Mountain Hunter Magazine Spring 2020

OUT OF THE MIST Also featuring...

TWO OLD GOATS BEAR BAIT TEN STEPS AT A TIME AN INTERVIEW WITH GORD BAMFORD Vol. 31 | Issue 2

DISPLAY UNTIL

AUGUST 31, 2020

$

8.95

Hunting

Dall Sheep | Alaska Yukon Moose | Mtn. Caribou | Mtn. Goat

w w w. l a n c a s t e r f a m i l y h u n t i n g . c o m

Jim (250) 846-5309 Clay (250) 263-7778

jladventures@xplornet.com

Helicopter and riverboat backpack hunts in the Mackenzie Mountains, NWT

INSIDE

THIS ISSUE

Mountain Hunter is the official publication of the Guide Outfitters Association of British Columbia (GOABC), Association of Mackenzie Mountains Outfitters and Yukon Outfitters Association.

FEATURE STORY

Articles, photos, editorial submissions, comments and letters to the editor should be sent to:

OUT OF THE MIST Craig Gillock

MOUNTAIN HUNTER: c/o GOABC, #103 – 19140 28th Avenue Surrey, British Columbia Canada V3Z 6M3

ON THE COVER

Tel: (604) 541-6332 Fax: (604) 541-6339 E-mail: programs@goabc.org www.MountainHunterMagazine.com

12

www.facebook.com/mountainhuntermagazine @MtnHunterMag

Hunter Craig Gillock celebrates a successful hunt with Wicked River Outfitters

@mountainhuntermagazine

MOUNTAIN HUNTER is published three times a year by the Guide Outfitters Association of British Columbia 2 YEAR SUBSCRIPTION

4 YEAR SUBSCRIPTION

Canada - $50 CDN USA - $50 USA International - $65 CDN

Canada - $85 CDN USA - $85 USA International - $125 CDN

22

All prices include tax.

SEAN OLMSTEAD MICHAEL SCHNEIDER FRASER MACDONALD DOUG MCMANN KEN ROBINS MATT LEUENBERGER MICHAEL YOUNG LEIF OLSEN

President Past-President First Vice-President Second Vice-President Director Director Director Director

LOCAL PRESIDENTS: STUART MAITLAND SCOTT PICHETTE AARON FREDLUND MIKE DANIELSON SHANA DENNIS BEN STOURAC MELVIN KILBACK RILEY LEUENBERGER MIKE LEWIS STAFF: SCOTT ELLIS JENNIFER JOHNSON BRENDA GIBSON CRAIG SWEETMAN BRENDA NELSON

Cariboo Chilcotin North Central(Omineca) Northern (Peace) Northwest (Skeena) Tahltan Guide & Outfitter Assoc.

Thompson Okanagan Southern (Kootenay) Vancouver Island/South Coast

Executive Director Executive Assistant & Member Services Communications & Special Projects Consumer Marketing Director Content Quality Oversight

(403) 357-8414 HAROLD GRINDE KELLY HOUGEN WERNER ASCHBACHER

President Past-President Secretary

33

MAC WATSON CHRIS MCKINNON SHAWN WASEL

President Past-President Executive Director

Depositphotos.com: amykmitchell, MennoSchaefer, Rangizzz, imagepluss, harrybeugelink@gmail.com

All rights reserved. Articles and advertising in Mountain Hunter do not necessarily reflect the view or directions of GOABC. GOABC reserves to the right to refuse any advertisements.

48

10 STEPS AT A TIME

BEAR BAIT

AN INTERVIEW WITH GORD BAMFORD

TWO OLD GOATS

Larry J. Johns

Oakley Watkins

Scott Ellis

Archie Landals

DEPARTMENTS 2

GOABC President’s Corner

42

Conservation MattersTM

3

News & Views

56

Fair Chase Kitchen

6

Preferred Conservation Partners

60

A Different Perspective

28

Highlight of the Hunt

ADVERTISERS Ambler’s Bighorn Country Guiding................................11

Gundahoo River Outfitters...32

Pelly Lake Wilderness Outfitters...........................31

Arcadia Outfitting..................36

Horst Mindermann (Remax)............................46

Bar WK Ranch Outfitters.......55

Inzana Outfitters...............OBC

BC Trophy Mountain Outfitters............................59

Kettle River Guides & Outfitters...........................30

Bear Trust International........10

Krieghoff International.......31

Scoop Lake Outfitters............21

Bonnet Plume Outfitters......30

Lancaster Family Hunting..IFC

Shadow Mountain Outfitters..19

Boone & Crockett Club...........47

Liard River Outfitters..........11

Sikanni River Outfitters.......30

Bugle Basin Outfitters..........11

Love Bros. & Lee.....................32

Cariboo Mountain Outfitters...36

Silent Mountain Outfitters.....46

Mackenzie Mountain Outfitters...........................59

SITKA Gear...............................37

McCowans Sporting Properties............................47

Sports Afield.............................5

Covert Outfitting.......................19 (867) 668-4118

38

Dallas Safari Club................58 Elk Valley Bighorn Outfitters............................9

Raven’s Throat Outfitters....32 Rocky Mountain High Outfitter and Guides..............9 Safari Club International....36

South Nahanni Outfitters......47

McGregor River Outfitters....9

Stan Simpson Plane for Sale..19

Mervyn’s Yukon Outfitting...30

Stone Glacier............................21

Northwest Big Game Outfitters...........................IBC

Tuchodi River Outfitters........46

Gana River Outfitters...........31 Grand Slam Club/Ovis...........20

Okanagan Outfitters.............32

Yukon Big Game Outfitters.....55

Eureka Peak Lodge & Outfitters.............................59

Wild Sheep Foundation..........45

GOABC...................................11

Printed in Canada by Dollco Print Solutions Group Designed in Canada by PG Web Designs Ltd.

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020 |

1

GOABC PRESIDENT’S CORNER

It feels like just days ago that the excitement was still building towards our 54th annual convention. I was looking forward to reporting on another successful event and enjoying all the good times sure to be had with my extended outfitting family. And too – curious about the outcome of our elections.

Would I be running for re-election for my second term as president?

Yet, instead of all that, the world seems to have shifted on its axis and I find myself leading the organization through one of the toughest challenges our industry has ever faced.

We have moved from the fundraising focus of convention, to addressing the immediate needs of outfitters and assembling ways to help our members navigate the business impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As an organization, it’s business unusual. The situation changes daily and the GOABC team is working hard to keep on top of government announcements, collaborate with other tourism industry associations, and deliver useful and timely information to members. The office staff is split up but working their usual hours and the board and executive are fully engaged. Technology is proving to be a great asset as we meet virtually from the confines of our homes to make the timely – and sometimes difficult – decisions that need to be made.

On the land, however, it’s comforting to find it business as usual! Spring is here and with it comes all the physical work required to keep our operations running. Reports from our provincial health officer are encouraging – the physical distancing efforts we’re making to “flatten the curve” seem to be helping. While we are disappointed that we won’t be able to welcome our hunters for the spring bear hunt, BC outfitters are resilient and optimistic – and continuing to move forward with preparations for another epic fall season.

While the news channels spew uncertainty and fear, as an outfitting community we’re keeping our hope and efforts focused on the time ahead when the high threat of this pandemic has passed, and life has returned to some form of normalcy. I encourage you to do the same. The natural world is following its usual rhythms and soon we’ll be following suit.

In the meantime, I wish you and your families health and good times as you stay sheltered and safe.

2|

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020

Sean Olmstead, President, GOABC

Our Vision A province with a strong and stable guide outfitting industry and abundant wildlife populations for all to enjoy, both today and in the future.

Our Mission As passionate advocates for wildlife, the Guide Outfitters Association of British Columbia is the recognized voice of the guide outfitting family. With integrity and professionalism, GOABC promotes the conservation, stewardship and sustainable use of wildlife.

Wildlife FIRST

TM

NEWS &

VIEWS

“You earn your money when sh*t is going sideways.” Wise words I’ve heard many times from my dad. Well, here we are.

I have been with GOABC for 12 years and have always enjoyed the variety and challenge the position of Executive Director presents. However, the issue we are facing today is the biggest one yet. On March 20th, the Canada-US border – the largest international border in the world – closed. This day will have historical significance – for the world, but also for GOABC. Even before that date, many of us in British Columbia and elsewhere around the globe had made the decision to physically distance ourselves, work from home and cancel fundraisers. Ours had been scheduled for March 26th. We made the decision to cancel on the 13th – Friday the 13th of all days – and although it had been a very difficult decision at that point, we knew it was the right one. Just seven days later we were to have that confirmed.

