Bull River...Standing Room Only?

[Striksfromabove]

I'm planning a pack in trip into the Bull River this fall and plan to hike in and be in position for September 10th. I'm only interested in hunting vehicle restricted areas and will be hiking off the road on 1-3 days trips after elk are located/spotted. I've never hunted this area but have been close in the Lussier R.(Oct. 1st) area and the Sparwood area which didn't have a lot of hunters around, likely due to the time of year.

The last thing I want is to hike in and find a ton of other hunters pounding the same area and I have heard the East Kootenays can get real busy. Does anyone have any thoughts on what I might expect for hunter effort in there during that time of year realizing it's basically peak elk rut?

[Everett]

I would consider the Bull river the busiest area in the EK. You will still get guides and horse hunters in the road closures. Plus a few yahoos who don't care and will drive in anyway.
Elk rut peaks around the 20th of sept.

[hunter1947]

Less hunters for sure hike in a few cliks then off up a side hill to hunt sounds good to me..

[sawmill]

Beware of the Grizz,they are famously beligerent there.

[Farmer001]

This area is starting to gain popularity, have not hunted there in a few years and tried again last year. More people and saw 3 grizz within 20 km's which I think is not that common. 1 gizz came into camp but did not stay long. Game was not as plentiful as it was, but told that was due to the predator population increase. Same story different place. Few whitetail spike bucks. Whitetail Does seemed to take the biggest beating. Few elk and the mulies were non-existent now. Please take this opinion with a grain of salt because there are so many variables as we all know. Pack your stuff up go out and have some fun, it is beautiful country and with some luck and persistance can be prove successfull. If not there is always Costco on the way home. But make sure to hit the hot springs they are awesome.

[Striksfromabove]

Yes it seems the predator issue is at the forefront no matter where you hunt in BC right now, we saw the same thing in Chetwynd last year, more wolf and grzz/black bear sign than ungulate for sure. I don't mind a bit of pressure from others but I had heard the Lucier R. has a camp on every pulloff during elk season and there are only so many places that hold animals, plus it seems the preferred hunting method is to glass from the road and hike up after critters are spotted which could prove tough if too many guys were working the main road.

I'd prefer to be back one hill but others warn of getting the meat out before it spoils if you are too far back. I'm trying to find a happy medium somewhere but may have to hunt farther in and do whatever I can do to keep the meat cool. Guess I'll be looking for north facing creek draws!

[rocksteady]

The bull is a single drainage with side drainages. The side drainages are used by guides and those with horses. It does not mean you will not be successful. I was up in that country about October 15 and all the camps were on the main bull, not the side drainages with tough access..

Its as good as any other place in the EK.... Just more g bears

[dragonslayer]

Hunted there on a lot of occasions and the whole river along its lenght is swamped with hunters and it is a zoo, if you can get into the back forty the hunting is fair, but in the same token there are a pile of grizz roaming around looking for a free meal , if you go back further up also be prepared for very rough country, also alot of guiding outfits are in there with horses and such, just my opinion only if you want to there go and fly at it but there are a lot of other places I would chose. just saying:)

[rocksteady]

Hunted there on a lot of occasions and the whole river along its lenght is swamped with hunters and it is a zoo, if you can get into the back forty the hunting is fair, but in the same token there are a pile of grizz roaming around looking for a free meal , if you go back further up also be prepared for very rough country, also alot of guiding outfits are in there with horses and such, just my opinion only if you want to there go and fly at it but there are a lot of other places I would chose. just saying:)

Only 1 guide outfitter in there... A lot of country but only 1 company runs it... Just pointin it out....

[Everett]

There is at least four different guide territories in Bull river area two in the main Valley the others operating in some of drainages.

[rocksteady]

You sure? I thought there was only the one down at 25 km, with their spike camps at 54 ish..... I could be wrong though...

[Everett]

A quick check of Imaps showed me the boundries of the territories.

[dragonslayer]

I also thought that there was more than just one.

[budismyhorse]

Boardman (now changed names)
lightburn
faiers (may have sold)
cocciollo


and doesn't someone have the Quinn? Or is that Lightburns?

its busy ..... Very busy. But you can get away from them with some careful planning. Lots of elk up there.

[RockyMountainHunter1]

Quinn is lightburns

[Striksfromabove]

Are a lot of guys hiking in past the vehicle restriction. Up the Quinn there is a road closure at Alpine Creek from what I can tell and TONS of huntable country past there. Are there that many guys working that area as well? I assumed it would only be day hikers part way up and the diehards and guide outfitters with horses.

Sounds like there might be some better spots out there, I'm definitely not into crowds, had some gong shows in the past and don't care to relive it. The Flathead is a second choice and might be a better bet it sounds like.

[hunter1947]

Are a lot of guys hiking in past the vehicle restriction. Up the Quinn there is a road closure at Alpine Creek from what I can tell and TONS of huntable country past there. Are there that many guys working that area as well? I assumed it would only be day hikers part way up and the diehards and guide outfitters with horses.

Sounds like there might be some better spots out there, I'm definitely not into crowds, had some gong shows in the past and don't care to relive it. The Flathead is a second choice and might be a better bet it sounds like.

All sounds good to me I say go with your in stinks and you should do well this coming fall ,,good luck can't wait for to see how you did this coming fall :)..

[budismyhorse]

for the opener you'll have company no matter where you go. Go later in the season .......away from the popular easy spots and you'll be on your own with some planning around the outfitters. many of them are down on clients these days so they aren't as big a predator as they used to be.

