Yukon 2013 Guiding -

[325 wsm]

Thought I would save this until the off season.
It was another great year. Not everything worked out as planned as there are still a couple big rams out there my hunters didn't get a chance at.




http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq293/mountaindog68/DSCF2517_zps880ab555.jpg (http://s457.photobucket.com/user/mountaindog68/media/DSCF2517_zps880ab555.jpg.html)

Due to a couple of knee surgeries my first hunter wasn't able to chase the rams back into the further ranges. They spooked out of a draw a 1/2 mile ahead of us, with no clue we were there, and just got farther away every day.We relocated to another area, climbed the mountain and set up camp.

http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq293/mountaindog68/DSCF2563_zps0c577c13.jpg (http://s457.photobucket.com/user/mountaindog68/media/DSCF2563_zps0c577c13.jpg.html)

Next morning 3 rams were within a mile of the tent while we had breakfast and planned a stalk. As they walked across the hillside towards us in plain sight we did the same thing. We met 1000 yds from the tent with them 500yds from us… as they bedded down watching us we did the same thing. But with a rifle rested on a pack. Hunter dialled in the turrets for the 480 yd shot. Funny how a guy can hit 2 inches off at that range, kill the sheep with one shot, and still wonder why his shot was off by that much.
Any way we were totally happy with the ram . 36 by almost 14 inch bases. While I estimated this to be an 8 yr old ram it turns out it was only 6 so I hope he got a chance to spread his genes around a little.

http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq293/mountaindog68/DSCF2543_zpsdb6f7466.jpg (http://s457.photobucket.com/user/mountaindog68/media/DSCF2543_zpsdb6f7466.jpg.html)

more to come...

[325 wsm]

After a 1000 yd pack back to the tent it was lunch time. Not exactly a tough day as far as sheep hunting goes. The next morning was a leisurely 3 hour hike down the mountain with a 120 lb pack.

http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq293/mountaindog68/DSCF2568_zps11d179bb.jpg (http://s457.photobucket.com/user/mountaindog68/media/DSCF2568_zps11d179bb.jpg.html)

With a few days left in the hunt I was able to get back home to see the family and take the hunter out fishing with my son.

http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq293/mountaindog68/DSCF2575_zpsc3b9d683.jpg (http://s457.photobucket.com/user/mountaindog68/media/DSCF2575_zpsc3b9d683.jpg.html)

Hunt 2 was different.

We flew back into the same area I started the first hunt. I was guiding a Yukon resident in his mid twenties. While in the cabin packing up to go up the mountain in the morning he asked me why we needed so much food. I told him what we would be carrying up the mountain would only last 7 days max not the 10 days we had to hunt.
He told me he had to be back in town in 4 days. OOPS bit of lack of communication or I would have chosen a different area. Well turned out to be a nice eco-tour but when we found the rams they were still 10 air miles away and no time for us to get there and back.

http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq293/mountaindog68/DSCF2515_zps9e5e4c2d.jpg (http://s457.photobucket.com/user/mountaindog68/media/DSCF2515_zps9e5e4c2d.jpg.html)

Hunt #3 turned out to be the most challenging of all

[604redneck]

Great thread so far

[Spy]

Thanks for taking us along:-) & sharing, can't wait for the rest of it.

[325 wsm]

August 2013 was extremely hot and wet in the Kluane area.The 3rd hunt I was expecting a bowhunter. We had saved a special area for him with lots of rams. He and I would walk in from a lake while his father and another guide would come in from the other side of the mountain range with horses. As it turned out the rivers were to high to get the horses across. Plans changed and it would now be a 4 man 1 dog backpack hunt, all going in from the same location.

