Rhyno
12-08-2013, 10:14 AM
Well my first hunting season in the EK has coming to a close. I would like to think I put in a good effort and am pretty happy with the results. I know one thing, I learned a lot about the area! I wouldn’t dare add up all the days I spent chasing critters. I have hunted most of my life, but up until the last 5 years it has been primarily for birds. I have done fairly well on elk and blacktail’s with a moose thrown into the mix but this year I managed to harvest 3 “firsts” for me and one that I haven’t shot since I was 15. I will keep the summaries brief for the hunts I have already posted.
Spring Turkey
I had made 6 outings without so much as a gobble. I received a tip from a HBC member about a good spot, so I packed up the family the next weekend and set off for a turkey hunt/ camping trip. My number one turkey bud is my 5 year old daughter. She loves getting up in the “middle of the night” and grabbing a hot chocolate enroute to our hunting spot. The first evening we went for a hike, didn’t hear any birds but Hailey found a hen feather. I went out solo the next day, but once again my calls went unanswered. Since it was Mothers Day I didn’t want to stay out too long. I sat down to let out one last call and to my surprise a bird gobbled back! I set up and had the bird gobbling like crazy heading my direction. But he wouldn’t crest a hill that stood between us. All of a sudden a crow landed on a branch above my head and started cawing. Well that just lit the bird right up, he charged over the rise gobbling constantly. He stopped when he saw the deek, but didn’t get a chance to look long as my shot dropped him. I was happy with this jake as my first turkey. I was disappointed my daughter wasn’t there with me, but she was ecstatic to see the bird and helped me clean it.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/turkey11.jpg
Spring Bear (New Story)
Bear hunting is new to me, last year we focused on finding a bear for my wife. She was successful, but we didn’t want to shoot another until we knew the meat would be used. The bear pepp’s didn’t last long in the freezer so a bruin is on the hit list from now on! I headed out bear hunting with high hopes….surly it was a done deal, bear hunting is easy right? Was I ever wrong! Living in Terrace and before that the coast I would see bears every time I went out. After many many km on the truck and more hiking/glassing had produced one bear sighting. That bear was extremely spooky, I did eventually get a chance at him, but pasted as I could clearly see he was young, probably just booted away from momma.
I had been in contact with Rackmastr, who kindly agreed to take me to his go to spot. He failed to account for my bear hunting jinx, as we didn’t see a bear as we started to drive home. We rounded a corner and both saw the bear feeding on some grass. I got out and put the scope on him, Trev confirmed it was a boar and ranged him at 220 ish yards. The adrenaline spiked as my long awaited opportunity for my first bear had finally arrived. Bear fever set in as the cross hairs failed to settle. Trev was probably wondering what was taking so long, when I finally relaxed and squeezed the trigger. The bear did a bit of a stutter at the shot, but from the look of Trev’s face I could tell neither of us was too sure of the hit. But we weren’t left wondering long as the bear let out a death moan. We walked to where the bear was standing, but could not find a speck of blood. The bush was crazy thick, darkness found us scanning the ground for any sign of blood. We did a few loops through the bush, but still no sign. If it wasn’t for the death moan, I would have been starting to think that I missed. Trev went back to the truck and ranged me at 220, which should have been close to where the bear was standing. I marked the spot and pulled the truck up to use the high beams. An hour after the shot we were on our hands and knee when finally Trevor found a bone fragment. This was soon followed by a few drops of blood at the edge of the thick alders. We were just about to dive into them went we saw the bear tangled up, upside down. It took us over an hour to track him 10 yards!
Once we got him free I have no idea how there was no blood, as the double lung shot was a pass through and leaking like crazy! We put him onto the tailgate to find a nice grassy area for a photo op. Trev said he knew just the place around the corner. Well 15 minutes later, we were still seeking this spot that was “just around the corner”. Just as we were stopping I said imagine the bear fell off, as we only put him on the tailgate for a short trek. We walked around the back to find my bear had pulled a disappearing act for the second time that night. Turned around and bombed back down the road, only to find him at the first bump. A little dusty but no worse for wear. The bear is an average meat bear, 5’1/2” boar, but none these less I was pumped to have my first bear which was made into pepperonis and smokies. Those are all but gone, next year it will hopefully be 2 bears that find their way into the freezer!
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/bear118.jpg
Summer
I spent the summer camping every weekend with the family and scouting whenever I got the chance. My daughter is a great hiking buddy and often came to set and check the game cams. I think a boat is in order for next year, as I would like to take advantage of some lake fishing.
Elk
I hit the woods hard the first two weeks of the season. I had a few close encounters with some cows and spiker at 30 yards the first week, but no big guys. Chargerman and I spent 9 day doing an epic hike in hunt. We worked hard but the bulls just weren’t talking. We ended up with two chances, but were could never confirm it was a 6, never mind get a shot opportunity. From what I hear the first 2 weeks were kinda slow all around. I am going to give the elk a better effort next year!
Whities
I haven’t really hunting whitetail since moving from Ontario 14 or so years ago. Since my elk hunt failed to put meat in the freezer, I was hoping to take advantage of the doe season and also hoping to find my wife her first deer.
