Whonnock Boy
12-31-2010, 06:52 PM
**** Had is officially scored at Huntfest. Non-typical score was 351 and change. Its grossed out at 380 and change! I need to brush up on my scoring **** Frickin' editor... pretty tough to do this lately.
Even before the regulation for 2010 had come out I knew that my annual steelhead, moose trip to Smithers was a no go. Something that I was not very pleased about. I usually plan everything around this trip, but this was planned for me. No getting around it.
The regs came out and to my surprise, and everyone else, an area that I had hunted elk in 95 was going to have a GOS. I spoke with the wife about it. For her it was a no brainer. She always wants elk in the freezer. Over the summer I thought often about this and whether or not I would be participating.
September roles around and I start getting all my gear together. I have not yet decided if, and where I am going. A week before the season was to open my gear is packed and ready. At this point I still have nobody to go with if in fact I am going at all. No biggie. I don't mind hunting by myself. The wife has a problem with it though. I call up an old friend and ask him if he is interested. A few hours later it is in stone. We were leaving two days before it opens to check out some different spots before it opens.
After checking out the areas that I wanted, we settled in at a spot. It was more like the spot picked us. It was kind of like a long weekend at Allouette Lake. If you're not there the day before you are lucky if you get a spot. I think it was the last spot in the valley.
The tent is up and my partner and I are just having a bite to eat before we settle in for the night. Before we left I picked up an extra cow call for him to use. While eating I was showing him how to use it. It was like a monkey humping a football. I was thinking to myself, how hard is it to blow on this thing? Chirp, cheep, cheep, chort. Not long after I heard a squeal. "Did you hear that Brad?" "Hear what". "I think I just heard a bugle". Not long after another. "Did you hear that?" "Nope". Then another squeal and he is closing the distance. We finish up and get in our tent. Just about to zip up and a bugle, it sounded like it was within a 100 yards. "Did you hear that one Brad?" "Yes I heard that one". I laughed.
Opening day I was up at 2:30. I don't know why I could not sleep. 5 o'clock rolls around and Brad is finally up. I tell him my plan and he tells me his. We'll meet up later in the morning back at camp.
I slowly make my way up to where I want to be for day break. Shortly before sun up I make a call with no response. Further in I go and cow call again with no reply. Just as the sun is starting to lighten the sky a bugle breaks the silence of the morning. Ok, here we go. I respond with a cow call. I am thinking to myself, is it an elk or is it another hunter? He pipes up again and it sounds like he is in the same spot. Hmmm…… I decide to push him a bit and close the gap and he bugles again but he is still not getting any closer. I keep pushing forward and then I hear it. The sound of a quad or truck is coming from where I figure the bull is. It stops and not long after I hear a shot. SOB!! I guess it was a bull and a shooter to boot.
I meet up with Brad back at camp and tell him the story. We hop in the truck. I want to get a better idea of the area that we are hunting. We bump into the guys that shot the bull in the morning. A 6 by 3. We find where he shot it and I was within a 100 yards.
Day two I am up early again. Same plan but hopefully with different results. I get a response from a bull. I find a spot to work it. The bull is being vocal but not wanting to advance on me. Patience grasshopper. As I am waiting I hear a quad coming up to where I am. The guy comes up turns around close to where I was and I do not hear from the bull again.
Day three I heard one bugle and that was it. I guess with all the traffic and every guy coming in and blowing on his bugle for 5 minutes and leaving has educated the bulls. Maybe it is time to switch it up. Brad and I pack up in search for another spot. Hopefully with less people but more elk. We had yet to even see an elk let alone a legal one.
We travel around for the afternoon checking out different roads and glassing from vantage points where we could see large amounts of area. We find a spot to camp. The morning comes and goes with nothing to show for it. Not even the sighting of a deer. We decide to head back to where we were in the first place. I say to Brad. "We just have to put our time in, either we are going to do something right or a bull is going to do something wrong".
Day five I switch it up with some still-hunting with the odd cow call in a different little spot.. Not long after I hit the timber I find a nice little trail. I make my way slowly and quietly and then I hear a log break. It must be an elk. I hold tight. Patience grasshopper. I waited for a bit and sound out a cow call. Some more branches break and it sounds like it or they are working away from me. Patiently I sit for what seemed like forever. All the while a squirrel is having a fit up ahead. I wait, and wait. Do I go forward or not? I make my way another 6 or 7 feet and stop. I spottede a face through the trees. Is it a bull or cow? We have a stare down. A head turn confirms that it is a bull. Is it legal? I wait then he moves a bit and turns. I see tips, and lots of them. I am pretty sure he is going to want to go right which will lead him into a nice little shooting lane. I waited, and waited until he finally made a move to the right. Ok, he is going. My gun is up. He stops behind some thicker brush. I wait with gun up. He is taking his time and my rifle is starting to get heavy. I half lower and wait some more. Then like it was in slow motion he makes his way to the right into the shooting lane. One look and I did not even think twice about it. Down he went. I shot high and hit him in the lower neck. Can you say buck fever? I make my way up to him and he is crumpled up like a pretzel against a tree. I would have to say the whole sequence was 35 to 40 minutes. Considering this was the first elk I had seen on the trip and he was a good one, I was pretty happy to say the least.
