604redneck
08-16-2014, 02:47 PM
I wasn't going to do a write up here about this. My mind was changed by someone I would like to think I can call a new friend.
First things first no animals were harvested and the pics will be posted once I get my lap top back.
This whole adventure started back at the end of last hunting season. A person I had met through guiding had mentioned sheep hunting and I was all in. Even never hunting sheep I felt that I would do fine seeing as I have guided and been on many sucessful goat hunts.
So leh comes out and both of us draw a sheep, then it's time for the fall draw and my partner draws the goat and I draw a caribou! We start our trip to the spatsizi on august 8th, we made it just past Smithers where we stopped for a 3 hour nap before continuing. First light we are off again and getting more excited with every kilometer travelled.
Just before ore reaching our destination we decide to stop and do some glassing. Within 2 minutes I spot a goat and we decide to go for a walk to try to reach it. At this point many crucial mistakes that I know never to make are made. The first mistake comes out of excitement and we don't fill our water bottles. The next comes a little later and becomes a game changer.
After 3+ hours of devils club and alders we break into the sub alpine very dehydrated. I made a decision at this point that we needed water before continuing on this ascent. A few minutes later I actually called it and said we are going down. This is where the next crucial mistake was made.
While walking down we heard what we later found to be a creek. We got closer to the creek not being able to see the ground through the alders and devils club. I took one last step and immediately dropped to the ground reaching for anything to grab. After stopping myself and my partner being beside me he knew that we wouldn't be able to go up and decided to slide down a near vertical wall to the creek 10+ ft below. Perfect he's ok! My turn, now I'm not sure what went wrong on my slide but I ended up twisting my body and breaking both hiking poles. Upon further inspection I realized I had a few minor cuts and my knee and back were slightly sore. We were able to find our way down the rest of the way safely.
The next day we flew into the lake to chase sheep. So we head out after we land and set up camp. We took empty packs with some snacks and optics. Early into the walk we spotted a goat so we started to get closer to it to get a better idea of size and sex. We got up to a creek cross in approximately 1kilometer from the goat where I decided the goat should live until the end of the hunt. Back to the lake we go to have dinner and get some rest.
As the evening progressed I spotted 5 ewes and lambs on a distant mountain. Thinking that's it for the night i start packing it in for the night when my partner says I got 3 rams in view. We watched them for awhile and made a plan for the next morning.
Sun up the next morning it's breakfast and then a long hike to the sheep hill. Within 15 minutes of this hike I knew something was wrong. My lower back on the side I jarred on the fall a few days earlier was in more pain then I have ever been in. I was able to fight thru the pain and take my pack off every 30 minutes or so. Well we made it to the alpine in about 5 hours.
After scouring the hills with binoculars and spotting scopes for hours we saw 10 lambs and ewes, no rams. After a nights sleep I woke up and knew it was over. We were within an hour of where we had spotted 2 potentially legal rams and I couldn't walk. The walk back to the lake was agonizing but was dwarfed by the disappointment of what had happened.
Pics to follow at some point
I would like to personally thank srupp for his tremendous help and knowledge! I would also like to thank digger dogger who let me pick his brain.
First things first no animals were harvested and the pics will be posted once I get my lap top back.
This whole adventure started back at the end of last hunting season. A person I had met through guiding had mentioned sheep hunting and I was all in. Even never hunting sheep I felt that I would do fine seeing as I have guided and been on many sucessful goat hunts.
So leh comes out and both of us draw a sheep, then it's time for the fall draw and my partner draws the goat and I draw a caribou! We start our trip to the spatsizi on august 8th, we made it just past Smithers where we stopped for a 3 hour nap before continuing. First light we are off again and getting more excited with every kilometer travelled.
Just before ore reaching our destination we decide to stop and do some glassing. Within 2 minutes I spot a goat and we decide to go for a walk to try to reach it. At this point many crucial mistakes that I know never to make are made. The first mistake comes out of excitement and we don't fill our water bottles. The next comes a little later and becomes a game changer.
After 3+ hours of devils club and alders we break into the sub alpine very dehydrated. I made a decision at this point that we needed water before continuing on this ascent. A few minutes later I actually called it and said we are going down. This is where the next crucial mistake was made.
While walking down we heard what we later found to be a creek. We got closer to the creek not being able to see the ground through the alders and devils club. I took one last step and immediately dropped to the ground reaching for anything to grab. After stopping myself and my partner being beside me he knew that we wouldn't be able to go up and decided to slide down a near vertical wall to the creek 10+ ft below. Perfect he's ok! My turn, now I'm not sure what went wrong on my slide but I ended up twisting my body and breaking both hiking poles. Upon further inspection I realized I had a few minor cuts and my knee and back were slightly sore. We were able to find our way down the rest of the way safely.
The next day we flew into the lake to chase sheep. So we head out after we land and set up camp. We took empty packs with some snacks and optics. Early into the walk we spotted a goat so we started to get closer to it to get a better idea of size and sex. We got up to a creek cross in approximately 1kilometer from the goat where I decided the goat should live until the end of the hunt. Back to the lake we go to have dinner and get some rest.
As the evening progressed I spotted 5 ewes and lambs on a distant mountain. Thinking that's it for the night i start packing it in for the night when my partner says I got 3 rams in view. We watched them for awhile and made a plan for the next morning.
Sun up the next morning it's breakfast and then a long hike to the sheep hill. Within 15 minutes of this hike I knew something was wrong. My lower back on the side I jarred on the fall a few days earlier was in more pain then I have ever been in. I was able to fight thru the pain and take my pack off every 30 minutes or so. Well we made it to the alpine in about 5 hours.
After scouring the hills with binoculars and spotting scopes for hours we saw 10 lambs and ewes, no rams. After a nights sleep I woke up and knew it was over. We were within an hour of where we had spotted 2 potentially legal rams and I couldn't walk. The walk back to the lake was agonizing but was dwarfed by the disappointment of what had happened.
Pics to follow at some point
I would like to personally thank srupp for his tremendous help and knowledge! I would also like to thank digger dogger who let me pick his brain.