Leaving for the Kettle Valley in a few days. Anybody been there lately?

[Sakofox]

Hey guys and gals, we're leaving for the Kettle at the end of the week. Would like to know if somebody as any indicator on the amount of deer in the area. I've never seen a grizzly in that valley throughout my hunting trips there but my brother in law said there's a fair amount. Is there a fair amount of grizzlies in that valley?

[CatsPreb]

Both Grizz and a really healthy amount of wolves. Personally wouldn't waste any time up the valley. Just what I've observed!

[boxhitch]

Haven't been there for a few years , but the deer was good and moose were improving. Figured on heading there later this week , with a side of Eureka Peak.

[Sofa King]

has to be grizz.
look how much closer it is to the koots.

[Looking_4_Jerky]

Saw a young griz barrel full tilt across the main road in front me just north of the Mohr Creek rec site about 10 years ago. No idea on numbers these days, but they are definitely there. I might have expected to see them in the higher elevations of Winnefred, Goatskin, etc, but I was certainly surprised to see it on the main Kettle FSR.

[Sakofox]

Thanks guys! The BC gov have a few maps and graphs about the griz population. It indicates that the Kettle/Granby drainage is basically decimated when it comes to grizzlies. I find that hard to believe and I'm trying to stay away from grizzly habitat since im a hardcore hiker when I hunt. Got my wall tent completely destroyed in the middle of the night a few years back so needless to say im not a big fan of those mammals. I also found a huge decrease of deer signs around griz habitat so I wont lose my time looking for deer if there isn't any left

[139grainsofhell]

Stopped going up there to many hunters on average 35 hunters per foot.

[416]

Was down the Kettle a couple of times so far this year and seen a few elk and lots of deer in the area l hunted.

[Fisher-Dude]

Deer count this spring was bang on average for the past 25 years. So, don't listen to the doom and gloom.

Saw a sow with two cubs about 5 years ago by Nevertouch. So they are there. Just be mindful of them, keep a clean camp, and you can enjoy your trip.

[steel_ram]

There is more hunters than deer up there, and there are a lot of deer.

[604redneck]

If u hike u will be fine and I wouldnt worry about grizzlies bud.

[GoatGuy]

don't worry about g bears in there, they aren't bad. It's the ones NE of there you have to worry about.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

More grizz to the north end of the valley. Coworker stopped going there as he kept running into grizz. Funny......not sure why he didn't like them at all as he looks like Grizzly Adams.

SSS

[.264winmag]

Hunted the kettle fsr from the north end last couple years, seen plenty of game in late aug/early sept but pretty desolate place for some reason in nov on the north end closer to hwy 6. All them deer/elk I seen earlier in the year have to be somewhere, nothing to see a couple dozen deer on a morning drive...

[PointMan]

My best suggestion is, take a VHF radio with you, not sure about now, but the last few times I was there that road was a freeway with logging trucks moving at breakneck speed.

[savagecanuck]

Camp in Valley bottom by the kettle river you'll be fine.I have never seen a grizzly there in 30 plus years of hunting the Christian Valley.Up high in the Grandby maybe.

[Liveforthehunt]

That is such a long valley don't listen to the negativity lots of deer and hunters up there just get off the road and u will find them ... A few Grizz around but they are in many places now that Used to have a very small population be alert and you will be just fine

[Looking_4_Jerky]

Hunted the kettle fsr from the north end last couple years, seen plenty of game in late aug/early sept but pretty desolate place for some reason in nov on the north end closer to hwy 6. All them deer/elk I seen earlier in the year have to be somewhere, nothing to see a couple dozen deer on a morning drive...

Everyone I know who has hunted the north end, including me plenty of times, have definitely noticed this. In fact, the deer seem to scram out of that country MUCH earlier than November. In my observations, more like late Sept to very early Oct. if you're talking north of Rendell at any real elevation out of the valley. The valley bottom will still hold a few whities up there, but the mulies and a good number of the whities will be further south or west at low elevations (Harris Cr, Westbridge, Cherryville).

Good luck and have fun.

[Sakofox]

Thanks guys!! What a great hunting community we have in BC. Its nice to see that hunters are having each others back in this part of the country. Cheers!! Pictures will follow my trip...

[CLoverdale]

I just returned from a week up the valley. I would say hunting is spotty. There weren't many people with game hanging but there is sign if you get off the road. As for grizzly I didn't see any sign. I hiked up to 7500 ft on Mt. Arthurs and never saw any sign of deer or bears. There was eight inches of snow so if there were any bucks there would have been tracks. I think your best bet is to look at the lower elevations. Walk back as far as you can or find an area to sit a stand.
The whole valley is being logged hard. I find it incredible how our government allows the rape of our forests. If you haven't been up the Christian Valley for a few years you will be shocked at the change. By the look of all the blocks marked out for cutting there is no end in sight.