Since then, measures to contain the COVID-19 virus and financial relief measures being offered by the provincial and federal governments have continued to change rapidly.

GOABC has remained “open” but with only one staff member physically in the office at any one time and the other two working from home with remote access to the office files as needed. We are grateful for the technology that makes it all possible.

For me, most days have been a marathon of calls with members, government and industry associations. Regardless of who I am talking to, top of mind is helping our members make sense of – and access – the various existing financial aid programs and push for improvements where I see more help is needed.

As an organization, we are connecting with government almost daily, but also as a member of the Canadian Federation of Outfitters Association (CFOA) and as an industry sector with both provincial and federal tourism associations (TIABC and TIAC). The Adventure Tourism Coalition (ATC) has also been a strong group that advocates for adventure tourism.

Together we have been successful in connecting with relevant ministers provincially and federally to influence the financial aid and support to our sector and I am encouraged to see advancements almost daily.

Hunting and fishing regulations have been modified in response to Health Canada’s physical distancing recommendations and we are now only permitted to fish and

Scott Ellis, Executive Director, GOABC

hunt with those we are living with. Health Canada will be involved in the decision to rescind this order, likely once the decision is made to re-open the borders. How long the borders will remain closed is anyone’s guess.

One thing I have learned over my 12 years here is that BC outfitters are a hearty breed. They thrive on challenges and keep tenaciously moving forward at times when most would surrender in a crumpled heap. As many stories here in Mountain HunterTM attest, time and time again, it is outfitters and guides who cheer, cajole, badger and berate folks to keep putting one foot in front of the other and advancing towards their goals despite tough times and the feeling they simply can’t go on. In many ways, outfitters are made for times such as these.

While we expect the world the be a bit different when this is over, outfitters and GOABC will still be here. Our members will continue to offer their guests access to some of the most sought after hunting and fishing experiences the world has to offer. As you are physically distanced from your usual routine (and washing your hands regularly) wherever you are in the world, use the time to dream of coming to British Columbia. A vast landscape of crystal-clear lakes and icy cold rivers full of fish, untouched mountains abundant with big game, and friendly outfitters well equipped to take you on your adventure of a lifetime. When the borders re-open we will be ready to welcome you to BC and make your hunting and fishing dreams come true.

Our outfitters will weather this storm – they always do. Until then, stay safe.

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020 |

3

NEWS & VIEWS As I write to you today, I am home for a break between shows.

We only exhibit at a couple of the shows now, but it is always so enjoyable to go and visit with old friends and, of course, to make new acquaintances. For me, the shows have never been so much about filling the booking sheet, but much more about meeting people and keeping in touch with those I already know. I find attending the shows both necessary and rewarding – even if I do not get a single booking. The shows are not only a great place for us the outfitters to meet clients, they are also a great place for you the client to meet the outfitters.

Each and every outfit is unique in its own way. You might say we all do things a little differently – have a slightly different style or offer a slightly different experience.

Harold Grinde, President, Association The more time and effort you put into learning about the outfit you choose for your of Mackenzie Mountain Outfitters next hunt, the better the chances that you will have a great experience. Just as not all clients have the same expectations of what constitutes a great hunt, not all outfitters have the same idea of what a great hunt consists of. I am not saying that some outfitters are better than others – we are all just different. If you the client take the time to choose an outfitter who strives to deliver a service that will suit your needs and meet your expectations, chances are you will have a great hunt.

The Mackenzie Mountains of the NWT are an amazing place to go for a hunt. All of us who outfit there feel blessed to be able to operate where we do. Each and every member outfitter of our association – the Association of Mackenzie Mountains Outfitters – is a dedicated professional that offers a great service and sends home many happy clients each year. In the Mackenzie Mountains, hunter success rates and quality of overall experience are second to none in the industry. I believe that as the years go by, we as hunters will need to put more emphasis on “the experience” and less on the harvest. We all must put more thought into how we talk about our hunts – what pictures we post, and what stories we tell. I encourage each and every one to plan your next hunt carefully. Then go – leave your world behind and absorb as much of the people, the country, the wildlife, and “the experience” as you possibly can. Good Hunting!

Spring time! In the north country, the days are longer and the sun on your face is notably warmer. Our annual change of seasons is a continual little reminder that change is constant. For outfitters, each season comes with its own respective to-do list, all in preparation for our favorite season, hunting season! The longer days of spring bring an end to the dark chilly days of winter: a little time outdoors trapping, trade-show marketing, office work, planning for the season ahead, winter care and feeding of mountain steeds. Spring and the warmer longer days signal preparation time, horses wormed and trimmed, tack repaired for reliable function while on the hunt, aircraft inspected and maintained to perform without flaw. Summer: Backpack scouting, shoeing horses, training colts, opening camps, and restocking the woodsheds. Late summer/fall: Hunting season, full pursuit and on the hunt 24/7, Mac Watson, President, long days, muscled legs, calloused hands. The annual cycle repeats.

Yukon Outfitters Association Intertwined in this annual cycle is change. Change in the business operation to make it more efficient, hunting different areas with a change in game location, change in clientele, long time clients a year older and wiser, new clients keen to burn some miles, and hone their skills.

External forces also impose changes to the hunt. The eye of the non-hunter, “public opinion,” continues to have great influence on hunting. The demise of grizzly hunting in British Columbia is an example close to home. Politicians and regulators continue to impose their interpretations of what “the people” want. In an effort to influence change, we the hunting-community strive to be vigilant, informed, and united so we can proactively continue discussions regarding wilderness, wildlife management, and why we hunt to those outside of the hunting community.

Within the Yukon Outfitters Association, we continue to work hard with like-minded agencies to protect our future hunting opportunities and to ensure the hunting experience is maintained long-term. After all, our future enjoyment and business success depend on it. Eyes on the future! Safe hunting and shoot straight.

4|

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020

Adventure Knows No Boundaries Sports Afield invites you to join us in experiencing big game hunts in the world’s wildest and most magnificent destinations, from the Canadian Rockies to the African savanna to the mountains of Central Asia. The greatest hunting adventures on the planet—find them in the pages of America’s premier big-game hunting magazine.

PARTNERS IN CO N S E RVAT I O N

PARTNERS IN CO N S E RVAT I O N

PARTNERS IN CO N S E RVAT I O N

Th e P r e m i e r Hu n t i ng A dv e n t u r e M aga z i n e Th e P r e m i e r Hu n t i n g A dv e n t u r e M ag a z i n e

Th e P r e m i e r Hu n t i ng A dv e n t u r e M aga z i n e

VOLUME 240 NUMBER 7

V O L U M E 2 41 N U M B E R 1

VOLUME 240 NUMBER 5 0C1_sa1710 1

J A N U A R Y/ F E B R U A R Y 2 018

Moose•Elk•Deer Asia & Beyond

Horseback Hunt For Reindeer

Top 5 Calibers

0C1_sa1802 1

For Plains Game

0C1_sa1712 1

J A N U A R 7/20/17 Y / F E B 7:28 R U AAMR Y 2 0 1 8

DISPLAY UNTIL 2/29/2009

N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 017

S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 017

Around the World • The .45-70 Gov’t Fall’s Finest Hunts Africa, America,• A Legendary .375 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

North America’s Greatest Hunts

Classic

Wilderness Cartridges Hunts • The .264 on Safari

DISPLAY UNTIL 2/29/2009

NOV EMBER / DECEMBER 2 017

DISPLAY UNTIL 2/29/2009

11/20/17 10:44 AM

Subscribe today at our special low price!

• $29.97 USD for one year (U.S. addresses)

Top Spots For Mule Deer 9/15/17 8:16 AM

Special Discounted Advertising Rates for GOABC outfitters!

Contact James Reed at jreed@sportsafield.com or 714-373-4674

• $49.97 USD for one year (Canada + International) Just log onto www.sportsafield.com or call 800/234-3537 or 714/373-4910.

Proudly Supports

WILD SHEEP FOUNDATION WSF Stands with British Columbia

convention in Kamloops and GOABC’s annual convention in Kelowna. WSF

Together we will beat this.

