My first of many elk hunts with Hunter1947

[Marc]

It all started off with the race home to Duncan from work on Thursday the 9th of Sept, as I still needed to drop the dogs off at the boarding kennel before grabbing all my gear and head back to Sooke to meet up with VINDOG & jkt to catch the 9:00pm ferry off the Island.

We drove all night taking turns at the wheel, we saw an amazing mule deer buck in the headlights on the way out but for the life of me I can't remember where we saw it. We stopped in Creston in the morning, filled up with gas, groceries, and a few bevies for the evenings and we were back on the road to meet up with Hunter1947 for the evening hunt.

We stop about 3 km in on the main login road, set up on a spur and double check the rifles before we head on in to elk country. We arrived in Camp around 1:30pm not to bad for the amount of road we covered towing a trailer with two quads and a deep freezer on board. We took the quads off the trailer and set up the 14 x 16 wall tent that VINDOG had bought from our sponsor Deluxe Wall Tents. We had 3 cots, a table and the wood stove in there. Everything you could ask for as far as sleeping quarters for a week in the woods.

The first evening Hunter1947 and I set up in a cut block that he had previously seen a 5 x 6 and a 6 x 6 a week prior during the bow season. We sat there until just about dark but nothing came out so we started to head back down the spur when a deer crosses the road just in front of us. I jump out and try and load a round in the gun but it jams up, a nice four point whitetail watches me from 20 yards just long enough for me to chamber a round and jumps away before I have chance to raise the rifle. It was a nice start to the first evening in the woods.

That first night in Camp we were so exhausted from being up early and working the whole day then heading on the road and driving all night. We turned off the lights and turned our head lamps on as we slipped into our sleeping bags and before two of us had a chance to even zip our sleeping bags it had already begun, we looked across at each other in disbelief and said no way. Poor Hunter1947 had to wear his ear plugs to bed in his camper that night as some of the sounds coming out of the wall tent were louder then any chainsaw I've ever owned. It was an exhausting and frustrating first night to say the least, not many words where spoken until the first cup of coffee had passed our lips that morning.

Saturday morning, Hunter1947 and I head to another location just at legal light in case we saw something on the way to the cut block we were heading for. Wayne notices two bucks (2 x 2 & 4 x 4) standing on a spur in the middle of a chopping on my side of the road. I jump out and load up, the deer start to move into the evergreens but stop long enough to give me a fee hand shot at about 120 yards. Again it was a nice 4 x 4 whitetail but I never touched a hair. We spent a good period of time looking for hair and blood where he was standing and the surrounding area but nothing was found, pretty crappy as it was a nice looking animal but I was happy I missed and didn't leave a wounded deer in the woods.(over the span of a week we drove by the same spot with no sign of ravens) We eventually set up into a big open cut block and glassed and Hunter1947 would call for elk. We saw 8 whitetail deer all walking in a line in the block but no sigh of any elk that morning.

In the afternoon the Island boys (baby eaters) went out and cut up and split a truck load of firewood for the week and piled it outside the wall tent in the ready use position.

[Marc]

Sunday Morning we headed back out at first light scouting the clearings for a whitetail as we head into our elk hunting area. We see a lot of whitetail does and the odd spike and fork bucks but we decide to hold off from shooting anything less then a 3 point as it's early into the hunt.

We head back into Camp for lunch and meet up with the rest of the boys to talk about what we've seen this morning, grab a nap and get ready for the afternoon hunt.

Hunter1947 was having issues with his heater coil that was causing his windshield to fog up not to mention the taste of antifreeze on your tong so he decided to head back in to town for the night to get repairs done on his truck. This left me to do an evening hunt with VINDOG and jkt in a clear cut that they had previously hunted in the morning. Nothing exciting that night just a couple of does and a fawn.

Monday morning jkt and I sat in a chopping where I had previously seen quite a few whitetails we saw 11 does and fawns in the clearing we were sitting in that morning. VINDOG was on another road checking another area out. That afternoon we checked out a spot for Hunter1947 as there was a new logging slash that they put a gate across cutting off access to an older road. We did manage to find a back way in to hunt it but no animals where seen that evening.

