rookie bc deer slam(extra meaty)

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Well things seem a little slow around here so i figured id post up my 2012 season.

I hunted hard but cut myself short in the end.It was an awsome year with great freinds and family and cant wait till the bears start waking up to start over again.

My first trip was opening day up the whipsaw with my dad we where looking for a six point bull elk with not much expectations but excited to get out.
We hiked hard all day for two days seeing some good fresh elk sign but no elk.On the second morning i bumped a deer in a section of thick blowdown up go the binos and i couldnt belive my eyes it was a pure white mulie doe. I watched fora while then moved around her to meet my dad at the top of the mountain.
Unfortunatley that was the only deer we saw in three days.
on day three we did a bit of driving and took some nice grouse to make the trip a total success.

This was the first time trying my pop up wall tent worked great but on a windy night you dont get much sleep thinking the works is going to blow away.

[Spy]

Keep it coming,

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My next trip was to the island hunting with my cousin it was late september.

I walked on the ferry packing light and got picked up in Nanaimo and off to lake cowichan.Neather of us had hunted there and we only had two nights three days to hunt so wanting some meat in the freezer i wasnt after a trophy.
The first evening we hiked up behind our camp quite high then it got dark alot quicker than we thought it would so we figured a short cut straight through some old growth was the way to go it was nasty pich dark thick with devil club every where at one point we discussed if we had gone to far down and past the camp so we side hilled and came out level with camp about 500 meters off thank god for head lamps.
Day two we head back up the same area and find an old grown over logging road that paralleled a nice dryed up creek we had stumbled on it and it didnt look like anyone had been up it in years.It was typical rain forest thick with solel devil club and tall cedars 100 yards in we heard some deer crash away in the thick but didnt see them .This happened every 400 yards as we slowly moved through the bush trying to be quiet.Then after about 2km up the over grown road I see a bucks head sticking out above the ferns and its got some antenas on it and they look long.At this point I should say me and my cousin never have luck together he comes out to my place for steel head we get skunked,I go to the island for steel head and we get skunked same with hunting.We give each other a hard time about running skunk charters.But i am determined to change our luck so i line up on the neck and take the shot.The deer drops and we high five.We walk up and there is a little bit of ground shrinkage but thats ok that is some tasty black tail.





So we drag it the three km back to camp and skin it hang it and wrap it in a cheap game bag by 9:00 am and get back out hunting.Its in the shade and there is a cool steady breeze so we figure ,no problem and head back out.
We hike two more spots wich takes us all day.One spot is full of elk sign and we here one crash off but no more sightings all day.
we get back into camp in the dark with good spirits ready to crack beers after a successful day but when i put my flash light on the deer im horified.

BLOWFLIES all over it and they have layed eggs righ through the cheap game bag.

So i through the deer on the table cut off as many eggs as i can and continue to bone it out the hole time thuroughly checking every little piece for any sign of eggs and put it in the cooler.We decide to break camp and head to his place to clean up the meat and get it in the fridge.We get to his house at 11:00 clean up the meat wrap it in towels and throw it in the fridge eat dinner and plan to wake up the next morning early to be in a new area for first light.

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So lessons learned and catastrophy averted.We wake up and head into our next spot and are hiking for first light.
Bushwacking for awhile brings us onto a deactivated forest service road that swich backs up and up and up after the first couple switch cks in the dark fog the visibility gets better and i spot a deer in some tall ferns my cousin cant see it but then hears it starting to move through the ferns so to my great amusment he runs up the road and staight into the thick ferns that are well over his head but he keeps charging like a sasquach in a china shop.I scoot up a bank to watch the doe move out of sight way down the bank and can help but giggle as my over excited cousin comes out covered in leaves and vines .
As we near the top of the mountain with a gain of 800 meters elevation my cousin says we are in the honey hole and he is right over the next two hours we see over 20 deer in different clearings and along tree lines.
So we have lunch and decide to head down a different way he hadnt been before and it pays off.We come around a corner and spot a groups of deer across a small ravine on a bluff of rocks.My cousin takes a knee and and i put up the bino.(Theres a buck) i say.(a spiker oh wait the one below is a fork)BOOM the deer drops.More high fives and we go to check out his deer.
The spiker stuck around looking at his fallen friend confused why he had bedded down for a nap but moves off as we get close.We gut the deer and srtap it to ihis badlands pack and start on the long steep hike down in the hot sun.


We get back to his house and i go through my deer meat one more time and pack it in ice in my pack and walk on the ferry with my antenas sticking out the top of my pack

[EGLPNT]

Thanks for sharing!

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My next trip was off to the kootneys with my with and kids and the grand parents my mom and dad.First stop was two days in creston at my uncles for a bit of hunting and a family thanks giving feast.We were hoping to get a turkey for the dinner but the only ones we saw where in peoples front yards.
On the first morning my uncle brought us to an area where we had explored a little last year and i had missed on a nice white tail buck.We hiked to the end of a forest service road and see fresh elk tracks every where than some steaming droppings then i notice these trees ripped to shreds still wet from under the bark so we space out a little and i start cow calling.All a sudden i hear movement 50 yards down the bank i look over at my uncle and point down the bank. He lays back against a stump and lights a smoke.Thanks uncle that helps.I call a bit more and hear the movement moving away down hill than I hear it the sound we live for a big elk bugle. I never saw it but my adrenaline was going.i sneek over to my dad and uncle and say "did you hear that "What" "that bugle" sure son i think your hearing things we better get going gotta get ready for dinner``well no point argueing with the elders so off to dinner with us.