[silvertipp]

came home a week ago There was lots of game ,get out of the truck and walk.You don't have to walk to far to run into deer,We had 5 guys and 9 deer,GOOD LUCK

[Redbird]

Spent 2 weeks up the kettle early in the season hunting and fishing. We saw 4 grizzly over the two weeks. Most I have ever seen in one trip up there, all within a 10 kilometer drive of our campsite. One sow and cub near Nevertouch, that apparently would even come down and swim in the lake across the narrows from the main campsite according to one of the regulars that fish there most of the summer. Cub was fat and round as could be.
My son saw a big grizz that wasn't so happy that he came so close to it's kill before he figured out it was there. Acted a little aggressive and bust down a small tree after tracking along below him for a 100 yards or so. It had 3 coyote doggin it hoping it would back off long enough for them to get a meal from his kill. It was probably more worried about them then my son. Saw one big silvertip up high. That was interesting, as it was about 50 yards down the road (and on the road) from where somebody in a Tracker had slept outdoors on his camp-cot the night before right up on top of a certain mountain. Makes a man glad he has a camper. Hope you at least saw if not shot the elk you were calling back and forth with up above the road whoever you are! If you heard a quad below it was me passing through near your Tracker to pick up my son who had cut across the upper valley past your truck and I was on the way up to pick him up as he walked back down. We had been hunting the other side and he decide to hoof it across being young and all. Something we wouldn't have done if we knew you were in there at the time. I picked him up and we slipped out as quiet as possible to let you go on with the game.

From talking to some locals up there, it seems that there are a lot more grizzly being seen at least up high. I never saw any down at the river bottom, but we saw about 4 black bear down there. Good year for birds. I think the grizz like hanging around where the elk bed for some reason. Makes hunting them interesting. :mrgreen:

Crazy amount of hunters on the weekends as per usual. I am sure that many did well up there during doe season. But like some of the locals, I would prefer to see it dropped as the wolves are pretty busy up there now, and between the two it is dropping the populations drastically. Some areas are pretty slim pickins compared to previous years. You can sure tell where the wolves have and have not been. We could hear them most nights where we were camped. I won't get into it lest the thread be hijacked by another topic.

Am with the previous poster. Got to get off your quad or out of your truck and walk if you want to see any numbers of deer. Especially if you want to see any decent bucks. They are vehicle and quad smart as so many people are road hunting up there. Slow down and take your time. Even sit for awhile.

Seems like the muley population up there has dropped. I guess that's why no under four this year in the area.

[Fisher-Dude]

Crazy amount of hunters on the weekends as per usual. I am sure that many did well up there during doe season. But like some of the locals, I would prefer to see it dropped as the wolves are pretty busy up there now, and between the two it is dropping the populations drastically. Some areas are pretty slim pickins compared to previous years.


There has been no drop whatsoever in the deer population.

The 2014 inventory count was bang on average. 905 deer counted, average count for 1995 - 2014 is 907 deer. You can't get any closer than that!

1995 - 919
1996 - 659
1997 - no count
1998 - 923
1999 - 917
2000 - 1,181
2001 - 1,195
2002 - 750
2003 - 1,094
2004 - 826
2005 - 787
2006 - 910
2007 - 846
2008 - 1,025
2009 - 759
2010 - 1,069
2011 - 745
2012 - 832
2013 - 898
2014 - 905


In fact, the count is up marginally since the introduction of the antlerless season.

Funny how following proper deer management plans by allowing antlerless harvest works, eh? ;)

[Sakofox]

Hey guys I'm back from my trip. It was filled in emotions and sightings of all kinds. I came across a kill site where a 2 points muley was freshly harvested by a pack of wolves/coyotes. I saw the deer laying on its side like a dog in a switchback. I sat there looking at it not knowing how many points it was but knowing it was a buck. After 5 minutes i realized the deer wasn't moving so i started to approach it. When i got close to it i saw its throat was mangle as hell and his backstraps were free of fur and skin but the meat wasn't really eaten yet. Thats when i knew it was as fresh of a kill can be. At that moment i heard movement in the steep grassy timber facing me. 2 dogs( looking like wolf but sounding like coyotes) were trotting downhill straight for me. I shot at one of em and missed. Chambered another one but they were gone. I then starting my down to my truck as calm as i could but needless to say my heart was pounding so hard i could barely hear anything.Thats when the barking started all around me. It followed me all the way down to my truck (1.5 km away)as i grabbed my phone and made a video that i can't upload cause I'm a dumbass. I,d like to hear what wolf/coyotes experts have to say so i can have a better idea of what happened there. I can send the video by email if anyone could help me id the barking/howling sounds. Is a coyote wolf hybrid even a thing!? Got a spike wt and saw the biggest 3 point muley ever. Overall a great trip minus the weird encounter that almost left me with dirty underwear ;)

[MB_Boy]

Get a photobucket account and upload it to there. You can then share it here.

