Tunkwa Lake Lodge Hunt

[Wullfen]

Stayed at Tunkwa Lodge in the campsite from the 1st to the 5th for some deer bow hunting and rifle black bear. Just wanted to say that the service was great, the guys were really helpful and courteous. Definitely will go back. Tagged a nice black bear as well!

[bigredchev]

the caretaker is always talkative and down to chat a bit about the local area. only downside is tunkwa is a high pressure area and getting busier every year

[Piperdown]

You must mean Al and Richy Rich, a couple of good ole redneck boys :)

[Darksith]

the caretaker is always talkative and down to chat a bit about the local area. only downside is tunkwa is a high pressure area and getting busier every year

What do you expect when everytime someone says where should I go they get told tunkwa ;)

[hare_assassin]

What do you expect when everytime someone says where should I go they get told tunkwa ;)

I noticed this too, which is the main reason I have no interest in going to Tunkwa. There's so much prime hunting land within 20 minutes of Kamloops in any direction, why go were it is guaranteed to be busy?

Congrats to the OP on the Blackie!

[Grousedaddy]

You drive a paved road right to tunkwa hahaha its going to be busy for sure!! Ive seen people hunting in cars mini vans u name it way to easy to access

[r106]

We took a 4 point muley last year not more than 20 min from tunkwa lake, peak of the rut and never saw one person. You can hunt off the 4100 road and be by yourself in less than 100yards if you get off the quad or out of the truck.

[caddisguy]

I stayed in one of the rustic cabins at Tunkwa on a September long weekend a few years back on a fishing trip. Great people.

[adriaticum]

I know a few fellas who have been going there every year for decades. Must be good.

[swampdonkey]

We took a 4 point muley last year not more than 20 min from tunkwa lake, peak of the rut and never saw one person. You can hunt off the 4100 road and be by yourself in less than 100yards if you get off the quad or out of the truck.

no animals left on the 4100 to much pressure go to 4200

[Jelvis]

Tunkwa is a dandy area for site seeing and mind blowing country. Hills and ridges with semi-open forest around huge hay fields with clover and ranch land filled with alphalfa fields with succulent feed from one mountain chained ridge to the other through large flats of alphalpha of the ranchers ranch land and on it's borders the slightly rising ridges finger there way up into the knuckles and into the arms of the mule deer corri-doors to reach out for survival and life.
Lots of country is Crown Lands so don't be scared, obey the signs and you will have no problems. This country is an original spot, only place that you will find the "Savannah plants and animals" It's biological gifts are within this region only.
One of a kind. Your eyes will be poppin open and your jaw competely droppin
Jel .. Mule deer, whitetailed deer and moose .. fish and birds .. bears cougar.
Mu 3-18 and Mu 3-19 the border is at Tunkwa check regs and maps for leh and gos

[r106]

no animals left on the 4100 to much pressure go to 4200


hahaha. It was a 190" buck to :wink: there was three in the group all over 170".:mrgreen: There must be hunter driving down that road every 20 min

[Jim Prawn]

We took a 4 point muley last year not more than 20 min from tunkwa lake, peak of the rut and never saw one person. You can hunt off the 4100 road and be by yourself in less than 100yards if you get off the quad or out of the truck.

Bingo. Its only busy if you dont want to get your ass out of the seat. My 13 year old nephew shot his first mule deer buck last thanksgiving in a well known busy spot, one of the busiest weeks of the year. Because they got out of the truck. The game is there; just like a lot of places. It just stays away from the traffic.
JP

[Jelvis]

This Duran Creek valley is in it's own and you will relate drive past Savona going towards Kamloops only a km or so on Hwy 1, then turn right ( south) and head up Duran Creek valley. This road goes to Logan Lake from Savano.
Tunkwa is on this road.
Six Mile and behind .. south of Hwy 1
Good mule deer hunting all the way and some moose .. Quichon Creek is the boundary
Mu 3-19 to the east of the road and Mu 3-18 west of the road check BC regs and leh

[buckmark306]

dont care for them they lie dont ever listen to them of where u should go they tell everyone the same place and it sucks just so u bag nothing and stay longer at the lodge. there is awesome hunting there u just got to hunt past the lodge close to savanah mountain and past there we shoot four points there once a year they rut really good there.

[Jelvis]

Savona Mtn with the High Tech Towers on top. There is a road going right up to the top by those wifi towers. That big semi circle of a basin on the way up to your right is scarey, wow that is big country. Looks like a spaghetti western scene.
If it snows deep up high then the big bucks come down, if it's small snow, they just hang higher. This area has healthy sized mule deer bucks. Indian Garden out Wallichim way. Barnes Lake road to Ashcroft another winner for beginners or hard nozed muley buck hunters.This is a dream come true for the real deer hunters.
Better hunting late season for the big monster muley after the snow pushes down

[sapper]

Well, I'm hoping at least one of us (myself and 2 buddies) are as successful as Jim Prawn's nephew. We'll be up there Thanksgiving weekend this year. We chose Tunkwa as it seems there are both Mule deer and Whiteys in the area and the whitetail GOS on antlerless is open that weekend too. I welcome anyone caring to PM with advice. We don't mind using the rustic cabin we're staying at as a base and getting a little further away from the resort either.