Gray N. Thornton, President & CEO

counts our blessings that our 43 As shared in prior WSF notices in convention took place as scheduled and DALLAS SAFARI CLUB Mountain HunterTM,, British Columbia was such a success. WSF also recognizes In This Fight Together has received more FNAWS/WSF that since our formation more than 43 DSC may have closed the doors on conservation and grant-in-aid funding years ago, through our convention this another successful convention in than any other province, state, territory, past January, BC guides, outfitters and January, but the work for DSC does not country or jurisdiction since the founding members have been there to support stop. Our chapters are in full swing of FNAWS in 1977. Prior to the 2020 WSF and our mission. This is not a small with their banquets, projects around Sheep Show® WSF had directed more thing. It’s what the Wild Sheep family than $3.999 Million USD to the province is all about. Rest assured, WSF will be the world keep going with funding from DSC grants, and our mission continues including $1.346 Million in grant-in-aid there for you. in the fight for worldwide conservation, and another $2.652 Million USD from WSF was pleased to send $50,000 USD to the BC Minister’s licenses (sheep and GOABC in March as an initial installment education and advocacy.

DSC and the DSC Foundation are elk). The dividends of these investments for the Fight for the Hunt and Who Cares taking strides to get the message out to BC wildlife, lands, science, and people BC? campaigns, with another $50,000 in concert with GOABC’s Who Cares? can be seen from Creston to Dease Lake, check for these efforts coming before which is something to be proud of.

rd

our June 30th fiscal year end. WSF also program—hunters care, that’s who! We sent our annual $15,000 2020 GOABC care about the balance and biodiversity

WSF also planned to direct another $578,400 USD to BC during this July convention sponsorship and $18,850 of our planet, we care about creating 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020 fiscal year and representing dedicated donations future leaders and ambassadors for we’re on track to do so. sold in Reno from GOABC members the conservation message through

When I first drafted this PCP back Jack Goodwin and Craig Kiselbach for education, and we care about laws, in mid-February, our world was in a these important campaigns. These policies and practices at federal, different place and the subject of my contributions are in addition to the international, state and local levels that brief was on the success of the 2020 $20,000 directed late in 2019 to Northern would minimize sustainable use’s role in WSF convention. Since February, many and Northwest Guides, $5,000 to Tahltan of our chapter and affiliate events have Guide Outfitters Association and $2,500

conservation. DSC cares, and is grateful

been cancelled or postponed due to the to BC Trappers. worldwide COVID-19 scourge including BC has stood with WSF. WSF will

GOABC’s executive director, Scott Ellis, came to Dallas to fire up DSC members

the March Wild Sheep Society of BC continue to stand with BC.

at the Life Member Breakfast. He spoke

6|

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020

to partner with GOABC in this fight.

about their Who Cares? campaign longer have to worry about the future and emphasized the Three Cs of their of hunting.

Until then, groups like GOABC and DSC public outreach message: Conservation, Consumption and Community. GOABC will continue to work together to ensure hunting’s legacy.

Corey Mason, Executive Director GRAND SLAM CLUB/OVIS I write to you at an unprecedented moment in the history of the world. But, by the time you read this passage, it is my most ardent prayer that the COVID-19 crisis is over and the world is on the pathway to recovery. All of us at GSCO offer our heartfelt thoughts and prayers to those who have been directly affected by the virus. Our community is resilient is on the front lines of this fight, and DSC and I am confident that we will once again is glad to join in and fully support their find ourselves in a better way...together. efforts.

DSC and GOABC both understand the Youth 3...A Pathway to the Future importance of the relationship between hunter-conservationist

and

hunting

professional. The role of the outfitter serves

many

purposes,

including

educator, conservationist, and staunch advocate for wildlife.

This expertise

combined with hunting opportunities and revenue from hunters is the combination that drives conservation today. When we can get that message across to the general public, we will no

GSCO has long been recognized as a leader in distinguishing hunters for their accomplishments in the field. The awards programs at the annual GSCO Convention affords hunters from all walks of life an opportunity to celebrate their personal achievement with their peers. We include, among others, recognition for the Super Ten and Super Slam of North American big game for both firearm and archery; the Grand

Slam of North American Sheep – one of the most coveted accomplishments by hunters; the Capra World Slam of goats; and, the Ovis World Slam of International sheep.

But for 2020, GSCO introduced a new awards program...the Youth 3. This new program is designed to energize our young people to become more involved in hunting. Youth 3 recognizes those hunters under the age of 18 who have harvested one each of antlered game (deer, elk, moose, etc); horned (muskox, bison, sheep, etc.); and predator (wolf, coyote, alligator, bear, etc.). It is our hope that by instituting a program to recognize the milestones of our youth, we can help restore and inspire the ranks of the hunter-conservationist.

Survey after survey here in the U.S. and Canada reveals the number of hunters has been steadily declining in recent years. And one of the most serious consequences of this decline is that it is slowly creating a crisis for wildlife and their habitat.

Without

more people purchasing hunting licenses, equipment and supplies, the critical funding necessary to manage wildlife populations are simultaneously evaporating.

Simply stated, the future of hunting MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020 |

7

PREFERRED CONSERVATION PARTNERS

rests with our youth. I hope the GOABC anti-poaching enforcements.

There are three things we can do network of outfitters and members alike will join with GSCO and help us to correct this wrongful association promote the Youth 3 program as a means between hunting and poaching: 1. Distance hunting from poaching at to encourage and recruit young hunters. every opportunity by being vocal, For more information on GSCO’s Youth calling out and coming down hard 3 program, please call our office at on poachers.

205-674-0101.

2. Continue our boots-on-the-ground Mark Hampton, Executive Director vigilance in reporting on poaching BOONE & CROCKETT activities.

3. Hunting has an ethical code of fair Hunters and Poachers are not Brothers chase at its core. Poaching has no The lines between hunting and code and no honor. People will not poaching are being blurred. learn this on their own. We must What this means is the non-hunting teach them. public is increasingly not making a Here is the same article with a video: clear distinction between hunting and http://www.huntfairchase.com/hunterspoaching. Increasingly, the two are being and-poachers-are-not-brothers/. used interchangeably. Even the media is Danny Noonan, getting it wrong.

Sales & Corporate Relationship Manager Sportsmen know hunting is not poaching, and poachers are not hunters.

Poachers are thieves. But this is an image

SAFARI CLUB INTERNATIONAL

and public-perception problem, and

The Winning Team

perceptions can become reality. This is

As Safari Club International approaches its 50th anniversary, we look

what must be addressed.

By circumventing the laws and regulations, poachers act in complete disregard of the well-being of wildlife populations by placing profits above all else. Poachers are acting outside of the conservation measures established by science and our society. Arguably, they cause even greater harm by destroying public trust and tarnishing the reputation of law-abiding and conservation-minded hunters, most of whom feel a very personal responsibility toward the protection of wildlife and wilderness.

Something else is often missing from this picture. The fact is, sportsmen are the ones reporting poachers to authorities and willingly contribute financially to

8|

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020

back at our rich history and learn from it. We do this to measure our successes and strategically plan for our future – a future that is becoming brighter every day.

CEO W. Laird Hamberlin has made some changes in SCI. We will focus even more mission-support on North American hunters and the issues that affect them. We will move our international sportsman’s convention back to Las Vegas in 2021 and Nashville Tennessee in 2023. We have substantially improved our advocacy team in Washington DC, Marketing and Communications team, and the entire professional support team worldwide.

SCI chapters are a vital part of our

international organization.

Their volunteers support the local, state, national and international programs of SCI and that’s a heavy pack to carry!

These programs are based on the four pillars that the future of SCI depends upon: Membership, Convention, Advocacy and Conservation. These pillars represent the primary focus of our mission together. We must be focused and never lose sight of our goal – to protect the freedom to hunt!

Together we can make a difference.

At this unique time in history, where a renewed bright light is shining on “truth,” in the face of a small minority that would ignore that same truth and deny you the freedom to enjoy your hunting heritage, we will stand together and we will win. The battle lines have been drawn and you’re standing on the side of science-based conservation.

You’re on the winning team: SCI – First for Hunters.

Chip Hunnicutt, Director of Marketing and Communications

Elk Valley Bighorn Outfitters

BIGHORN SHEEP ELK GOAT BLACK BEAR MULE DEER WHITETAIL DEER SHIRAS MOOSE COUGAR TURKEY WOLF LYNX BOBCAT

Hunting British Columbia’s Rocky Mountains for: Elk, Bighorn Sheep, Mountain Goat, Shiras Moose, Black Bear, Mule Deer, Cougar, Lynx, Wolf

Ryan & Denise Damstrom 250.421.0476 ryden@skcmail.ca

Sam Medcalf 250.425.5531 sam@elkvalleybighorn.ca

elkvalleybighorn.ca

McGREGOR RIVER OUTFITTERS

Black Bear Moose Mountain Goat Wolf Family Owned & Operated Guide Eric Hanson Box 1885, Station A Prince George, B.C. V2L 5E3

PO Box 69, Jaffray, British Columbia, Canada V0B 1T0

Email: mrohunts@outlook.com Phone: 250-614-3488

Cel: 250.489.9058 | www.rmho.ca | rmho1998@gmail.com

Marty and Carrie Lightburn

visit www.mcgregorriveroutfitters.com MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020 |

9

Hunting is our way of knowing, appreciating and surviving in the wild world.

