Tatsenshini..6-28 trip..

[srupp]

I have been back for a few days and been very busy recouperating from this "event":mrgreen:

The same weather system that blew the BELLA COOLA valley apart with 1 in 200 year rain and floods hit us head on in the 6-28..only 70 miles per hour wind and snow...brutal would be an understatement..10 " of snow and with a wall tent with no heat above the treeline..SURVIOR SERIES in real life..

We did check out a very large 8 1/2 foot grizzly however he had read the synopsis and crossed the highway into 6-29 making him ineligable for an all expense paid trip to the taxidermist...beautiful country..maybe in June -July- August...some of the coldest , inhospitable weather I have encountered in all the years of hunting..

Going down Kelsell lake in the boat the wind made the troughs 10 feet crest to crest..in a 12 foot boat that made it almost a guarantee to ride through the next crest and dive to the bottom..so muchwind and snow we could not even discern the AIRPLANE on the shore from 300 meters away..


We did see goats and some nice ones at that however again with 2 FEET of snow up higher those with the tags felt the dangers were not worth the rewards..no attempts were made on goats.

We did see bull moose, they were yarded up with cows and so high up above the lake as to make eating them there the better option..


The clouds were so low flying to other lakes was not an option not even one day of clear flyable sky...%###&%#$# darn shucks...so the plane sat there for 6 days..

There were no white sheep spotted at all no ewes no lambs , and no rams...lots of white but unfortunatly no Dall sheep.

We got the plane fuelled and de -iced and headed for southern climes while we had a ever so brief break in the weather..and the pilot went home.

We decided to stop part way home along the Swan lake area..Swift River and set up and try for at least a moose..

First nite we set out the tampons with moose in heat urine..and called..just prior to dark a cow and calf came in..

next am we were back at it early..and called all day..Tim went for a walk and Todd..on his first hunt of any kind and I stayed and I kept calling around 5 pm I thought I "might " hav eherd a bull reply waaaaaaaaaaay off..approx 10 minutes later I was sure I had so motioned Todd aka SHERPA to come over..a further 10 minutes later Todd herd the moose grunt...it took a further 20 minutes for the bull to stick his head out ion the thick river willows..Todd saw him before I did..

I lowered the volume and intensified the plaintive pleading cow call and in anothr 10 minutes brought the bull along the river to a mere 225 yards accross the river standing in 12 " of water..I leaned over and whispered to Todd.." If you shoot that moose while he is still in the water i WILL kill you" He understood as the rifel only then started to shake..:mrgreen:

few minutes later I had the bull 30 feet up on the bank broadside on solid ground and I ok's Todd to shoot.

Todd dropped the hammer with his 7mm mag and the 165 gr did its job..and Todds firts big game animal was a 1100 pound Alaska Yukon bull moose with a 50 " rack not bad for a beginner..

We took a further day to load up, clean up and start for home...a 5,000 kilometer round trip adventure..

The Tat is BEST explored in August for sheep and there are much closer better areas for grizzly, moose and goats..:wink: however I will put in a LEH for Dall sheep once the surgery for my knee is successful..

I will also post some of my photos soon..

cheers

Steven

[coach]

Sounds like pretty brutal conditions, Steven. Thanks for the post and congratulations to Todd on killing a great moose and to you for calling it in!

[BromBones]

Always a gamble this late in the year. Too bad you didn't get a few days of good weather.

Congrats on the moose.

[srupp]

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d47/srupp/P10100020001-1.jpg?t=1287695255

[835]

Two words Srupp.... Wholly #$&@
Sounds like the trip was close to a blow out! Good thing ya stuck er out and cracked a good bull!

[srupp]

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[srupp]

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[.330 Dakota]

Nice pic Steve, Sorry your trip wasnt better

[srupp]

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[srupp]

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[srupp]

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[srupp]

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[srupp]

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[srupp]

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[srupp]

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[srupp]

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[srupp]

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[835]

Oh my that place looks gorgeous! you made it sound so bad!

[BlacktailStalker]

Visiting a part of BC that most havent and won't is a success in itself.
More tags will come and there is much time left to do it again, hopefully with better knees next time.

[shawnwells]

ya gorgeous photos...its beauty there....bummer to hear scurvy weather put a damper on your trip....no pun intended...

[srupp]

The moose photos are from Swan lake area, the storm cells blew in and out and in and out very very rapidly..one moment it started to melt and the next moment it started to howl...i picked photos to try and show its beauty..and indeeed it IS one of THE most beautiful places in BC just not in the 2 weeks we were up north..and the bad stuff only showed white out..not much in the way of a photo..:wink: the steepness and the fact we were above tree level made it impossible to get out of any weather patterns..the country was awesome the weather brutal...glad I experienced this area...for a AUGUST sheep hunt spectacular...

