Bison 7-42 D

[morgan9williams]

Fellas
Got a bison draw jan16-31st. Looking for tips and any info anyone has? Super stoked, but its definitely going to be a grind and an eye opener. Thanks for any help you have.
MW

[evcity]

Congrats! I got to hunt that unit in December of 2020. I still consider myself a newish hunter, but this is one of my all time favorite outdoor memories. My friend and I hunted hard and we shot a pair of cows. Some thoughts off the top of my head, in no real order:

-You need a quad or sled to travel up the valley to your hunting area. There is no truck access. A sled is exempt from the motorized access prohibition that is in effect off of the main road, a quad is not.

-I strongly, strongly recommend staying with Sikanni River Outfitters so that you can focus on hunting. The cold can be a real challenge up there, you could spend a lot of your trip cutting wood and thawing out your food and water or you can go look for Buffalo.

-Make sure you have at least one good sled, quality snowshoes, quality cold weather gear, etc. Make sure you can get a fire going fast if you have to. It's hard to predict what the conditions will be, how much snow you'll have, etc, so bring the kitchen sink with you gear-wise. Bring an insulated water bottle and fill it with hot water before you head out in the morning.

-There are two main ways to find a bison in that area: climb the south facing slopes of the valley and glass meadows down in the valley, or cover ground, cut fresh sign, and walk them down. Try both. It's also possible to spot bison up high on the mountains, where the wind exposes their feed, but I never saw any up there.

-Don't shoot something too far back into the bush. My hunting partner and I did this. We got both our animals out, it took 4 days and we needed help (Thanks Doug & crew lol). Type 2 fun!

-If you have to leave a kill site overnight, make sure you totally skin and break down your animal into packable chunks. Make sure your hide is nicely rolled up in a shape that you could get on your pack. It will freeze solid in whatever shape you leave it.

-When you're processing your animal, you could be working in extreme temperatures, with wet hands. I have two recommendations - latex gloves OVER knit gloves, and a pair of quality snowmobile gloves that never get wet with blood or anything else. I was using knit wool gloves that I found very comfortable... until they got soaked with blood. I got frostbite, my fingertips looked like I'd touched a stovetop, then the skin all fell off lol.

-Make sure you've got an inreach.

-You can kill a bison with all kinds of guns and calibers - as I'm sure you know, the regs state you need a 175gr bullet or higher. Based on my experience I recommend a copper bullet like a TTSX or GMX. Study good shot placement on a bison, put the bullet where it needs to go and you'll get your animal. They're very hardy and you can expect them to be dead on their feet for a bit after you shoot.

-You'll get superb wildlife viewing opportunities besides the bison you're after. The north side of the Sikanni Valley fills up with wintering elk, and you will see Stone's sheep on the south facing slopes above you. If you're into photography bring your camera.

-Make sure you save the hide if you are successful. It's beautiful, and worth getting tanned professionally. I recommend BC Furdressers in Merritt.

-If you do your own butchering, clear your schedule! The meat is phenomenal, and you'll sure get a lot of it.

You're gonna have a great time. Hunt hard, be safe and smart. I wish I could chase buffalo in there every year.

[swampthing]

Evcity speaks a lot of good. I have two trips under my belt now. The first trip I stayed in a pup tent with a Mr Buddy heater. I survived! Keeping everything from freezing was tough. I carried a good amount of survival and extraction gear for my sled. I found a buf high on a mountain my very first morning. He was in a basin I had been in moose hunting and I knew what a grunt it was to pack a moose out of there. I was solo on this trip so that buf was safe from me! My second trip never produced a buf sighting but I had nothing but fun. I did fall through a frozen creek and got pretty wet. I was in a cabin on that trip and was able to dry out that night. The big animals certainly stir up the ground and its easy to see where they have been. Have fun!

[Darksith]

Congrats! I got to hunt that unit in December of 2020. I still consider myself a newish hunter, but this is one of my all time favorite outdoor memories. My friend and I hunted hard and we shot a pair of cows. Some thoughts off the top of my head, in no real order:

-You need a quad or sled to travel up the valley to your hunting area. There is no truck access. A sled is exempt from the motorized access prohibition that is in effect off of the main road, a quad is not.

