Air Drops

[Alfonz]

I wanted to hear others experiences trying air drops. I'm hoping to improve my skills.
This is what I have tried with mixed success. I have not taken out the elevator on my super cub yet!
5 gallon buckets with food like noodles, kraft caramels which punched through the noodles and a bunch of other things on impact! Beer and Pepsi(actually had a few survive), potato chips gatorade powder, stove fuel, bread. Sprayed the bucket blaze orange and tied on flagging tape. Ended up being able to spot them a mile away, no metal handles and burnt them when we headed for home(is there another way)?

Okay, lets have it!

[GoatGuy]

Pack 'em tight, slip it, drop em low and slow.

[boxhitch]

Add a parachute flair , for extra effect

[Stone Sheep Steve]

We ran into one a couple years ago. It was a screw top small barrel ....maybe 5 gallons or so and painted blaze orange. It was dropped on a large snow pack so it was quite visible. When we found it the lid had popped off. We emptied it and re packed it but one jar of liquid had broken. We thought it was oil or something like that but after a phone call to the owner a couple weekks later I found out it was bourbon. They also had a bunch of meals, a huge bag of almonds, many delicious homemade granola bars(at least they looked and smelled delicious lol) plus a bunch of other stuff. This was the middle point of an 11 day hike for the couple and they had more food than we had at the beginning of our 13 day trip.
The barrel had some old info so I can assume that they always packed it out with them....although it would have been a bit awkward.

SSS

[f350ps]

Hahaha......we thought it was oil but it was bourbon, nice try! :) K

[Alfonz]

Sounds like they were planning to be comfortable. You can definitely save some weight but you cant always plan on finding it intact.

Steve, did these folks have trouble finding it or did you just find it before them?

I have seen video's from Alaska where they are kicking rafts out of a 206 from 100ft into the moss.

Agree with packing tight and slipping or at least hanging full flaps and making a safe turn.

PS do not try the water drops! never had one end really well barrel cracks and every thing either sinks or is soaked.
Tall willows are good but usually want try and drop them somewhere around sheep camp and have not found a bunch of tall willows @ 5000- 6500.

[ryanb]

Never tried one myself but have heard of wrapping the barrel/bucket in duct tape to keep it from exploding if you hit something hard. Definitely avoid dropping anything vital.

[digger dogger]

Use blue brute water main pipe, it will not break.

[358mag]

Pack 'em tight, slip it, drop em low and slow.

Didn't think your 727 was set up for air drops, you got a permit from DOT ....:wink:

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Hahaha......we thought it was oil but it was bourbon, nice try! :) K

the liquid had leaked all over and it had been there for a few days. So, no, we never drank it. Lol


Sounds like they were planning to be comfortable. You can definitely save some weight but you cant always plan on finding it intact.

Steve, did these folks have trouble finding it or did you just find it before them?

I have seen video's from Alaska where they are kicking rafts out of a 206 from 100ft into the moss.

Agree with packing tight and slipping or at least hanging full flaps and making a safe turn.

PS do not try the water drops! never had one end really well barrel cracks and every thing either sinks or is soaked.
Tall willows are good but usually want try and drop them somewhere around sheep camp and have not found a bunch of tall willows @ 5000- 6500.

They saw that the barrel lid popped off when it hit the snow patch so they were pleasantly surprised when they found it all reassembled. We were there a day or two ahead of them. We actually saw them camping in the bottom of a pass waaaay below us but we left before they came to up to retrieve their goods. They had a phone number on the barrel so I called them a couple weeks later to see how they made out and we had an interesting chat.

[Ambush]

Depending on location it might be more efficient to drop your main camp and goods by helicopter.

Lawn chairs and beer on a sheep hunt! Life would be so sweet!!

[leadpillproductions]

I know in bc were not aloud to use helicopter to transport hunters or equipment for the purpose for hunting
Depending on location it might be more efficient to drop your main camp and goods by helicopter.

Lawn chairs and beer on a sheep hunt! Life would be so sweet!!

[Ambush]

I know in bc were not aloud to use helicopter to transport hunters or equipment for the purpose for hunting

You are not allowed to transport hunters or game by helicopter. Gear is allowed.

[boxhitch]

or while on a hunting expedition,Can be conscrewed to include support of a hunt

[Tuffcity]

are not allowed to transport hunters or game by helicopter. Gear is allowed.

You might want to revisit that idea...

BC Wildlife Act sec 27 (​commits an offense if a person)

(2)(b) uses a helicopter for the purposes of transporting hunters or game, or while on a hunting expedition,


Pretty sure transporting gear would fall under "hunting expedition".

RC

[Ambush]

Yep, I'm just a guy on the internet and nothing in it for me, so:

If you want to know for sure, just copy and paste the section into your e-mail to Stephen.MacIver@gov.bc.ca and ask your specific question. If the reply is not clear enough, be more specific and insistent on getting all the info you need to satisfy your concerns.

