Family Fly in Hunt

[RJHunter]

I read Pat Ferguson's Gone Huntin books 10 years ago and I've been wanting to take my family on a fly in adventure ever since. Its finally time and I've booked a plane out of Watson Lake for August 20-30. The crew will consist of me, my wife and our four kids. The Kids are ages 6, 7, 10 and 11. I've picked a lake that is fairly high in elevation to avoid some bugs (if thats possible) and looks to have decent terrain for the kids to hike and glass. I have no idea what we will find for animals but it would be cool to come home with something to complete the experience. I picked up a light weight 12 man tipi and wood stove but I'm a little concerned there wont be enough wood to burn. We are planning on bringing a two burner propane stove with a grill for cooking breakfast and dinners and I will probably bring some freeze dried food to cook on the trail just in case. We will have a small inflatable boat to help get around and and gov data shows some fish to play with. I've been on many hunting trips and one fly in backpack trip but this will be the first remote trip with the kids. Trying to cover all of my bases with planning and am wondering if anyone out there can provide any suggestions or tips that I could use to help make sure this is a memorable trip in a good way. Thanks

Ryan

[Rob Chipman]

Sounds awesome. I look forward to a full report with pics and video. I did a horse hunt last fall with 3 boys, 8, 10 and 12. Certainly not hardcore, given their ages, but a helluva lot of fun. One of the dads wants to do something more epic, along your planned lines, in 2020 for his 40th, so make sure you let us know how it worked out!

I don't have kids so they're always a learning experience for me. My buddy bought a couple pails of Mountain House freeze dried food on Amazon. I looked a little squinty eyed at it, as he's a fantastic camp cook, but it proved very valuable: if you're coming back to camp after dark in less than optimal weather, or you're getting out of the weather at lunch, or you're trying to get going in the morning and you've got somewhat cold, tired, bored or cantankerous kids? That freeze dried food works great to buy you some time and space to get your shit together and get kids settled down. I can't recommend that enough. Worked awesome.

[tikkahunter]

Wood was a problem for us on our fly in last fall. Couldn't find a thing that would come anywhere close to burning. The funny thing is that we sat right beside a massive pile of wood while waited for our plane out to the lake, and we even had room for an extra 150lbs. Talk about tunnel vision. With the kids I think fire would be extremely important, at least for mine it would be. I looked around a bit since I got back, and duraflame makes a log meant for stoves, they say it'll burn for six hours. Or just make sure you have room and weight available in the plane for some wood.

[albravo2]

Delorme InReach or a sat phone. It starts to feel pretty lonely in the middle of nowhere if somebody comes down with a fever.

[digger dogger]

Delorme InReach or a sat phone. It starts to feel pretty lonely in the middle of nowhere if somebody comes down with a fever.

Chairs for the kids at camp, solar charging system for kids electronic games, music, phones etc.
They need a bit of fun, if there is down time and tent bound from weather.
Have fun, and sounds like a great trip ahead.

[RJHunter]

Thanks Guys, This is exactly the kind of info I was looking for!

[bigredchev]

What about a kids mini bow? I have one called a lil rascal and it's great fun. Set up a cardboard target and it's hours if consuming fun.

Target practice, play 'horse' like basketball, even pound a grouse if they are available.

I'm late 20s and have 2 of these kids bows and they are some of the most fun you can have with your pants on

[Trekker]

Bring some manufactured fire logs if you got some extra space on the plane, they work good in the little wood stoves. Then supplement with wood you find around camp.

[RJHunter]

This is all good stuff. Spend so much time thinking about the hunt and survival but need make sure they have something to do during downtimes. Looks like I have some serious fire log research and testing to do. I was thinking about burning wood pellets but I don't think they burn hot enough. Tested burning some in a coffee can with holes in it and it worked ok but not a lot of heat.

[Ohwildwon]

Do they know how to use a compass?

Set up a little orienteering course, with prizes at each station...

[RJHunter]

Do they know how to use a compass?

Set up a little orienteering course, with prizes at each station...

