Ta Tonka Down X 2

[guest]

Well, thanks to our hunting crew, the many helpful hints from many on this site too. We tagged on 2 Bison from Zone A.
Just got home from the great white north. Had temps from -25 to -10, some sunny days some fresh snow (great for detecting new sign).
Tons of pressure when we first got there, guys every where, group of 9, group of 7, 6, 4, a couple 3's and we even bumped into Jim Shockey looking for a Big Bull with Black Powder. I must say I take my hat off to some of you young bucks that connected on some true beast size Bison. The group of 3 from Terrace, who ever you are RIGHT ON !.. These guys fell a book bull on top of a mountain and I mean that ! They got him 1/4'ed and brought him out, oh to be young again, you guys deserved that beauty ! A few other parties got a couple of good bulls too, the odd guy just walking right out at the right time.
In our case, we had to work for them too, the amount of hunters had made them spooky. After finding some great sign and well beat trails Bang ! # one was down and after 3 more days Bang # two was down. Nothing big, nothing you trophy hunters search for..... but for us, we are very happy, we harvested about a 2 year old and likely 5yr. old. Both cows, but that is what presented us with the chances so we took them. For me, my first Bison,
Cool ! They have terrific coats and we are also going to have the hides done besides the great eating steaks ahead.
Yes I would have loved a big bull, but after waiting 15 or 16 years it's finally complete, my first Bison.
I am to tired and cannot post pic's right now, maybe some one could help me....... Where are you Steelco ?? Hope to post tomorrow.
A special thanks to all my friends that helped make this possible, you know who you are. And thanks to Jamie from the PMM Inn for the great food and helping us out of the snow from his parking lot. Thanks Jamie.
CT

[swampdonkey]

congrats can't wait for the pics:-D

[tomahawk]

Way to go, area "A" is the place for bison this year, look forward to the follow up!!

[Darksith]

I pmed you, send me the pics and I'll post them for ya :)

[hillclimber]

sounds like you guys had a blast congrats! cna't wait to see the pictures

[d6dan]

Glad to hear your Good news CT. Looking forward to your pics and story:-D...

[TriggerMag]

CT,

Glad to see you were successful, sounds like you had a great experience.

TM

[guest]

So Darksith will post some pics for me .... thanks for that.

Well what a cool experience from the Halfway River area. Zone A.
Arriving on the 5th, the place was busy , a zoo so to speak. I under stand reasonably 1 tag holder should have 1 or 2 helpers for when the beast is down but we saw huge groups going in. 9 and 7 in a bunch too many other groups to even count. Many bison were being taken by those that worked hard and even the odd one by a timely crossing of the roadways. We saw a couple Huge bulls downed by a few groups, although we did not have any luck finding big bulls nor the extra time to stay and besides when it's your 1st, I must admit I was not fussy. After seeing so much pressure, I decided to hunt an area we had spooked a group from while traveling before daylight. I found a main trail, pounded with fresh stampede style sign and set up on it 2 hrs. before dark.
Less then a hour later, suddenly a group of 12 came out of the dark timber and crossed the river, straight ahead of me. As they filtered out I searched for what I wanted. A med sized bull, with to many others milling around behind the bull, 3 came right for me. They must have heard my movement or saw me because they stopped and starred right at me. I dare not move, I was kneeling, rifle in a crutch stick, -25 my hands grew cold. It was like a 10 minute standoff. No one backing down, no movement, 2 were through willow and not clear shots and facing right at me, one finally turned and presented a clear broadside shot and I settled for the sure thing, I took aim just behind the shoulder and she didn't go more then 12 feet, a younger cow.
I still wonder if I should have waited, to try to take a better bull, I was to afraid to spooke the group and not get any shots. So I didn't get my bull, but thats ok with me, it's my 1st and will be a fine eating bison. Our group, worked well into dark to retrieve the entire animal, head and hide back to camp. Right on!! One more to go, buddies tag.
For the next couple days we went deep into the valley about 55km. Saw several moose, and spooked some buffalo but no shots presented them self.
Then, 3 days later, late after noon a group of 4 of us went glassing meadows and seismic lines, again late in the afternoon, we spot 1 then 2 then more and more. Buddy started his stalk, crossed the river twice on snow covered logs, with broken ice below, crazy. He's Crazy! With light fading, the other 3 of us had watched what we thought was 80 to 100 bison had moved through the line,some biggys, buddy only seeing 4 on his stalk with the lay of land. Unbelievable! They just kept coming, but we did not know they were actually spread through the dark timber in swamp area along side the river. Then, just before dark, Boom it was done, the 3 of us rushed to find him and locate the Bison. In the fading light we looked for and used what crossing we could find, one log to the next, with little comfort to my self any way. We did all our work removing hide and 1/4's, deboneing the rest and headed out. Getting to camp at 8:30pm
The next morning we all worked on retrieving the animal, and the day light made the river crossing much safer, yet still, one guy slipped off a log and busted through the ice, hanging on to the log with him arms as 3 of us helped him out. Back there is no place to have an incident like that, thankful he was ok. No biggy this time but it could get much worse in one of those -25 or -30 nights.
As said earlier, thanks to all my hunting partners on your hard work and help. And thanks to every one on here that gave advice to me before leaving for Pink Mountain.

