Bison hunt

[daveymac]

I am looking for any advice for hunting Bison in beginning of November in Pink Mountain area. my wife got the LEH, (she is stoked and i am Jealous.) i have seen on here about trespass fees and am wondering about that. i have alos been trying to connect with the listed Ranches etc for places to stay, but nobody seems to answer or are very vague about the details.

also what is the weather like there at that time of the year, ATV or Sled?

i would really appreciate any help.

[Caveman]

Hate to say it, but the weather could be very cold and no snow or lots. You will need to contact someone closer to your hunt dates to confirm. There is a bypass route around the Blueberry Ranch, but you'll likely not want to travel it everyday as it will take its toll

[daveymac]

Hate to say it, but the weather could be very cold and no snow or lots. You will need to contact someone closer to your hunt dates to confirm. There is a bypass route around the Blueberry Ranch, but you'll likely not want to travel it everyday as it will take its toll

thanks, so from other posts it would seem that most of the bison are around blueberry ranch then? is this where you pay the trepass fee

[fearnodeer]

Look it up on this site and you will get the info you need or PM the guys that have been there.

[Caveman]

Which unit did you draw? if it is the other one, get ahold of Mike Hammet

[hunter34]

I have the same draw,we booked a cabin from Helgie Tompter.300 for a week,he's about 3 km from the trail head.I contacted the blueberry ranch, and they charge a trespass fee of 275 for the tag holder,and 175 for any helpers.A bit pricey for me!We are going to atempt the trail around the ranch.My wife had a draw in early november in the b zone 5 years ago,and there was very little snow..No problem with a quad,but will have to wait a few more weeks to see what the weather is like.Anyway good luck with your plans Davey!!Should be alot of fun.

[daveymac]

she got the 7-57 A draw. i will try Helgie Tompter tomorrow to see if he has any cabins. tresspass fee is very steep eh, that would be $625 for us. you never know Hunter 34 we may see you there.

[Whonnock Boy]

and they charge a trespass fee of 275 for the tag holder,and 175 for any helpers.

Got to hate inflation. If I am not mistaken, it was only a month or two ago that someone quoted $250 and $150. As I stated before, back in 07 it was $150 for me, and my hunting partner. Crooks!

[squeege]

You should be fine with a quad in November but weather can be anything at that time of year. I would say to expect temperatures in the 0oC to -20oC, with freezing rain, snow, wind, sun.....

If there is snow then just find the first pair of fresh tracks that cross the trail and start hiking.

Try the Pink Mountain Store, Mae's Kitchen, Sasquatch Crossing also for places to stay.

PM me if you like and we can chat more as I live about and hour from Pink Mtn and know the area pretty well as Ive hunting in the Halfway and Sikanni for years.

[tomahawk]

No one knows what the weather or snow conditions will be at that time of year till you get much much closer to the date. Snow can come and go and cold weather as well. Best to be prepared for either quads or snow machines and check a day or so ahead of departure. Most likely quads will do but there is no guarantee. Make sure you know the heart/lung area if your shooting a large bull, half the chest is hump!

[hunter34]

Anybody have a idea, how much snow is in the pink mountain area!!

[BCRiverBoater]

I do not have an update on that exact location but Fort St. John has over two feet already. Safe to say they would have that much and maybe more at hight elevations.

[hunter34]

Thanks bcriverboater,i guess i better load the sleds then!!

[kgriz]

When I went about 3 years ago it was $175/person when other critters were open and $175 for the tag-holder only/didn't matter how many others were with him later in the year when other big game was closed....lots of people got this wrong on this site. I will investigate if this is still the case and post the results.

[kgriz]

I have left a message with the lands manager at the Blueberry FN....will keep you posted. Last time I looked into this several years ago there was all sorts of gossip etc about the fees and it turned out people were comparing apples to oranges...Hopefully I'll get the real answer and hopefully everything is good.

[kgriz]

I just got off the phone with the land manager at the Blueberry FN and he told me that the price had been changed to $200 for the bison tag holder and $150 each per helper regardless of season/what is open....that is to say that about 4 years ago me and my uncle paid $175 late season total and now it would cost us 350 plus another 150 because we are taking a 3 person party....500 is a bit rediculous inflation considering you are on their property for about 10 minutes as it is an old road that probably had easement at one time although the trail around has very steep sections and one crash could be expensive....anyways there is the info from the administrator not just the ranchhands.

[kgriz]

In my opinion it went from somewhat fair...ie pay extra if you could hunt other species ...to access extortion/capitalism overachievement....if the price goes to what the market will bear by the "hunt of a life-timers" :roll:
also he stated that it is likely that less residents will be guided next year.