Thats a great idea. Learn some bush skills and search for treasure at the same time. They love going geocaching.
thks

[Greenthumbed]

I read Pat Ferguson's Gone Huntin books 10 years ago and I've been wanting to take my family on a fly in adventure ever since. Its finally time and I've booked a plane out of Watson Lake for August 20-30. The crew will consist of me, my wife and our four kids. The Kids are ages 6, 7, 10 and 11. I've picked a lake that is fairly high in elevation to avoid some bugs (if thats possible) and looks to have decent terrain for the kids to hike and glass. I have no idea what we will find for animals but it would be cool to come home with something to complete the experience. I picked up a light weight 12 man tipi and wood stove but I'm a little concerned there wont be enough wood to burn. We are planning on bringing a two burner propane stove with a grill for cooking breakfast and dinners and I will probably bring some freeze dried food to cook on the trail just in case. We will have a small inflatable boat to help get around and and gov data shows some fish to play with. I've been on many hunting trips and one fly in backpack trip but this will be the first remote trip with the kids. Trying to cover all of my bases with planning and am wondering if anyone out there can provide any suggestions or tips that I could use to help make sure this is a memorable trip in a good way. Thanks

Ryan

I really enjoyed reading Fergie's book 'Gone Huntin'. I often think about getting it out of the library and reading it to my kids. Maybe that is something you could do. Bring a copy along and read some of the stories together around the fire. That's if you have a fire.
Good luck, have fun and happy hunting!

[180grainer]

Sounds like a great trip. Amazing people spend tons of money to go to other places when you can rent a float plane and hit a lake in beautiful "nowhere BC". Your kids will remember that trip forever I'm sure.

[1/2 slam]

solar charging system for kids electronic games, music, phones etc.

None of this s&%t would be allowed in my camp. Kids need to do without that garbage. There are other ways to entertain one's self

[RJHunter]

Ya I'm interested to see how they do with less. Try not to spoil them but .......

This may seem like a stupid question however I am going to ask anyway. What do you do for crappers on fly in trips when your base camp is beside a lake? Dig a hole? bring some plywood and build a box? bring a seat? go for a walk? I'm sure some of these lakes must get a lot of groups each year. This isn't normally an issue for me but we have a sign at our house that says "Welcome to the house of pee and poo" for a reason.

[swampthing]

You are going to have a blast!! Hunting with my kids has been one of the most rewarding things of my life. My one son started hunting with me at 4 years age. He became an amazing outdoorsman and by 14 I trusted my life with him. Pats books are nothing but fun! I have read all his books 3 times over. You know your kids better than anyone. Take what each kid needs to be happy. As long as my son was hunting, he was happy, rain or shine.

[hellojello74]

Tuning in here. Hoping to do a northern bc atv camp in the mk this year with a 5 and 3 year old. Want to get them started early and timing wise is a good year to do it with family dynamics. Hoping to go with a cousin and their family of high schoolers so have g the help will be good. Let us know how it goes.

[ytlogger]

When my kids were young we went on more than a few remote hunts and fishing trips. Our family doc was also a hunter with kids and he actually suggested taking a bit of the common antibiotics along in the event of one of one of the usual e/n/t bugs. Glad to have them a couple of times.

[digger dogger]

None of this s&%t would be allowed in my camp. Kids need to do without that garbage. There are other ways to entertain one's self

Ummm ok Adolf! :-)
Ever been stuck in a tent for three days, or more?
Good way to get pre teens to be turned off hunting.
It's not the 1990's. Haha things have changed my friend.
A millennial without electronics? Hahahahaha

[Caribou_lou]

Ummm ok Adolf! :-)
Ever been stuck in a tent for three days, or more?
Good way to get pre teens to be turned off hunting.
It's not the 1990's. Haha things have changed my friend.
A millennial without electronics? Hahahahaha

I'm im not sure it would turn them off hunting. A deck of cards can be the start of many games.

It would be a great opportunity to show them the simple things in life. Teach them skills that they won't learn in school or on a screen. Kids these days wouldn't survive 1 day in the bush!

[srupp]

Pm sent.
Steven

[eric]

You asked about a crapper.
what we have done when the kids were smaller was get a 5 gallon pail,Attache a toilet seat, cut out the bottom and set it over a hole in the ground, works good,and set up a tarp around it for privacy.
Good luck on your trip.

[bloody bellies]

take a plastic chair, cut a hole in it, take baby wipes, they are life savers


Ya I'm interested to see how they do with less. Try not to spoil them but .......