Depending on how long your video is it will be a challenge to email due to the size of the file.

[Beaverhunter]

This may be a dumb question but how does harvesting antler less deer help the population grow?

[Daybreak]

It may reduce demand on available feed, allows those that survive winter to come through in the spring stronger and better prepared to drop their fawns. I've been told that bucks will run themselves absolutely ragged trying to breed every doe they can find and if the doe population is really high some bucks get so weak as not to make it through the winter. Don't quote me though, I'm not a wildlife biologist.

[Fred1]

This may be a dumb question but how does harvesting antler less deer help the population grow?

It kinda doesn't, but it doesnt hurt it either. Does are generally far more plentiful. It lets us have a some meat for the freezer - GOS - opportunity for the hunters. Whacking too many bucks could have an impact on number of does bred and could have an impact on populations (one buck might get as many as 20 does during the season) so unless all the bucks are shot the population should still grow to the carrying capacity of the land base... bla bla bla big topic! ;)

[Salty]

Sounds like a good trip Sako thanks for the posts. And on the grizz thing I'll add that I saw one not very far from where the K V road hits hwy 6 about 3 weeks ago so there's at least the odd one around the general area.

[Fisher-Dude]

Hey guys I'm back from my trip. It was filled in emotions and sightings of all kinds. I came across a kill site where a 2 points muley was freshly harvested by a pack of wolves/coyotes. I saw the deer laying on its side like a dog in a switchback. I sat there looking at it not knowing how many points it was but knowing it was a buck. After 5 minutes i realized the deer wasn't moving so i started to approach it. When i got close to it i saw its throat was mangle as hell and his backstraps were free of fur and skin but the meat wasn't really eaten yet. Thats when i knew it was as fresh of a kill can be. At that moment i heard movement in the steep grassy timber facing me. 2 dogs( looking like wolf but sounding like coyotes) were trotting downhill straight for me. I shot at one of em and missed. Chambered another one but they were gone. I then starting my down to my truck as calm as i could but needless to say my heart was pounding so hard i could barely hear anything.Thats when the barking started all around me. It followed me all the way down to my truck (1.5 km away)as i grabbed my phone and made a video that i can't upload cause I'm a dumbass. I,d like to hear what wolf/coyotes experts have to say so i can have a better idea of what happened there. I can send the video by email if anyone could help me id the barking/howling sounds. Is a coyote wolf hybrid even a thing!? Got a spike wt and saw the biggest 3 point muley ever. Overall a great trip minus the weird encounter that almost left me with dirty underwear ;)


Congrats on the successful harvest and also on a story you'll be able to tell the grandkids some day.

[Fisher-Dude]

It may reduce demand on available feed, allows those that survive winter to come through in the spring stronger and better prepared to drop their fawns. I've been told that bucks will run themselves absolutely ragged trying to breed every doe they can find and if the doe population is really high some bucks get so weak as not to make it through the winter. Don't quote me though, I'm not a wildlife biologist.


You've been doing some research. Good points!

A bunch of old dry does gobbling down the winter's feed really shit-kicks the fawns and yearlings, which are the most vulnerable to starvation, especially in harder winters. Harvest some does, get a good rate of recruitment, and your population does really well. Harvest across all age and sex classes gives the healthiest herd.

[hotstuff]

I used to enjoy that area, went from a pristine forest that was so pretty, then over the years it got logged, saw a lot of my favourite places cleared of trees, used to hike all the way to copper kettle lake and use the canoe up there to go out on the lake, loved hunting up there, got some nice whitetail there, usually camped on the right after crossing the bridge.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/partsman/Billy.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/partsman/media/Billy.jpg.html)

[Paulyman]

I used to do electrical work at the Rendell Creek Ranch.the rancher showed me a video that his son took not far from the ranch. The video shows his son in a tree stand bowhunting, a grizzly comes in right below his tree stand.he launches a rubber tipped arrow straight at the Grizzly nailing it in the ass sending it running like a freight train. To answer your question yes there are Grizzlies in there I have seen video footage of it.

[greybark]

Hey Paulyman , Byron showed me that video and it is exacly as you described it LOL .
Cheers....

PS: gonna be up there in a week or so .

[Paulyman]

Hey Paulyman , Byron showed me that video and it is exacly as you described it LOL .
Cheers....

PS: gonna be up there in a week or so .

Great video eh?

I used to hunt on the back of that farm until Byron moved away, the new rancher also allowed me to hunt there. I would love to go back there sometime.

[aggiehunter]

A bunch of old crusty does eatin the rest of the deer out of house and home does not make a biological target....figure it out boys......