Its usually a 20 yd walk on dry ground to the cook shack …but not last year.
http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq293/mountaindog68/DSCF2617_zps2632377e.jpg (http://s457.photobucket.com/user/mountaindog68/media/DSCF2617_zps2632377e.jpg.html)

This father and son team were definitely not quitters. Ol Harley gave every bit of energy he had every day.
http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq293/mountaindog68/DSCF2655_zps81c8619e.jpg (http://s457.photobucket.com/user/mountaindog68/media/DSCF2655_zps81c8619e.jpg.html)

On day 1 we split up. Carl and Harley spent the day watching a nice group of rams but couldnt close the 1000 yd gap.
Rick and I sat on a ledge and watched some nice rams below us but not bow stalkable.
http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq293/mountaindog68/DSCF2642_zps867e0e5e.jpg (http://s457.photobucket.com/user/mountaindog68/media/DSCF2642_zps867e0e5e.jpg.html)

then the fog rolled in on us. It would have been easy enough to follow the ridge line back and down to the creek but some rams spotted earlier in the day behind us led me astray.
I don't use a gps but it would have saved us 5 hrs of wet willows and muskeg this time.

Next day is fogged in so we hang around camp and rest.

By now Rick is worrying about his father getting a ram and would like us all to hunt together and help his father. Nothing wrong with that idea so we decide to give it a try.
Waking up the next morning with rams in site is a bit of a relief but the location for stalking is not good.
Within a couple hundred yds of where we think the rams are a ewe pokes her head up and looks at us….busted?
after a discussion we head around the side hill waiting to bump into the rams around every ridge line, knowing that if something was going to happen it would be quick.
All of a sudden 30 or so sheep are in front of us 50 yds away. Ewes, lambs and rams all mixed up.

[BiG Boar]

Good thread so far! Keep it coming! More pics!

[325 wsm]

Somewhere in about a 3 second window Carl got Harley to safely shoot the biggest ram as they were all heading up and around the peak at an increasing speed.
While this would be the first successful sheep hunt for Harley it was # 100 for Carl.
http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq293/mountaindog68/DSCF2666_zps47274a3b.jpg (http://s457.photobucket.com/user/mountaindog68/media/DSCF2666_zps47274a3b.jpg.html)

The pack down the hill to camp wasn't bad .4 people and 1 dog for only 1 ram
http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq293/mountaindog68/DSCF2670_zpsabcd3dbb.jpg (http://s457.photobucket.com/user/mountaindog68/media/DSCF2670_zpsabcd3dbb.jpg.html)
http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq293/mountaindog68/DSCF2673_zps6ac480dd.jpg (http://s457.photobucket.com/user/mountaindog68/media/DSCF2673_zps6ac480dd.jpg.html)

Well the next day would turn out to be a good one but he didn't get his ram at 408 yds with an arrow. My a-bolt 325 was called up to the plate. The ram was bedded when he shot from a perfect rest and I told him to hold 6 inches over the rams back.
At the shot the ram got up and ran uphill 30 yds, I told him he missed and to shoot again but by then then the ram was running down hill and died about 2 steps later without another shot. First one was perfect.
http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq293/mountaindog68/DSCF2676_zps579c12dc.jpg (http://s457.photobucket.com/user/mountaindog68/media/DSCF2676_zps579c12dc.jpg.html)

This ram fooled me a bit when judging. I thought it would go 38 by 14. While the bases are close to 14 the length was only 36. Rick and I both estimated this ram to weigh at least 50 lbs less than his fathers.
Once again the pack back to camp was a simple affair. The next day going out with everything was a bit of a struggle though.
Done with the sheep….time for moose season.

[325 wsm]

For the first moose hunt I chose a little lake that has a cabin and we flew in an inflatable and 4hp kicker to get around the lake. I like this spot for several reasons other than just moose. Kind of a relaxing hunt walking up to a few lookouts and pocket lakes around the area. Picked about 30 lbs of cranberries between calling and glassing and reading novels on top of the lookouts. I think it was day 7 before a bull walked out to the lakeshore below us. While its definitely not the biggest moose in the world I triple checked with my Finish hunter if he would be happy with it. He shot it 3 times as it was going away from the lakeshore, it was down on all 4s and the damn thing got up and ran back into the waters edge before he reloaded and shot 2 more times.
a 50 inch bull
http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq293/mountaindog68/DSCF2699_zps67b3f142.jpg (http://s457.photobucket.com/user/mountaindog68/media/DSCF2699_zps67b3f142.jpg.html)

[markt308]

This is great so far! hope there's more

[pronghorn]

Great way to pass the off season.....thanks for posting

[WestCoastHunter]

Awesome thread! Hoping to become a guide myself and this gets me really excited for a world of adventure! If there is more I know me and many others would love to see it.