It brings us a unique understanding of nature, and it often sustains our families as well as our place in the ecosystem. Bear Trust International would like to extend our thanks and appreciation to guides and outfitters in British Columbia--the pioneers of hunting knowledge, the risk-takers, and committed conservationists. Without guides, few people would have the natural opportunity to immerse in the beautiful worlds of bears, moose, sheep and other treasured game animals. The appreciation and understanding of wildlife that's cultivated in B.C. outfitting traditions should not be lost. That's why Bear Trust International works towards a fair and prosperous human-bear coexistence. We support science-based conservation policy around the globe, and believe that people and animals have every right to share in sustainable habitats.

To get involved, visit www.beartrust.org Bear Trust International An Inspired Voice for Conservation

DREAMING OF BECOMING A

CERTIFIED GUIDE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA? STEP 1. Take the exam at goabc.org/ assistant-guide-certification STEP 2. Ensure you are eligible to work in Canada

Let your adventure begin!

STEP 3. Post your availability on goabc.org/job-seeker

DREAM BIG AND JOIN US WWW.GOABC.ORG 604.541.6332 | info@goabc.org

BIGHORN SHEEP • MOUNTAIN GOAT • ELK • SHIRAS MOOSE MULE DEER • WHITETAIL DEER • BLACK BEAR COUGAR • BOBCAT • LYNX • WOLF ALEX AND LORI SMUTNY 250.426.8099 1960 Wilson Road, Cranbrook, BC V1C 7H4 CANADA www.buglebasin.ca • Email: info@buglebasin.ca

California Bighorn Sheep mule deer moose cougar • lynx black bear mountain goat

BRUCE & TERRY AMBLER 250.459.2367

Clinton, BC Canada amblersbighornguiding@gmail.com

amblersbighornguiding.com

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020 |

11

12 |

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020

OUT OF THE MIST

by Craig Gillock

I’ll admit, I always have a bit of a knot in my stomach when I fly. I don’t really like doing it but sometimes it’s a necessary evil. This trip I was more nervous than usual. Maybe it was because I was flying on September 11th. Maybe it was because something was telling me I should be making the forty-hour drive to Fort St. John. Maybe it was because, for me, this was “THE HUNT.” hatever the reason, I was sitting in the Pittsburgh airport with my dad, about to embark on two-and-a -half days of travel that would take me from Pittsburgh to a lake camp in far northern British Columbia where I would realize my lifelong dream of hunting for moose.

After arriving in Fort St. John, we spent the night in a local hotel then were picked up in the morning and driven to an airstrip outside Pink Mountain. A short flight in a famous Beaver bush plane and we were at base camp where we met up with good friends Amber and Booker, owners of Wicked River Outfitters. Dad and I have hunted with Wicked River several times over the past few years. We’ve always had a great time, seen loads of animals, and been successful in our harvest. We had no doubt this trip would be the same and we were ready to get started.

The plan was to spend the evening at base camp before continuing to the lake camp the next day by Super Cub. Now, anyone who’s had the pleasure of eating Amber’s cooking knows this is a welcome addition to any hunt. She is a trained chef whose skill in the kitchen MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020 |

13

rivals that of any renowned chef the world over and brings a gourmet touch to the food she serves. That night we were treated to bacon-wrapped moose filets seared over an open flame, a personal favorite of mine. Couple this with a few of Booker’s favorite Lucky Lagers and we had one hell of a meal. The only hiccup to the plan was the weather. The skies towards the lake didn’t look good and it would be a game-time decision in the morning if we could make the flight into hunt camp.

Getting There An early morning scout flight by Booker confirmed that a storm had settled over the lake and was being held there by the mountains. Flying in that day was not an option. A new plan was made; horses were saddled, and Booker’s father, Wayne, lead us out for the day’s hunt. We were headed to a large meadow and a couple of small ponds. We stopped at a small beaver dam, called for a bit, then proceeded to the first meadow. Just as we crossed a small stream, we cut some fresh moose tracks that Wayne felt belonged to a good bull.

We dismounted and lead the horses the rest of the way to the meadow. At this point I should note that I love to bow hunt and, where we were hunting, it is legal to carry both a bow and a rifle. So, as we crept along, I carried my Prime Rival and had my Remington 7mm Ultra Mag secured to my pack. That way, if the bull was in bow range, I was ready; if not, I could easily access my rifle and still make the shot.

Wayne lead us through the thick boreal forest that lined the trail to the edge of a large open meadow. He glassed the area to make sure we didn’t walk out into the open and spook any animals. After getting the all clear, we crossed the meadow and got set up in a dense patch of pine and laurel. Wayne began calling and we waited, eager with anticipation, to hear

14 |

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020

if a bull would answer. Time slowed to a crawl, seeming to almost stop as I scanned the tree line, expecting at any minute a rut-crazed bull to come busting through the brush. But one never did. An hour or so later, Wayne said it was time to move on, so we headed back to the trail, mounted the horses, and continued our trek.

A short distance later the trail came to the banks of a river.

In my opinion, the beauty of the waterways in this country can’t be described in words. Saying they are crystal clear is an understatement. Clean and pure is again inadequate.

Every trip I’ve made here I’ve drank from these streams without any sort of filtration or purification system. It is, in my humble opinion, how water was before man and beast roamed the earth. This time, however, I was getting a brandnew experience with the river. This time I would be crossing it on horseback. That, my friends is something this good ol’ boy from Pennsylvania wasn’t sure how he felt about! For the horses, though, this was nothing new. They had done it hundreds, if not thousands, of times before and into the fastmoving current they plunged. They knew where to step and the water never reached higher than just above the stirrups.

In less than a minute we were across and back on the trail.

From there we made our way up a short but steep bank where we tied off the horses and continued on foot to the two small ponds where we intended to spend the afternoon.

Wayne’s calling was once again surprisingly met with no response, so we made our way to the second pond where he began to once more imitate the loud nasal moans of a cow moose. A few minutes later Wayne’s posture stiffened, then he turned and whispered for me to get my gun. I did as he’d instructed, not even stopping to wonder why he wanted me armed with my rifle when the bow was my primary weapon.

I crept to where he was standing and saw why no bulls were

calling back to us. There, on the other side of the pond, less than two hundred and fifty yards away, was a jet-black wolf slipping through the trees. I had a wolf tag in my pocket, but the animal disappeared into the brush as quickly as it had appeared.

“Well,” Wayne said with finality, “there won’t be any moose in the area if wolves are around.”

Our plans once again changed, we hiked back to the horses and hunted our way home. We stopped a few places along the way to call but our efforts went unnoticed. We arrived at camp with just a few moments of daylight left. Booker was waiting for us at the main lodge and informed us he had made a few more attempts to fly to the lake and was confident we could reach it the next day. We had another delicious meal then went to bed, excited by the prospects of what the next day had in store.

A Lake in the Woods Day two of the hunt dawned grey and damp. The skies in the direction of our destination looked even more foreboding than the day before. It suddenly became a real concern that another day may pass without reaching our hunting grounds.

Booker still believed we could make it, so he and Dad loaded themselves and their gear into the Super Cub and headed for the lake. Booker told me to be ready. If they couldn’t make it, they’d be back in a few minutes; if they could, he’d be back to get me in about forty-five minutes. I packed up my gear and hauled it to the airstrip. Just over half an hour later the small plane came back into view, one passenger lighter. They had made it.

Booker landed, got the plane turned around, and loaded me and my gear. The views you get to see from these small bush planes are breathtaking. The mountains and the forests

spread out below you and everything they hide in their valleys, meadows, and streams is laid out for you to see. Less than ten minutes into the flight, Booker pointed out a bull in one of the swamps below us. It was my first moose sighting of the trip and it got me revved up. As we closed in on our destination, the clouds and fog thickened, and rain began to pelt the windshield.

“I don’t think we’re gonna be able to make it bud,” Booker came over the headset. “We’re gonna have to turn around and try again later.”

“Whatever you need to do,” was my response, but my heart sunk. We were so close.

Booker swung the plane to the left and began to head back in the direction of our base camp. He must have seen something when he turned because rather than head back, he continued to turn and started to drop altitude. Once again, we were on the heading to take us into the lake. With great skill, Booker maneuvered the small Super Cub between two peaks and suddenly we were gliding over the lake, headed for the tiny airstrip at the far end. Moments later, we touched down and rolled to a stop. We had arrived! A day late, and not without some challenges, but we were finally here, at this beautiful lake high in the mountains where the adventure I’d dreamed about for years was about to begin.

