Finally found time to post trip pics/story PART 1

[lightmag]

well i finally found a computer to use!! mines been out for repair!! im missing a few pics from my camera, these are all from my cell.

So as a lot of you know i asked for info on an area/areas for our trip north as i over think and stress waay to much lol.

in any event we decided to stick with the original plan of heading to halfway river/graham river area turning off th ehwy just before wonowon into area 7-43a/b.

So to start it all off i went out the morning before leaving locally with a friend just to get out. Well i ended up seeing a nice cow and then after a nice hike into a old block betwee a swamp and lake i called a nice little bull into 25 yards :) my buddy hadn't never seen anything like it and loved it, here is the pic we took at 25 yards.
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o298/dentonjohnson/utf-8BUmFuZG9tIHBpY3MgMjAyLmpwZw-5.jpg

so after that fun , we (3 of us) headed out at 4am sunday morning for a week :-D here is the unit, 23 foot cargo trailer with quad and quad trailer, all our gear in the back, 2 more quads, 10 jerry cans and tools under deck !

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o298/dentonjohnson/utf-8BSU1BRzAyNjYuanBn-5.jpg

the cargo trailer is the way to go, insulated, cots, electric heat w/generator or propane!! leave your boots on, like a solid wall tent .

So first we stopped and stayed and our buddy's cousins private property, 80 acres right on the river :) , hunted that evening, very little sign :(

[lightmag]

Next am, out again, i hiked far and long along the benches above the river in the populars, lots of old , beaten down trails to the river but nothing fresh? looked more like wintering ground for elk and moose... so in any event after the morning of hiking, cow calling, bugeling and nothing i returned to the quad at the top of the ridge. put rifle down, had a drink, took a pee over looking the river, turned around and....... what the..... ELK!! approx 175 yards broadside down the trail?? cow :icon_frow.... well i didn't drive 8 hours to go home skunked, so i shoulderd the 300WSM X bolt, put the Burris cross hairs behind her shoulder and sent a 165gr TSX on it's way.... she bolts!! jumps a fence like nothing?? i'm like WTF??

i take my time walking up to where she was, see some frothy blood :mrgreen: so i slowly look and follow the blood trail.... flagging when losing it, returning, circling, finding, moving on.... blood increases.. a lot!! look up, there she is, expired after a 70 yard dash!! MEAT DOWN!! i gutted, loaded and returned to camp, morning 1 a success.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o298/dentonjohnson/utf-8BSU1BRzAyMzAuanBn-5.jpg

to be continued ....

[lightmag]

So with no other sightings, sign or sounds we decided to move further down near the boarder of 7-43a/b, giving us access to Crying girl campground and Christina falls trail, horseshoe road and mountain valleys :mrgreen:

So on we go, it just so happens that in 7-43a mule deer were open until oct 5th 4pt or better... well what do you know while moving camp what do we see driving ??? a nice little 4x4 mulie with a doe!! my buddy gets out and a quick shot later, animal #2 is down :mrgreen:
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o298/dentonjohnson/utf-8BSU1BRzAyMzMuanBn-4.jpg

so we roll into our new camp on a pretty positive note, and a surprise to us we had crying girl camp ground all to our selves , not a soul there ...perfect!!!
my 5 month old Rhodesian ridgeback loving camp ..

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o298/dentonjohnson/utf-8BSU1BRzAyNjMuanBn-4.jpg

Tuesday moring we all head out in our own directions.... basically a "scout the area " morning..... one of the guys returned with a 5' black bear..
only pic i have right now of the bear is hanging
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o298/dentonjohnson/hangingmeat.jpg


to be continued ...

[lightmag]

next afternoon hiked up into an old burn and up a couple benches that a fellow member on here pointed me at for elk sign. After a great leg/lung burn hike up, a great viwe and pics (on the camera still ) and no fresh sign we (myself and my one buddy) continued on up the muddy, cool, various terrain quad trail towards Christina Falls. stopping and calling at various swamps and meadows. I have many great pics on my camera but i'm waiting for my computer to return from repair to down load them :icon_frow

So with only 45-60 minutes of light left we call at a very nice swamp for awhile... not one answer?? very quiet out there..... so we decide to continue up the trail a bit until last light, well with about 20 minutes of light left we come around the corner and............ MOOSE... BULL.... BIG BULL

the bull busts a 90 degree clearly showing off his big 3 x 3 BROWS !! he's legal!! wait what look swrong here as he books it down the trail???

he disappears around the corner, we jump on the quad, trying to catch up...we come around ond over the corner and there he is, turned back looking at us about 150 yards up the trail..... off the quad, rifle up, I exhaile...squeeze....BOOM!! BULL buckels and drops right on the trail!!! MOOSE DOWN!!!

I drive up and one, see he is the biggest Bull of my hunting carreer thus far :mrgreen:, two, see he has completely busted off one entire paddle from fighting (hence looking weird running away ) amd 3, he is HUGE!!! bet close to a 1000lbs on the hoof!! wow, my 2pt last year looks like a calf now lol..

again more great shots on my camera so this will have to do for now... sorry boys
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o298/dentonjohnson/utf-8BSU1BRzAyNDMuanBn-5.jpg

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o298/dentonjohnson/utf-8BSU1BRzAyNDguanBn-5.jpg

more coming ......