[Jelvis]

Once your set up at the place, you can radiate out into hunting country galore and yet parked near a store at night.
Or stay out in the bush a night in the truck so to get up early and save the return.
Then head back to your space.
If you want whitetails go fairly close to Logan Lake and back on the Meadow Creek road. Helmer Lake direction for both types of deer and moose. Surry/Sussix Frogmore.
Mules all over rover, find the pockets and the km distance to proven hot spots within 20 minutes of your site.
Get out and hike around with your gun, have a compass and walk around.
Above clearcuts, by water sources, early morning crosses. BOOM!
Jel then you decide gutless or traditional? Doo doo doo Doo-ran

[Glenny]

Go up on opening day of unicorn. Beer cans n the roads and gridlock. Fun times.

[sapper]

Well, I'm staying positive and hoping that I have something extra to be thankful for on the Monday of the weekend. Also, as I mentioned for us this really is a base that is a whole lot closer to hunting grounds than Langley is. We don't mind doing some driving and hiking from here.

[Jelvis]

The kinds of bush and forest needed for mule deer and blue grouse habitat are found in both Mu 3-18 and Mu 3-19. Cherry Creek, Duffy Lake, Greenstone over to Dominic lake down to Duran and out just north of Tunkwa turn left and go a few klicks. Site.
Chartrand meadows are a sight to C. And close by Mt Anne for a hike up.
You have many options on where you go out driving from the site, for moose and deer and birds. Any direction will get you into excellent hunting country.
Check Hunting regs for gos in both 3-18 and 3-19 and check boundaries.
Note any differences if any on the two mu's. This is an area to go for moose leh.
Put in any bull moose leh for either mu's of your personal choice.
You can come in from the Coq5 at Logan Lake Exit 336 or from Savona on Hwy 1.
Jel

[sapper]

Thanks for the input, Jelvis. Thankfully too, I can understand most of what you are saying. I'm not sure what that say about me. ;-)

[Glenny]

Chartrand meadows. Bumper to bumper opening day. Surely sumpen to C. Get out of the truck n hike.

[Jelvis]

The road thru the Chartrand meadows are the roads that hunters will use and drive the loops available early and late. Some say it deadends and others find a way thru on old old roads and come out and head towards Greenstone way. A plethora of back woods old fsr's. The area is animal friendly. If you like hiking and hunting the higher you go the more deer and blue grouse and the bigger they get in size.
If you got a set of hiking legs your into top notch hunting country for mules, whites and some moose sprinkled in for more big game hunting excitement.
Prolly the best hunting area close to main hwy's and closest to the Lower Strangeland.
Jel Your in the know, your in the now! Buck bull doe or cow? Leh and gos check 1st
B4 you see that wild animal.

[BigDirtyBuck20]

Maybe the pressure would go down if everyone stopped telling everyone else where to go. I had to learn on my own.

[BigDirtyBuck20]

What is wrong with you bud. People like you contribute to half the reason why it's so pressured around here. If you could just just keep your knowledge to yourself people would find other areas and still let the locals and regulars enjoy the area in which they live. Next time think about how your posts will impact the well being of this hunting area. I had to find these areas myself, other people can too.

[r106]

you can mention any area in BC and jelvis can and will list off every road and valley in the area and on more than a few occasions he will mention an area someone thinks is theirs. So chill out you only have 2 posts here and your just bitching.

[BigDirtyBuck20]

I don't think it's my hunting area I just think it sucks when people advertise it on the internet, and because I only have 2 posts means I can't have an opinion?

[BigDirtyBuck20]

Didn't realize I had to be a senior member to have an opinion, "Champ".

[sapper]

I actually appreciate all of Jelvis' information, and that of lots of others on here who have contributed much both in PM's and open posts. This site is a wealth of information and full of lots of people who are willing to assist others to become better hunters. There are others who...Never mind. ;-)

[rmcda1]

Someone told me that a lot of the vehicle access roads are closed now due to damage to the grassland. Does anyone know how much of an impact the closures are having? I ask because I am disabled and used to hike all over the trails.

[r106]

Maybe the pressure would go down if everyone stopped telling everyone else where to go. I had to learn on my own.


What is wrong with you bud. People like you contribute to half the reason why it's so pressured around here. If you could just just keep your knowledge to yourself people would find other areas and still let the locals and regulars enjoy the area in which they live. Next time think about how your posts will impact the well being of this hunting area. I had to find these areas myself, other people can too.


I don't think it's my hunting area I just think it sucks when people advertise it on the internet, and because I only have 2 posts means I can't have an opinion?


Didn't realize I had to be a senior member to have an opinion, "Champ".

Don't need to be a senior member just need to contribute something better than this ^^ Welcome to the internet

[r106]

Someone told me that a lot of the vehicle access roads are closed now due to damage to the grassland. Does anyone know how much of an impact the closures are having? I ask because I am disabled and used to hike all over the trails.

As long as you are on a designated Forest service road your fine, everything else is closed. With the exception of a few designated posted trails.

[Jelvis]

Greenstone/Cherry Creek is in MU 3-19 so is Duffy Lake the east boundary to the 5A Hwy. The western boundary is Hwy 97C and turns into the Tunkwa Lake Rd when going in a northerly direction then turns into Duran Creek Road and comes out just a km east of Savona onto Hwy 1 (Trans Canada Hwy).
3-19 goes right down to the shoreline of south side of Kamloops Lake.
when going up from Hwy 1 at Cherry Creek go up the Greenstone Mtn road and your in Mu 3-19. Turn towards Duffy Lake and go up to the Dairy Lakes and make a circuit.