Re: The good old days
Moved to BC from Ontario in ’65 when I was a teen. Bought my first rifle at Charlie Lake gun store from Foxy Wolf. It was a 30/30 Win Lever. Hunted in Ont. since 12-first with a bow & then a 12 gauge.
Serious hunting started after meeting LT (LOVER 308 ) at SFU in ’67. Hunted with 3 other SFU guys. Hunting was way more important than classes!
For deer- initially it was the Birkenhead Lake /D’Arcy area followed by Empire/ Gang /Big Creek area. The seasons were much longer & one could shoot 3 deer of any sex if I recall.
Almost all of our hunting was done by foot. The Trapper Nelson pack came in handy for the big deer & the smaller ones I would sometimes carry whole over my shoulders.
By Empire it seems like there were more deer than cattle. Some of the hunter’s campsites had many deer hanging.
We were never skunked.
For moose-mostly in the Nation Lakes to Uslika Lake area. In the 90’s we also hunted in the Big Creek area.
On our way up to Germansen we would see many moose cow/calf in the swampy areas. (I have never or will ever shoot a cow or calf moose). Until about 20 years ago we always got our moose within a day or 2 in the Germansen area. We were only after 1 moose per trip in general. We would share it equally.
The wolves were everywhere. Could hear the packs communicating every night sometimes in the middle of the day.
The cow/calf would have been easy pickings but the bulls- you had to work for it. There were plenty of moose until that dreaded Omineca model that was introduced in the 80’s followed by the indiscriminate year round moose slaughter & overpopulation of bears.Surprised there are any moose left in the area!
On our last 4 day hunt north of Germansen(6+years ago) we saw only one set of fresh moose tracks(a cow & a calf) –that’s it! It was a moose track soup trip!
Remember the days of red plaid shirts & blue jeans. Camo was unheard of except in the military.
Still remember driving up the highway & seeing hunters displaying their kills. LT & I shot 2 moose one year near Nation & took them to Vancouver in my VW beetle.
“People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war or before an election.” -Otto von Bismarck
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.-Albert Einstein