Next morning me and my dad went back and had the elk bugling again but again we had plans to head to canal flats in the afternoon so our pursuit was cut short.
Off to canal flats.My dad has taken some huge mulies out of this area when i was a kid but we hadnt been back in quite awhile it was asome to recognize so much of the area evn thoughit had been 20 years.

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We hunted my dads old haunts as well as some new ones that were past on to me by some great guys on hbc.We saw tones of white tails about 15-20 does a day.My mom saw a nice buck walk near the campsite while me and dad were out.We saw 6 mule does in 6 days.But werent finding much for elk.So on the second to last evening we headed to a different area and after we bumped and followed a mule doe i noticed a stand of tall larch in the fairly open grass with christmas trees and decided i had to check it out.
We were loosing light and my dad was not keen on hiking back in the dark but i had to see.He tried to pull rank but i was determind `I have a gps and a flashlight see bak at the truck ``I said but he reluctantly followed .just as we snuck close to the larch we could smell the elk and my dad instantly became interested as we snuck closer i let out a couple light cow calls.Then i heard some thing ,it was the sound of large antlers moving through thick bush about 40 yards away i could see antler tips sticking out of thck scrub brush and moving away from us.Then he told us off letting out a huge hair raising bugle that left both of us standing there mouths wide open.I was to dark now to chase but i took two steps and picked up a sweet six point shed out of the grass.All together an awsome experience evn better being with my dad.


That evening my uncle told us of the huge grizzly with two large teen cubs he had seen not far from camp down the valley.He said the big one looked like a volkswagon van and was visibly spooked.Not 5 minutes later we hear a low deep growl well ive never seen a camp fire clear out so fast.The ladies were in the campers i grabbed the shot gun my uncle grabbed the spot light .And theres my dad still plucking away on the guitar.We didnt see anything.Im pretty sure it was a deisle truck starting up in the distance we`ll never realy know though.
On the last morning we loaded up my two boys and wife and looked for a white tail doe for the road and not far from camp my dad took one with the wife and kids present and i couldnt have been prouder my boys posing for my wife with thier grampa and not a flinchfrom everyone.My wife never exposed to the life style is a champ and after shooting the 22 i can tell she has the killer instinct.
The kootneys are beatifull definately gods country it was a family trip as much as a hunting trip with trips to the hot springs and family hikes every day.The last two days we lived in luxury at fairmont hot springs which scored some major points for me with the wife and rounded up an awsome holiday.
This was my second year hunting elk and i will admit i am hooked.

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I remember my mom freaking out when i was a kid going through this section with logging trucks forcing us off the road.

20 years later she still freaked out

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MY next trip was in late october to the clinton area with a few friends that i havent seen since highschool but hunting has brought us back together.
I planned 3 nights four days hunting with some old friends and i was pumped just to be out with these guys again we had been on all types of adventures together as teens camping,rafting,bungee jumping,dirt biking,and a bit of partying.Or more than a bit.But we all grew up got jobs got married had kids some divorced and after 10 years through the grape vine we found out we all hunted now and planned this trip.

On our way into camp we past by probably well over 100 deer all in farm feilds as well as a large band of sheep that we stopped to take pictures of.It was a great start to the trip.Even as we pulled into camp i spotted a spike buck and offered it to one of the guys who was just starting out but as it was the first day he passed and so did I.We showed up late the first evening and set camp then spent some good hours talking about the glory days there were alot of laughs and talking about it realy brought back the feelings of being young and care free again.(Helped not haven the wife and kids around to).
These guy all had quads but i dont and prefer being on foot any ways so the next day we all set out our separate ways with plans to meet up in the evening.I had done some home work and knew there where some nice ridges to walk not far from camp.I walked all day and saw at least a dozen does ut no bucks and headed back a little before last light as i cover lots of ground in the day.I was suprised to hear that between the other guys they had only seen 3 deer. so gave them a hard time that their quads were scaring every thing away.
Next day i did some more hiking and saw more does and decided to swing by camp in the afternoon for lunch.One of my buddies pulled up and told me about his morning and how he hadent seen anything so i pulled out the back roads maps and showed him how you can read the topography to help pick better spots to hunt.So we pick a spot and we jumped on his quad to get to the area.It was another ridge as we where on a huge platue.We didnt walk far from the quad when i spotted some deer feeding on grass then i noticed they where white tails.Ive heard white tail doe is some of the best eatin around and being the first in camp with a deer down would be cool to.So i took a rest on a branch and squeezed boom .The doe hunched up and went down.High fives.and even a chest bump.We where kickin it old school after all.
So heres another one of my learning experiences the deer was quartering away from me at about 150 yards so i decided to hit it a little back so it would pass through the vitals which it did but it also hit some guts wich made a huge stinken mess when gutting.I also tend to cough like an 80 year old smoker when i get an adrenaline rush so that coupled with the gut shot i was gaggin as i was guttin and my buudy was laughin his head off.We loaded the deer onto his quad and headed to camp.Well pulling in with the first deer down i felt like the champ there lots of pats on the backs and high fives and in no time we had it hung and skinned with lots of time for beers and bs