The Hunt Begins Dad met us at the plane. We unloaded and began hauling our gear to the two cabins that sat on the shore of the lake. By the time we opened up the cabins, got everything set up, and put the small boat in the water, it was mid-afternoon. Booker prepared a hearty feast, smokies and Kraft mac n’ cheese, and we discussed some of the areas we would be hunting. Later that evening, we decided to take a cruise around the lake to MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020 |

15

scout, motoring in and out of the small coves that lined the lake, but no moose showed or responded to our calls. Not long after we reached the far end of the lake, the low grey clouds that had been threatening nasty weather all afternoon delivered on their promise, providing us with a cold, wet ride back to camp.

The weather the next morning was only slightly better. As would become our daily ritual, we began the morning boating around the lake, checking the coves and the meadows. Booker explained that the lack of moose along the shore probably meant the rut was still a few days away and our best chance of finding a bull would be to get up high and glass the high mountain meadows and basins on the other side of the ridges we could see. Trusting in his knowledge of moose behavior, we agreed, and Booker altered course, heading for the far shore.

As we beached the boat, I noticed the moss-covered skull of a small bull, one antler missing, lying at the water’s edge. We tied off the craft and I realized the skull served as a marker.

Directly behind it was a barely visible trail leading up into the timber. Once we had begun our climb, two glaring realities

16 |

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020

set in. First, Booker is at least half, if not three quarters, mountain goat. Second, there is no amount of time spent doing cardio at the gym that adequately prepares you for the lung-burning, leg-shredding hell that is climbing a mountain covered in spruce and laurel. Dad and I were forced to stop every hundred feet or so to catch our breath or shed a layer of clothing to keep sweating to a minimum. Not that it did any good; walking through this terrain after a rainstorm soaks you to the bone.

Booker was waiting for us at what I thought was near the top, sitting on a rock and giving us a grin reminiscent of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. He didn’t say anything, he simply pointed behind us. As I turned, I was rewarded with one of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen. You could see the entire lake and every meadow that surrounded it. No picture or postcard I’ve ever seen could match its magnificence. We sat and glassed for a while, had a snack, and caught our breath.

“Well, you ready to go the rest of the way and check the meadow in the next valley?” Booker asked.

“The rest of the way?!” I thought to myself. “How much

Through the Fog When we awoke the next morning, we were greeted by a layer of ice and frost on everything we could see. We made our way to the meadow as quickly as we could and located the spot where we had last heard the bull. Booker made several attempts at calling but it seemed he had moved on. Even though we had planned on pursuing the bull into the valley, Booker felt it was better for us to return to the boat and get on the lake.

Booker’s normal routine was to start by following the south shore of the lake which gave us the best chance of glassing the coves and meadows. If this didn’t yield any results, he would turn at the far end of the lake and we would return along the northern shore, calling as we went. This morning, however, we went in the exact opposite direction. The fog was heavy and thick as it lifted off the water. Visibility was limited and further was it?” It didn’t take long for me to get my answer.

Booker barely gave the little three-horse motor any throttle The climb got much steeper and as we entered back into the and we simply puttered down the lake. As we rounded the spruce, it became necessary to hold onto whatever tree or bush point to head into the farthest cove on the lake, all three of you could grab while stepping on the roots or limbs of the tree us saw the cow standing in the water no more than ten yards below you. Once we left our pine labyrinth and descended offshore. Booker immediately turned the boat back to the into the bowl Booker wanted to reach, I looked back and saw main body of the lake, intending to circle around to shore so had it not been for the vegetation we climbed on, we would we could climb to a higher vantage point and glass the cow have been side hilling what basically amounted to a cliff face! and the meadow she was coming from. But as he turned, We spent the next few hours glassing the valley below then we looked back and saw the bull standing seventy-five yards returned to camp to dry out and have a hot meal.

That evening, rather than take the boat back out, we hiked a trail along the shore of the lake to one of the large meadows

back in the meadow. The fog was still burning off the lake but there was no hiding the massive set of antlers sprouting from his head.

we had glassed that morning. The tracks in the deep mud on

We got out of sight and ran the boat to ground. The shot

the trail revealed that there definitely were moose in the area,

would be a long one, a couple hundred yards at least. I

but they were sharing these woods with a grizzly and at least grabbed my Ultra Mag and left my bow in the boat with my one pack of wolves. Wayne’s words from two days earlier dad and Reba, Booker and Amber’s trusted Labrador Retriever, came flooding back to me. Had they chased the moose away? who served as our early warning system for grizzly bears.

Was all of this for nothing? Another night of calling with no Stealth was now the name of the game and Booker and I had response coupled with the questions now running through to wade through the lake to keep from crunching the twigs that my head were giving me concerns. Booker assured me things lined the shore. We made it to the point overlooking the cove were still okay and that all it takes is one day and the rut would and breathed a sigh of relief when we saw the moose were still be on like the flip of a switch. My number one rule is to always there. They had moved down the shore and were heading for trust my guide and I trust Booker more than most, so I laid my

a trail leading away from the lake and into the high country.

doubts aside and pressed on.

We didn’t have long if we were going to make this happen. I

Day four played out much the same as the previous one had. took a rest on a small piece of driftwood protruding out of the We cruised the lake then climbed back to our high meadow.

mud and Booker ranged the bull at 297 yards. I adjusted my The only difference was that evening, rather than hike along Huskemaw scope, took aim, steadied my nerves, and squeezed the lake, we headed in a different direction to a different the trigger. meadow in a valley we hadn’t yet visited. And just as darkness

Click!

began to approach, we finally got a bull to respond to our calls.

What had just happened? Had I forgot to load a shell? I

He never stepped out of the trees to give us a look at him, but at opened the bolt and looked; there was a round in the chamber. least we knew he was there. It was the shot in the arm we all Did I leave the safety on? It was on fire. I aimed again and needed. At dinner that night, Booker said we’d return to that squeezed the trigger. Click! same meadow the next morning and attempt to call to the bull again. If that didn’t work, we’d hike deeper into the valley and search him out. With our game plan set, we called it a night.

“Chamber another round!” Booker cried in his quietest scream.

I did. Aimed. Steadied my nerves. Squeezed the trigger.

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020 |

17

BOOM! The bull stood there as though nothing had happened.

I repeated the process.

BOOM! Again, the bull didn’t move. I looked at Booker and asked, “Am I hitting him?” “Yeah! Hit him again!”

I reloaded and fired a third shot. This time the bull crumbled, and it was over. I had done it. Years of dreaming and planning and now my bull was lying on the other side of the lake. After I got all the whooping and hollering out of my system we returned to the boat and motored over to my bull – but I’m

EDITOR’S NOTE: Reach Wicked River Outfitters at 250-321-1364 or visit their website at www.wickedriveroutfitters.com

18 |

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020

pretty sure I was so excited I could have floated over on air.

The bull had a fifty-inch spread with nine points on each side. He was everything I had ever dreamt of and more. As we sat around the fire that night grilling a fresh moose tenderloin, I reflected back on everything that happened to get to this point. Another adventure with my father, a dud cartridge, three shots to the lung and liver, a last-minute change of plans, going the wrong way. Call it fate, call it divine intervention, call it luck. All I can say for sure is that the dream of a fifteenyear-old boy became reality for a forty-one-year-old kid.

PLANE FOR SALE! Contact Stan Simpson | 780-446-8774

PA-12 180 HP Completely rebuilt Long range fuel tanks Whip air floats & wheels Left and right hand doors

for

Guide Outfitting

Tim & Astrid Faiers SOUTHEASTERN BC TEL/FAX

250.225.3551

1712 Eastman Avenue, Riondel BC V0B 2B0

shadowmtguides@bluebell.ca

•

shadowmountainoutfitters.ca

COVERTOUTFIT TI NG. COM

2020 Shiras available!

100%

all 7-day, 1-on-1 hunts in the last 5 years!

K I F F COV E R T

Licensed / Insured Guide Outfitter

250 469 3648

info@covertoutfitting.com

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020 |

19

Darwin & Wendy Cary 5615 Deadpine Drive Kelowna, BC V1P 1A3

Tel: (250) 491-1885 Cell: (250) 859 4327 Email: info@scooplake.com www.scooplake.com WE HUNT:

Stone Sheep, Moose, Goat, Caribou, Elk, Black Bear & Wolf WE FISH:

Lake Trout, Bull Trout, Arctic Grayling, Dolly Varden, Northern Pike, Rainbow Trout & White Fish

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020 |

21

10

STEPS

at a

Time

“Just ten steps at a time.” These were the words my guide Doran Carter used to motivate and drive me up the boulder and shale-ridden mountainside towards my British Columbia mountain goat trophy of a lifetime.

by Larry J. Johns y amazing adventure began unexpectedly at the 2019 Wild Sheep Foundation Sheep Show <1 Club raffle event.