A buddy came over from the WK for doe opener. We drove to a spot I knew holds quite a few deer and set up the trailer for the weekend. We set out the first night for a drive of the area and were surprised how few deer there were compared to what I had seen a few weeks before. We rounded a corner when I spotted 6 or so deer. We had already decided Cary would be the first shooter, as this was going to be his only real opportunity for a hunt. The deer were almost gone by the time he was ready, the last doe made a mistake and paused to look back. The 30-06 barked, a short tracking job found the deer down, with a perfect shot. The next morning we started up the road, 100 yards in 2 does were making there way through a slash, we each dropped one…..thus concluding our hunt…..I know its not much of a story, but there was some fresh meat in the freezer.
With the mother in law watching the kiddies, the wife and I headed out the next weekend to find her a deer. The fog was thick and the sights even more sparse than the week before. We did a sit first thing in the morning and then went for a hike, but visibility was almost zero due to the fog. It was the last day of elk season and we got a little excited when we heard a bugle. He didn’t feel like talking so we moved on. It was getting on in the day to we decided to call it, but took the long way back to camp. 2 does materialized out of the fog. One perfectly broadside 40 yards away with the other 80 yards and quartering away. I focused on the closer animals as the youth sized 7mm-08 boomed. The deer did not even finch and took off running. The surprised me as she is deadly with that gun, a much better shooter than myself, and will take nothing but the perfect shot.
I heard a deer snorting like crazy and we took off after it as she was convinced of a hit. I was afraid that it was a marginal shot, so we followed the sound of the snorting deer. As we followed it further and further we decided to head back to square one. I quickly found the deer not 10yards from where it stood. I walked away and let my wife have the joy of tracking the deer and finding it herself. She was ecstatic that it was a quick clean kill and to have her first deer. Turns out she shot the far deer, which explains why the deer I was watching didn’t react to the shot. We cleaned the deer and found she took out the top of the heart, lungs, and liver!
Fast forward to November and we were chasing bucks! Sarah and I only managed to get out once together, a nice 3 point was in her sights, but just wouldn’t clear the thick bush. He evaded us, so she will have to wait until next season for her first buck.
I managed to get out the next weekend and dropped this basket racked 3x4, filling the freezer!
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/deer113.jpg
Goats
I have detailed my goat hunt in my “gong show goats” thread. I want to thank my Sherpa, Rackmastr, again for helping me pack my first goat off the mountain. Look forward to seeing how the mount turns out!
http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?100894-Gong-Show-Goats&highlight=gong+show
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/goat12.jpg
When I look back on the year I realize how lucky I was to spend so much time chasing critters. I have my fingers crossed for a cat hunt, and am already dreaming about spring bear and turkey. As my kids get older hunting is becoming more and more a family affair. Still trying to determine next year’s focus…elk, sheep…???
Spring Turkey
I had made 6 outings without so much as a gobble. I received a tip from a HBC member about a good spot, so I packed up the family the next weekend and set off for a turkey hunt/ camping trip. My number one turkey bud is my 5 year old daughter. She loves getting up in the “middle of the night” and grabbing a hot chocolate enroute to our hunting spot. The first evening we went for a hike, didn’t hear any birds but Hailey found a hen feather. I went out solo the next day, but once again my calls went unanswered. Since it was Mothers Day I didn’t want to stay out too long. I sat down to let out one last call and to my surprise a bird gobbled back! I set up and had the bird gobbling like crazy heading my direction. But he wouldn’t crest a hill that stood between us. All of a sudden a crow landed on a branch above my head and started cawing. Well that just lit the bird right up, he charged over the rise gobbling constantly. He stopped when he saw the deek, but didn’t get a chance to look long as my shot dropped him. I was happy with this jake as my first turkey. I was disappointed my daughter wasn’t there with me, but she was ecstatic to see the bird and helped me clean it.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/turkey11.jpg
Spring Bear (New Story)
Bear hunting is new to me, last year we focused on finding a bear for my wife. She was successful, but we didn’t want to shoot another until we knew the meat would be used. The bear pepp’s didn’t last long in the freezer so a bruin is on the hit list from now on! I headed out bear hunting with high hopes….surly it was a done deal, bear hunting is easy right? Was I ever wrong! Living in Terrace and before that the coast I would see bears every time I went out. After many many km on the truck and more hiking/glassing had produced one bear sighting. That bear was extremely spooky, I did eventually get a chance at him, but pasted as I could clearly see he was young, probably just booted away from momma.
