7-27 access problems-grizz hunters!!!

[boonerbuck]

I've been keeping a close eye on the access problem in getting into 7-27 across Babine Lake.

This year the lake froze up at that end so they havent been running the ferry barge. They intended to stop service regardless I was also told. They may not run it when it clears even. It depends on what happens with the tree plnting contract.

I have a friend who logged over there all winter and his boss who runs the show there lives in Topley Landing. I'm getting bi-weekly updates of the situation.

I know you can drive in from Fort St. James but the guide outfitter has gated the road. To complicate matters worse there is still 2 feet of snow on the roads down lower so the pass you need to cross from the south will be blocked for a while yet with a hell of a lot more snow. The north access is often gated closed also.

I'll let you know what happens as I find out. I know there is a lot of draws in there so there must be other members who will be affected by this poor timing.

My first grizz draw in 13 years and this happens. They never shut that ferry down... even in winter. Dammit!

[rgv]

I'll have exploration crews in there after the long weekend and will be chartering the barge. I've flown in from Smithers a couple times in the last weeks and the snow is 3-4 weeks behind, you won't move around much before the 15th unless you are on something with tracks.

[Sitkaspruce]

Boonerbuck

The government closed and gated the road, not the GO. MOE does not want easy access to the east side of Babine lake. The gate is only supposed to be in place for the fall hunting season. It has never been closed during bear season as long as I can remember.

Give me a PM and I will let you know if the "new way" is open yet. It is usually snow free around mid May, but with the long winter, I suspect it will be a bit yet. Another thing to do is contact Canfor Houston and see if you can get the key for the Macdougal crossing. It would be a Loooong drive from Houston to FSJ and then another two hours north from there, but it might be worth it. Also there is good bears up Dust Creek.

I will contact some people and let you know.

SS

[boonerbuck]

Thanks, that would be fantastic.

I'm just going by what the people I know who work over there are telling me. They of course only know so much. Two feet of snow still they are saying.

[Hilgy]

Hey Sitka,

I'm just curious why they want to restrict access for hunting season??

Any info??

Hilgy

[Sitkaspruce]

Hey Sitka,

I'm just curious why they want to restrict access for hunting season??

Any info??

Hilgy

Hilgy

The reason for it have never made much sense, but the MOE types in our office have always fought what we called circle roads. They looked at the opening of the Mcdougal creek crossing as a huge circle road, with access from both the Takla and Babine side. They would only approve the reopening of the crossing, if there was some sort of gate in place during the fall hunting season. I guess they thought that the area between Babine and Takla was a sacred area for game as the only access was by the barge or some roads that very few knew about:eek:. Canfor agreed to the gate and it was put in place back in the the early 2000. It was promply cut up buy some one with a cutting tourch. They built a bigger, stronger one and so far it has been left alone. The gate is only supposed to be closed from Sept 01 to November 05 of any given year. The rest of the time it is to be left open for fire access and emergency purposes. I know you can get the key for the gate any time except in the fall hunting season. We have one, the GO has one and Canfor Houston has one.

There is now 5 ways to access the Babine side of 7-27 and three have access control, the barge, the gate over the Macdougal and the end of the Baptiste, which is just a winter road that gets froze in when needed. The other two are wide open (when the snow melts).

I bet if you wrote to have the gate removed, it would probably be removed as now there is more than one way to access the area.

SS

[Hilgy]

Thanks Sitka. So is the area closed to hunting during those dates or is it just to limit the traffic somewhat??

If not closed to hunting are you still allowed to access by foot, quad, horse back???

I know alot of guys who used to hunt the area but I havent been up there myself.


Hilgy

[Machinist]

WE managed to acess the east end of BABIBE last fall but it was a Bitch getting in there , We went down the South side past 4 mile Mountian ( Grizzly Main fsr ) , at the far east side there is an old logging road badly overgrown and deactivated that heads down to the east end
( you can see it on GOOGLE Earth ) We went down it in Quad's and an Argo , Had to do quite a bit of power sawing , we managed to get down to a real nice swamp / meadow with a twisty river running through it and we could see an old Village across the lake , We put in a Zodiac boat and hunted the east end allong the river and got a good bull in there we seen several other real good ones in there as well and a lot of grizzly sign . it's a good area with little acess , would go back in there in a Heart beat if we could find an easier way in.

[Sitkaspruce]

Thanks Sitka. So is the area closed to hunting during those dates or is it just to limit the traffic somewhat??

If not closed to hunting are you still allowed to access by foot, quad, horse back???

I know alot of guys who used to hunt the area but I havent been up there myself.


Hilgy

The area is open to regular season hunting, the bridge was put in place for access control only. It is another example where the MOE has no power over access control except through legislation, which can take up to two years to get through (unless they use order in councel), so they use the MOF and timber companies to restrict access. We keep reminding them that we do not manage for wildlife and access, but it doesn't seem to make a difference.