[whitlers]

I paid the fee. $275 for me $ 175 for each helper. Im glad I did, we shot one on day two and were packed up and gone by day 3. The weather up there changes extremely daily so be prepaird for anything.

[kgriz]

We might end up paying...I remember how much the trails sucks...but I know how much it'll cost to help out certain people out of the ditch etc .......$200 for the truck + $150 for each "helper inside":mrgreen:

[Stone C. Killer]

Quad will usually be fine to get you to horse camp. If you want/need to go past there bring a sled. (no quads allowed past horse camp)

[bridger]

over two feet of snow at pink mtn bring sleds for sure

[t-bone]

I had the draw last year for the second half of november, it was quite confusing with the info I was recieving,this is what I learned. The Blueberry Ranch is now called the Pink Mountain Ranch, the tresspass fees were 250 for tag holder and 175 for helpers each. The trespass fee saves you a ton of time in travel but you pay for it,and the caretakers don`t pay much attention.There was one foot of snow, minus 30`s so both quads and sleds worked but was damn near to cold to hunt, we spent a fair bit of time trying not to freeze to death. sleds make more noise and the bufflo know it. Be the first on the trail as you will bump into the herd first unless of course some scumbag who leaves later roars by you on the trail jumps the herd takes runinng shots at an animals and sends them wounded to parts unknown. Pick you target carefully away from the herd if you can as they will all bunch up when spooked and run as one big blur making your animal of choice, blend in, and you don`t want to shoot at a different animal. Be prepared,they can be awefully big taking lots of time to process with two people,remove the hide as quick as possible because if the weather is freezing it will freeze the outside before the heat escapes causing the internal meat to bone sour.Don`t shoot an animal to late in the day as the sun goes down early that time of the year and you need time to process. The cabins on the ranch are handy but could be better as they are old and don`t come with much, including crappy firewood. They have newer ones but `hey` somebody would have to actually finish them. The Buffalo Inn at Pink Mountain does`t have enough plug ins for block heaters so if you stay there $$ bring a elec splitter and long extention cord, the rooms are not much better than the cabins but you have a good restraunt and heat along with showers.Its a 28 km drive to the ranch and easy enough to do because it doen`t get light till 8am. Give yourself time to do everything because it is f..king cold at minus 30c. Getting a hold of the ranch caretakers is frustrating and can even cost you time as they are hard to get firm meeting times because they are on their own schedule. Good Luck and Happy Hunting!

[kgriz]

Great info t-bone...the only thing that I would add is that I made a campfire right beside our downed beast ASAP...kept my knives warm (several) so that the fat freezing to them didnt render them useless as well as kept us warm....dealing with a bigbull IS NOTHING like even the biggest moose....its WAY BIGGER and gonna take you a while.

[whitlers]

The new cabins are good. They are all finished. Cozy but a warm safe place to sleep.

[Jetboat]

We've got 30 inches of snow and the last two mornings were -30C to the east of Pinky. Wasn't frozen before the big snow dump so lots of mud under the white stuff. Here at work, we've been breaking through into creeks so use extreme care.

[hunter34]

Going up there friday,thanks for all the updates.We were going to bring sleds and quads,but i think we will be alright with only sleds.

[Ry151]

Went through the trail last week on sleds. Was easy but looked nasty if its not frozen. The ranch is definitely easier and you can get your truck in a lot farther and places to camp are easier to find for sure if you pay.

[One Shot]

We are leaving Friday as well to Pink Mtn. We have a quad and hoping to score a sled to borrow if required have a friend trying to make arrangements. See you all there.

[BCRiverBoater]

We are leaving Friday as well to Pink Mtn. We have a quad and hoping to score a sled to borrow if required have a friend trying to make arrangements. See you all there.

You will need the sleds for sure. Not a quad hunt this year!

[One Shot]

Talked with Floyd at the ranch this morning and he said the heavy snow was higher up and that quads would be fine.????? Still hoping to score a sled to use. Havent owned one for a few years now.

[Sofa King]

just hammer the e-brake on and knock 'em right into the box.
eezy-peezy.
http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/w362/deddeer/IMG_1456.jpg

[toad]

any new info?? any pics? I'm heading up in 2 weeks

[REPO]

any new info?? any pics? I'm heading up in 2 weeks


Bring a snowmobile! It's getting out of control this year. The snow on my front yard is easily 3 feet or more. I spend several hours every weekend piling it up. In the mid -20s now for the past couple weeks.