This may seem like a stupid question however I am going to ask anyway. What do you do for crappers on fly in trips when your base camp is beside a lake? Dig a hole? bring some plywood and build a box? bring a seat? go for a walk? I'm sure some of these lakes must get a lot of groups each year. This isn't normally an issue for me but we have a sign at our house that says "Welcome to the house of pee and poo" for a reason.

[nature girl]

Maybe on your trip have the kids pack a camera each and a journal then they can document the trip.

[Ride Red]

Maybe on your trip have the kids pack a camera each and a journal then they can document the trip.

Great idea. When my sons were small, I bought them sling shots which provided hours of entertainment over the years. Any trip with your family is priceless, just make sure you take advantage of every opportunity as they grow up fast. Hope you have an excellent trip with memories to last a lifetime.

[wolfpack]

This is the best thread I’ve read on here in a while. I have a flight booked up north this fall with my dad and my 6 year old son. Can’t wait. Some of my most fondest childhood memories were hunting up north with my dad as a kid. Trips like these create a lifetime desire to pursue the outdoor lifestyle and preserve the hunting tradition. Hoping to bring my wife and daughter the year after. Can’t wait to hear about your trip!

[RJHunter]

Thanks to all who shared information and ideas for this hunt. It turned out to be one of the best trips I have experienced and a trip I hope my family will remember forever.
Family introduction: Ryan and Andrea, Natalie (11), Cade (10), Carly (7), Reese (6)
We started planning this trip early in the year however I ended up being extremely busy at work for a few months leading up to the trip and packing was a bit more rushed than I would have liked. We were told we could have 1200lbs of weight and it seemed like we should have no issues being under that so we weren’t really concerned. The day before leaving we packed and weighed all the gear and ourselves and found we were definitely overweight…..now what don’t we need?
https://i.imgur.com/EUSTja2.jpg
We also started to consider the size of the containers etc. We had never been on a Beaver float plane and were starting to question how we were packing gear. Nothing like leaving details to the last minute. The plan was to camp on the way up to Watson Lake so we packed some gear specifically for truck camping and the rest for the fly in camp. Looking back it would have been smart to pack all of the fly in gear in the back of the truck box and pack the other camp gear in the front. That’s not how we packed so it was fun digging through all the gear to find anything.
https://i.imgur.com/TIM5hgg.jpg
In the end we dropped a few minor items and the main weight decision came down to dropping the Nu-Way propane stove and propane bottle or ditch the boat? We knew we wouldn’t find any trees near our camp however it looked like we could perhaps travel for wood using the boat if needed. The weather was looking nice and I really wanted the boat there to give us better access to other side of the lake and to give us more fishing opportunity. We decided to ditch the propane stove and bring the lightweight Seek Outside wood stove. We also ditched our toilet shelter which made for a nice view while going to the bathroom.
We stuffed the gear under the canopy and headed for Summit Lake. The drive was uneventful but we got a good start listening to Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. Not really a great book to listen to before getting on a float plane….but it added to the adventure. We drove past Summit Lake to look for sheep at the rock cut and turned back to pick a camp spot. We pulled enough gear out of the truck to fit the three oldest kids in the back and Andrea and I slept in a tent with our youngest daughter.
https://i.imgur.com/c8MUI9S.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/g1YombC.jpg
The next morning, we cooked some breakfast, packed up and headed for Watson Lake. The drive was nice but the smoke was thick for most of the drive. The kids loved watching the many caribou and buffalo along the highway. We ran short of time for checking rifles before we left so we turned off the highway and found a spot to do some shooting. The kids got some good practice in and had a bite to eat. The smoke cleared near Watson Lake and we finished Hatched just before pulling into town.
We pulled a bunch of gear out at the hotel in Watson Lake and fine-tuned some of our packing. Definitely a bit of gear to organize when going with 4 kids. I called the pilot and confirmed at 7:30 flight the next morning…..now it’s feeling real! We were up at 5:30 the next morning. Kids up, dressed, packed, breakfast, make sure we have socks on, find socks, repack and move the herd from the hotel to the truck.

