Untouchable
11-02-2009, 11:39 AM
I just got back last night from my week long hunting trip up to the kootneys. I started of in the bull river valley and then went south to Grasmere for four days then returned to the bull river area for the last day. I was really trying to put a big muley down but I just wasn't seeing anything worth shooting.
I left Vancouver and entered into one hell of a snowstorm up in the strawberry pass area. Vehicles on their sides and the whole works. Finally made it up to Jaffray(really hard to say the name of this place without throwing on some kind of accent.:razz:). Fueled up the truck and headed up the bull river. It was my first time in the area and there was about 6 inches of snow on the ground. I have a decent four wheel drive so I was going along fine for the most part, but I wasn't really seeing any muleys. Lots of whitetails though. I ran into a guide coming out with his horses and stopped to talk to him for a bit. He told me that out of his 45 hunters, only three had shot mule deer, and all had tags(didn't really seem like a bs'r). He did recommend the area in the Glaton range around Grasmere, and so I decided to check that area out the following morning.
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x105/themanfromsummerscreek/DSC00868.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x105/themanfromsummerscreek/DSC00871.jpg
When I showed up in grasmere, I found a promising looking little piece of country and started hiking. I put many miles on the old boots, and saw a lot of deer in the next four days, but alas, no 180 class muleys. I happened to get a flat tire, and made my way into the kal tire in Elko. While I was getting it fixed I talked to the owner and he asked If I wanted to see some of his bucks. Of coarse I did! We walked over to his place and he has three huge typical muleys on his wall! I told him I wanted one like that! A super clean 187 and change monster. He said that due to his work load, he couldn't get out hunting, but told me a spot where I might have some luck. Back to the Bull River I go!
"Just glass southern hillsides, and you'll see them out there sunning themselves, I dont know how you're going to get to them, but thats something you can figure out", was the advice I received. I headed back into some areas that looked good on my map, but when I arrived they were too overgrown to glass, so I ended up just driving to where I thought would be a good spot and hiking in. There was a road closure for hunting, so it didn't look like the road was seeing to much pressure. I hiked from sunup and didn't get back to the truck until after dark. And I never saw a mule deer. What I did see was something that I didn't know existed. High country white tails! From the valley floor where the ground was bare, to the mountain tops where there was a foot of snow, those whitetails were everywhere. Certainly in fewer numbers up high, but they were there.
As I was hiking up the mountain, I had a little run in with a young grizzly. He was coming down the same trail I was going up. First thing he did was smell me, then saw me, then turned and ran. pussy! One day I'll show Brambles and Rattler how to scare the shit outta a bear just by lookin at em!
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x105/themanfromsummerscreek/DSC00862.jpg
Now carrying on further up this mountain I glassed the hillsides, and once I stopped for long enough I would catch movement, and discover animals walking about. No mule deer! I reached the summit, and turned around because I was starting to lose daylight. The whole hike down the mountain I was glassing side hills, and I caught movement, this time it was a decent sized buck. I had seen a lot of two points and spikers, but I really didn't care to shoot a white tail until I saw this guy. He is bonified high country deer. At an elevation of over 1600 m. He was unaware of my presence and seemed to be making his way down to the creek for a drink. ranged em at 292 and let the 7mm bark. He went an additional 40 yards right into the water and died.
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x105/themanfromsummerscreek/DSC00865.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x105/themanfromsummerscreek/DSC00867.jpg
I pulled him out of the water, admired him for a minute taking in the country I was in and what a beautiful place he had chosen. The amphitheater of the Rockies and their snow covered peaks was something to behold indeed! After field dressing him, I propped his cavity open and pushed him back into the creek to cool off. Once the meat was cool to the touch, I strapped the whole deer to my eberlestock, and carried him out whole! His back feet were dragging on the ground, but that pack never failed. After hiking 20 k that day, I was grateful to shoot that deer 2 k from the truck.
I left Vancouver and entered into one hell of a snowstorm up in the strawberry pass area. Vehicles on their sides and the whole works. Finally made it up to Jaffray(really hard to say the name of this place without throwing on some kind of accent.:razz:). Fueled up the truck and headed up the bull river. It was my first time in the area and there was about 6 inches of snow on the ground. I have a decent four wheel drive so I was going along fine for the most part, but I wasn't really seeing any muleys. Lots of whitetails though. I ran into a guide coming out with his horses and stopped to talk to him for a bit. He told me that out of his 45 hunters, only three had shot mule deer, and all had tags(didn't really seem like a bs'r). He did recommend the area in the Glaton range around Grasmere, and so I decided to check that area out the following morning.
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x105/themanfromsummerscreek/DSC00868.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x105/themanfromsummerscreek/DSC00871.jpg
When I showed up in grasmere, I found a promising looking little piece of country and started hiking. I put many miles on the old boots, and saw a lot of deer in the next four days, but alas, no 180 class muleys. I happened to get a flat tire, and made my way into the kal tire in Elko. While I was getting it fixed I talked to the owner and he asked If I wanted to see some of his bucks. Of coarse I did! We walked over to his place and he has three huge typical muleys on his wall! I told him I wanted one like that! A super clean 187 and change monster. He said that due to his work load, he couldn't get out hunting, but told me a spot where I might have some luck. Back to the Bull River I go!
"Just glass southern hillsides, and you'll see them out there sunning themselves, I dont know how you're going to get to them, but thats something you can figure out", was the advice I received. I headed back into some areas that looked good on my map, but when I arrived they were too overgrown to glass, so I ended up just driving to where I thought would be a good spot and hiking in. There was a road closure for hunting, so it didn't look like the road was seeing to much pressure. I hiked from sunup and didn't get back to the truck until after dark. And I never saw a mule deer. What I did see was something that I didn't know existed. High country white tails! From the valley floor where the ground was bare, to the mountain tops where there was a foot of snow, those whitetails were everywhere. Certainly in fewer numbers up high, but they were there.
As I was hiking up the mountain, I had a little run in with a young grizzly. He was coming down the same trail I was going up. First thing he did was smell me, then saw me, then turned and ran. pussy! One day I'll show Brambles and Rattler how to scare the shit outta a bear just by lookin at em!
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x105/themanfromsummerscreek/DSC00862.jpg
Now carrying on further up this mountain I glassed the hillsides, and once I stopped for long enough I would catch movement, and discover animals walking about. No mule deer! I reached the summit, and turned around because I was starting to lose daylight. The whole hike down the mountain I was glassing side hills, and I caught movement, this time it was a decent sized buck. I had seen a lot of two points and spikers, but I really didn't care to shoot a white tail until I saw this guy. He is bonified high country deer. At an elevation of over 1600 m. He was unaware of my presence and seemed to be making his way down to the creek for a drink. ranged em at 292 and let the 7mm bark. He went an additional 40 yards right into the water and died.
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x105/themanfromsummerscreek/DSC00865.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x105/themanfromsummerscreek/DSC00867.jpg
I pulled him out of the water, admired him for a minute taking in the country I was in and what a beautiful place he had chosen. The amphitheater of the Rockies and their snow covered peaks was something to behold indeed! After field dressing him, I propped his cavity open and pushed him back into the creek to cool off. Once the meat was cool to the touch, I strapped the whole deer to my eberlestock, and carried him out whole! His back feet were dragging on the ground, but that pack never failed. After hiking 20 k that day, I was grateful to shoot that deer 2 k from the truck.