Carpenter Lake 2018 for Deer and Bear?

[Would Rather Be Fishing]

Hello Everyone,

I used to spend a lot of time hunting in the Kamloops area, but came across some old posts around the Carpenter Lake area. I did a few motorcycle trips to Gold Bridge and love the area. Most deer hunting reports I read are pre-2010, which is often a sign for the area having lost its appeal.

Has anyone been in the area recently? Any success, and if so, any tips on where to start?

Many thanks in advance!

[oilcountry]

PM coming your way

[todbartell]

Seen some mulies north of Marshall Lake in the burn. The Relay area looks like it should hold some nice deer country.

[Bugle M In]

Seen some mulies north of Marshall Lake in the burn. The Relay area looks like it should hold some nice deer country.

I haven't been up there since I was a kid!
thinking that might be an area I want to revisit as well.

[whitlers]

I have spent some time there mainly in the high country. Spent a week there this Oct. Saw lots of deer, group was able to harvest a big bodied 2 pt. Did not see one bear which was weird. There are a lot of deer up behind Marshall and 5 Mile but its becoming a very busy place. Never seen so many hunters in there. After this last trip I wont go back unless it's up in the alpine early season.

[REMINGTON JIM]

Relay Creek - Taylor Basin - Cinnabar etc ALL a Good chance at a GREAT 4 x 4 Muley - RJ

[Bugle M In]

Relay Creek - Taylor Basin - Cinnabar etc ALL a Good chance at a GREAT 4 x 4 Muley - RJ

Are there still some of those big GBear up there in Cinnibar?? these days?

[REMINGTON JIM]

Are there still some of those big GBear up there in Cinnibar?? these days?

Not being up here for many Years BUT i BET there is ! Was lots in the Huckleberry Patches - RJ

[dino]

I was up there late august and could not believe the mountain bikers there now. Dil dil , graveyard and even up tosh all over run with mountain bikers. While we were in there a lost mountain biker with nothing but what he was wearing was picked up with a rescue helicopter. The whole valley was rattled. If your going up that way you need to get way off the beaten path. Literally.

[Timberjack]

I was up there late august and could not believe the mountain bikers there now. Dil dil , graveyard and even up tosh all over run with mountain bikers. While we were in there a lost mountain biker with nothing but what he was wearing was picked up with a rescue helicopter. The whole valley was rattled. If your going up that way you need to get way off the beaten path. Literally.

^^THIS^^ I spent much of my childhood up there on horseback, then on quad and dirtbike as a young adult. Very different place nowadays as it's become the back yard for whistlerites who think whistler is too busy now. What a shame.

I can't comment on the game numbers there now, but you'd better get a long way off the beaten path... I'll never forget one evening we were trying to make it from little paradise down toward lorna through the back of the Tyaughton (Pre GPS days...), and got turned around going down the wrong ravine as darkness approached... Camped on the side hill with the horses and had to go back the way we came the next morning, but that evening we saw a few mulies, a bull moose, four grizzlies, a pack of wolves and two wolverines within a km or so of camp. That was cool.

Another time I was sitting in the outhouse at the graveyard cabin when a grizzly chased a cow moose between the cabin and the outhouse... That was exciting. The grizzly walked past about 15 minutes later back to where he came from.. He was a big guy, but no moose for him that night.

Let us know what you find!!!

TJ

[Gateholio]

Mountain bikers and wolves....:)

[twoSevenO]

Mountain bikers and wolves....:)

Mountain bikers have infiltrated the area to the west BIG TIME

[Bugle M In]

I remember once speaking to a fellow in the EK.
He was there doing homework as he was about to write/release a book for "outdoor enthusiasts" on trails for hikers and
mountain bikers.
I couldn't stop him, and my heart sunk, knowing it was a change in the times, and nothing was going to be the same again.
What ever I remember as a kid, or what my dad describes of up in the area (40 to 50 years ago), is no longer like that,
nor will it ever.
Trails that hunters and horses used back then, are now filed with folks with maps and cameras.
How I wish I had had an opportunity to hunt this province in the 50's/ 60's!

[Would Rather Be Fishing]

TJ: Nothing like a good "outhouse-Grizzly" story! That must have been cool :-)

[wildcatter]

I used to go into the Yalakom, up most peaks including Big Dog and seen wolves and grizzlies.
Haven't been there many years but I think they are still there, probably the wolf population increased.
I got my best mulie buck in there.

[Downwindtracker2]

We drove up Yalakom this year, there was a native check point on the road. My wife was rockhounding and we didn't get to where we had hoped to.

[wildcatter]

So, did they stop you and why you couldn't go to the place you wanted?

[Timberjack]

TJ: Nothing like a good "outhouse-Grizzly" story! That must have been cool :-)

Just one of a million cool memories from that area!!!

[REMINGTON JIM]

I rode my Yamaha TY250 Trials bike into Spruce Lake back in 1974 over the horse trail ! I Believe i was the First to Bike in there . RJ

[horshur]

I rode my Yamaha TY250 Trials bike into Spruce Lake back in 1974 over the horse trail ! I Believe i was the First to Bike in there . RJ
That’s awesome...!..

[Downwindtracker2]

No, they didn't stop us, they just warned us the road was blocked at ??km. The wife has notes for rockhounding. The road hadn't been cleared of a big rock or two. . I wonder if a cat had pushed through this summer. If they have a checkpoint, it likely hasn't.