[rifleman]

sounds like quite the hunt . congrats on your 1st bison. pretty scary for the guy that went swimming. that could have been his last hunt. glad everyone is ok. & you have meat for the freezer.

[kennyj]

Great storys guys.Congrats on your first bison.Can't wait to see the pics.
kenny

[lightmag]

sounds like an awesome expirence!! I too hope 1 day to do this.

[sheep.elk.moose fanatic]

CONGRATS AGAIN!!!! CURLY TOP nice to meet ya and your hunting Buddy's!!

[doubled]

Great story! Something you will NEVER forget. Congratulations and enjoy those FINE steaks!

[Darksith]

here are the pics, curly top can add descriptions if he wants
http://i50.tinypic.com/t4u2qu.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/97439v.jpg
http://i45.tinypic.com/23tqadf.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/25rnket.jpg
http://i47.tinypic.com/k0k1w3.jpg
http://i47.tinypic.com/vyt7kp.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/23wnuky.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/nf5xll.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/eqe5ig.jpg
http://i47.tinypic.com/fz87eo.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/vg4vua.jpg
http://i50.tinypic.com/mr2z41.jpg

[guest]

Thanks Darksith.
Was a good time by all.
CT

[tomahawk]

Way to go Curly Top, glad you all made it out safe and sound, had a great hunt, got to meet Jamie and brought home the bacon!!

[JDR]

Big congrats to you Curly and all! Well deserved i'm sure.

[trigger]

hey CT. Congrats man. I'm glad you guys connected. I'm so happy for you guys. So did shockey end up getting one?
I still dont understand how that is legal for him to kill one with a black powder. Maybe someone out there has the remedy to make the black powder legal, but as far as i looked into it it did not meet the minimum restrictions.

[Will]

I still dont understand how that is legal for him to kill one with a black powder. Maybe someone out there has the remedy to make the black powder legal, but as far as i looked into it it did not meet the minimum restrictions.
The min is of course a 175 grain bullet retaining at least 2000 ftlbs at 100 meters.

Me thinks the typical "round ball" load isn't up to snuff (by a long shot) but I'd suspect a "sabot" might get closer to the mark.......but I too would like to know how Shockey gets er up to the 2000 ftlb min though:???:

Not that I endorse the BC regs on this one......just curious as well.


Congrats to Curly top.....a Great Hunt for sure, well done ! :cool:

[guest]

In Regards to Shockey.
No Jim did not get one, I would imagine he was looking for a book bull, and with the pressure that was there at the time, a guy would have to get VERY lucky on a good one .... except for the guys from Terrace I spoke of. That is a book bull and lived as I said on top of a mountain, unreal every one where they got that bull. I kid you not I am envious to not be young again. I used to work like that, now I'm to broken to that kind of stuff.
But....
You would think if Shockey hired a guide, should that guide not know where a big bull would likely be hold up, in a saddle or basin away from the main traffic. From our meetings on the trail, Jim seemed like a very nice guy and I am sure some how he was using a legal load for the B/B.

CT

[IPA]

If you read Jims blog he pulled out wed due to too much poaching.

[sheep.elk.moose fanatic]

the guide outfitter came in for dinner last night, and when i mentioned Mr.shockey he didn't have much to say but they were very friendly and nice and seem to know there shit...but it looks like the hbc'ers know more with some more BIG BISON DOWN!!! LOL

[1/2 slam]

Sounds like a good trip. Congratulations.

