you are looking for a topographical map of the area go here. http://www.maptown.com/canadiantopographical/104h.html I ordered mine and had it with in a week.

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Originally Posted by digger dogger

I cant tell u about sheep around Coldfish, because i havent hunted sheep there, but i do know nobody will fly u into Bugg Lk.
I've heard the charter companies have an agreement with the outfitter. (Just hear say tho)

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The outfitter is part owner of alpine lakes air so they may not encourage landings at bug lake. Cold fish is pretty much the same for access anyway. They are generally courteous to residents in general though. if you have to go to bug lake I'd suspect the pilots out of dease would take you there. Pm me for ideas on other lakes Seems like everyone heads to cartmel and cold fish. There are options.....

alpine air have send me their price list for various destinations. Bug lk is included.

StuBrown

thanks for sharing link

I don't know why you'd want to fly into bug Lake. It's only a short hike from coldfish where the bc parks camp is. There you have nice cabins, running water, cook facilities and hot showers...to look forward to when you get back to base camp.

probably cold fish where everybody else is going to start

Good thread and I hope to have a great time up there as well as I drew the same tag, we will likely head up for the August 15th opening of Caribou. Some of the areas mentioned here seem to be the popular areas to hit first. Does anyone know how long of a hike form Coldfish to Donahue pass with packs on? Is it an 8 hour or longer hike for a guy in average to better shape?
Is there sheep in the direction of Caribou mountain which is the opposite direction of the ecological reserve?

Danihue pass is around 4 hours from Cold Fish. My five year old son did it! We saw rams up on top west of the pass, but still in the eco reserve.

I will also be heading up to that area Mid-August, my buddy and myself got the draw. Very excited!

With everyone going mid August am I making a mistake heading in beginning of Sept?

i was in there last summer until sept 5th, weather was rough but doable, snow up high rain down low

Caribou is a tough go in there from coldfish

seen on internet bio research .. plateu is good place for caribou.

Huge area that now gets hit pretty hard because the high # of tags for sheep seems appealing :)

A lot of guys who flew in over the last few years made it 2 or 3 days and called the pilot to go out. 14 days + is ideal for a backpack hunt there. You have to be willing to push back a long ways if/when the sheep aren't where you hoped. There are some good rams but they're certainly not concentrated in the eaglenest range where most residents go.

I also don't get why guys want to go to Bug lake like it's some hotspot. If you really want to go to Bug, it's a half hour walk from Coldfish (where you can have a warm cabin with a stove to get back to and it's the same distance to the sheep ranges). Danihue pass is a cake walk, just over 2 hours from Coldfish if you hammer it. Beyond that point you're hunting. Cartmel is another option, but the old trails out of the lake haven't been cut out for probably 30+ years. You can't hop ridgelines and stay high to move through most of the eaglenest, most valleys are cliffed out except for one or two sheep trails though a high pass. You're almost always better off to follow the waterways down low and then climb when you have to. Very rugged in places, has cost me two pretty wicked knee injuries now :)

Probably the prettiest country anywhere in BC so it's worth the trip either way. The sheep hunting isn't what it's made out to be though. But good for a multi-species hunt if you get the tags.

Is there safe place to leave truck with gear at Tatoga lake ? I m considering to continue moose hunt with ATV at other location after this hunt.

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Originally Posted by sneg

Is there safe place to leave truck with gear at Tatoga lake ? I m considering to continue moose hunt with ATV at other location after this hunt.

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There is parking beside the float plane docks. No need to worry about your truck or gear there.

trekker

thanks for comments.

Thanks to all of you who have offered your advice on this thread. I too drew a tag this year :-D and am poring over maps as we speak deciding on a strategy for mid-August. Good luck to all!

Greetings to all hunters;
Has anybody hunted the Bucking Horse / lake Laslui areas for sheep? Is it possible to fly in to these areas?
I am also looking for somebody who would be interested in a joint hunt. I am an experienced hunter having hunted 4 of the Big 5 but new to BC hunting.

I sent you a PM re Bucking Horse

Looking at doing this hunt this year. How was your guys' success? Any pictures of rams/ other species down?

First timer here. Anyone with some knowledge stories good and bad , sheep and goat , you name it feel free to pass along would love to see some great pictures of the area. aug 1-oct 15th 2017 draw 620 A draw , and would like to help a guy out so my trip is memorable, I don't need to tag out to be considered a successful trip. please pm me or email cummings_t06@hotmail.com
thank you in advance.
TravisC

Hello, I'm new to the forums as a friend and I both drew Stone tags in Spatsizi.
Id love to pick your brain on which lakes would be smart to fly into. Somewhere that we hopefully wont see many other hunters whatsoever.
Buckinghorse lake seems to be a frontrunner option. Any advice is appreciated!

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Originally Posted by 40incher

Be glad to share any info that increases the resident harvest in the Spats! According to the guides and their buds we "don't hunt hard enough" ... so let's give 'em a run in 2015.

Anyone that has drawn a tag this year can pm me and I will be happy to share my knowledge. I think it is time for resident hunters to start helping each other out where we can ...especially given the attack on our common-property right to the wildlife resource that occurred on December 10, 2014!

I would also encourage other resident hunters with knowledge of the Spatsizi sheep hunt to do the same ... especially for first-time hunters who were lucky enough in the draw this year.

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Hello, I'm new to the forums as a friend and I both drew Stone tags in Spatsizi.
Id love to pick your brain on which lakes would be smart to fly into. Somewhere that we hopefully wont see many other hunters whatsoever.
Buckinghorse lake seems to be a frontrunner option. Any advice is appreciated!

I flew into buckinghorse lake in late july and saw good numbers of caribou, moose and goat on a fishing/hiking trip with friends. I was there for three days and hiked up the mountains on both sides of the lake but had limited time for glassing so cant really comment on sheep hunting in that area. I would never dream of going back there without tags. Hopefully someone can comment on whether or not there is sheep there.

I have not hunted but many years ago canoed the Spatsizi and hiked up to the mountains west and north of buckinghorse in early August and saw guides hunting. Therefore they were chasing sheep. I think the lake itself is the magic line between few or no sheep (south of the lake) and some sheep (north).

This is not definitive. Just my interpretation of several points of information.

How was the fishing at Buckinghorse and for what species were you after? Did you fly a boat in or fish from shore? Thinking about heading in the this summer but info seems to be limited. How was the terrain around the lake for hiking/camping? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

didnt realize this was from last year

Fishing in buckinghorse and the creek that flows out was excellent rainbow fishing. Mostly flyfishing and couldn't keep them off. Lost count after the first 20 minutes, biggest was about 2 pounds, lots of 1 pounders. There are probably big bull trout and rainbows but didn't get any and we didn't have a boat and did not get deep.

If you or anyone is out there keep your eyes open for anything fishy www.missinginspatsizi.com.

Cheers

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