One of the amazing prizes being given away at the event was a 10-day BC mountain goat hunt to help in bringing valuable dollars to conservation and to bring attention to the Rocky Mountain Goat Alliance. The generous donation was given

by Dustin Roe, owner of Backcountry BC and Beyond. As the excitement of the drawings built, it soon became time to see who the lucky winner would be. With the ticket drawn, the MC yelled...not my name.

While I was not the lucky winner that day, a number of weeks later I was honored and thrilled to be contacted by the winner of the hunt who had learned he would be unable to take the hunt due to a business conflict. Would I be willing and able to step in and purchase the hunt? With this great, unexpected adventure in hand, I decided to take my son along and make this a father/son hunt.

From my earliest memories I had been fortunate to spend many days afield with my father, hunting and fishing in Northern California. Together we enjoyed hunting blacktailed deer and wild pigs in the fall, with many cold and rainy mornings spent together in a duck blind. We had special days working our Brittany’s while hunting Ringneck pheasants in

22 |

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020

the local rice fields and I’ll never forget the endless flights of dove we enjoyed hunting each September. Yet, as a father and son, we’d never had the opportunity to do a serious big game hunt together. I’d always wished to someday have that experience with my son and with this new opportunity handed me, there was no better time to make my dream become a reality. I suddenly had the chance to do something my father had never been able to do; I got to tell my son we’d be going mountain goat hunting in British Columbia, a hunt he had always dreamed of doing someday and we’d be doing it together!

Seven months seemed like more than enough time to be ready and fit for the hunt. Having just completed an Alaska Dall sheep hunt the previous August, I thought I already was in sheep shape. How much harder could a mountain goat hunt really be? Big, big, mistake!

Our father and son British Columbia mountain goat hunt. A hunting adventure I will cherish forever!

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020 |

23

Shortly after agreeing to take the hunt, I had a conversation with my good friend Gray Thornton. He’d laughed when I told him I was going on the goat hunt, saying this hunt should be a slam dunk after sheep hunting. He remembered the difficult time I’d had on my Dall hunt and said, “Buddy, your Dall hunt was just a warmup for goats; a goat hunt starts on the mountain where your sheep hunt ended.” I was soon to understand just how right he was! These creatures love the high spaces and rock ledges that would test my every step up and back down the mountain.

As the months and days quickly passed, Craig and I practiced shooting at ranges out to 800 yards. It was a distance we realistically never imagined we could possibly need to be proficient at, and a distance I would never condone shooting any big game animal at if given another option. Yet, it turned out to be a distance I was happy I was comfortable with shooting and close to what I would ultimately need to be able to make, unless I was willing to go home empty handed.

Monday, August 19th finally arrived. Upon arrival at the Backcountry BC and Beyond base camp, we found that the weather had a different idea as to when we would make it out to our hunt camp. Severe rain and fog kept our float plane grounded but gave us time to check our rifles and to become acclimated to the elevation.

After a couple rainy days in base camp, the sky cleared, and we were able to fly out to hunt camp. What a beautiful flight through the majestic mountains of BC! As we landed, my guide Doran Carter and Craig’s guide Miss Tanis Barkman were waiting lakeside. With greetings and introductions taken

24 |

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020

care of, we got set up in the tent that would be home for the next two weeks. British Columbian law doesn’t allow hunting until six hours after flight and since we’d had a late start that day, we decided our hunt would begin the next morning.

The next few days were filled with the same cold, rainy weather and fog challenges, making for a tough time glassing, but game became present down lower with sightings of mountain caribou and a grizzly with cubs, just no goats.

Monday, day seven, our luck began to turn with improved weather conditions and little to no rain. While riding out to a new area, other hunters had told us they had seen goats up high. Almost as soon as we hit this new area, Doran spotted a billy running along the mountain just below the ridgetop below the fog. As we all rushed to dismount and grab our rifles, I gave my son the option to take this goat or wait for another and I would go up after this one. Without hesitation, Craig choose to take this one. Not knowing what the future weather had in store, he didn’t want to miss an opportunity to take his goat. Up the mountain Craig, Tanis, Doran, and I climbed to try and get a better angle on the goat and to close the distance from the 585 yards when we first spotted the animal to a better shooting yardage. After what seemed like hours a shot rang out, and through the spotting scope I saw no reaction from his goat. Had he missed? A second shot hit home and Craig had made an amazing shot at 360 yards almost straight up the mountain. He had his goat!

In reviewing the first shot on film and speaking with Craig, he had done just as I had on my earlier Dall sheep hunt and hit just slightly over the goat’s back due to the drastic uphill

angle he’d been shooting. He had corrected the range for a steep uphill shot, but somehow had hit a little high. There aren’t words to explain how proud I was of Craig and all he had accomplished. What made the experience even greater was that the harvest was caught on film by Nick, a professional videographer, hired by Dustin to film his guides and clients at work. I now have those memories on film forever. Goat number one down – my turn now.

Tuesday the pesky rain and fog returned, and we decided to spend the day in camp with heavy rains and mountain tops hidden making glassing impossible.

Wednesday brought beautiful clear skies and for the first time we could see the mountain tops. Tanis, Doran, Nick, and I once again ventured out into the area we were headed towards when Craig had harvested his goat. While Tanis and Nick hiked deep into the area looking for goats on the backside of the mountain, to help save my legs Doran and I glassed the front sides of the mountain. Again no goat sightings.

The last scheduled day of our hunt would prove to be a long one. With my hunt over as I knew it at the time, Craig and I packed and readied for our air charter to pick us up at the lake the next morning. It was going to be difficult to leave without a goat, but I’d had the adventure hunt of a lifetime with my son. All was good and as I had stated after my first unsuccessful Dall sheep hunt, it’s not always about the kill, it’s the adventure and friendships we make while in the outdoors that really matter. This rang particularly true for this hunt, having made new, and what I anticipate being, lifelong friends with Dustin, his wife Heather, and our guides Doran and Tanis.

As we sat alongside the campfire on our last evening in camp

talking about all we had experienced over the last ten days, Doran’s InReach radio sounded off and it was our outfitter, Dustin Roe, asking if I was able to stay a couple additional days, since the beginning of our hunt had been shortened by rain.

This would give me one last opportunity to possibly locate a goat. Seriously, he had to ask? “Heck yes, I’ll stay,” I answered excitedly!

With new energy and additional time, my high hopes of taking a goat returned. I awoke early Friday morning, day 11, and prepared for what I prayed would be a great day, one that just might climax with a mountain goat of my own. As our new day began, I could just feel something special was going to happen. Early afternoon found us staring at a goat high on the mountain. It appeared to be sleeping which would give us plenty of time to try and get into a shooting position. This is where the adventure got serious. The goat was well over 2,000 yards uphill, and I mean straight uphill. The mountain had almost no vegetation and after we climbed through the first 400 yards of trees and brush separating us from the goat, the slope was covered with boulders and shale making a stalk seriously difficult, especially for a 64 year old guy with bad legs, poor lungs and the same muscle cramp issues I’d

“Buddy,

your Dall hunt was just a warmup for goats; a goat hunt starts on the mountain where your sheep hunt ended.”

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020 |

25

experienced on my Dall sheep hunt. All factors that slowed me down drastically. As we began our assent, it was obvious that the goat knew we were on his mountain and kept adjusting his position to better keep an eye on us. Each time he laid his head down to sleep, we would move closer. We found a small drainage that allowed us to move undetected, but it ran out as we hit the 800-yard mark.

Ever so slowly, and I mean slowly, our game of cat and mouse continued. We continued climbing until we reached a point on the mountain with no ability to move closer without the possibility of being seen by the goat. It was at this point, as we came to a position 720 yards away, that Doran and I began a serious discussion whether or not I felt comfortable shooting from this distance if need be. I told Doran that I had practiced regularly out to 800 yards and felt very comfortable that I could make the shot. If he could assure me we had exhausted our options and had made it as close as possible, I was willing to take the long shot, as long as I was given time to set up and build a solid rest. We decided that I would take the shot. After an hour of testing with numerous dry fires, rest adjustments, re-ranging to get an accurate distance multiple times, adjusting my turrets for a true ballistic angle distance to 680 yards, and making sure I was as calm as possible, the goat decided to stand and stretch, offering a perfect shot opportunity. It was now or never. I said one last short prayer, took a deep breath, exhaled and slowly squeezed the trigger. Just like that, my BC mountain goat was down.