The trail into Kelsell is through some creeks and beaver ponds and as such a good extra 10 " of snow and then some wind would have made getting out of the low spots pretty grim had it accumulated in the dips..

We did find moose, goats and grizzlies..just not sheep.....

the moose photos show the cow and the cow calf pair the evening prior to the big fella showing up..hopefully Todd will send me some links to the moose photos..

steven

[d6dan]

Wow, Good pics Steven.. Looks like you boys froze your knackers off!. Sure is beautiful country where you were..You certianly have to like the Diversity of this Province.:-D.

[shawnwells]

outta curiosity....in your one picture...20lb propane tank stuffed in a milk crate....im seeing that more and more lately....is that just to make it more stable/easier to tie down? or whats the deal there?

[Big7]

outta curiosity....in your one picture...20lb propane tank stuffed in a milk crate....im seeing that more and more lately....is that just to make it more stable/easier to tie down? or whats the deal there?

keeps them upright in trucks, easy to carry, strap to quad etc.

[Big7]

cool photos srupp....hopefully we'll see some of the moose!

[srupp]

Yes just easier to keep settled in the truck when travelling and also not tip over when using and keep off the ground help with less rusting..

If one looks at photo # 7 the little blue patch in the center of the lake..that was the "window" between storm events..

steven

[pg83]

Great looking pictures Steven, thanks for sharing them and your story! Congrats on the cherry-poppin moose for your friend, what a great start!

[shantz]

Awesome pictures. Congrats.

[shawnwells]

keeps them upright in trucks, easy to carry, strap to quad etc.
thanks man...just so happens one of my propane tanks is sitting beside a milk crate....think i'll stuff it in....keep up with the jones's

[bruin]

Looks like awesome country. Too bad about the weather, why choose such a late hunt?? Thanks for posting the pics.

[srupp]

Bruin it was a mistake, trying to do too many things all at once..:???:..we had too many tags..

late because we did have a grizzly tag..better coat??no use shooting a badly rubbed bear no matter what the size..

goat tags..same thing better coats..didnt expect such a early winter and inaccessable locations...

sheep tags...DALL tags..hoping the weather 'might" push em down a bit...didnt work..

moose tags..... the timing of the rut playes highly in success rate we wanted the rut to be in progress and not such warm weather to cause problems for moose meat...no problems there...no flies at all..:wink:


had I to do it all over..pick one animal and select the BEST time for that species..

we got beat by the weather ..it was unusually cold and early deep snow and continuous weather cells one after another..

Had it worked we would have been on top of the heap..sometimes it doesnt work..this was one of those times..:mrgreen: we did the absolute best we could to the point of ridiculous..:wink: and then settled on plan B..which we pulled off....I will accept the mistakes...

steven

[aggiehunter]

Thanks for the pic's...spent quite a bit of time in the Tat'...you never know what she'll throw at you.

[srupp]

Before it sounds like Im complaining..Im not...we rolled the dice and this year we didnt do as well in the harvesting dept..we have had tremendous success in the past 8 years..not every year can be a Boone and Crockett year..however the experience was still worth the effort..

And getting Todd his first big game animal..and such a BIG bodied beast when it came down to plan B..was still a success....asw ell as knowing we could pull off such a camping adventure..:mrgreen: everyone had a good time , no one lost any fingers and toes ..all is good..

steven

[BimmerBob]

Wow, great pics Steven, too bad about the miserable weather conditions for your trip but it seems you enjoyed the challenge and it is good to have you safely back to civilization...

[olharley guy]

Howdy, certainly glad you all made it out in one piece. That country is beautiful, wild and rugged as you found out.

Get those draws for sheep again next year and get in there at the first of the season.

You know you can get a great bear anytime you want so concentrate on those dalls.

Anytime after the first or second week in September you can get crap weather like you guys had but it usually clears up and gets a little warmer and then more crap but you were just a little late in the year I think.

Those 3 big rams in the pictures I showed you were in mid September-climb up was just great and woke up to 8-10 inches of snow on us, I couldn't believe it!

Extremely hard and dangerous going down 4000' ft. with full packs but a little easier with our camp gear as we were dragging it behind us in the snow.

Have also been in that area end of September when the weather was like early summer days for a whole week.