-I strongly, strongly recommend staying with Sikanni River Outfitters so that you can focus on hunting. The cold can be a real challenge up there, you could spend a lot of your trip cutting wood and thawing out your food and water or you can go look for Buffalo.

-Make sure you have at least one good sled, quality snowshoes, quality cold weather gear, etc. Make sure you can get a fire going fast if you have to. It's hard to predict what the conditions will be, how much snow you'll have, etc, so bring the kitchen sink with you gear-wise. Bring an insulated water bottle and fill it with hot water before you head out in the morning.

-There are two main ways to find a bison in that area: climb the south facing slopes of the valley and glass meadows down in the valley, or cover ground, cut fresh sign, and walk them down. Try both. It's also possible to spot bison up high on the mountains, where the wind exposes their feed, but I never saw any up there.

-Don't shoot something too far back into the bush. My hunting partner and I did this. We got both our animals out, it took 4 days and we needed help (Thanks Doug & crew lol). Type 2 fun!

-If you have to leave a kill site overnight, make sure you totally skin and break down your animal into packable chunks. Make sure your hide is nicely rolled up in a shape that you could get on your pack. It will freeze solid in whatever shape you leave it.

-When you're processing your animal, you could be working in extreme temperatures, with wet hands. I have two recommendations - latex gloves OVER knit gloves, and a pair of quality snowmobile gloves that never get wet with blood or anything else. I was using knit wool gloves that I found very comfortable... until they got soaked with blood. I got frostbite, my fingertips looked like I'd touched a stovetop, then the skin all fell off lol.

-Make sure you've got an inreach.

-You can kill a bison with all kinds of guns and calibers - as I'm sure you know, the regs state you need a 175gr bullet or higher. Based on my experience I recommend a copper bullet like a TTSX or GMX. Study good shot placement on a bison, put the bullet where it needs to go and you'll get your animal. They're very hardy and you can expect them to be dead on their feet for a bit after you shoot.

-You'll get superb wildlife viewing opportunities besides the bison you're after. The north side of the Sikanni Valley fills up with wintering elk, and you will see Stone's sheep on the south facing slopes above you. If you're into photography bring your camera.

-Make sure you save the hide if you are successful. It's beautiful, and worth getting tanned professionally. I recommend BC Furdressers in Merritt.

-If you do your own butchering, clear your schedule! The meat is phenomenal, and you'll sure get a lot of it.

You're gonna have a great time. Hunt hard, be safe and smart. I wish I could chase buffalo in there every year.

I just got back from a bison hunt up there. Here are my comments...
it was -26 a few nights, I stayed in my wall tent. My water never froze except on the drive north haha.
The Sikanni Ranch is great. Todd and Wendi are awesome people. I had a ski break and they let me use their shop to fix it so we could keep hunting. If you don't have the equipment or the desire to tent it then the ranch is a great option, but don't expect them to tell you where the bison are, they don't know either!
You gotta cover ground, don't just hunt 1 spot, they move around, mostly at night so you gotta cut that fresh track early in the am and hope you can catch up to them. The bison are getting real smart!
Be aware of where you are and how far you have walked. We were on tracks twice and we turned around bc we were heading into no mans land and getting the animal out would of been near impossible. They went high!
Give yourself as much time as you possibly can. This hunt can get done if you get lucky in a few days, but I would say you need 12+ days of hunting to increase your chances of success. This hunt will test your will, if you only have 7 days to hunt, enjoy it but plan on not punching a tag unless you know the area well.

[Evanguy]

Good luck on your hunt man!! I would love to do a bison hunt one year.

[Lobot Doog]

Best advice I can give you is to treat this hunt like a sheep hunt mentally, and be prepared for a tough grind, with the very likely scenario of not harvesting an animal. When Evcity and I were there we were the only ones to harvest animals in over two weeks (including the guided guys), and we got pretty lucky in a lot of ways and had a bit of help. It is one of the tougher hunts in BC. However the rewards of simply being there are incredible. Also I would highly recommend not going alone, especially if you are a new hunter. The conditions are no joke, and one slip up in a frozen river can make for a bad situation very quickly. All that being said, incredible hunt in incredible country! Good luck to you!