I had been in contact with Rackmastr, who kindly agreed to take me to his go to spot. He failed to account for my bear hunting jinx, as we didn’t see a bear as we started to drive home. We rounded a corner and both saw the bear feeding on some grass. I got out and put the scope on him, Trev confirmed it was a boar and ranged him at 220 ish yards. The adrenaline spiked as my long awaited opportunity for my first bear had finally arrived. Bear fever set in as the cross hairs failed to settle. Trev was probably wondering what was taking so long, when I finally relaxed and squeezed the trigger. The bear did a bit of a stutter at the shot, but from the look of Trev’s face I could tell neither of us was too sure of the hit. But we weren’t left wondering long as the bear let out a death moan. We walked to where the bear was standing, but could not find a speck of blood. The bush was crazy thick, darkness found us scanning the ground for any sign of blood. We did a few loops through the bush, but still no sign. If it wasn’t for the death moan, I would have been starting to think that I missed. Trev went back to the truck and ranged me at 220, which should have been close to where the bear was standing. I marked the spot and pulled the truck up to use the high beams. An hour after the shot we were on our hands and knee when finally Trevor found a bone fragment. This was soon followed by a few drops of blood at the edge of the thick alders. We were just about to dive into them went we saw the bear tangled up, upside down. It took us over an hour to track him 10 yards!
Once we got him free I have no idea how there was no blood, as the double lung shot was a pass through and leaking like crazy! We put him onto the tailgate to find a nice grassy area for a photo op. Trev said he knew just the place around the corner. Well 15 minutes later, we were still seeking this spot that was “just around the corner”. Just as we were stopping I said imagine the bear fell off, as we only put him on the tailgate for a short trek. We walked around the back to find my bear had pulled a disappearing act for the second time that night. Turned around and bombed back down the road, only to find him at the first bump. A little dusty but no worse for wear. The bear is an average meat bear, 5’1/2” boar, but none these less I was pumped to have my first bear which was made into pepperonis and smokies. Those are all but gone, next year it will hopefully be 2 bears that find their way into the freezer!
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/bear118.jpg
Summer
I spent the summer camping every weekend with the family and scouting whenever I got the chance. My daughter is a great hiking buddy and often came to set and check the game cams. I think a boat is in order for next year, as I would like to take advantage of some lake fishing.
Elk
I hit the woods hard the first two weeks of the season. I had a few close encounters with some cows and spiker at 30 yards the first week, but no big guys. Chargerman and I spent 9 day doing an epic hike in hunt. We worked hard but the bulls just weren’t talking. We ended up with two chances, but were could never confirm it was a 6, never mind get a shot opportunity. From what I hear the first 2 weeks were kinda slow all around. I am going to give the elk a better effort next year!
Whities
I haven’t really hunting whitetail since moving from Ontario 14 or so years ago. Since my elk hunt failed to put meat in the freezer, I was hoping to take advantage of the doe season and also hoping to find my wife her first deer.
A buddy came over from the WK for doe opener. We drove to a spot I knew holds quite a few deer and set up the trailer for the weekend. We set out the first night for a drive of the area and were surprised how few deer there were compared to what I had seen a few weeks before. We rounded a corner when I spotted 6 or so deer. We had already decided Cary would be the first shooter, as this was going to be his only real opportunity for a hunt. The deer were almost gone by the time he was ready, the last doe made a mistake and paused to look back. The 30-06 barked, a short tracking job found the deer down, with a perfect shot. The next morning we started up the road, 100 yards in 2 does were making there way through a slash, we each dropped one…..thus concluding our hunt…..I know its not much of a story, but there was some fresh meat in the freezer.
With the mother in law watching the kiddies, the wife and I headed out the next weekend to find her a deer. The fog was thick and the sights even more sparse than the week before. We did a sit first thing in the morning and then went for a hike, but visibility was almost zero due to the fog. It was the last day of elk season and we got a little excited when we heard a bugle. He didn’t feel like talking so we moved on. It was getting on in the day to we decided to call it, but took the long way back to camp. 2 does materialized out of the fog. One perfectly broadside 40 yards away with the other 80 yards and quartering away. I focused on the closer animals as the youth sized 7mm-08 boomed. The deer did not even finch and took off running. The surprised me as she is deadly with that gun, a much better shooter than myself, and will take nothing but the perfect shot.
I heard a deer snorting like crazy and we took off after it as she was convinced of a hit. I was afraid that it was a marginal shot, so we followed the sound of the snorting deer. As we followed it further and further we decided to head back to square one. I quickly found the deer not 10yards from where it stood. I walked away and let my wife have the joy of tracking the deer and finding it herself. She was ecstatic that it was a quick clean kill and to have her first deer. Turns out she shot the far deer, which explains why the deer I was watching didn’t react to the shot. We cleaned the deer and found she took out the top of the heart, lungs, and liver!
Fast forward to November and we were chasing bucks! Sarah and I only managed to get out once together, a nice 3 point was in her sights, but just wouldn’t clear the thick bush. He evaded us, so she will have to wait until next season for her first buck.
I managed to get out the next weekend and dropped this basket racked 3x4, filling the freezer!
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/deer113.jpg
Goats
I have detailed my goat hunt in my “gong show goats” thread. I want to thank my Sherpa, Rackmastr, again for helping me pack my first goat off the mountain. Look forward to seeing how the mount turns out!
http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?100894-Gong-Show-Goats&highlight=gong+show
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/goat12.jpg
When I look back on the year I realize how lucky I was to spend so much time chasing critters. I have my fingers crossed for a cat hunt, and am already dreaming about spring bear and turkey. As my kids get older hunting is becoming more and more a family affair. Still trying to determine next year’s focus…elk, sheep…???