Now that you have rested up a few days and got out of the idea of never going back there-get them maps out and start planning for next years adventure!

Again, glad to hear you are all back safe and sound. Later

[srupp]

Olharley guy....ya hit the nail on the head..but it was way cool.... actually cold..lol to see what is just over the next hill..lol..

Thanks ...for all the help...

Steven

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Steven-Good on you for getting up there and trying to cut a few tags!
The sheep tag will be easy enough to draw again.

A person always learns the most during the first trip into new country.

Too bad that you couldn't use the plane in your arsenal of tools:icon_frow.

SSS

[sneg]

awesome pics and story.thanks for sharing.

[boxhitch]

Too bad that you couldn't use the plane in your arsenal of tools:icon_frow.For what ? wildlife viewing ?
Thought you frowned on that ?:)

[Stone Sheep Steve]

For what ? wildlife viewing ?
Thought you frowned on that ?:)

Flying to a different lake:). That was just supposed to be their base camp .....where they drove their truck to.

SSS

[srupp]

Stone Sheep Steve is correct..we brought the plane up seperatly so we could hit several lakes..one lake was well known for being better for moose, another had a salmon run and would/could potentially hold more bears, and yet another lake was pehaps in better sheep area??..all being a moot point with the absolute lack of any flying weather...

We did have a plan..it just got fouled up..it happens...

Kelsell lake was the only lake we were able to land the plane and drive the truck to, so hence it was our "base" camp...and in effect was our only camp up there..we did bring a few seperate fly in tents for these spike camps..at different lakes and besides the 12 foot aluminum boat we also had a Achilles inflatable for these other lakes..

They were not that far to fly but impossible to hike to all 5...

and yes we were aware of the no hunting restrictions after flying...

cheers
Steven

[boxhitch]

Stone Sheep Steve is correct..course he is :)
I don't get up early enough to get one over on him

Good report Srupp tough hunt

[nano]

Sucks about the weather but sounded like you had a good time.

[srupp]

lol thank goodness for a new Cabelas camp cot..kept me off the cold cold ground..and the -40 Woods 5 star sleeping bag...made the nights very doable...it was getting out of the bed in the am..cloths frozen...awwww the fun...lol

pulling the big bull in was way cool, especially being Todds FIRTS big game hunt and first success..hope to get some photos soon.,...


Steven

[BimmerBob]

lol thank goodness for a new Cabelas camp cot..kept me off the cold cold ground..and the -40 Woods 5 star sleeping bag...made the nights very doable...it was getting out of the bed in the am..cloths frozen...awwww the fun...lol
Steven

Hey Steven,

Speaking of which, where are all the camp pics? Inside, outside, stove shots, cot setups, the whole enchelada... can we have a post in the gear section?

Waiting for the kewl, Bob

[Stone Sheep Steve]

lol thank goodness for a new Cabelas camp cot..kept me off the cold cold ground..and the -40 Woods 5 star sleeping bag...made the nights very doable...it was getting out of the bed in the am..cloths frozen...awwww the fun...lol

pulling the big bull in was way cool, especially being Todds FIRTS big game hunt and first success..hope to get some photos soon.,...


Steven

Steven-did you consider doing a fire wood run?? Haven't been down that hwy but I would imagine a hour (or two) either way and you should be into timber again? Or did you even bother packing a stove??

SSS

[Springer]

Great looking Country, I just pictured it being less White....:wink:
Tim's Christmas list....a wood stove for the wall tent. Looks like he did splurge and get a new tarp though.:mrgreen:

Hey at least you give it the Old college try and made it up for the hunt.
Is that Rolly in the picture by the tent.

Did you run the video camera for the Moose Calling/Kill'n part ?

lets hope we have some of that white stuff for your Whitetail ~ Muley combo in Alberta this year.

[srupp]

hmmm wood run would not have helped..as Tims tent does not have a vent for a stove..nor does he have a stove...we used the propane heater for a few moments at night and in am...MR buddy??heater..

Springer...no same old 20 year old tarp..:cry:

yes thats Rollie the pilot, Paramedic, my friend..

no Tim had the video camera and of course he was 1/2 way down the lake..HOWEVER it did give him a perspective that we have never had..listening to me call from a distance and watching the bull come in as if on a string...:mrgreen:

Phil..when the snow really hit I didnt take photos..it was worse than the days I did take photos and the snow levels up the hills were 2 feet deep..

Lets hope for better more appropriate weather for Nov. and mulies...whities..

steven

[kennyj]

Tuff hunt Steven. You got away and had an adventure though. Man plans, God laughs.
kenny