[lightmag]

so Bull down at approx 715pm.... we are 24 km up the trail and 35km from camp!!! and the work starts!! for starters the grizzly 660 could not move the bull!! lol

so we quartered, removed backstraps and strapped half to each quad... all packed up and ready to ride around 930pm, pitch blk!! couldn't see your hand in front of your face when the lights were off... rifles were very close and lots of light checks for and hungry G bears.....

ride back took 1.5 hours!! we returned to finf our 3rd buddy waiting at the trail head in the truck on the verge of starting to get a liyyle worried being it was 3.5 hours after dark and 11pm lol... big smile when he sawe the rack and load on the quads!!!

back to camp, few drinks and off to dream land with 4 animals down so far!!

[lightmag]

Next morning was a camp day for me, i slept in having cut tags on my elk and moose thus far, muley, whitey and bear tags still available. I spent the day skinning all the game :) , chopping fire wood and hanging with my dog and tipping a few beers back :)

[lightmag]

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o298/dentonjohnson/utf-8BSU1BRzAyNTcuanBn-5.jpg

[The Dawg]

Nice job buddy! Thats a full freezer or 12!

[lightmag]

So the boys return around noon from morning hunt with no luck!!! they eat, nap and back out we go, thi stime being that i seemed to have lady luck on my side as of late i went with my other buddy who had yet to tag anything.

we headed back into 7-43b were 3pt and cow elk where open, hopeing to down some more meat :)... we find a good trail and are just checking things out, it's 5pm, sunny :) we pull onto this sand bar along the creek, i pulll up to the far edge to see around the bend and.............ELK....TWO!!! Ryan get over here!! but the drift off!! i start cow calling , throw a few bugels in and 10 minutes later one of the cows come back out on bank!! BOOM, Ryan puts another elk on the ground :)

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o298/dentonjohnson/utf-8BSU1BRzAyNDYuanBn-5.jpg

[MB_Boy]

Congrats!!

I missed the elk part but went back and saw the second post in "part 1".

[lightmag]

so now we have 4 different species hanging, and 5 animals in 4 days!! 2 elk, 1 moose, 1 deer and a bear!! we had added an addition hanging pole 2 days in a row lol, for a total of 3 poles :) meat everywhere
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o298/dentonjohnson/hangingmeat.jpg

so a couple more days of hunting with no luck, i ran into a coupl emore cow elk !! we had a tag in camp but he wasn't with me :(

we loaded up friday returning late friday night to PG. saturday i get a call from a good friend who had never hunted but had just got her FAC and licenses and her Inuit status card !! and she really wanted to go hunting :)

so i took her out sunday morning, lets just say her very first hunt lasted a total of 30 minutes!! she had her first moose down by 715 am only 17 km up the road and off the main road only 800 yards up from a hunting camp!!

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o298/dentonjohnson/michellesmoose.jpg

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o298/dentonjohnson/utf-8BSU1BRzAyNzcuanBn-5.jpg

had it gutted, halved and back at her shop by 930 am :)
now she thinks hunting is easy lol.... she is 115lbs and shot my 300WSM x Bolt GREAT!! threw her little body around good though lol...

so it was a crazy, animal filled, fun and friend filled 10 days!!! that wont be soon forgotten!! when i get the rest of the pics downloaded ill share...

a big thanks to a few member son here and especially Darksith!! he was a great help and wealth of info that saved days of getting to know the area!! thank you !!

[moose2]

A great collection of critters there, those combo hunts are fun. Did you see many whitetails in there , congratulations on a great couple of hunts.
Mike

[Rodd]

Thanks for sharing your awesome hunt! It looks like you guys had a great time! Congrats!

[BearStump]

wtf was that moose smokin' before she shot him? buggy eyes.

[lightmag]

A great collection of critters there, those combo hunts are fun. Did you see many whitetails in there , congratulations on a great couple of hunts. I am looking forward to the bigger pictures.
Mike


saw 2 whitetail does twice.

[The Dawg]

wtf was that moose smokin' before she shot him? buggy eyes.

Headshot me thinks

[killman]

Nice work.. Looks like a good time.

[stitch]

Headshot me thinks

Definately head shot...did that to a whiletail once and he looked like Marty Feldman with his eyes buldged out of his head...

[whitetailsheds]

Great thread (all 4)...LOL....thanks lightmag for posting!

[lightmag]

Eyes bugged out after head shot to finish him off

[kennyj]

Sounds like a good start.
kenny

[lightmag]

All 4 parts are posted now

[lightmag]

Now all the butchering starts

[swampthing]

Nice work lightmag. Nothin like a full game pole. When you have to start hangin more poles you know your on a roll.

[BearSniper]

Looks like some good eating. Good job !

[scottwh]

Wow! Good job and congrats! That looks like hunting was back in the good old days :)

[ianwuzhere]

Awesome pix- looks like great time with lotsa success..Congrats!!
ohh the butchering is gonna be tons of work!

[375 ultramag]

WOW....you got a couple of years of hunting packed into a few days......nice job. Congrats

[MOUNTAIN MAN - TOYOTA/ATV]

Lots of animals. Good Hunting!

[guest]

Are those ... MARTY FELDMAN or BETTY DAVIS EYES on that last bull ?

hahahha

NOW THATS WHAT I CALL ..... I.C.P.

hahaha!

Great story and pics congrats.

CT

[lightmag]

i know hey lol, finishing shot did that too him lol, didn't realize it in the pics

[markt308]

lightmag loved the thread! thanks for posting it all. it's fun when you have such successfull trips eh. and also congrats on helping out a new hunter. thats what I really love doing these days. cheers