[RJHunter]

We arrived at the Northern Rockies Air Charter dock just after 7am. As we pulled up and had our first look at the plane we all started to wonder how in the world we were going to fit our heap of gear into that plane?? We unloaded all the gear at the dock and the more we looked at the pile the more I thought the pilot would tell us we were crazy for thinking we could pack that much gear. The pilot, Bill, showed up at 7:30 and we introduced ourselves as he started looking at our gear. Might fit he said. Well that was a relief to hear. He fueled the plane and we loaded as much gear as we could into the pontoons. We then loaded the area behind the seats and ended up with just enough room for sitting! It all fit!
https://i.imgur.com/XLMbxaA.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/P4nMxa0.jpg
The flight it was great. The kids were all wide eyed and looking at all there was to see.
https://i.imgur.com/XD3K9bk.jpg
The skies were clear until 5 minutes before our camp location. The smoke thickened and it became difficult to see as we approached the lake.
https://i.imgur.com/RHfCSIc.jpg
We circled the lake several times to drop elevation and get the wind right for landing. This was a bit terrifying for my oldest daughter as she thought we were going to crash for sure (Hatchet). The landing was perfect and all were relieved when the plane settled onto the lake. I started talking with Bill about our camp location. There looked to be a camp over on the west end where we had planned to camp so we decided to camp on the east side to give all some room. Bill said the beach was much nicer at the other location and suggested that we should consider using the boat to move our gear down if the other group leaves early. We unloaded the family and all the gear on the shore and pushed the plane off the beach. It was a strange feeling watching it lift off the lake and disappear into the smoky sky. The shore was marshy and the black flies were on us immediately. Bug spray was out quickly and we began looking for a camp location. Just then we heard a plane coming in to land at the lake. We walked up to a high point and saw our plane landing back on the lake. The plane floated up and shut down in front of our gear. Bill got out and said he had a better look at the other end of the lake and there wasn’t a camp there, just some old plywood etc. He offered to load all our gear back in the plane and move us down the lake! He figured the kids would have a better trip if we were camped at the other end. We gladly took him up on the offer and loaded the plane with the gear. I jumped in with him and we burned down to the other camp location. There was no doubt that it was a much better location and I am extremely thankful that he came back to move us, very awesome service! We quickly unloaded the gear and he took off back to the other end to pickup the rest of the family. It wasn’t long before we were all at the new location watching the plane leave us for the second time.

[RJHunter]

https://i.imgur.com/zYStPwa.jpg

We didn’t waste much time finding a good location for the tipi, there was a great spot a few meters higher than the lake which looked like it’s been used many times before. We got the tipi setup, moved the gear inside and set the kids loose to explore. The kids were quick to break out boat and fishing rods and began fishing from the beach as soon as they had the lures on. It wasn’t long before we could hear the excited yell “I got a fish!” I couldn’t believe they had one that fast. Andrea and I headed down to check it out and it was quickly decided that we were having this trout for supper. The fishing was turning out to be excellent and we were constantly heading to the water to release fish for the kids. They caught some nice fish during the trip and had some on that couldn’t be slowed down with the gear they were using. You could tell when they had a big one on because they would be sitting on their buts trying not to be pulled into the water.
Cade with a beauty trout he caught from the beach
https://i.imgur.com/6ymaLOx.jpg
Carly with a good size trout for dinner
https://i.imgur.com/jGFrjT3.jpg
Kids all hanging out cleaning a fish
https://i.imgur.com/YQfzoWG.jpg
The tipi worked out great for us on this trip. Kept us warm and dry and managed to withstand some very strong winds.
https://i.imgur.com/x2qj2or.jpg

[RJHunter]

We were planning to head out for a hunt the next morning however we checked the weather on the InReach and the update showed that we were about to get some bad weather. The forecast showed rain and wind for the next week straight. We decided that we had better start preparing for the stormy weather rather than hunting. The morning was spent searching for anything we could burn in the woodstove and making sure the guy lines and stakes were secure with large rocks holding all the stakes from pulling out. Cade and I took the boat across the lake and found some dead trees to cut and haul back to the tipi. We also found some old wood from a cabin that we cut into pieces to fit in the stove. Cade cut all the branches into small stove size pieces and we managed to stockpile a weeks worth of wood in the tipi corners. I was a little nervous about what we were getting into. I was expecting rainy periods with sun but it looked like we were heading into rain and cloud. Once work was done we packed up and headed up the hill onto the plateau to see if we could find a caribou.
https://i.imgur.com/I8TozlX.jpg
We found one small bull that evening and enjoyed dinner on the hill
https://i.imgur.com/jM3iGq8.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/vZpHxiJ.jpg
The wind picked up and we decided to head back down to the lake for an evening fish.
https://i.imgur.com/Ut0fgFq.jpg
Finding a patch of snow was exciting for the kids. Even cooler later when they watched a bull caribou lay down on it, right where they had been standing.
https://i.imgur.com/YG81QsE.jpg