[Everett]

Thanks for saving this till the dead season now keep it coming.

[NorBC]

Great read keep em coming!!

[Mik]

Awesome scenery, great read.... Waiting for more

[d6dan]

Good thread Mike. Keep it rolling.:-D

[Moe.JKU]

Great thread so far, nice of you to take us on your ride. I got to get up there again.

[rifleman]

It's about time you started this thread... Keep the pictures & stories coming.. Sure is cool to see familiar country..... those lakes sure are calling for me to come and visit them again.....

[pescado]

Good read, thanks Mike.

[TARCHER]

Thanks eh. Being a guide sounds romantic. I say it would be a tough job for a bunch of reasons. I did some fishing charter work in Prince Rupert many years ago and hated watching the clients wind in all the fish, which is what I wanted to do every time. Hats off to you.

[WKCotts]

Awesome. Thanx for sharing

[Elkaholic]

Great thread so far, love the guide storeys when you guys get out of the bush!

[325 wsm]

Moose hunt 2 started by my hunter and I taking a jet boat 125 miles down river to 1 of the main camps. Every day we were seeing moose, even a few shooters, but nothing that gave us a clear shot. Finally on the 7th evening while coming back to camp we came across a good bull with a cow. They were in an oxbow slew about 75 yds off the river. I drove right past them and slowed the boat down over about a 100 yd distance, angled the boat and shut off the engine. As we drifted back by the slew the moose were still there presenting Don with a good shot. After Don shot the bull turned and ran into some heavy willows towards another finger of the slew. We had to fire up the boat, run it into the slew, around a sharp corner and up onto a sand bank, kill the engine and start shooting again. Don Seay my hunter who I guided the previous year and he didn't get a moose
( but he did get the big cave bear ) was back with a vengeance. In no time he had 2 more bullets in that bull. Now as it tries to get out of 8 ft of water Im telling him to wait until it gets up onto the grass. I swear as soon as 1 foot lifted out and touched a blade of grass that moose got hit again and was going over backward in the slew.

http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq293/mountaindog68/DSCF2738_zpse95186da.jpg (http://s457.photobucket.com/user/mountaindog68/media/DSCF2738_zpse95186da.jpg.html)
http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq293/mountaindog68/DSCF2739_zpsf257d449.jpg (http://s457.photobucket.com/user/mountaindog68/media/DSCF2739_zpsf257d449.jpg.html)

Don with his 60 inch moose. This hunt was a lot of fun.
http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq293/mountaindog68/DSCF2742_zps82ec20b8.jpg (http://s457.photobucket.com/user/mountaindog68/media/DSCF2742_zps82ec20b8.jpg.html)

As we headed down to meet the airplane with the moose meat, horns and cape the next day….. we came around a corner and there stood a bull moose so big... all I could say to Don was…..wow I bet your horns would fit inside the horns of that one.

1 more hunter to go

[bridger]

Nice bull! I guess when you are guiding a big bull in the water goes with the territory! LoL

[eric]

Thanks for taking us along Mike

Still like watching your dvd's

[yama49]

Awesome storys and pics, keep them coming..