Hope this explains things

SS

[boonerbuck]

Funny thing is that friends of mine have had no problem getting in there the last several years by Barge spring or fall. This year everything is complicated.

Their biggest concern for the spring was how early the bears were rubbed in mid may.

[boonerbuck]

I've been discussing this with my hunting partner over the last week and it looks like we are deciding on taking a pass.

If I had more time to plan out all the alternatives and restructure our camp plans etc then no problem but with access questions being up in the air and the snow melt late this year there are too many *what ifs*. On top of it all the delay in access will have us hunting very rubbed bears possibly.

Looks like we are going to do a Cariboo black bear hunt mixed in with some fly fishing and wolf calling. We'll film us calling in black bears too.

If things are looking as complicated next year then I guess I put draws in somewhere else.

[rgv]

thats too bad. if you change your mind you got my contact info. The snow is still pretty high, and by the time it opens up you will have a tough time finding a decent boar that isn;t rubbed

[boonerbuck]

Thanks for your offer.8-)

[BOOMSTICK]

The government closed and gated the road, not the GO. MOE does not want easy access to the east side of Babine lake. The gate is only supposed to be in place for the fall hunting season.


True, but you didn't mention Stewart Bergs involvement, who happens to be the outfitter in the area. Strange that he is involved, and it is only gated to residents during fall hunting seasons. Hmmmm....

[Sitkaspruce]

True, but you didn't mention Stewart Bergs involvement, who happens to be the outfitter in the area. Strange that he is involved, and it is only gated to residents during fall hunting seasons. Hmmmm....

Stuart has always had access to the area, even before they replaced the bridge and put in the gate. He used to keep a vehicle on either side of the crossing and just walk his hunters across. Did he benifit form the gate? I did not think so as it was business as usual for him. The First Nations fought it as well, but our MOE in the Fort would not hear any reasoning and insisted the gate be put in place, if the bridge was going to be replaced. They got their way. There is now 5 ways to access the east side of Babine and only one has a gate, the rest are either seasonal or you just have to know where to go.:smile::wink: MOF is no longer becoming wildlife and access control peons for the MOE.

SS

[boxhitch]

SS, so what would be the issue with loop routes ? hunter pressure ? or probably an enforcement issue ? No back door to escape out ?
I can't see any logic here.

[GoatGuy]

I can't see any logic here.


You aren't supposed to.

There are usually a handful of great ideas that are eventually implemented well before logic is applied.

You know the saying:

When all else fails, apply common sense.

[Machinist]

If we are foutunate enough to get LEH tag's this year for the east end of Babine , we are going to drag our 19 foot Alum boat up there , Camp out and launch at the public camp beach at the Hatchery and get there by boat , it will be a lot easier than the way we got in there last time via the 4 mile Mtn road , :cool:

[kgriz]

Funny I just talked to the MOF at the District office last week about that gate and I was told that instead of these access gates being covered under Access Management Plans from the FPC days, now one can apply to the District Manager for access control to an area with DUE CAUSE and a gate may be granted. Apparently the Guide outfitter is currently the holder of such a permit/application and most likely will be renewed at the DM's discretion into the future based on supposed vandalism concerns to his cabins/vehicles etc:rolleyes:. The only way one could stop this from happenning is to apply pressure directly to the MOF/DM to get these applications stopped.

[Sitkaspruce]

Funny I just talked to the MOF at the District office last week about that gate and I was told that instead of these access gates being covered under Access Management Plans from the FPC days, now one can apply to the District Manager for access control to an area with DUE CAUSE and a gate may be granted. Apparently the Guide outfitter is currently the holder of such a permit/application and most likely will be renewed at the DM's discretion into the future based on supposed vandalism concerns to his cabins/vehicles etc:rolleyes:. The only way one could stop this from happenning is to apply pressure directly to the MOF/DM to get these applications stopped.

So since I have left, the GO is now the only reason that the gate is still there? The MOE now has no concerns over the alleged increase pressure from Takla side? I find this funny as I was dealing with this issue last fall and was told that it still fell under MOE's request to keep the gate up. If the GO is the only reason, then we should letter write to the DM and get it cancelled. The idea that he has vandalism to his cabins is BS, as most of his camps are accessable from areas with out the gate.

If you want to write, PM me and I will give yiou the DM's name.

SS

[kgriz]

This was what I was told from C and E "unnofficially" and I meant for the importance to be that MANY gates now fall under this process. I assume that the MOE would still "whisper in the ear" of the stake-holder with the concerns to prompt them towards this new process. Actually all of the politics for access management actually make me a little sick.....but it appears, according to recent articles in the Courier newspaper that pressure put on by recreationalists can get rid of gates as they are in Vanderhoof. I will even (gasp) go so far in this case as to not directly blame the GO's as they are just following due process available to them with some prompting I'm sure!:roll: