Upper Tuchodi

[gathto]

Considering two weeks in on upper Tuchodi Sept 6th. Any idea on hunting pressure at that time. Getting dropped off and drifting out in my inflatable.

[swampthing]

Plenty of people in there then. Also plenty of land to hunt. You can see 10 to 40 people on the river. Never came across anyone while hunting.

[tuchodi]

There are usually lots of people up there in the first week of Sept as its cows and 3 point. There is lots of river so you should be fine.

[shallowH2O]

please dont splash me when i go by!!

[gathto]

Thanks for response. I plan on going up the headwaters with my inflatable. I have a small jet on it and only need about 12 inches of water. Any thoughts on how far I can go.

[nap]

Are you being flown in to one of the lakes? How many are in your hunt? I myself have not been past the 2nd lake but know of others that have toured a bit up there. We couldn't find the channel past the 2nd lake the water was quite murky and couldn't find that dark green. I would put some thought into it before using an inflatable on the tuchodi, That is a river that has eaten a few well made hulls. I will be doing a week hunt up there around sept 8th. Wish you a safe and enjoyable trip. Let me know if I can help you out later on when it gets closer to Tuchodi time.

[nap]

U tube the tuchodi, some good videos there, Quite a few hbc members have some posted.

[tuchodi]

Thanks for response. I plan on going up the headwaters with my inflatable. I have a small jet on it and only need about 12 inches of water. Any thoughts on how far I can go.
If you need 12" of water you may be in for quite an adventure as there are many places that don't have that much water in Sept. As nap said there has been lots of inflatable casualties on the Tuchodi, so be carfull.

[gathto]

There will be two of us. We are getting boated in and were planning on hunting the perimeter and drainages on the upper lake as well as the headwaters. I have a 14ft Alaska that has a Kevlar bottom almost impossible to puncture. Trust me I've tried:).

We were planning on only drifting out at the end of the hunt not really navigating back and forth on the river.

[bridger]

Just a heads up low water doesn't present the real challenge for inflatables. The tuchodi can be a handful for drifting if the water comes up rapidly due to heavy rains. Not trying to discourage you but you just need to be aware that using an inflatable on the tuchodi can at times be a real challenge. Hope you have a great time.

[300wsmXboltKiller]

going up past tuchodi on muskwa sept 13th for 10 days maybe see u floating out try not to splash u hahahaha goodluck and have fun have seen inflatables floating out thought they were crazy

[gathto]

Thanks to all for the input. All sound advise.

[Rock Doctor]

Above the second lake, the pressure will be less. You will be able to get quite a long ways past the second lake, depending on the boat and pilot that are dropping you off. There are a lot of splits and tight chanels up there though, so it can be confusing. You will probably have an easier time of the upper river than the lower (slower water).
Just a thought, you might not like it though. Consider putting up a flag on your boat, like those ones that are on quads for riding in the sand dunes. The reason I would even suggest it is because you will be running pretty low in the water compared to most others on the river. Twice now I have almost hit drifters on the Tuchodi, not because either of us were not paying attention, but because it's impossible to see each other in some places. I hit one of those drifters with my jetstream in my mad attempt to avoid a colision, I didn't see it happen, but the guy said I almost blew him out of his raft. I felt bad about the whole thing, and he was a little bit shook up, but understood that there was not a whole lot of options open to me at the moment.
Lower river in July, high water
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAppleGG778

The entire river between the lakes (A friend let me take his Sprint Boat out for a test ride)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOhqDexKgN4

From 3:00 to 5:30 in this clip is all shot above the second lake (Music SUCKS, I know, but YT made me change it). This is in the last week of June, HIGH water
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSS8wNr2Kig

Have fun, be safe

RD

[nap]

Thanks RD, forgot about the buggy whip thing, that is the best suggestion of the month, our guy was not so understanding at first but all ended well.

[David Heitsman]

I've been right near the head and over by horseback a few years ago. I would say that the river is jet navigable for maybe 10 miles past the east lake delta. There was a couple boats up there even though it's clearly posted that there is no motorized access during the hunting season. I just recall crossing the river several times with water barely over the horse's ankles so I suspect a boat would have a hard time proceeding upstream past there.

[gathto]

Is it no access from the delta on in? Where does it start?

[David Heitsman]

There is a white plywood sign on the north side of the river as I recall. I also think it was on the west end of the delta. Was in there is '07 and have ridden through many rivers and passes since then so the details are getting sketchy. Others in more recently could concur or answer better.

[Rock Doctor]

Those signs on the Tuchodi and tha Gatho were put up in error, but nobody was in a hurry to take them back down. That's what I was told anyway.

RD

[budismyhorse]

Quick call to someone in the MK park managent should settle that.

[Rock Doctor]

Already settled



RD

[budismyhorse]

Ya I mean to say to the OP.... Look into things for yourself.... It isn't difficult and then you know for sure.I made and assumption about a road closure once and drove my horse trailer 10 km up it until I ran I to a hunter on foot who informed me! Embarrassing! Since then I take nothing for granted and look into everything for myself. Cheers! Wasn't really talking about your situation in particular;)