[RJHunter]

We ran into a group of ptarmigan just before we reached the tipi. Cade loaded up the 22 and shot two and handed the rifle to Natalie who followed up with another. This was Cades first animal and was an awesome experience. The Kids were now hooked on ptarmigan hunting and we made it a daily event. They cleaned the ptarmigan at the side of the lake and would throw the wings and other parts out into the lake. It was usually 5 minutes or so before lake trout would come in and start eating the parts whole. That was always fun to watch.
https://i.imgur.com/4M0YvYa.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/c2MOQXa.jpg
Natalie cooking up a trout and a few ptarmigan.
https://i.imgur.com/EcTwUtf.jpg
The weather was poor the next day and we spent much of the morning down at camp fishing, hanging out by the fire and playing cards. The Kids played a lot of crazy eights, old maid and crib. Reading books was also a good way to kill time. We spotted a couple of caribou from the tipi and a two nannies with a kid feeding down the valley. That afternoon I took Natalie and Cade out on a hunt. We saw a couple of caribou and the kids managed to find a few more ptarmigan.
There was a break in the rain the next day and we headed out on a family hunt. We didn’t make it far before Reese expressed her strong desire to return to camp so Andrea took her back while I continued with Natalie, Cade and Carly. There was a strong wind and the odd rain shower but we would just climb under a tarp until the rain passed.
https://i.imgur.com/ObcyyPW.jpg

[RJHunter]

We made our way to a nice glassing spot but it didn’t take long for the wind to chill the kids. We saw and cow caribou and a red fox before taking down the spotting scope.
https://i.imgur.com/mArnthC.jpg
As we were starting to leave I saw a caribou skyline itself on a far ridge so we set the scope back up for a look. It turned out to be two bulls and one of them was massive.
https://i.imgur.com/oN7NbsI.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/crh8YM9.jpg
We watched them bed down on a ridge and the kids begged me to go for him. Unfortunately, it was eight at night and he was 3.5km away. That would have put us 6.5km from the tipi at dark if we had shot him. The wind was cold and I knew it would be too cold for the kids to be out in the dark that far from the tipi….I called it a hunt and we headed back down with the intention of heading back up early the next day to look for them.

[RJHunter]

Natalie, Cade and I went up the next day and found ourselves in some terrible wind and rain. We crawled under a tarp and tried to wait it out but I could tell there would be no break in the weather today. Not wanting to push the kids any further we headed back down the hill towards the lake. The weather was always better near the lake. On our way down the hill I spotted a bull 350 yards down from us. I got the kids attention and we got behind some rocks and pulled out the spotter. He was a nice bull but didn’t have enough points to be legal. The kids were disappointed but it gave us a great opportunity to check out the bull.
https://i.imgur.com/fa7pAIy.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/k5tq1Xx.jpg
We went down to the tipi and gathered up the rest of the family to go out and have a look. Everyone enjoyed watching through the spotter. We saw this bull several times after this and the kids decided to name him Bruce.
The weather was terrible the next day again. We spent most of the day at camp and Natalie and I tried to head out in the afternoon. We went through a few storms up high and spend a fair bit of time hiding under a tarp. We started to get cold and pulled out an ultralight blanket that Andrea made before we left. As soon as we put it on we were instantly warm and comfortable. we would get out and spot whenever we could and then hide under the tarp/blanket combo when the weather really blew in. We saw one bull on our outing but it wasn’t legal. We arrived back at the tipi and found that the weather was bad at the lake as well. The tipi was really moving in the wind and Andrea and I were both nervous about it tearing. We checked and adjusted all the guy lines and crossed our fingers. The rain was really pounding off the side of the fabric which made it a bit of a scary time knowing the whole family is in there and there is no way to get help in that weather.
The woodstove sure helped keep us warm and comfortable. A little nervous having something that hot in the middle of the space with small kids but they were good with it.
https://i.imgur.com/ktMxvuR.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/VfYwLb2.jpg

[RJHunter]

