chilco choate film

[xcaribooer]

http://digitalcollections.library.ubc.ca/cdm/singleitem/collection/westland/id/49/rec/50
Came across this old episode of " Westland" from 1974 that featured Ted "Chilco" Choate taking a camera crew into the Chilcotin plateau, it talks a lot about the loss of wildlife habitat due to the overgrazing that the gang ranch was famous for. If you have ever read choates books you will like this fi;m.

[huntcoop]

What a great film, couldn't have had a better morning coffee, thanx for posting :smile:

[xcaribooer]

here is a link to the ubc video library that has hours of similar viewing on land use topics in BC, better make another pot of coffee..
http://digitalcollections.library.ubc.ca/cdm/search/collection/westland/searchterm/mike%20halleran/order/title

[guest]

Incredibly enjoyable to watch .... thanks xbooer

[panhead]

Loved the book about his upbringing in South Surrey, can't remember what it is called but a great read. Had some neighbours that "taught him a lot about life." Loved the part about him selling half wild raccoons at the market ...

“A human being only requires a certain amount of income to live comfortably. The rest is just for showing off.”

[Hombre]

Unfriendly Neighbours.

[MRP]

I like the line. Don't much mater wich way you hold a scythe it don't cover much.

[avadad]

Thanks so much for posting this. My kids are going to love it. I had intended to watch only a few minutes but got sucked in and watched the whole thing!

[Rackem]

I just bought one of his books!

[xcaribooer]

his books are "Unfriendly neighbors", "the fire still burns" and "big feet and mouth to match"
I just re read unfriendly neighbors recently, man it sure gets you pissed off at how the Gang ranch use to operate and think they could do whatever they pleased with the rangeland and water usage.

[Jagermeister]

Mike Halleran (http://www.huntingbc.ca/cdm/search/collection/westland/searchterm/Mike%20Halleran/mode/exact)
Ted "Chilco" Choate - Hunting Guide (http://www.huntingbc.ca/cdm/search/collection/westland/searchterm/Ted%20%22Chilco%22%20Choate%20-%20Hunting%20Guide/mode/exact)
Harold Mitchell (http://www.huntingbc.ca/cdm/search/collection/westland/searchterm/Harold%20Mitchell/mode/exact)
Marty Beets (http://www.huntingbc.ca/cdm/search/collection/westland/searchterm/Marty%20Beets/mode/exact)

I had a few conversations in person and over the telephone with Chilco Choate. I was introduced to him by Harold Mitchell.
Harold and Marty were with the Fish & Wildlife Branch in Region Five. Harold, the biologist and Marty the technician at that time.
I knew Mike Halleran too. Westland was a great show and I thank you Xcaribooer for bringing it to our attention.

[Blair]

Thanks for posting that. I enjoyed seeing that country on two separate hunting trips in there on horseback. It's great to know that there are still places like that.

[Iltasyuko]

Thanks for the post. A blast from the past hearing that Westland intro music.

[two-feet]

Sweet vid. That Chilcotin country is hard to beat. Thanks for posting.

[ghost]

Great video, have been up there a couple of times a truely awesome area of the province.

[Sander]

I enjoyed the video,thanks for posting.

[frenchbar]

My son enjoying the view of the http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x158/05muleycrazy/P9100139.jpgsouth chilcotins.. My dad has visited those mountains every yr for the last 30 or so ..and ive been fortunate to have rode along with him on occasions ..it truely is spectacular country!

[frenchbar]

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x158/05muleycrazy/P9130186.jpg (http://s184.photobucket.com/user/05muleycrazy/media/P9130186.jpg.html)a few more of the area
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x158/05muleycrazy/P9090092.jpg (http://s184.photobucket.com/user/05muleycrazy/media/P9090092.jpg.html)
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x158/05muleycrazy/P9090111.jpg (http://s184.photobucket.com/user/05muleycrazy/media/P9090111.jpg.html)
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x158/05muleycrazy/P9100126.jpg (http://s184.photobucket.com/user/05muleycrazy/media/P9100126.jpg.html)

[frenchbar]

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x158/05muleycrazy/P9130189.jpg (http://s184.photobucket.com/user/05muleycrazy/media/P9130189.jpg.html)
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x158/05muleycrazy/P9100142.jpg (http://s184.photobucket.com/user/05muleycrazy/media/P9100142.jpg.html)http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x158/05muleycrazy/P9100134.jpg (http://s184.photobucket.com/user/05muleycrazy/media/P9100134.jpg.html)

[markomoose]

Pretty country.BCWF should produce a show like WESTLAND and show the general public what they are missing?

[Bear Chaser]

Nice pics Frenchbar.

I enjoyed the video too.

[dogger]

I'm envious of choate. What an incredible backyard to explore. That's what I call living right.:-D

[jonz]

Thanks for posting that.

[frenchbar]

i was talking to my dad today ..he watched the video ..and he called BS on the no game in all the miles they put on ..hell 10 yrs ago i would count a handfull of moose couple dozen deer in a couple days in a couple valleys. heck the day my son shot his 4 pt in 2008 ,there were 4 other bucks with him . they must of been staring at the trail ahead the whole trip lol

[Bugle M In]

Just sitting down to reading the book "unfriendly neighbors", that my father in law just handed me.
Looks like a good read, and since the thread is old, thought I would repost for others.

[mpotzold]

A few years ago Eve & I drove to Gaspard Lake & met Chilco. A friendly & a helpful guy. Him & Chris Kind would be more than welcome to our camp. Both these guys are great story tellers.
When it comes to hunting, outdoors, animal encounters they have seen it all.
Planning to go there this year & hopefully he's still there.