[Goose]

Lots of poaching up around that area. Bear parts etc....CO's are very vigilant around those parts. Keep within the rules and regs and they are very pleasant to deal with.
A scouting trip early last summer saw more than a couple grizz wandering around. Maybe those guys will keep the biking population in control (kidding)

Cheers

[wideopenthrottle]

hunted there many years ago then not for at least 10 years....tried there last year for my one and only hunting trip (long weekend only!!!:cry:) .....saw a family of moose but it was closed...saw zero deer nor any fresh sign in the 3 main areas we went...ran into a local guy who (standard caveat about locals lying) but he basically said every doe tag issued to locals puts about 10 deer into various peoples freezers and natives have taken the rest...heheheheh

[Steelpulse]

Took a goat south of carpenter lake last year, fresh grizz tracks around, goats, couple does, Couple moose, few birds

[magnumjeff]

five mile ridge totally deactivated cross ditched for top to bottom

[sled-fiend]

Definitely not what it used to be. A shit ton of traffic and a rediculous amount of mtn bikers. I wouldn’t travel far to go there.

[wildcatter]

five mile ridge totally deactivated cross ditched for top to bottom

You mean 9 mile ridge right?
I always hiked up there never tried any other means getting to the top.

[whitlers]

You mean 9 mile ridge right?
I always hiked up there never tried any other means getting to the top.

There were a couple good spur roads off the pond that are now deactivated to shit. They tore the roads right up for more than a km. There is a back way in there though. Definatley some good spots if you hike around. Saw lots of deer only one buck and a couple spikes. A ton of traffic and lots of people hiking the ridges.

[Buckzilla]

five mile ridge totally deactivated cross ditched for top to bottom

Does anyone know who did this deactivation and why it was done?
i have seen pics, and no way loggers are spending that much time or money to do that.
so who?

[Redthies]

I rode my Yamaha TY250 Trials bike into Spruce Lake back in 1974 over the horse trail ! I Believe i was the First to Bike in there . RJ

Did you ever ride with Jon Anderson and Bill Epplett? They were TY originals who hung around that area in that era. Jon still does.

[wildcatter]

There were a couple good spur roads off the pond that are now deactivated to shit. They tore the roads right up for more than a km. There is a back way in there though. Definatley some good spots if you hike around. Saw lots of deer only one buck and a couple spikes. A ton of traffic and lots of people hiking the ridges.

Sounds like it's not worth the effort going in there anymore.
Used to be a good area.
I know there were some roads from the Fraser side but never tried.
When you say "lot's of people hiking the ridges"
You mean hunters, or hikers, mountain bikers?

[Mosin]

Sounds like it's not worth the effort going in there anymore.
Used to be a good area.
I know there were some roads from the Fraser side but never tried.
When you say "lot's of people hiking the ridges"
You mean hunters, or hikers, mountain bikers?

I was just there a few days ago, I didn't make it to hold bridge because it started snowing heavily at the 15km mark and I didn't wanna get trapped. I checked out alot of spur roads and saw moose sign on most of them but obviously can't shoot them. I saw no bear or deer sign at all. I even tried the lillooet far heading into the Meagher basin area and no deer. Not even a doe. I saw maybe 4-5 hunters on that stretch of the Hurley and lillooet fsr. No one had a deer in their truck. I went on Oct 29th. Things may have changed now but I doubt it. I was told it was a wintering ground, maybe I gotta wait another 3 weeks.

[whitlers]

Sounds like it's not worth the effort going in there anymore.
Used to be a good area.
I know there were some roads from the Fraser side but never tried.
When you say "lot's of people hiking the ridges"
You mean hunters, or hikers, mountain bikers?

Plenty of hunters hiking the ridges. As would be expected. It's a good area just seeing alot of pressure.

[whitlers]

Does anyone know who did this deactivation and why it was done?
i have seen pics, and no way loggers are spending that much time or money to do that.
so who?

I'd like to know aswell. I have never seen anything like it. I used to camp back in there and hike out every morning. I tried to hike the deactivation and after a km I turned back. Never seen a road so tore up it's crazy. Someone spent a TON of money.

[lovemywinchester]

BIG grizzlies, BIG cougars up and down the Bridge river valley. They called the area the Serengeti of the north back before they flooded it all. Progress.....

[walks with deer]

wow this is awesome...

to many people quading in the alpine... rip the roads out!!! perfect that doesnt just protect the alpine but the game two... i would gladdly donate some machine time to protect some of these sensitive habitats... bc needs more of this...
influx of hunters to a once quite corner and population numbers probably really dropped.
its sad to say but espeacially wintering grounds we need to restrict easy access.
the population wouldnt of just dropped from the hunting but tourist too make the deer be pushed to less prime locations and more suceptable to predators.

[walks with deer]

i saw squamish feel the city engulf it...

it was a happy little mill town for years and with the sea to sky improvments for the olympics. it wasnt so far to squamish any more and the wave came from vancouver... now its so busy the wave is pushing further up.
i remember squamish before this.

so i see all tha extra pressure they need to stop it...

mission wasnt allways a mess of people either the sprawl pushed in there and are overpopulated with people.

this causing enviromental damage.

[Caribou_lou]

I hunted Carpenter lake a couple years ago. Deer populations were good. Saw a few hunters driving the roads but never saw anyone on any of my hikes. Came home with a decent 4 point too. Big body. Filled my freezer.