[hunter1947]

Nice going on the bison's your party got a truck full of the good stuff ,congrats to your hunting party http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif.

[Mik]

Sounds like you had an excellent time. Congrats on the Bison.

[sheep.elk.moose fanatic]

read Jim's blog i guess you not allowed friends or help when bison hunting! just got do it by yourself.."solo"I don't believe in shooting anyones tag, but saying there should only be tag holders in the bush is a little over the top.

[Bighorn hunter]

read Jim's blog i guess you not allowed friends or help when bison hunting! just got do it by yourself.."solo"I don't believe in shooting anyones tag, but saying there should only be tag holders in the bush is a little over the top.


Nice of Jim to mouth off:evil:. Didn't say anything in his blog about guys shooting anything illeally, just assumes they are all poachers.Like you say, not right for someone else to shoot your tag, but dam nice to have help around once it is down.And who wouldn't pack a rifle in case there is a wolf around on one of the kills. What a idiot.He is a outfitter though and some(Not all, I do know some great ones) seem to have a real hate on for residents

Cheers
BH

[sheep.elk.moose fanatic]

and is he not a resident of BC? and this is real hunting in BC with lots of hunters in the bush this is nothing new to us! just have to work harder like "TOMAHAWK,TRIGGER,TRIGGERMAG,IPA,CURLYTOP" JUST FOR A EXAMPLE!!!! DON'T CRY ABOUT IT!!! JUST WORK HARD AND GETTER DONE!!!!:evil:

[Bighorn hunter]

Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes and yes

[d6dan]

I too read his blog and I have to say, I'm a little disappointed in his choice of words. Residents and poachers were over used words. Most of his readers are foreigners and he makes it sound like we (residents)are the bad ones here. What the hell does he think?, 60+ draws and a not so large area. If he doesn't like the pressure,competition, maybe he would be better off chasing bison in the NWT.

[guest]

When we were there, we worked in two groups of three guys per group and 1 tag per group. We made sure at least 1 spare rifle besides the tag holder were with the tag holder at all times. That said, on one of the Bison we tagged on the LEH holder actually had 2 mis fires due to freeze up, yes it worked the 3rd time, but if it didn't, at least he would have had a back up gun from buddy to use. We did see a number of guys in the bush, 150 though ........ not. If I ever go back I will be sure to have 2 partners with me, a lone tage holder and 1 partner with a big bull down are in for a ton of hard work which certainly can be made easier with a total of 3 guys.

We did not see or hear of ANY poaching going on what so ever.

All this said, I would like to see this made into a shared hunt like the moose have gone in some regions, what the hell, a guy can't do it reasonably by himself once the critter is down any way, and it would give the group a chance and make more people happy that at least they had a chance. But this is another issue.
Personally, Jim knows the space, herd size, access etc. on these BC Bison and should understand the stiff competition from residents and for a book bull, it likely is not going to be the one to just cross the road. It will likely be one of those mountain top guys like the group from Terrace bagged.
Again to them I take my hat off, just incredible where they brought that guy out from Way to go guys. I would also think that a big bull could likely be found on another nearby mountain, or valley or basin off the main trek, away from the crowds.
If I had paid big bucks for a guided hunt and was just brought into the exact same place as most other hunters, I think I would be a little ticked.
CT

[Muleycatcher]

Just read Jim's blog, and it sounds like he is a little jealous of the residents, maybe he should've paid more money for the outfitter to tie a book bull up for him to shoot. Sucks to be famous and have to compete will those lowly "residents"..uggghh

[tomahawk]

I too read his blog and I have to say, I'm a little disappointed in his choice of words. Residents and poachers were over used words. Most of his readers are foreigners and he makes it sound like we (residents)are the bad ones here. What the hell does he think?, 60+ draws and a not so large area. If he doesn't like the pressure,competition, maybe he would be better off chasing bison in the NWT.

I like Jim for the most part, he is a good hunter, runs a good outfitting business and has one of the better TV shows I like to watch. However he also is very much about himself at times and with this all I see is he's crying in his spilt milk cause he wasn't successful in harvesting a book bull and all that would have brought to him. In this herd there are not a bunch of bulls that would meet his criteria. Of the 6 Big bulls we saw this year, just one would have been book and he would have been well up there. But he slipped away without letting us get within good shooting range. For him to say what he has on an open forum with the audience he has, he has lost some of my respect for him as a man. I just sent him an email and we'll see what he has to say.