Rope tying lesson to kill time
https://i.imgur.com/ZhpGLrn.jpg
Stick art is also a great way to spend time in the tipi.
https://i.imgur.com/ukYP1Jl.jpg
The next morning the weather was looking a bit better. Not quite as windy and the cloud cover was much higher. We decided this would be the morning and we would try to get out and find a big bull. We were eating breakfast and I had a look at the mountain across the lake and thought… I don’t remember that white spot? I pull out my binos and realized there was a nice billy bedded right there across the lake. I asked the Natalie and Cade if they wanted to go for a goat hunt and they were all over it. We grabbed our things and headed for the boat. The wind was good for climbing up on the west side of him so we climbed a draw what would keep us hidden. We climbed the draw and up and out the side when I knew we were getting close. There was an obvious rock 200 yards to the west of him and I could clearly see the rock 80 yards from us. The hill was steep and the kids were definitely a little scared about how steep it was….but they wanted to keep going. The wind shifted and blew straight to where the goat was feeding and I knew we would be busted. We were close and there was no covering that up. The wind really started swirling and I thought we need to get into position and quick. We moved ahead 20 yards and I spotted the billy looking down at us between some rock. I threw my pack over a boulder in front of me and put my rifle on him. One turn and he was gone. There was no way we were going to be able to make any sort of chase so we just sat there and talked about the hunt and what went wrong. We ranged the rocks at 240 yards. I told the kids they should be proud that they made it to where they were.
https://i.imgur.com/nJ8neKH.jpg
Climbing down
https://i.imgur.com/IeHlpzN.jpg
A caribou walked past the Tipi when we were climbing down so Andrea and the girls had some fun going on a stalk. It turned out to be Bruce but Andrea was very excited to be within 20 yards of him.

[RJHunter]

The weather cleared up and we spent the rest of the day licking our wounds, fishing and ptarmigan hunting.
https://i.imgur.com/OKfGqOY.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/yzdXsRP.jpg
The weather blew back in the next day so we spent some time around camp in the morning and then headed back out for another Caribou Hunt in the evening. We hiked out above a lake to the north west and found 7 caribou. 3 bulls but nothing legal. We managed to stalk within 100 yards of five of them which the kids really enjoyed.
https://i.imgur.com/hJivyTi.jpg
The next day was our last day and the weather was terrible. Cold wind and rain was forecast for the day so we pretty much decided we would spend the day fishing and hanging around camp. We were getting breakfast ready and once again I spotted a white spot across the lake and it was lower and moving. One look with the spotter and I knew it was the billy we had gone after earlier. I walked into the tipi and asked if Natalie and Cade if they wanted to try again. Yes lets go! All dressed and into raingear with no time for breakfast. We headed down to the boat and crossed the lake. As we were crossing the lake the billy took notice and waked over and bedded down at the edge of a cliff watching us. We got out of the boat and made our way out of sight. We crept around behind low ridges and willows staying out of sight and climbed until we were within range of him. He seemed to be watching the boat rather than looking below for us. I belly crawled with the kids below me to the top of a small gully and pushed my pack out in front. I asked the kids to stay put and plug their ears when I took my safety off. I ranged him and settled into the rifle, my heart was pounding so I had to lay face down beside the gun and do some deep breathing to settle down. Back to the rifle and my heart was pounding again, I think I was more nervous with the kids watching. I went back to breathing twice more before I felt settled down enough to shoot. I fired 3 rounds and I knew two were good hits. He moved out of sight and I reloaded watching to make sure he didn’t climb into the cliffs above. We moved over to another vantage point under him and still could not see him. I set the kids under a tarp by a large bounder to get out of the rain and I climbed up after him. The rocks above were very steep and slippery with the rain. I kept climbing and watching and could see nothing until I was 20 yards from him. It was too steep to work on him there so I gave him a nudge and he rolled down to a spot that the kids could get to.
https://i.imgur.com/NnLA1Tn.jpg

[RJHunter]