[shuswapfisher]

This is some amazing advice. I am hoping to draw one of these years in the future and if i do i will definetly come back and re-read this!

[DStewart]

Congrats on the draw. Although difficult, it is a great hunt. The above information is solid

We had the last draw the year before the boundary changes. We stayed at the blueberry ranch, and rented sleds. With some persistence and luck we were on Bison every day. Before sunrise we would track down fresh sign in the valley, and get on them by foot/skis. Paying attention to what sign was new and/or old was useful. You could definitely tell they had been pressured, feeding in openings overnight, then heading for the timber. They are big animals, and leave big foot prints, but will sneak off into the tight stuff. We spent some time glassing from above, but it seemed most of the groups had been pushed down into the valley by the end of Jan.

Be conscious of your bullet choice. With some persistence and a lot of luck, I connected on a younger bull. A poor bullet choice out of a 30-06 put us into a bit of a hairy situation. Listening to other groups with the draw that year, success rate seemed low. However, those of us that got up early and got on sign did well in the end of Jan.

Good luck!

[MooseNuts]

We’re heading into 7-42C on 19 Dec for 10 days. We plan on staying at Horse Camp. I’ll make sure to post an update.

[REMINGTON JIM]

Evcity and Darksith ! Both Very Excellent Posts and Thanks for Sharing the info ;) RJ

[REMINGTON JIM]

We’re heading into 7-42C on 19 Dec for 10 days. We plan on staying at Horse Camp. I’ll make sure to post an update.

Good Luck ! RJ

[Elk_Valley_Hunter]

Congrats on the draw! Myself and hunting partner got this draw back a few years back for January. The info in this thread is quite accurate but ill add my experience as well.

We stayed at the air strip and hunted from there. Ended up taking a big bull and a cow. The bull was by itself and the cow was with a group. The bull came from down low in valley bottom and was a matter of getting onto his track and following until we caught up with him. Took about 5 hours of following his track on foot. The cows we spotted high up on the hillside - approximately 1200' in elevation above valley bottom. From here it was just a matter of hiking up to them.

Both animals came out in the backpacks.

My experience was that for the most part, success rates from others that were hunting seemed low - but most people were content driving up and down the roads all day. If you treat it more like a sheep hunt you'll likely do better.

Be prepared for extremely cold temps. Keeping water, food, etc unfrozen was a challenge. Keeping machines running was also very difficult. Very fun hunt overall but go in prepared!

[stoneramhunter]

Congrats on the draw! Myself and hunting partner got this draw back a few years back for January. The info in this thread is quite accurate but ill add my experience as well.

We stayed at the air strip and hunted from there. Ended up taking a big bull and a cow. The bull was by itself and the cow was with a group. The bull came from down low in valley bottom and was a matter of getting onto his track and following until we caught up with him. Took about 5 hours of following his track on foot. The cows we spotted high up on the hillside - approximately 1200' in elevation above valley bottom. From here it was just a matter of hiking up to them.

Both animals came out in the backpacks.

My experience was that for the most part, success rates from others that were hunting seemed low - but most people were content driving up and down the roads all day. If you treat it more like a sheep hunt you'll likely do better.

Be prepared for extremely cold temps. Keeping water, food, etc unfrozen was a challenge. Keeping machines running was also very difficult. Very fun hunt overall but go in prepared!


Wow two bison packed out on your backs, that is a hell of an achievement. i cant imagine must of been dozens of trips to pack them out.
Congrats and impressed to say the least!
seasons greetings

[Norwestalta]

Great thread guys. I'm envious of the experience put forth and those that get to go do it. Congratulations and all the best.

[264mag]

Great post, great info. Need to see more of this on the forum.