[trigger]

I also sent him an email last night. In my mind the only guy poaching was him.
Even with the sabbot 45 he at the muzzle did not have enough energy to pass the min. at 100 meters he would be much below being around 800 ft lbs of energy.

[d6dan]

I also sent him an email last night. In my mind the only guy poaching was him.
Even with the sabbot 45 he at the muzzle did not have enough energy to pass the min. at 100 meters he would be much below being around 800 ft lbs of energy.

I would like to know how he could hunt with a smokepole when nobody else
can...:confused:

[d6dan]

I like Jim for the most part, he is a good hunter, runs a good outfitting business and has one of the better TV shows I like to watch. However he also is very much about himself at times and with this all I see is he's crying in his spilt milk cause he wasn't successful in harvesting a book bull and all that would have brought to him. In this herd there are not a bunch of bulls that would meet his criteria. Of the 6 Big bulls we saw this year, just one would have been book and he would have been well up there. But he slipped away without letting us get within good shooting range. For him to say what he has on an open forum with the audience he has, he has lost some of my respect for him as a man. I just sent him an email and we'll see what he has to say.

I too have/ had respect for Jim, I have lots of his DVDs and enjoy his humor, but we seem to forget its foreigners that line his pockets so he writes this way to make himself look good and the "resident hunter" look bad. He must make a hell of alot of money from his DVDs. Like I said before. He can go and chase Bison around the NWT. Theres alot less pressure and few "resident" hunters around..:wink:

[golden raven]

hey poor jim ...... i guess we were lucky got there sunday morning and got out monday night with the nicest 4 year old bull around..... sleds were used to get to 4 k from camp then it was awesome bushwacking till we found fresh signs and from then on it was almost like a whitetail stalking slow walk look...slow walk look.. then 3 dark shapes within 150 meters decided on the medium one and off went the 338 ... it worked fine..and after 2hrs of hard work back to camp and down the highway .... i feel for the brave soul still out there in the frigid temp.. it was an awesome hunt and i hope to be able to do it again and i agree that a group hunt might be the way to go about leh...merry christmas to everybody i will be dining on bison chinese fondue and meat pies for awhile.

[Bighorn hunter]

heard that he wanted the outfitter to save an area for only him,,What a laugh. Just looked in the LEH regs and there was 72 tags aloted for this time period, thats only 2.083 people per tag if he truely did see 150 hunters

[trigger]

hes a goof ball. poor sport to boot by the sounds of things

[IPA]

I thought his wording was in poor taste. With a little research on his part maybe he could have had better luck and not blame others for the lack of seeing animals. All the info that I found on this site was great and helped me on deciding where to try and hunt. No sense hunting in an area you know will be crowded and complain about the crowd. To steal a line from Jim himself it's called hunting not shopping.

[Bear Chaser]

It sounds like Jim didn't hang in there & give his guide a chance. I wonder how he'd like the same treatment by one of his hunters and then have the guy blogging on the internet about the poor hunting conditions. What's the difference to a good hunter between having a guide or having your friends to help?

[sheep.elk.moose fanatic]

you are right bear chaser, i think it was a little cold for Jim and with the added pressure i think he just gave up.

i have a 82 year old man and his son 57 and his partner 55 that are still hunting!! its there last day for there tag and still going hard in -35 temps
i think Jim should take a lesson from these guys about not giving up!

these guys are trying hard to get there bison but if it doesn't work out they are not going to cry about it! cuz they still had a good time in the wilderness with family and friends enjoying each others company and beautiful scenery and thats what HUNTING IS ALL ABOUT!!

[trigger]

:-D:mrgreen::-D:mrgreen::-D:mrgreen:
you guys are both right. Hanging in there and haveing fun. Making the best of the trip. Shockey could deffinetly learn from this site. mind you he might just be one of those negative posters on here.We are better off with out him on this site. I'm glad he got skunked. Kind of makes us who did give it our all and connect on a bison feel proud to have succeeded

[d6dan]

Just checked Jims blog and It seems the e-mails worked:). Theres no mention of poachers, just 150 wolf hunters..and a picture of Tanyas bull..I notice shes shooting a smokepole too?.:confused:

[Tanya]

Gentlemen; I will not comment on Jim's choice of words, that is up to him, and he is currently in Turkey hunting ibex. Also, he doesn't post on forums. I will say however that I do know that he had to, and did get confirmation from Thompson Center that his set up would produce enough energy to be within the legal limits for the hunt. I also bring to your attention the fact that I was not using a muzzleloader, as I had changed barrels to .338 Win. Mag. and was using 250-grain bullets. This was my choice as I am not very experienced with the muzzleloader.