[Trophyslayer]

Road closures are nice but when you hike all day to have some asshole drive by you in his truck and say oops It's a big piss off

[Striksfromabove]

I'm not above laying on the road Clayquot protester style to stop Ernie's from corking me :)

Bud when you say go later in the season are you talking after the 20th or October 1st or even later? I'd definitely hate missing the rut as it is so key to elk hunting.

[hunter1947]

I'm not above laying on the road Clayquot protester style to stop Ernie's from corking me :)

Bud when you say go later in the season are you talking after the 20th or October 1st or even later? I'd definitely hate missing the rut as it is so key to elk hunting.


Latter is better as Bud has said I have found that the elk are moving around more in the last week of Sept on into the first week of Oct over the past years,,I have taken 4 legal bulls from the past 5 years all have been in that time frame ,,,bull elk will rut right into the late part of Oct ,,my opinion weather changing being hot in the early month of Sept in the last 10 years has made the movement of elk latter on from past years 2008 ,2010 and 2011 my bulls where shot the first two weeks of Oct,,bottom line less hunters pushing elk around if you go latter...

[budismyhorse]

I'm not above laying on the road Clayquot protester style to stop Ernie's from corking me :)

Bud when you say go later in the season are you talking after the 20th or October 1st or even later? I'd definitely hate missing the rut as it is so key to elk hunting.

I mean later in the season like end Sept-Early Oct..........most of the camps have screwed off with the nice weather. Most meaning some. There are still going to be dudes in the usual haunts.

Oct 1 2008 I took my horses up a creek about an hour and a half ride in the Mid Bull and found a herd of 20 with two 6 pts in it standing in the open all day long. Now........that was easily the dirtiest blowdown hellhole I've seen in my life trying to get up to the bench they were on......needless to say we didn't get one that day.......but if you spent some time back there you'd find a better way...or a trail to access those areas.

Keep in mind that the elk back there are pressured by guides and residents early on..........and pressured elk usually hit the thickest stuff they can OR.....highest elevation. sometimes both;)

there in lies why most like the early season......the dream of catching a big dumb 6 pt in the open low down on a slide for the opener...big bang bong....drink beer for the rest of the week.

In my opinion the peak of the rut is late sept so you'd still be getting the "key" to elk hunting as you describe.

good luck!

[Striksfromabove]

Excellent advice , thanks guys I think trying to hit some cooler weather later in the month makes sense too especially since it might take 2 trips to get it out to the truck. We chased elk around the Luccier R. a few years back in the beginning of October and it was nice and cold, there was literally no hunting pressure and we did locate elk, we didn't score but had some fun and enjoyed it in there. We watched a 5 point wander around for days, I'm sure he knew he had immunity in that 6 point season! One night on one hillside we had a 40" rutting moose destroying trees at the bottom, three cow elk mid slope and 2 mulie bucks and a 5 point bull elk feeding near the top, it was incredible. I'm looking forward to heading back that way!

[GoatGuy]

For some reason everyone's heard of the 'bull' and a pile of people hunt it cause a buddy did 20 years ago.

Not an elk fanatic myself, but I do know there are quite a few elk and road closures in that 4-1, 4-2 country and some good mulw deer too...........

Just saying.

[The Hermit]

The Bull is a great scenic drive with some awesome fly fishing, classified waters! Don't ask me how I know, cause I've never caught any but my buddy landed four in the space of time that it took me to get my hook out of the damn tree! There are some beauty bowls in the high country and some hanging draws that hold lots of elk... or they did twenty years ago!;-)

[Husky7mm]

I love Mulw Deer!

[hunter1947]

My experience over my years hunting where ever it might be if you got the legs and want to put some leather on you will get away from most hunters its all up to you ??? I hunt a high pressured area each year and lots of road hunters most don't head back into the hills from the road..

The 46 years hunting the area where I hunt for elk and deer I drive to where I am going to hunt I parked my truck or quad then put leather on up mountains I can count on all ten fingers how many times I come across another hunter...

[wideopenthrottle]

might as well revive this thread cuz I'm going there this year..didn't go last year but went 4 of us went 2 years in a row before that..got a nice little 6x6 in 2013 and a goat in 2014 as well as limiting out on WT both years...did some fishing when I was tagged out and did very well

[jtred]

I read an article in Successful Hunter a few years ago that that really struck me. This writer liked to pack in to limit of where day hunters/hikers would make it to, say 5-6hrs, and set up his camp somewhere around that mark. He then hunted around that in-between zone, meaning further than a day hunter but not as far as a hunter on horseback would go. Apparently he had great success in that in-between zone. Made sense to me, might be worth a try up there. Of course the distance he went in was dependent on terrain, access, hunter numbers, etc. When I'm just out for a day hunt 5-6hrs is definitely getting to my outside range, always have to factor in the possibility of having to pack that animal out, especially on a road closure.

[wideopenthrottle]

I read an article in Successful Hunter a few years ago that that really struck me. This writer liked to pack in to limit of where day hunters/hikers would make it to, say 5-6hrs, and set up his camp somewhere around that mark. He then hunted around that in-between zone, meaning further than a day hunter but not as far as a hunter on horseback would go. Apparently he had great success in that in-between zone. Made sense to me, might be worth a try up there. Of course the distance he went in was dependent on terrain, access, hunter numbers, etc. When I'm just out for a day hunt 5-6hrs is definitely getting to my outside range, always have to factor in the possibility of having to pack that animal out, especially on a road closure.

sometimes you can just pack enough to stay overnight for that inbetween zone