longwalk
03-02-2016, 10:35 PM
Being the slow time of year I decided to dredge up a story from a couple of years ago. BigBuckKiller and I decided to head out to his top secret honey hole up Harris Creek. Getting a late afternoon start after work I made my first stop in Chilliwack to pick up BBK and his mother in law whom we had to drop off in Kelowna on our way through to Lumby. It was well past dark once we got into Kelowna, but undaunted we pushed through to Harris creek. and began searching for the perfect spot to set up camp, did I mention it was close to midnight? Then the rain started. An executive decision was made to keep the cuddling to a minimum and sleep in the truck for the remainder of the night and find a campsite in the daylight.
http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah230/lbaiton2/IMG_0637_zpsslxpphlh.jpg (http://s1381.photobucket.com/user/lbaiton2/media/IMG_0637_zpsslxpphlh.jpg.html)
Day broke and we dropped a quad and found the perfect spot to camp for the next ten days. BBK once again displayed his skill at setting up camp while I supervised. The next day we were full of hope and piss and vinegar, we pored over the maps and picked our spots to start scouting. First couple of days were slow, not seeing anything other than does, but we still felt confident. The next couple of days were identical to the first two. Nothing but the occasional doe. didn't matter if we burned boot leather or gas. No deer.
http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah230/lbaiton2/IMG_0660_zpstgrljhve.jpg (http://s1381.photobucket.com/user/lbaiton2/media/IMG_0660_zpstgrljhve.jpg.html)
One day while hiking in the Graystokes plateau I came across this pile of Grizzly bear shit.It dwarfed my size twelve boot, my 270 whizzum wilted to the size of a Red Rider BB gun in front of my own eyes. Looking around I spied many other piles, many loaded with deer hair and many stumps torn apart. Discretion being the better part of valour I left the area.
http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah230/lbaiton2/IMG_0698_zpsknexg9ua.jpg (http://s1381.photobucket.com/user/lbaiton2/media/IMG_0698_zpsknexg9ua.jpg.html)
That evening a war council was convened and it was decided to break camp and find new ground that held more deer and less bears. This brings me to main part of my tale. We packed up and headed down the Kettle River Main and made our way to my oldest brothers place outside of Greenwood. After a fine dinner and a few libations and some lies swapped we were full of confidence and ambition again and ready to get back at it the next day. The next day lots of miles were covered but no deer. The next morning we acted on some local advice and headed up near Jewel lake before first light. BBK and I split up with plans to meet at the truck at 10am.
I walked into a big cut block sat and waited but did not see anything. Not being the most patient person I soon got up and left. Only to turn around and come back and see a group of white tailed deer burning hoof out of a clump of willows heading for the treeline. A buck made the fatal error of stopping about 75 yards away and hiding behind a Saskatoon bush. One shot and he was down. After a quick pic I headed I headed a few hundred yards back up the hill to were I had left my pack on the quad seat. On my return I could not find my deer! The tripod of sticks I had built to mark where it lay disappeared. Hmmmm. Looking to the bottom of the clear cut I saw a cloud of dust heading away. A vehicle was leaving the area quickly. Not thinking much of it, I set about finding my deer. Four hours later of walking the clear cut in a grid pattern I still had not found the deer. I then went to the road were I saw the dust early in the morning after I had shot the deer and found tracks of a vehicle making a four point turn. The first thing that came to mind was that some illegitimate son of an unwed mother had stolen my deer.
At this point I decided to enlist BBK's help. I rode back to our meeting place. BBK was still waiting there. I showed him the picture on my phone and told him my tale and how I felt some ripped off my deer. BBK was certain the deer was still there, so off we went to find it. Three hours later BBK was convinced that some low life HAD stolen my deer. With our tails between our legs we headed back to my brothers place. I showed his wife the picture of the deer and told her my story. We were told to wait for my brother to come home so we could help him tarp his haystack then go out looking again. My brother was confident the deer was still where it lay. I wasn't so sure. My brother his wife and dog and BBK and myself all headed back out for another hour or so of fruitless searching. Mid afternoon three of us and the dog had given up. Only my brother continued to keep searching. Then I heard the yell. "Is this your 5 by 4 white tail up here?" I must have walked within ten feet of it at least three times. All it took was an older brother with only one eye to find it:) Luckily it was in a depression and in the shade most of the day and the meat was fine as it had warmed up during the day.
The moral of the story is to never quit looking.
