Newish Bc hunter, Backpack hunt Ideas

[SaintSix]

ok first a little about me, I was born and raised in BC but never got to do much hunting. Joined the army at 18 and got posted to Edmonton. Spent 10 years in Alberta, did lots of hunting there. Finally moved back to BC last year and want to look into doing some backpack hunts. Just looking for ideas where to go and what might have good odds on getting a tag(Limited entry) or even general tags for places that are harder to reach. Thanks in advance for any info

[Daybreak]

Welcome home. Without knowing what you plan to hunt it's hard to make suggestions. I'd start by getting well up to speed on the regs and studying last years LEH synopsis.

[two-feet]

Start with spring bear. Hike anywhere in the province for them.

[Brno22F]

study the regs carefully. You can hunt almost every species except Grizzly Bear without having to apply for a LEH draw. Somewhere in BC there will be a General Open Season (GOS) for anything other than GBear. Pick your poison and enjoy.

[BiG Boar]

study the regs carefully. You can hunt almost every species except Grizzly Bear without having to apply for a LEH draw. Somewhere in BC there will be a General Open Season (GOS) for anything other than GBear. Pick your poison and enjoy.

Also Rosies are on draw completely, and buffalo.

But yes, get familiar with our laws and LEH. Then start planning for GOS. Lots of things to hunt, pick a species first though, you can hike everywhere in the province.

[DawsonCreedmoor]

I suggest a mountain goat hunt, high odds of success and get to experience some true mountain hunting.

Give us some more info. Do you want to fly in? Where do you live, how far do you want to travel? how many days backpack hunt?

[SaintSix]

I have been catching up on the regs and making notes on what differs from the alberta ones. but most go hand in hand. I would like to hunt for something besides deer and black bear. I've shot plenty of them. something more like caribou, goat,sheep. I did try my luck with leh for Roosevelt elk but no luck :( I live on Vancouver island, but that doesn't make a difference to me. I'd go anywhere. As for how long of a hike and how many days, I don't really have a limit. I've spent weeks living out of my bag in the army. I guess the only factor would be food/resupply id say 2 weeks is definitely doable. Just did a google search and found the synopsis so I will have a look at that too. Mountain Goat would be definitely on my list, looks like a fun hunt and beautiful area from the pics I've seen. is there a WMU or area you can suggest that I could do some research on?

[SaintSix]

oh and I would prefer not to fly in, id rather drive my truck to a area and hike the rest. even if that's 50km+

[quadrakid]

Sheep hunting off the Alaska highway.

[swampthing]

Good on you for getting into backpacking. I was in my mid 30s before I got into it. I did lots of climb all day, shootem high, bone em out and carry them down type hunting. Once I got into the backpack thing it was like discovering a whole new hunting world. I recommend goat and mulie hunting as a start.

[goinghunting]

If you live on the island you dont have to go far to get in on some world class coastal goat hunting or some high country muledeer hunting.

[HarryToolips]

We're ya based at hotel Wainwright lol??? You still have your rucksack??? They work great for packin game out I find...send me a PM about goat, I might be able to help you with an area to start studying for GOS, as well as a decent area to apply for LEH...

[Squire]

I have been catching up on the regs and making notes on what differs from the alberta ones. but most go hand in hand. I would like to hunt for something besides deer and black bear. I've shot plenty of them. something more like caribou, goat,sheep. I did try my luck with leh for Roosevelt elk but no luck :( I live on Vancouver island, but that doesn't make a difference to me. I'd go anywhere. As for how long of a hike and how many days, I don't really have a limit. I've spent weeks living out of my bag in the army. I guess the only factor would be food/resupply id say 2 weeks is definitely doable. Just did a google search and found the synopsis so I will have a look at that too. Mountain Goat would be definitely on my list, looks like a fun hunt and beautiful area from the pics I've seen. is there a WMU or area you can suggest that I could do some research on?

I second the suggestion of a Deer/Goat combo hunt. Find an area with both and put in for the LEH for the goat. You don't have to have a 50 km and two week range to get away from the crowds into prime areas with abundant game. Find a pocket of alpine meadows within a half-day hike and do some preseason scouting. Four days is plenty in this scenario as you use up two packing in and out and you still have two dawn to dusk hunting days plus an afternoon and morning. You can go longer if you want or if you are in vast country but the more you pack in the more difficult it will be to pack out with your gear(food) and game. This is especially true if you connect early and you have to get going to avoid spoiling game.

The other consideration is a partner. You can pretty much double your range and time afield with another person. Splitting essential items like a tent, spotting scope, pack stove, propane/butane, cooking utensils etc instead of packing them all yourself is a significant advantage. You can go it alone but when it comes to splitting chores like setting up camp, building a fire and cooking dinner or field dressing and processing game the other set of hands can be invaluable.