[325 wsm]

Ivan was my last hunter of the season. As with Don I had guided Ivan the year before but he didn't get a damn thing. This was another redemption hunt. Once again Ivan was bow hunting and would use my 325 as back up.Telling him about the moose I had seen a few days earlier got him pumped. We went downriver from camp about a mile the first morning as daylight broke, parked the boat and climbed up to the lookout. It was a snowy foggy morning with only about a mile visibility over the muskeg flats. Within seconds of getting out the binos I spotted a cow 6 or 700 yds away. She slowly ambled into the edge of the timber she was near and didn't pay much attention to the moose calls I was throwing out. It was one of those mornings sound doesn't travel well. I took a couple steps over the rise to look down at the river and I could here a bull grunting and I could see a bull walking towards us down in the old river channel. i just couldn't get it to register in my brain that the great big bull was coming right in. The bull was about 250 yds away and we were about 100yds above it. As this was Ivans 3rd moose hunt he quickly opted to use my 325 and not his bow. He got set up on the nice little nob we were hiding behind and got ready for the shot. First shot tumbled the moose over backwards, it got up broadside and was immediately dropped again. High fives …throw gear in packs and run down hill to boat. Just before getting to boat moose gets up and all of a sudden we can't see him. Motor across river, Ivan jumps out and I try to pull up the boat as Ivan is running over to the edge of the willows to put 2 more into the moose at close range. High fives.
http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq293/mountaindog68/DSC03206_zpsf4764454.jpg (http://s457.photobucket.com/user/mountaindog68/media/DSC03206_zpsf4764454.jpg.html)

A 65 inch bull
http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq293/mountaindog68/DSCF2761_zps692f7a69.jpg (http://s457.photobucket.com/user/mountaindog68/media/DSCF2761_zps692f7a69.jpg.html)

I make it look even bigger in this photo.

http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq293/mountaindog68/DSCF2752_zpsdda1fd35.jpg (http://s457.photobucket.com/user/mountaindog68/media/DSCF2752_zpsdda1fd35.jpg.html)

Spent a few days trying for grizz and wolf but only saw a black bear.
End of season.

[325 wsm]

oops... above photo is of second moose heres the 3rd one
http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq293/mountaindog68/DSC03213_zps9d6366ee.jpg (http://s457.photobucket.com/user/mountaindog68/media/DSC03213_zps9d6366ee.jpg.html)

[Sitkaspruce]

Awesome!! Great season!!

Thanks for bringing us along.

Cheers

SS

[Dutch Ppoacher]

cool collection for the season! thx for sharing!

[Bighorn hunter]

Awesome stuff! Thanks for sharing:)

[kennyj]

Awesome season!! Thanks for sharing your adventures of 2013.
kenny

[Elkaholic]

Looks like a successful season to me. Thanks for taking us along for the ride!

[ydouask]

Now that was a real treat. What beautiful country ! Great post, thank you.

[craigo]

That is just super! Thanks so much for sharing this.

[warnniklz]

This thread has cured my anxiety of waiting for the spring grizzly leh's to come out...

[d6dan]

Good stuff Mike and huge moose. :-D Thanks for sharing your season.

[sheep.elk.moose fanatic]

Awesome pics and hell of good season!! Who where you guiding for?

[BChunter]

You provided excellent guiding and both are great rams. Any full curl, even a 6.5 years old is a good sheep head in my books. I have a stone the same age and size. Proves some grow well, good genetics and food in the right areas with healthy ewes and udder-milk! You made two clients very happy! I would sacrifice a lot to get either ram and unfortunately may never get a dall! I'm not finished hunting BC stones however, and will be in the alpine this fall again with a little luck. I will still take any legal ram though have my heart set on a broomed stone. My partners including my son have always agreed and honored who gets first crack at the first legal ram. So far, we have all shared success and its a pleasure to see someone get their first pair of horns! We all take credit for each ram!

[Moose Guide]

I was a little surprised to see Carl, the other sheep guide, as I went to high school with him! Great thread.

[jimzuk]

Awsome read thanks for posting it

[The Yukon Kid]

Awesome Thread Mike, Looks like you had a great season, Nice to see Carl in there and that he guided his 100th sheep. Did he end up getting on for himself yet? I've been lucky enough to pack/wrangle for both Mike and Carl and these guys are both great guides with tones of experience! Keep up the good work!