I have found that you will get your inquiries answered in a timely fashion, though sometimes you have to push a bit to narrow a definition to a "use-able" form.

Save your correspondence and print a copy if you feel you may need to educate someone that disagrees with you in the field.

There is, of course, "background" as to why the wording was changed from it's previous text.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

If they have changed the wording it's only fitting since GO's have been able fly in supplies for building cabins which are for supporting hunting and hunters.

[bridger]

Can be conscrewed to include support of a hunt

Hunting by helicopter case went to BC Supreme Court a few years ago and court ruled transportation is not hunting and therefore legal.

[bridger]

are not allowed to transport hunters or game by helicopter. Gear is allowed.

You might want to revisit that idea...

BC Wildlife Act sec 27 (​commits an offense if a person)

(2)(b) uses a helicopter for the purposes of transporting hunters or game, or while on a hunting expedition,


Pretty sure transporting gear would fall under "hunting expedition".

RC

is that a recent amendment.

[LBM]

Be careful it has caused a few planes to go down as well.

[GoatGuy]

If they have changed the wording it's only fitting since GO's have been able fly in supplies for building cabins which are for supporting hunting and hunters.

You could always apply for a permit to fly your camp in too......

oh wait no you can't

[boxhitch]

Hunting by helicopter case went to BC Supreme Court a few years ago and court ruled transportation is not hunting and therefore legal.Is that the case where the client was flown out for business at home ?

[Alfonz]

I have been thinking of taking a helicopter into a few areas and trying to clear out some cub strips. It's is a little expensive unless they are in the area or I can get a sponsor like Husqvarna or AK bush wheels to help cover costs:).
I think this is legal?

[Cordillera]

Be careful it has caused a few planes to go down as well.

One of the spookiest things I ever saw was a crashed beaver in the gataiga mountains that crashed when dropping gear for sheep hunters. Two hunters and a pilot died. Their bodies and rifles had been removed the week before I was there but everything else was there including the ABS tubes they had been dropping. The pilot had over 25000 hours.

[Alfonz]

That is concerning for sure! I have never attempted drops solo. A plane needs a pilot (Hooper drives the boat Chief!) someone else does the dropping.

[Tuffcity]

is that a recent amendment.

Bridger: that's the current wording in the Wildlife Act.

RC

[Hanrahan]

Be careful it has caused a few planes to go down as well.

My first thought too. Whatever you do, be careful. Especially if you're dropping at higher elevations in the rocks. Low and slow and turning at altitude combined with unpredictable winds can ruin your day right quick if you're not on the ball.

[Ambush]

Bridger: that's the current wording in the Wildlife Act.

The wording has changed, substantively, twice.

The last, I believe is to satisfy the judge that ruled a hunter isn't actually a hunter if he is in a helicopter,without a gun. Hence ..."or while on a hunting expedition.."

A prior change dropped the "..or gear used in the support of hunting". That one also was used as a road restriction to keep hunters from setting up camp in some areas.

[BCbillies]

Use blue brute water main pipe, it will not break.

Yup . . . very tough and likely to survive the rocks too. Would also be tough to burn later or pack out!


Never tried one myself but have heard of wrapping the barrel/bucket in duct tape to keep it from exploding if you hit something hard. Definitely avoid dropping anything vital.

Would recommend taping the whole bucket in any event. We had one 5 galloon bucket (screw on lid) with top and bottom of bucket taped hit the "soft" material and it opened up a little . . . 5 days later managed to retrieve half of the goods. Another bucket hit the rocks and it was a full explosion with nothing retrieved. Would recommend fully wrapping all contents with duct tape as well. It was disappointing to see the mice feasting on our peanut butter, chocalate bars, bagels, salt, etc but they sure were happy with the drop! ;)

[steel_ram]

Who picks up all the used tubing and other cache debris?

[BCbillies]

Options are to burn, bury or pack it. Some wankers leave a big fat mess out there. On our last sheep hunt we cleaned/burned up an old camp and what a friggin mess . . . 12 foot flames really helped to dry out the gear though!

[bridger]

Is that the case where the client was flown out for business at home ?

No hunter used a helicopter from Fort Nelson to fly into caribou spike camp and back out after the hunt. Didn't transport meat. That came out in a plane. Court ruled he wasn't actually hunting just being transported. The may have changed the wording in the regs since. Have been trying to find out n

[Ambush]

The hunter in the above post was also a part owner of the outfit and lived in Edmonton, if I remember right.

I believe the "..while on a hunting expedition" addendum is meant to cover the bases.

But the regulations no longer mention equipment meant to support hunting. Requested by and quietly granted to a particular party :?: :shock:

[ryanb]

Outfitters can also claim the camps are built to support fishing trips if there are nearby rivers or lakes. Use while hunting is only "incidental" to the reason the camps are flown in which is of course "fishing".