Tuesday it was still the same, seeing deer but no big bucks, we finally decided that we were half ways through the trip and we were going to drop the first legal bucks we saw, no shortage of whitetails and they were infesting the area so no loss if we took a couple of young bucks out of the area. That afternoon VINDOG and I head to another location and walk a km or so up a spur that must have had a 10 degree or greater grade to it. Wow was I ever sucking wind trying to get up that road, when we finally did get set up it was a nice area, looking behind me I could see another ridge and you could see for miles. It was quite an amazing site actually. We didn't see anything that evening but we did get a distant bugle back just as darkness was coming upon us.

Wednesday VINDOG and I decide to try and take a fork buck I've been seeing on a daily basis, we head out at day break and make our way on foot up this overgrown spur. Sure enough there he is, VINDOG tries to get closer for a shot but the buck makes him out and slips out undetected as VINDOG is still trying to stock him. We cover some more areas but still no Elk or any legal bucks. We head back to camp and regroup, what has changed since the archery season? Why aren't we seeing any elk? Well since the archery season ended there has been active logging during the week starting at 3:00am and finishing around 3:00pm. This has definitely pushed the bucks back and more then likely what was effecting the elk.

Wednesday afternoon we decide to check out an area that has no logging happening, we grab our sleeping bags and some food as we planned on staying there the night. We get to the new location and it looks pretty promising with Elk beds all over the place. We set up for the evening hunt but see nothing except for a white flag as a whitetail busts us from behind from maybe 25 yards. Didn't even hear or see it come in, kind of made us nervous as it could have easily been a bear. Darkness comes upon us and still no Elk seen so far into the trip. We head back to the trucks, have a couple peanut butter and marmalade sandwiches and crawl back into the truck for what had to be the most uncomfortable and painful sleeps I've ever endured. jkt commented that I didn't snore at all last night, I said that was because I didn't sleep at all last night.
I was one tired puppy.

Thursday morning Hunter1947 and I check out one spot and VINDOG & jkt check out another. We stop for a pee break and I notice two tan objects in the distance. I point them out to Wayne and it's two does, then he tells me there is a cow elk to the right hundred yards or so from the deer. Wow 8 days into the hunt and I finally see an elk. We cover some more road but nothing more presents itself that morning. We grab some lunch and head back out looking for more sigh to try and figure out where the animals are situated. Around 1:30pm we were heading down a road when VINDOG stops his truck and steps out glassing up the side of a chopping, he walks back to us and says there is a huge cow in the back corner of the chopping, it turns out to be a bull but we couldn't identify it as being legal until we reviewed the video as the bull was 400+ yards at the back of the chopping. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e88MdUG1zU

We set up in two cut block that evening hoping to intercept that bull but he never showed up again. That night we headed back to camp as we needed food and I needed a decent nights sleep. Wayne spent another night in his truck as he didn't want to wast the time or gas going back to camp and back and wanted to check out what else was left in that area.

[Marc]

Friday Morning we ended up sleeping in as it was raining so hard the night before that we didn't sleep well. When we finally woke up and realized what time it was it was already daylight.

VINDOG heads out and I follow suite about 20 minutes later on the quads hoping to tag a deer this morning as so far there is nothing hanging from the meat pole. We meet up about an hour later, lots of deer seen but no bucks so far. I head back for gas as I forgot to fuel up the bike before leaving camp and VINDOG goes down a different spur. We meet up about an hour later on the way back to Camp and VINDOG has a spike whitetail tied on with bungees on the front of his quad. We head back to camp, hang and skin the deer and make our plans for the evening hunt.

That evening Hunter1947 and I set up in a clearing, this clearing was quite steep and when you laid down on the ground you had to plant your feet or you were slipping down the slope, reminds me of somewhere a goat or sheep would be living. VINDOG was sitting in a tree stand about 200 yards from where we were set up 50 yards or so inside the tree line for our evening hunt, Wayne had a cow elk decoy set up with an Elk scent wafer on it that he had set up during the archery season. VINDOG was making cow calls from the tree stand, we also chirped back & forth as it was coming on darkness.

With only about 20 minutes before dark Wayne and I decide to head back to the truck and see if we can't catch a deer on the move before legal time is up.

When we get to about half ways across the clear cut heading back for the tree line we can hear VINDOG hollering and cursing, we pretty much came to the same conclusion that a Grizzly bear had come into VINDOG's calling.