[tuchodi]

Very good advise here on these hunts. I have been lucky to be in on 2 hunts. Both were successful but we used 10 days on both trips before getting the animals. As stated it is more like a sheep hunt but in much colder conditions. We stayed at the ranch both times and they are wonderful people and very helpful. Our first trip was very cold -40 for 6 days and then warmed up to -25 when we got the bull. The second hunt it stayed around -20 for the 10 days so not bad at all. We cut tracts early in the mornings and always got to see the animals but most ended up to far away to take. Its a lot of work in very extreme conditions so be very prepared. We used 338 with 250 gr Barnes TTX for both our bull and they didn't go far. Good Luck.

[MRP]

I’d have to say it’s the hardest time of the year to plan a hunt, can be 50 below or 10 above 4 feet of snow to almost bare ground. I’ve never been but several friends that have. One they drove in to almost green grass camp, took two bison and home in a couple of days. Others not so nice, a big track vehicle with a good heater like the hydro guys have would be the way to go ;) it only money :(

[morgan9williams]

How did ur hunt go? Been waiting for ur update!! Hopefully u were successful??

[high horse Hal]

I bet the 16th is coming up fast for you, getting charged up yet?
Hope you have good luck

[cas-has-cars]

We had a group LEH for 2 Bison and pulled one Cow Bison out Jan 2nd and we didn't see another one after that. She was in a small herd of 9-10 but by the time my son-in-law seen them they were on the move and he barely had time to get the last one to clear the field. We found the gut pile of another hunting party that also got their bison a few days later from a different herd about 5 km out of the Pink Mountain ranch where both of our hunting parties were renting cabins from Vern.
We also heard of 2 bison 1 bull and 1 cow being taken by hunting parties camped at the air strip on the Sikanni side.
We found lots of bison sign in many areas but the sign had not been snowed on for 10 days so who really knows how recent the activity was.
Anyhow great trip, I wish you the best. Snow conditions are fine for sleds, made it to Marion Lake, so nice. Cabins there are not in any condition for even 1 overnighter.
cas-has-cars

[cas-has-cars]

Vern's cabins were great! and the price was right. This was our 3rd stay with the ranch.
Lots of hunting pressure around, but you can still find your own ground.
cas-has-cars

[morgan9williams]

Awesome congrats to the harvest. We are staying at the sikanni river ranch. We've got 2 sleds rented so fingers crossed we will be able to find some fresh sign. If you have any intel @ where we r and are willing to share that would be awesome. Congrats again

[cas-has-cars]

The closest we got to the Sikanni river side of 7-42 D was Marion Lake. There is plenty of tracks and sign at both ends of the lake.
My advise for what its worth is to bring your phone and use a good satellite image map. I use Ihunter. When you are standing in a grassy field looking at the bison sign, look at your map and find similar grassy fields out of the way of the snowmobile traffic that are near by and you can walk into those spots and have them to yourself. Its surprising how big animals like that can stay out of sight and still be in an open grassy field surrounded by poplar and willows.
good luck
cas-has-cars

[morgan9williams]

Heading out tomorrow to Sikanni river. Anyone have any last minute tips? any recent sightings?

[Jrax]

how much snow up in sikanni right now?

[morgan9williams]

Not sure? Im calling the ranch tomorrow for a weather n snow update

[2chodi]

Not sure? Im calling the ranch tomorrow for a weather n snow update

Unseasonably warm up that way right now, but that is supposed to end by Friday. Snow has been settling and disappearing, but plenty to get around on sleds.

[TheObserver]

Heading out tomorrow to Sikanni river. Anyone have any last minute tips? any recent sightings?

Hope ya get one bud! Have an awesome trip!

[walks with deer]

The closest we got to the Sikanni river side of 7-42 D was Marion Lake. There is plenty of tracks and sign at both ends of the lake.
My advise for what its worth is to bring your phone and use a good satellite image map. I use Ihunter. When you are standing in a grassy field looking at the bison sign, look at your map and find similar grassy fields out of the way of the snowmobile traffic that are near by and you can walk into those spots and have them to yourself. Its surprising how big animals like that can stay out of sight and still be in an open grassy field surrounded by poplar and willows.
good luck
cas-has-cars
Interesting post.

[Lobot Doog]

any luck on your trip?