The weather was cold and rainy but the kids did a great job helping to butcher and pack the billy back to the boat
https://i.imgur.com/fvJ5kUN.jpg
We built a meat cache using willow branches suspended over cold rocks. We covered with a tarp and left the ends open for ventilation.
https://i.imgur.com/2C6s6Jj.jpg
What a great way to end a great trip.
The next day we packed everything but the tipi and reported the weather to Bill. We weren’t sure if he was going to make it so we didn’t want the kids sitting out in the rain waiting. It was great to see the plane come in under the cloud cover, we were all excited to go home but none of us wanted to leave. We finished packing the tipi, and loaded the plane just as some blue sky started showing down the valley. It was a great flight out.
We had a great family trip, hope you enjoyed the read.
Ryan

[srupp]

Phenominal adventure, great photos and exell3nt write up..
Enjoyed it all.
Well done indeed,
Cheers
Srupp

[moosinaround]

WOW!!! Awesome story, well written, super photos! I admire you and your family for getting out into the wilderness and enjoying time together! You have your priorities correct sir! Thank you for sharing, top HBC story for me! Moosin

[Everett]

Great story Ryan love that country.

[Timberjack]

Reading your story was an awesome addition to my evening. Congrats. My kids are 7 and 11 and its about time I organized a trip like that for them. Thanks for the inspiration.

TJ

[silvertipp]

Wow that was a incredible adventure
you must have a very special woman there
there is not a chance in hell my wife would of considered a trip like that
good on you guys and thanks for sharing your story

[LBM]

Wow incredable what a awesome family adventure, you and your wife are doing it right. Congrats to the whole family.
Great write up and photos, and goat as well.

[Romain]

Great write up and fantastic trip! Memories for a lifetime right there!

[Jagermeister]

Excellent account. Wish I was there.

[BStrachan]

Wow! Great family adventure, and such a awesome family experience. Thanks for sharing the story and pictures. Congratulations on having a successful hunt!
Thanks again,

Brian

[boxhitch]

Very well done, good account of the adventure
Looks like you had some good gear, good planning
Kudos to Bill and DTW

[g_worsnop]

Man you have got a very awesome wife!
Great way to build memories with your family.

[mike31154]

10 out of 10, off the scale actually. Quality family time, flights in a piece of aviation history, the Beaver, great fishing & a nice billy to bring home. So cool seeing the youngsters with loaded packs for some of the outings. Instills sense of accomplishment for contributing to the adventure.

[Knute]

Kudos to you and the missus for taking this adventure on for the kids sake.

A family hunt they will always remember, great stuff!

[HuntNmemories]

awesome memories for your family, thanks for sharing

[Ajsawden]

Did I mention I'm up for adoption and can pack heavy loads? Fantastic story, Looks like it was a fantastic trip. This is something I will strive to do someday.

[Jimbob]

Awesome, simply awesome.

I have so many plans for my family and I think this was just added to the list.

[BCHunterFSJ]

Your photos are amazing...
What a great trip. Congratulations!

[nature girl]

Wow what a wonderfull trip you all had. Definitely the kids had a great time you can tell by the pictures. Way better then taking the kids to Disneyland.

[swampthing]

Excellent, just excellent!

[Ogopogo]

Quite enjoyed the story and photos, I hope to take my boys on an adventure like that one day soon. Awesome job!

[MattW]

That is awesome. This is the best hunt I've ever seen on this site because you brought the family. Truly inspirational.

[BigSlapper]

You my friend ... are truly inspiring. Your kids will recall this adventure (with smiles) for the remainder of their lives ...

[northof49]

What a fantastic trip. Thank you for sharing your experience. What great memories for everyone and great job planning and keeping everyone safe.

[triggerhappy]

Great write up! Sounds like the family had a good time. Glad to hear you had success with a Billy and the fishing sounded phenomenal.

[directmule]

Back in the very early 1980's we took a similar trip to Fern Lake, out of Mackenzie with Northern Thunderbird Air, on their de Havilland DHC-3 Otter. Trip included 11 of us, myself, wife, two sons, 11 & 12 yrs old, hunting partner, his wife and their two sons, another hunting partner with his son and one other friend. All kids were 10 to 12 yrs. old. Even back then it was a little on the expensive side as we needed two flights to get all of us and all of our gear in………..BUT it was worth it. The kids, now in their mid/late 40's still talk about it today. We had 3 rubber rafts, one a so-called 4 man but they must have been very small men, with a 1.25hp Gamefisher on it, another larger one with a 4hp and a smaller raft with only oars.