Thanks to my great hunting partner BBK. If you read this think there may be a few factual inaccuracies it is only because of time passing, but the spirit still rings true. Thanks especially to Brother Joe for finding it. The deer was split between BBK and myself, both of us deciding it was a fine eating animal.
http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah230/lbaiton2/IMG_0853_zpsqkv06lde.jpg (http://s1381.photobucket.com/user/lbaiton2/media/IMG_0853_zpsqkv06lde.jpg.html)
http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah230/lbaiton2/IMG_0637_zpsslxpphlh.jpg (http://s1381.photobucket.com/user/lbaiton2/media/IMG_0637_zpsslxpphlh.jpg.html)
Day broke and we dropped a quad and found the perfect spot to camp for the next ten days. BBK once again displayed his skill at setting up camp while I supervised. The next day we were full of hope and piss and vinegar, we pored over the maps and picked our spots to start scouting. First couple of days were slow, not seeing anything other than does, but we still felt confident. The next couple of days were identical to the first two. Nothing but the occasional doe. didn't matter if we burned boot leather or gas. No deer.
http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah230/lbaiton2/IMG_0660_zpstgrljhve.jpg (http://s1381.photobucket.com/user/lbaiton2/media/IMG_0660_zpstgrljhve.jpg.html)
One day while hiking in the Graystokes plateau I came across this pile of Grizzly bear shit.It dwarfed my size twelve boot, my 270 whizzum wilted to the size of a Red Rider BB gun in front of my own eyes. Looking around I spied many other piles, many loaded with deer hair and many stumps torn apart. Discretion being the better part of valour I left the area.
http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah230/lbaiton2/IMG_0698_zpsknexg9ua.jpg (http://s1381.photobucket.com/user/lbaiton2/media/IMG_0698_zpsknexg9ua.jpg.html)
That evening a war council was convened and it was decided to break camp and find new ground that held more deer and less bears. This brings me to main part of my tale. We packed up and headed down the Kettle River Main and made our way to my oldest brothers place outside of Greenwood. After a fine dinner and a few libations and some lies swapped we were full of confidence and ambition again and ready to get back at it the next day. The next day lots of miles were covered but no deer. The next morning we acted on some local advice and headed up near Jewel lake before first light. BBK and I split up with plans to meet at the truck at 10am.
I walked into a big cut block sat and waited but did not see anything. Not being the most patient person I soon got up and left. Only to turn around and come back and see a group of white tailed deer burning hoof out of a clump of willows heading for the treeline. A buck made the fatal error of stopping about 75 yards away and hiding behind a Saskatoon bush. One shot and he was down. After a quick pic I headed I headed a few hundred yards back up the hill to were I had left my pack on the quad seat. On my return I could not find my deer! The tripod of sticks I had built to mark where it lay disappeared. Hmmmm. Looking to the bottom of the clear cut I saw a cloud of dust heading away. A vehicle was leaving the area quickly. Not thinking much of it, I set about finding my deer. Four hours later of walking the clear cut in a grid pattern I still had not found the deer. I then went to the road were I saw the dust early in the morning after I had shot the deer and found tracks of a vehicle making a four point turn. The first thing that came to mind was that some illegitimate son of an unwed mother had stolen my deer.
At this point I decided to enlist BBK's help. I rode back to our meeting place. BBK was still waiting there. I showed him the picture on my phone and told him my tale and how I felt some ripped off my deer. BBK was certain the deer was still there, so off we went to find it. Three hours later BBK was convinced that some low life HAD stolen my deer. With our tails between our legs we headed back to my brothers place. I showed his wife the picture of the deer and told her my story. We were told to wait for my brother to come home so we could help him tarp his haystack then go out looking again. My brother was confident the deer was still where it lay. I wasn't so sure. My brother his wife and dog and BBK and myself all headed back out for another hour or so of fruitless searching. Mid afternoon three of us and the dog had given up. Only my brother continued to keep searching. Then I heard the yell. "Is this your 5 by 4 white tail up here?" I must have walked within ten feet of it at least three times. All it took was an older brother with only one eye to find it:) Luckily it was in a depression and in the shade most of the day and the meat was fine as it had warmed up during the day.
The moral of the story is to never quit looking.
Thanks to my great hunting partner BBK. If you read this think there may be a few factual inaccuracies it is only because of time passing, but the spirit still rings true. Thanks especially to Brother Joe for finding it. The deer was split between BBK and myself, both of us deciding it was a fine eating animal.
http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah230/lbaiton2/IMG_0853_zpsqkv06lde.jpg (http://s1381.photobucket.com/user/lbaiton2/media/IMG_0853_zpsqkv06lde.jpg.html)