During my hunt I witnessed what I would call questionable activity. Extremely close to where I was stalking up on some animals I counted 12 shots within seconds, and then over the next few minutes at least another 6 or 8. I left the area. It seems unlikely to me that one or even two persons were shooting during that first flurry, but perhaps I could be wrong. I certainly believe that a person should have help on these kinds of hunts as the weather and terrain can be a challenge, not to mention help processing an animal once it is downed. The fact however is that at this time it is not a shared hunt, and should not be treated as such. Also, it shouldn't take that many shots to down one or even two animals, my bison dropped with one shot.

[Bighorn hunter]

Thanks for chiming in Tanya. It is unfortunate thought the words Jim chose to use on his public forum.If there truely was illegal activity should it not have been reported rather than the route he chose?I have hunted that area several times and yes there is considerable preasure, that is just the way it is.It is a huge area and the masses stick to the main trail.What fun would it be if you just went up and shot a animal in the first few minutes and then went home. Might as well just head to safeway.It can be an extremely fun hunt if choose to make it one.

[sheep.elk.moose fanatic]

GOOD CHOICE OF WORDS BIGHORN HUNTER!! in one of Jim's moose videos he says if he ever loses that thrill of the hunt or the excitement or the Adrenalin rush he would quit hunting? sounds like he has lost that passion and its all business now..he should find that passion and not the next hunt.
He would have a more enjoyable time.

[d6dan]

Tanya, thanks for bringing it to our attention and clarifying your choice of barrel. I've shot Bison with my 338. Worked great using Gr Barnes X 225Gr. Since you were shooting a single shot rifle, I would imagine you had someone else as a backup shooter if needed?. Maybe other hunters had backup friends helping them?. Maybe there were wolf hunters around?. Anyway, congrats on your bison, he should be tasty.

[Tanya]

Actually, no, I had no back-up rifle, but more shells in a partner's hand ready for me. Those that were shooting were very close, close enough for voices and statements to be clearly heard, I'll leave it at that. This thread has already gone astray.

Thank you on the congrats, and yes I've already cooked some meat and it is very tasty. I was pleased as I wanted a decent bull, but one that I could eat.

[GoatGuy]

Actually, no, I had no back-up rifle, but more shells in a partner's hand ready for me. Those that were shooting were very close, close enough for voices and statements to be clearly heard, I'll leave it at that. This thread has already gone astray.

Thank you on the congrats, and yes I've already cooked some meat and it is very tasty. I was pleased as I wanted a decent bull, but one that I could eat.

Suggestion you report illegal activities (poaching) to the Conservation Officer Service. Blog is poor form. As you know, poaching isn't restricted to any one group, regardless of their residence or where they hunt. :wink:

Congrats on the bull.

[trigger]

I will say however that I do know that he had to, and did get confirmation from Thompson Center that his set up would produce enough energy to be within the legal limits for the hunt..


theres no way he had enough energy to meet the min in the bc regs.
he would have had 1500 ft lbs at most at his muzzle.

shockey , you ever hear the term calling the kettle black

[Will]

I will say however that I do know that he had to, and did get confirmation from Thompson Center that his set up would produce enough energy to be within the legal limits for the hunt.
Not buying it in the least........I shot Muzzle loaders and BP long enough to know that it's very iffy to get a ML load to produce 2000 ftlbs at a hundred meters. That's why I was asking for others input on what loads would do it ?

You'd need to push a 300 grain at nearly 1800 fps to get that kinda energy.:?

[tomahawk]

Thank you on the congrats, and yes I've already cooked some meat and it is very tasty. I was pleased as I wanted a decent bull, but one that I could eat.

Nice bull Tanya, looks like the first one I got, it was tremendous table fair and still had the nice blocky head of a bull!

[sheep.elk.moose fanatic]

congrats Tanya, some good steaks for sure.