After the picture taking and the 15 point handshake the work began. By nightfall we had it done. It was a bit of a haul. Rather uneventful except for the wasp nest that we stirred up. We spent a few more days looking for another bull with no luck. That is ok though. He was 567 pounds hanging. Half of which would be plenty for my family and I. I green scored him at 373.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/DSCN3322.JPG
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/DSCN3326.JPG
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/P1040338.JPG
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/P1040339.JPG
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/P1040326.JPG
Even before the regulation for 2010 had come out I knew that my annual steelhead, moose trip to Smithers was a no go. Something that I was not very pleased about. I usually plan everything around this trip, but this was planned for me. No getting around it.
The regs came out and to my surprise, and everyone else, an area that I had hunted elk in 95 was going to have a GOS. I spoke with the wife about it. For her it was a no brainer. She always wants elk in the freezer. Over the summer I thought often about this and whether or not I would be participating.
September roles around and I start getting all my gear together. I have not yet decided if, and where I am going. A week before the season was to open my gear is packed and ready. At this point I still have nobody to go with if in fact I am going at all. No biggie. I don't mind hunting by myself. The wife has a problem with it though. I call up an old friend and ask him if he is interested. A few hours later it is in stone. We were leaving two days before it opens to check out some different spots before it opens.
After checking out the areas that I wanted, we settled in at a spot. It was more like the spot picked us. It was kind of like a long weekend at Allouette Lake. If you're not there the day before you are lucky if you get a spot. I think it was the last spot in the valley.
The tent is up and my partner and I are just having a bite to eat before we settle in for the night. Before we left I picked up an extra cow call for him to use. While eating I was showing him how to use it. It was like a monkey humping a football. I was thinking to myself, how hard is it to blow on this thing? Chirp, cheep, cheep, chort. Not long after I heard a squeal. "Did you hear that Brad?" "Hear what". "I think I just heard a bugle". Not long after another. "Did you hear that?" "Nope". Then another squeal and he is closing the distance. We finish up and get in our tent. Just about to zip up and a bugle, it sounded like it was within a 100 yards. "Did you hear that one Brad?" "Yes I heard that one". I laughed.
Opening day I was up at 2:30. I don't know why I could not sleep. 5 o'clock rolls around and Brad is finally up. I tell him my plan and he tells me his. We'll meet up later in the morning back at camp.
I slowly make my way up to where I want to be for day break. Shortly before sun up I make a call with no response. Further in I go and cow call again with no reply. Just as the sun is starting to lighten the sky a bugle breaks the silence of the morning. Ok, here we go. I respond with a cow call. I am thinking to myself, is it an elk or is it another hunter? He pipes up again and it sounds like he is in the same spot. Hmmm…… I decide to push him a bit and close the gap and he bugles again but he is still not getting any closer. I keep pushing forward and then I hear it. The sound of a quad or truck is coming from where I figure the bull is. It stops and not long after I hear a shot. SOB!! I guess it was a bull and a shooter to boot.
I meet up with Brad back at camp and tell him the story. We hop in the truck. I want to get a better idea of the area that we are hunting. We bump into the guys that shot the bull in the morning. A 6 by 3. We find where he shot it and I was within a 100 yards.
Day two I am up early again. Same plan but hopefully with different results. I get a response from a bull. I find a spot to work it. The bull is being vocal but not wanting to advance on me. Patience grasshopper. As I am waiting I hear a quad coming up to where I am. The guy comes up turns around close to where I was and I do not hear from the bull again.
Day three I heard one bugle and that was it. I guess with all the traffic and every guy coming in and blowing on his bugle for 5 minutes and leaving has educated the bulls. Maybe it is time to switch it up. Brad and I pack up in search for another spot. Hopefully with less people but more elk. We had yet to even see an elk let alone a legal one.
We travel around for the afternoon checking out different roads and glassing from vantage points where we could see large amounts of area. We find a spot to camp. The morning comes and goes with nothing to show for it. Not even the sighting of a deer. We decide to head back to where we were in the first place. I say to Brad. "We just have to put our time in, either we are going to do something right or a bull is going to do something wrong".
Day five I switch it up with some still-hunting with the odd cow call in a different little spot.. Not long after I hit the timber I find a nice little trail. I make my way slowly and quietly and then I hear a log break. It must be an elk. I hold tight. Patience grasshopper. I waited for a bit and sound out a cow call. Some more branches break and it sounds like it or they are working away from me. Patiently I sit for what seemed like forever. All the while a squirrel is having a fit up ahead. I wait, and wait. Do I go forward or not? I make my way another 6 or 7 feet and stop. I spottede a face through the trees. Is it a bull or cow? We have a stare down. A head turn confirms that it is a bull. Is it legal? I wait then he moves a bit and turns. I see tips, and lots of them. I am pretty sure he is going to want to go right which will lead him into a nice little shooting lane. I waited, and waited until he finally made a move to the right. Ok, he is going. My gun is up. He stops behind some thicker brush. I wait with gun up. He is taking his time and my rifle is starting to get heavy. I half lower and wait some more. Then like it was in slow motion he makes his way to the right into the shooting lane. One look and I did not even think twice about it. Down he went. I shot high and hit him in the lower neck. Can you say buck fever? I make my way up to him and he is crumpled up like a pretzel against a tree. I would have to say the whole sequence was 35 to 40 minutes. Considering this was the first elk I had seen on the trip and he was a good one, I was pretty happy to say the least.
After the picture taking and the 15 point handshake the work began. By nightfall we had it done. It was a bit of a haul. Rather uneventful except for the wasp nest that we stirred up. We spent a few more days looking for another bull with no luck. That is ok though. He was 567 pounds hanging. Half of which would be plenty for my family and I. I green scored him at 373.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/DSCN3322.JPG
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/DSCN3326.JPG
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/P1040338.JPG
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/P1040339.JPG
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/P1040326.JPG