26 |

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020

As I sat there taking in the moment, my emotions let go.

Tears of joy, exhaustion and accomplishment poured down my cheeks, and as I tried to stand, I found my legs were like rubber. High fives from Doran and the look of relief on his face that I had made the shot were awesome. I could tell he seriously was there for the right reason and for his client, not just because it was his job. He, too, was excited and moved!

Now back to the beginning of my story. “Just ten steps at a time.” These words would be repeated probably twenty times

by Doran as he pushed and motivated me to make the climb to my fallen trophy that lay just 720 yards away. Many times on the way up through the boulder fields and shale I would just sit down and say, “I’m done.” Yet over and over he would remind me that it wasn’t a race; we had all day. “Just ten steps at a time.” With his encouragement, I found that I could do more than I felt possible. It took close to two hours to cover those 720 yards straight up. As I was about to reach my destination, I found I just had to take one last rest. As I sat back down, I looked uphill and saw Doran having already reached the goat that I had yet to see or touch, only ten yards away. Doran looked down and said, “You’re kidding right? You’re only ten yards away from reaching your trophy and I have to remind you once again, ‘just ten steps at a time’? Get your ass up and get up here; you need to see this amazing goat – YOUR goat!”

Upon reaching Doran, a phone call to my wife was in order and a message to Dustin advising him we had completed my hunt with success! Photos were taken and we began the tedious process of skinning out my trophy. Totally exhausted, I realized the easy part was done. We now had to pack nearly 200 pounds of meat,

cape and horns down the mountain and back to camp. It was about then that Dustin texted to let us know that he and Kash, his close friend and pilot, were headed our way to assist us in bringing down my trophy. As we were about to complete the skinning and meat preparation for our trip down the mountain, they arrived, having hiked straight up from the valley floor, in just over an hour and a half! What an impressive show of energy and fitness. Packs were filled and we began our descent off the mountain in the dark, making for an interesting hike down through the boulder fields, shale and tangle of trees and brush. Hitting the meadow lakeside from where our stalk began many hours earlier, tents were set up, dinner of Mountain House prepared, and a great day ended at 1:00 a.m.

I was excited to meet up with Craig at base camp, to share the last dayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s story. Together, we celebrated our success and thanked God for allowing us this adventure and time together.

My dream of experiencing a father/son hunt together was complete and I knew my father was smiling from above, proud of my son and I for having this time together. To make it even sweeter, we had both harvested beautiful British Columbia mountain goats!

I have been on many guided adventure hunts and have never had the actual outfitter offer such service or personal attention to myself or any client that Dustin gave me that night.

He truly loves his work and it shows. He was excited to be on the mountain with us and part of my hunt. A huge thank you to Dustin, Heather, Doran, Tanis, Marty, Nick and the whole Backcountry BC and Beyond team for giving us a great hunt and amazing adventure.

EDITORâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S NOTE: Reach Backcountry BC and Beyond by phone at 250-919-0184 or follow us on Instagram @backcountrybcandbeyond

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020 |

27

HIGHLIGHT of the HUNT Clayton Cornell of Tennessee celebrates this moose, guided by Opatcho Lake Guide Outfitters.

Kirk Reed of Saskatchewan with his elk, guided by Chris Lunn of Elk Valley Bighorn Outfitters, spring 2019.

Cariboo Mountain Outfitters guided Gerald Zevenbergen of WA to this black bear in spring of 2018. Mountain Hunter Record Book score 19-15-16.

Les Wall of Alberta savoring a successful Dall sheep hunt with Brent Sinclair of South Nahanni Outfitters.

28 |

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020

Rob Wottlin of WA with black bear guided by Chris Franke of Mountain Spirit Outfitters.

Brandon Byington harvested this Mountain caribou with James Cruikshank of Backcountry BC and Beyond, September 2018.

Denis Witmer of Maryland with mountain goat guided by Silent Mountain Outfitters in 2019.

South Nahanni Outfitters. Ariel & Daryl Somes from Ontario with her anniversary moose and rings.

Submit your “Highlight of the Hunt” photos to see your most compelling BC hunting memories featured.

Submit your photos to info@goabc.org with the outfitter’s name, species (if applicable) and adventure date.

Ray Pastway of Ontario with first day archery goat. Guided by Travis Smith of Folding Mountain Outfitters with assist by Joseph Stevens.

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020 |

29

MERVYN’S Yukon Outfitting

YUKON HUNTS DALL SHEEP MOOSE CARIBOU GRIZZLY

Horseback Hunts Excellent Dall Sheep Alaska Yukon Moose Mountain Caribou Wild Wood Bison Grizzly and Black Bear Wolf and Wolverine

Contact: CHRIS & SHARRON McKINNON PO BOX 89 Athabasca, AB T9S 2A2 (P) 780-331-2440 (C) 780-910-9778 www.huntbpo.com chris@huntbpo.com

ALBERTA HUNTS BLACK BEAR WHITETAIL DEER TRAPLINE TOURS

Contact: CHRIS & SHARRON McKINNON PO BOX 89 Athabasca, AB T9S 2A2 (P) 780-331-2440 (C) 780-910-9778 www.huntmco.com chris@huntmco.com

MYO Tim & Jen Mervyn

Email: myo@yukonsheep.com Phone: (867) 633-6188 Box 33036 Whitehorse, Yukon Y1A 5Y5

Sikanni River OUTFITTING

Black bear Colour-phase bear Rocky Mountain elk

Mule deer Whitetail deer Shiras moose Cougar

Lynx Bobcat Wolf Turkey

www.yukonsheep.com

Stone’s Sheep Elk • Bison Goat • Moose

GOABC 2019 Guide of the Year

full facility lodge with all amenities Tel 250.498.4176 • Cell 250.498.9013 info@KettleRiverGuides.com KettleRiverGuides.com

30 |

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020

BIG GAME HUNTING • FISHING TRIPS

sikanni PO Box 11, Pink Mountain, BC Canada V0C 2B0 250-412-5209 | sro@sikanniriver.com | sikanniriver.com

STONE SHEEP • MT. CARIBOU MT. GOAT • ELK BLACK BEAR • MOOSE

WILDERNESS OUTFITTERS LTD.

Hunt British Columbia Canada 800-554-7244 or 406-468-2642 pellylk@aol.com • www.comehunt.com

GANA RIVER OUTFITTERS LTD. Horse or Backpack Hunts

RIFLE OR BOW IN CANADA’S NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

Hunt the Beautiful Mackenzie Mountains

For a First Class…Fair Chase Hunt…

HAROLD GRINDE • Box 528, Rimbey, AB T0C 2J0

email:

ph: 403-357-8414 ganariver@pentnet.net web: www.ganariver.com

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020 |

31

Come to BC with

Love Bros. & Lee Ron Fleming & Brenda Nelson 44 years of professional guiding experience in our exclusive area of 1386 km2

250-842-6350 lovebroslee@bulkley.net www.lovebroslee.com

COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE Hunts Offered River raft and heli-assisted back pack hunts for:

Alaska/Yukon Moose, Dall Sheep, Mountain Caribou,

Wolf, Wolverine

GRIZ & GINGER TURNER are excited to offer exceptional

Gundahoo River Outfitters

service, with personal, high quality hunts in over 6,000 sq. mi. of

PRISTINE, NORTHWEST TERRITORIES WILDERNESS.

MUNCHO LAKE, BC

QUINTIN THOMPSON

Box 2941 Rocky Mountain House, AB Canada T4T 1P2 Phone 403-391-7879 Toll Free 1-866-GRO-HUNT Email info@gundahoo.com

gundahoo.com Specializing in STONE SHEEP, MOOSE & CARIBOU, MOUNTAIN GOAT, BLACK BEAR 32 |

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020

GREG ‘GRIZ’ & GINGER TURNER PO Box 58, Whitehorse, YT Y1A 5X9 867-332-RAVN(7286) | hunts@ravensthroat.com

www.ravensthroat.com

BEAR BAIT

by Oakley Watkins

All I heard was “Shoot! Shoot!” each time getting progressively louder as the bear gained speed and distance, with each step getting closer and closer.

his trip was an adventure of a lifetime. So many things happened that I had never seen or even dreamed possible. It couldn’t have been scripted any better. On this trip I visited the beautiful province of British Columbia, Canada, drove a boat for the first time, and caught my first rainbow trout, first lake trout, and first rocky mountain white fish. I saw my first moose, elk, porcupine, grizzly bear and lots and lots of black bears. I experienced a week of no TV, no internet, no cell phone, no running water, and no electricity. Each of these had seemed like a necessity only a few days earlier. But there I was, enjoying the great outdoors, developing a passion for fishing that I never knew I had while continuing to expand my hunting experiences in a new region, much different from the dry mesquite flats of west Texas. Fraser McDonald and Circle M Outfitters had made it all possible.