Kids could catch 5+ lb. rainbow right from the shore and up to 10 lb. out in the rafts on the lake. They supplied supper for the group for the first couple days. We built a fenced off area in a very small cove of the lake, with hip-waders on we pounded some posts into the lake, strung a small piece of chicken wire around the posts to the shore, weighed the bottom down with rocks and had a fresh water pen. A couple of days before the Otter returned for their pickup, they would take a large cooler with them in the raft and when they got a good size fish they would put it into the cooler with fresh water and head back to the pen, release the fish in the pen and head back out. (As soon as we heard the plane coming in, the fish were dispatched and carefully packed for the trip home.) Shezam, fresh fish going home. WARNING: Fern Lake is a catch & release lake nowadays, it wasn't back then.

We did some hunting but the game gods were against us, we saw moose, quite a few but all cows, we saw elk but only a mountain over through the spotting scope, same as caribou but they still had a good time even in the rain.

Wives and kids and the single friend stayed 1 week and when the plane came in to pick them up another hunting partner came in. The 4 of us stayed another week and we did get a moose and elk.

Three years later I took my two sons back in to Fern along with two other hunting partners, this time out of Fort Nelson in Liard Air's de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver flown by Urs, another good trip for moose, elk and caribou.

Over the years we made quite a few trips into that area and to cut costs down we would get a bunch of guys & gals together and pick different times to go in. First group would fly in, set up camp, hunt, and when second group came in, first group went out, so forth, last group would take camp out, that way you cut out one flight.

[RJHunter]

Sounds like some great trips and I like the shared flight idea. I can see how this type of hunting could become addictive!

[kennyj]

Good for you guys!! What a great way to spend quality time with your family.
Thanks for sharing your adventure.
kenny

[Walking Buffalo]

Fantastic hunt report! Way to go All in the Family!

Bumping this thread with a note for new readers to go to post 26, I suspect many are missing out on the great update.

[Sitkaspruce]

Great thread, awesome story and amazing photo's!!

Getting your kids to experince what life is really about will help them prepare for the real world!! They will remember this for a lifetime

Thanks for sharing and bring us along!!

Cheers

SS

[tomahawk]

I am so glad I looked at this post. One of the most enjoyable reads, tremendous photos, great story and recall of events, and a family adventure of a life time. So happy I found your story. Thanks for sharing the whole experience, not just harvesting the goat. I found myself disappointed when the story ended, could have read a lot more. Your kids have great parents, be proud of yourselves.

[twoSevenO]

what an interesting take on a family vacation. Well done.
I can't believe the size of that trout the young one managed to get into from shore ... wow!

[Krico]

Incredible. Best thing I’ve read in a long while.
What an awesome trip to do with your family, your wife is a keeper!
I’ve thought about taking my son on a similar trip, but would have to be with an adult other than my wife lol.
That tipitent with stove must have made all the difference in keeping little ones warm, dry, and happy?
Congrats on a trip you will cherish forever I’m sure.

[Bunner]

Sounds like you all had a blast. What good memories. One day I will hopefully do the same thing.
thanks for sharing with us

[ratherbefishin]

Great trip!.....after driving up to Watson lake,then heading west to Swift River,where we used to have the river to ourselves, but last time only to find about six jet boats already on the river, any hope of a wilderness moose hunt was gone...I would like to do a fly in,but have absolutely no idea of where to start ,who to charter with or where to go...any advice ,experience is most welcome

[RJHunter]

Incredible. Best thing I’ve read in a long while.
What an awesome trip to do with your family, your wife is a keeper!
I’ve thought about taking my son on a similar trip, but would have to be with an adult other than my wife lol.
That tipitent with stove must have made all the difference in keeping little ones warm, dry, and happy?
Congrats on a trip you will cherish forever I’m sure.

Yes, the tipi/stove combo allowed us to dry out gear and stay warm and comfortable. I don't know if we would have stayed the entire time without it.

And yes, I am grateful that my wife likes to hunt with me! We have been on several great sheep hunts together (unsuccessful) and she knows what the mountains can be like. We didn't expect to be separated as much as we were and it was great that she was confident to stay alone with the younger kids when the weather was bad. She made sure they had fun closer to camp.

[ratherbefishin]

What brand of tipi tent did you use?

[RJHunter]

What brand of tipi tent did you use?

It was a Seek Outside 12 man with a liner and XL Stove. We also used the nests to keep the flies off the Kids at night.