We rush back as fast as we can, lungs burning looking for oxygen as I try and keep up the pace with Hunter1947. I'm yelling and hollering as I run like a billy goat jumping over deadfalls hoping to distract the bear or even intimidate him or make him leave. Then there was a span what seemed like 2 minutes where we couldn't hear VINDOG anymore, Wayne hollers out "Vinny are you OK answer me!", no answer...at this point we're thinking the worst has happened and we make certain our rifles are loaded and in the ready position, fingers on the safety as we head down towards the tree stand knowing there is a possibility that we could be charged and may have to kill this bear to extract VINDOG who at this point has been non responsive to our calls out to him. We keep hollering and making noise as we make our way down the trial towards the tree stand. It's an eerie feeling heading into the thick stuff coming on dark when you know there is a Grizzly Bear somewhere nearby and possibly claiming his kill.

When we got to about half ways in to the tree stand VINDOG seen us coming and finally let us know he's OK, we immediately asked where the bear was, he said just over the bank. Seeing he was quite shaken up we placed him between the two of us, with me covering the back and VINDOG & Hunter1947 watching the side and front as we made our way back out of the woods to the road. VINDOG was a bit pale in the face and just about threw up when we got to the road. He thanked us for going in there to get him. I told him that I hope he would have done the same for me in the same situation. There is an old saying that " you don't truly know who your friends are until you really need them". I'll let VINDOG fill you in on the events that took place from the time we heard him hollering until the time we went down to find him as only he can describe what he saw or felt.

We were mostly packed to head home before we started the evening hunt so when we got back to camp talked about what happened, made our final checks and to make sure we weren’t forgetting anything and said our goodbyes. We hit the road around midnight and took turns driving, I think we made the 11:00am ferry the next morning to the Island.

It's a trip I'm sure we'll never forget, no meat in the freezer but still had a great time and will be heading back there next fall.

Oh I almost forgot to mention Wayne was in the same clearing that him and I were set up in the following night and videotaped a 5 x 6 and 6 x 6 bull Elk in that same clearing. If we had stayed one more night we probably would have had an elk on the ground. Oh well that's hunting for you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7Bi43WnZm0

[TIKA 300]

Great story Marc,thanks for the share

[kennyj]

Great story Marc. Really enjoyed it.
kenny

[Marc]

Unfortunately there isn't a bunch of pictures of hanging animals, it was frustrating not seeing any elk for the first 6 days when we were supposed to be out there Elk hunting, but it was all new county and spent with some quality people. I'll do it all over again but next time I'll wait a week or so until things start to move. I did take some video of the area and some deer we saw bot no big bucks or elk on video.

[Marc]

I forgot to mention in my story, Hunter 1947 was telling me that there was a high concentration of Grizz in the area we hunted and I was sort of complaining that I thought it would be kind of cool to see one but not in camp sort of thing. As we were sitting in the clearing Friday night we could see on the ridge in front of us maybe a couple of KM away there was a Grizzly Bear feeding in another clearing. I thought to myself wow that's kind of cool, the first time I've seen a Grizzly, not 10 minutes later the yelling started. :shock:

[islander7mm]

Wow, great ending. Thanks for The story.

[375 ultramag]

Sounds like your trip was exciting. Hunting trips make great memories, that last a life time.

[porcupine]

Good story Marc. You don't have to shoot an animal to have a great hunt. Sounds like fun and something that you will always remember.

[Little Red Man]

Great story.....and a hunt to remember for sure.....but for gawd's sake peanut butter and marmalade sandwiches?!?!?!? You GOT to be kidding me!...LOL....whatever happened to good old Welch's Grape Jelly?....Marmalade.....YUK!!

[j270wsm]

Great story, too bad you guy's drove so far and got skunked. The more time you spend elk hunting the more you will run into Grizz, I run into 2-3 each year. Which part of the province were you guys hunting?

[835]

That was a great morning read with a coffee Marc. Sounds like an adventure. what you didnt have in pics you made up for in the story!

[hunter1947]

Very nice story Marc ,number one in my books http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif.

You are a great person Marc and you are welcome to come hunt with me any time http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif..

[VINDOG]

Marc, This is a trip I will never forget. Hunter1947 was a great person to be hunting with. As for the Griz, that was my third encounter with grizzies, however the closest ( 15-20 Yards ) and hopefully my last, it sure got my attention. Anyway great story and thanks to Hunter1947,Marc, jkt for the memorable trip. See you next year!!

[K-1]

So Vindog lets hear the story about the G. bear.

[mikek blacktail]

hopefully i'll get to meet you next year marc

[BCrams]

Sounds like a great adventure!! I'd love to make an elk trip to the Kootenays one year.