Just reached Gaspard Lake. The Gang cabin was rat infested.




http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo52/cariboo_2008/DSCN0353.jpg~original

[mpotzold]

Continued
Facing south Gaspard Lake
http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo52/cariboo_2008/DSCN0352.jpg~original

[mpotzold]

Continued
On to Chilco's cabin
http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo52/cariboo_2008/DSCN0354.jpg~original

[mpotzold]

Continued
Finally there
http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo52/cariboo_2008/DSCN0355.jpg~original

[mpotzold]

Gaspard Lake is to the left. Almost thought this was an elk he was so huge-even took a video.
http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo52/cariboo_2008/Deer3.jpg~original

[Busterpayton54]

Too bad Photobucket has aids. I have a bunch of pictures from my trip into hungry valley the summer before last. It was my first time beating the cattle in there. We took the old jeep trail from gaspard lake, over whales mountain in. We crossed a couple logging spurs that stem off the 2800 and 3100rd's.

The valley looks almost as if humans have never been there except the flake of hungry mountain have been logged.

Oir destination was the banks of big creek but mechanical issues issues with one truck prevented further progress, we spent the night and headed out.

The only sogn sign of game was a single moose track and plenty of wolf.

Plus the wolves that visited us in the night.

Back in the 90's I spent a few summer trips back there. It was the norm to look out the tent door and see a couple moose and a grizzly somewhere around the shores of the no name pothole lakes.

But this trip was different. Desolate other than the wolves.

Shortly after returning home I saw why. Zooming down on google earth, there is one single step in the zoom that reveals the logging.

From the valley bottom looking to the tree lined sides all looks pristine. But the tree line is little more than a hedge with everything beyond cut down.

Someone on here said it was to remove the beetle kill.

I hope the returning begetation brings the animals back.

[Busterpayton54]

An elk hey! In one of chilcos books he mentioned there had been elk there but there hadn't been any for years prior to his arrival in the 60's.

He he is still at gaspard as we sit here at home. I have him on my Facebook. He updates once a week or so. Apparently this winter is one of the harshnest, comparable to one of the bad ones in the 60's when he was snowed in for 5 months. He says this year is looking like that's a possibility again.

[Eva_Hunts]

I love this! Legends! Thanks for sharing

[Jagermeister]

An elk hey! In one of chilcos books he mentioned there had been elk there but there hadn't been any for years prior to his arrival in the 60's.

He he is still at gaspard as we sit here at home. I have him on my Facebook. He updates once a week or so. Apparently this winter is one of the harshnest, comparable to one of the bad ones in the 60's when he was snowed in for 5 months. He says this year is looking like that's a possibility again.
I’m not sure but it probably was Chilco that found remanents of elk horn in the Gaspard/Churn Creek area and took it to Harold Mitchell. Harold sent it for testing and determined by carbon dating that it was from the early 1800s. This more or less coincided with volcanic eruptions of that epoch which had spawned a couple of years with no summers. Some emaciated Carriers showed up in Gitskin territory about this time and the Gitskin, feeling sorry for them told the Carrier they could stay where they were providing they never made war at the Gitskin. This is Moricetown canyon. The latter story was related to me by a Gitskin, the first part was told to me by Harold.
Harold, Chilco and others wanted to reintroduce elk and a proposal was presented. There were 147 submissions in favour, seven opposed. The seven prevailed with the help of the MLA , Alex Fraser.
There was a small herd of elk in the Skelton Valley area N/E of Williams Lake but the population was stagnant.
Funny thing though, elk started to appear in several different locations around Quesnel not too many years later.

[Drillbit]

BS'ed with Kesler, a cowboy that lives there the other day. Great stories!!

[Bugle M In]

Tanks Mpotzold for the pictures!!!
Sure helps when reading to have those photos to get the "lay of the land".
Yes, Chilco found the elk antlers.

[Bugle M In]

Too bad Photobucket has aids. I have a bunch of pictures from my trip into hungry valley the summer before last. It was my first time beating the cattle in there. We took the old jeep trail from gaspard lake, over whales mountain in. We crossed a couple logging spurs that stem off the 2800 and 3100rd's.

The valley looks almost as if humans have never been there except the flake of hungry mountain have been logged.

Oir destination was the banks of big creek but mechanical issues issues with one truck prevented further progress, we spent the night and headed out.

The only sogn sign of game was a single moose track and plenty of wolf.

Plus the wolves that visited us in the night.

Back in the 90's I spent a few summer trips back there. It was the norm to look out the tent door and see a couple moose and a grizzly somewhere around the shores of the no name pothole lakes.

But this trip was different. Desolate other than the wolves.

Shortly after returning home I saw why. Zooming down on google earth, there is one single step in the zoom that reveals the logging.

From the valley bottom looking to the tree lined sides all looks pristine. But the tree line is little more than a hedge with everything beyond cut down.

Someone on here said it was to remove the beetle kill.

I hope the returning begetation brings the animals back.

Yuou bring up what I consider to be a big issue here in BC and possibly some of our wildlife issue.
Some logging is a good thing (lets face it, if it wasn't for logging, we wouldn't have some of the roads we have to see such places as you describe)
But that damn beetle kill has caused too much logging in an area...IMO.
(I don't blame the loggers, as they are just trying to recover wood before it is lost to the beetle).
But because of that beetle, we just have way too many areas that have really been hit hard, and the logging has also been vast.
I don't even recognize some of the areas where I hunt mulies on the plateau any longer...it's just one big cut block that goes for miles it seems in every direction...definitely a change from the past, and just cut blocks here and there.

[panhead]

I remember borrowing a copy of one of his books from gcreek and returning it a year later. Great read.
Miss his comments on here along with Bear Valley. How long are they in the doghouse? Anybody know?
Wonder if he got the last dog ...
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gcreek probably has a smile as broad as a herefords loin