Sikanni Airstrip 2 weeks.

[Rampager]

not the news I was hoping for sir, I was wondering how you two were doing…
hopefully you’re staying until the bitter end and have a shot at finding one if they get moving..

the reports from these hunts seem to get more and more depressing yearly.. clearly they need to adjust the bison zones or quit sending so many people up there to waste all their time and money.

it’s one thing if it’s a tough hunt it’s another if there’s no legal animals in the zone.

As much as we tried to not think negatively we had the same thought. The government document from a few years ago describing the change in regs rearranging the zones and adding the open season estimated the zone D population at 400 bison. Obviously this number will change throughout the year based on the herd's location at the time. Other stats were a 10-15% target harvest rate for 40-70 bison killed each year, 150-200 tags given out, for an approx 25-30% LEH winner harvest rate.

Again, I don't want to speak in absolutes saying there are no bison there right now but our experience does not align with the numbers the LEH hunt was based upon. It was tough driving up from Vancouver Island for the area to appear to be devoid of bison. I would feel more settled if there was at least fresh sign but we just couldn't connect, or we spotted them in the zone but too far from the road to pack out. Really anything at all would have been nice. We weren't looking for a gimmie (although that does happen sometimes with bison), we just wanted an actual hunt. I wonder what would happen if the end-of-year hunter survey shows 0-1 bison harvested?

I do hope hunters who see it through to the end are rewarded with a harvest opportunity. We just couldn't justify it.

[1prime]

YIKES!!! Not the news I was hoping for! Thanks guys for posting the info, I appreciate it. Sorry it didn’t go well for you, i sure as hell hope that our luck turns out to be a bit better. Going for two weeks and not seeing a bison will be absolutely brutal! How about elk?? Any around?

[1prime]

At least moose are open while we’re there.. would love to know where you saw them…

[moosinaround]

Weather is playing a HUGE role in where the critters are hanging out!! We did a moose hunt up north in 7-39, and the moose were still up high as is was very warm down low, and the bugs were actually bad!! As soon as the frost hit, the guys that stuck it out, found the moose!! Not much for snow up high, so why not stay up high, where it is cooler, and the food is easy pickings! The Bison will come down to the lower valley meadows, and will need a bit of snow and cooler weather to make thier move! Ive done that hunt in November, and it took a couple days to find the bison, but we had equipment issues, and -38 weather, so we bailed for warmer climates. If I was to do the bison hunt again, I'd stay at the outfitters, and I'd do the late season, dec-Jan hunt for them!! Moosin

[Rampager]

YIKES!!! Not the news I was hoping for! Thanks guys for posting the info, I appreciate it. Sorry it didn’t go well for you, i sure as hell hope that our luck turns out to be a bit better. Going for two weeks and not seeing a bison will be absolutely brutal! How about elk?? Any around?

We never saw any but other groups we talked to did, cows and small bulls. We let a few bugles rip when we were in the hills but never did hear anything back. Could very well be the odd 6pt bull still hanging around though!

[Rampager]

Weather is playing a HUGE role in where the critters are hanging out!! We did a moose hunt up north in 7-39, and the moose were still up high as is was very warm down low, and the bugs were actually bad!! As soon as the frost hit, the guys that stuck it out, found the moose!! Not much for snow up high, so why not stay up high, where it is cooler, and the food is easy pickings! The Bison will come down to the lower valley meadows, and will need a bit of snow and cooler weather to make thier move! Ive done that hunt in November, and it took a couple days to find the bison, but we had equipment issues, and -38 weather, so we bailed for warmer climates. If I was to do the bison hunt again, I'd stay at the outfitters, and I'd do the late season, dec-Jan hunt for them!! Moosin

Our experience was the bison is they aren't up high in the ridges/hills in the zone D LEH area (we know because we hiked to the top of a few of them, glassed all around, and saw zilch), I have the feeling they are deep in the mountains in the back of zone C right now.

But I totally agree with your thoughts. Vern said this is the 3rd year in the row this has happened. Next time I put in for this LEH I will also do the later season, I have also been successful previously in a late November hunt with a bison above Horse Camp.

[Rampager]

Wondering if anyone knows of anyone who harvested or even saw a bison so far this year?

[sed8ed]

We just got back... did a run up to Liard hot springs after the hunt to relax.

I know of 3 bison harvested, 2 from Zone C and one from the open area. One was by a guy who flew into Trimble lake, one by a group on horseback out of the halfway river side and the last one was taken out of Redfern but that one was just word of mouth at the gas station.

When we left, the elk were just starting to move south, missed connecting with a nice whitetail but there were lots of whitetail does and a few bucks starting to show up. Nothing really on the 156 side except tons and I mean TONS of grouse. Seen two great looking moose in the pink mountain area, one massive one right in the middle of the road that wouldn't move for a bit... never thought i'd see the day where i'd be shooing a 4x4 brow tine moose away during the rut.

[Coaster2]

Hello all,

Just returned from a 12 day adventure in the Sikanni valley. Camped at airstrip. Been in the area many times before but things were very different this time around. Hiking in shorts was new, basically no fresh bison sign was also new. Sadly, we came home empty handed this time. Only two small bulls were taken that we were aware of and no herded animals to be found in the area. And noooooo, we were not on the quads hoping for one to cross the road, our boot sole wear bars can prove it. Similar reports from the outfitter and the CO's we talked to said herd sizes have dropped dramatically over the past few years for unknown reasons. Oh well though, Its always a beautiful spot to hang out and we saw a fair amount of non legal animals. Also a few nice moose come out which when the bison were around was rumored to be rare to see. All in all I'd do it again though, its a great vacation spot! haha but for everyone giving it a shot be aware its a costly venture for no guarantee, but hey isn't all hunting that way? hahaha.

Anyway hopefully the Nov and later draws work out for the folks with those tags. They cant be gone forever....

[JMCFIRE]

We were up in zone D beyond the airstrip this year Oct 1-15. We saw the outfitter take one down by the river. We walked a ton of miles and climbed a bunch of hills. We couldn’t locate the herd again. Not a lot of sign. We did a few trips to get out back to the airstrip (that was an adventure) and didn’t see any fresh sign or animals. It’s a beautiful area, but not near as successful as the last time we had that draw.