Day one of our five-day hunt provided very little action as the weather was unseasonably cool and wet with light rain showers. Mountain tops turned white with snow before my eyes. We caught only a glimpse of a very young bear on our first day. Upon arriving back at camp, two others in our group had been much luckier and had killed large bears.

On the second day, the weather was much better with periods

of sun and warmer temperatures – and lots of bear activity.

It was Dad’s second trip with Circle M, and he had convinced me to try bear hunting. We checked the timber cuts and old logging roads. While driving down the main road headed to our hunting area, suddenly the truck came to a screeching stop. Our guide Matt pointed and said, “Look, a very large bear.” Followed by “Grizzly!” Up came the binoculars as we jumped out of the truck and watched the bear feed toward us.

It seemed huge compared to the small black bear we had seen the day before and I was in awe as we watched it slowly move closer and closer. Soon we heard the sound of a logging truck coming our direction and the grizzly sprinted toward the river.

The big truck was throwing up thick dust, obscuring the front of our truck, and we raced to get back inside and the windows up before we were completely coated. The bear had proven to be smarter than us, exiting well before the dust storm had arrived.

With the dust settling behind us, we continued on to our chosen hunting spot, an area with lots of recently cut timber and green grass growing on the edges of the road. We were only a few miles along when Dad yelled “Moose!” and the truck again came to a screeching halt. Dad grabbed the camera, while I grabbed the binoculars. Within 30 minutes we had MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020 |

33

seen a grizzly bear and now a moose feeding near the water’s edge! Lots of pictures were taken, as the moose seemed content near the pond. After a time, we continued. We drove the roads searching each timber cut, scanning the roadway for bear prints or scat; anything that would let us know bears were using the area. On the hilly sections, we climbed on foot, looking for anything big and black. I couldn’t believe how much a burnt stump could appear to be a bear at a distance! Over and over we would peek over ridges, look around corners, and sneak up the road on foot. After turning the truck around on a dead-end road, we were heading back down the mountain when Dad yelled again, this time, “Bear!” Our guide Matt slammed on the brakes. Throwing up binoculars, we saw it was a good bear, but also that we were in an awful position. Also, that the bear had heard us come to a stop and was now headed toward the heavy cover at a steady pace. Scrambling to clear the brush, we tried to get into a better position before the bear disappeared entirely. Suddenly, it spun towards us, threw his nose up in the air, took a few sniffs, and ran off into the timber, never to be seen again. Although it hadn’t been a successful stalk, it sure got my blood pumping and I looked forward to whatever the rest of the day would bring.

We continued up the old logging roads, checking the many clear cuts. Suddenly, Matt spotted another bear, and less than 30 minutes from my first bear stalk, we were stalking our second one! This time we were below the bear and needed to sneak up the clear cut toward higher ground as he was eating green grass on the road above us. He was roughly 400 yards upwind as we slowly started climbing up. What had looked like an easy climb from down below proved to be much more difficult. Cut timber was lying in a tangled mess of limbs to climb up, over and around. Each step we progressed upward, the bear distanced himself as he continued feeding along the road. Finally reaching the road above, we found ourselves

34 |

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020

a good 1,000 yards behind the bear. We decided to see if we could close the distance and get within 200 yards. We would run down the road when the bear was feeding with his head down, then freeze when he looked our way. For over an hour we played this cat and mouse game, but he was feeding faster than we could gain ground. We made the decision to work our way back to the truck and see if we could get ahead of him on the lower road without being busted or winded. We slowly drove to get ahead of him, then once again made the long climb up. We made it back to the upper logging road, relieved to find that the bear was still headed our direction. Then suddenly, our worst fears materialized as we felt the breeze switch, hit the back of our necks, and blow toward the bear. Sure enough, he winded us, and responded by changing direction and heading down the mountain. We waited, hoping we’d get lucky and he would reappear on the lower road, but it just didn’t work out like we’d imagined. Bears 2; Hunters 0.

Climbing back down to the road where the truck was parked, I felt a sinking feeling this was never going to work out. We were 0 for 2 on bears and it would soon be dark. Our guide said that there were a few more clear cuts down the road, and we should check them out before calling it a day. We had gone about a mile down the road when once again Matt yelled, “Bear!” I scanned the clear cut, trying to find what Matt was referring to, but couldn’t spot the bear. We all bailed out of the truck and prepared for stalk number three of the day.

Matt started to pick up the pace with Dad and I following.

Suddenly he stopped, and as we crept in behind him, we were finally able to get eyes on the bear, now feeding away from us on the road’s edge. At 300 yards, we felt like we should close the distance to get me within the 200 yards where I felt comfortable shooting. Matt lead the stalk as we followed closely behind.

This time it worked, and we slowly gained ground with each step, stopping periodically to check the range. At 224 yards Dad

said we should still try to get closer. Yard by yard, we carefully crept forward. Dad threw up the range finder one more time: 184 yards. Close enough. I settled in on the shooting sticks and waited for the bear to turn broadside, but instead, he continued to feed away from us. Matt recommended we move again, so we gathered the sticks and continued inching closer to the bear.

Minutes later, Dad ranged the bear again, this time at 174 yards, and Matt whispered that was close enough. I settled back on the shooting sticks and waited...

This time, to my surprise, Matt hit the varmint call, letting out a terrible sound that definitely didn’t sound like a rabbit in distress. Suddenly, the bear looked at us. Dad whispered that it was 194 yards, be ready. Matt hit the varmint call once again, trying to get the bear to turn broadside. Finally, he did, but didn’t stop long enough for a good shot. Instead, just like the bears before, he disappeared into the brush.

Matt said he’d try the varmint call again and to stay ready. I waited without much confidence that three guys could stand on the road’s edge and listen to this awful sound for much longer. Minutes passed, darkness was near, and once again I figured the bears had won. While we stood there, beginning to discuss what a good night we’d had, and our high hopes for the next day, suddenly a large bear walked out of the timber! Matt hit the varmint call and the bear turned toward us trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. With another hit of the call, the bear’s attention was locked on us. Only 100 yards away, he turned directly

toward us, glaring with his dark eyes as he searched for the ‘rabbit in distress.’ He was now headed our direction, moving faster and faster with each step. Dad dropped the shooting sticks back into place and I made ready. I heard Matt yell, “Shoot! Shoot!” as the bear gained speed, rapidly getting closer and closer. I heard my dad whisper, “Shoot!” and then a click as Matt took his rifle off safe. I centered the scope on the bear’s chest as he charged toward us and squeezed off a shot. With the echo still ringing in my ears, I saw that the bear had closed the distance in half. It had all happened so fast!

We cautiously waited as our guide confirmed that the Browning 6.5 Creedmoor had indeed done its job. The shot was true, and the bear had only made it a few yards off the logging road before expiring. Reflecting on what had just happened, I felt my body slowly begin to shake. In the moment, there had been no time to get nervous or scared. But now, I had plenty of time to replay the experience over and over in my head. My first bear...a charging bear!!! What would have happened if I had missed?? Would I have become bear bait? How many people can say they have killed a bear while it was running straight toward them? It was only then I thought, “Wow what an experience!!” and fully felt the fear, excitement, and happiness that all rolled into one great hunt. We hurried to get some photos before dark and then the true celebration began.

We loaded the bear and made our long drive back to camp, each of us retelling the events of the evening’s hunt from our own perspective. By the time we got back to camp, the story had a life of its own. Maybe we could have some fun with it as we repeated the story around the campfire? As I told the story, the bear was bigger, running faster, and the distance had shortened – but it was my story: Bear Bait!

EDITOR’S NOTE: Reach Circle M Outfitters by phone at 250-967-0249 or visit their website at ww.circlemoutfitters.ca

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020 |

35

Nobody’s more pro-hunting than SCI. No wonder the antis hate us so much. From opening more public lands to hunters and protecting hunters’ rights to fighting anti-hunting legislation, nobody does more for hunters. Period. We’re the radical prohunting solution to the radical anti-hunting problem. No matter what, where or how you hunt, we defend and promote your right to do it. Triggering anti-hunters is just icing on the cake.

Join the fight to save hunting. Join SCI.

36 |

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020

A P E X S YS T E M The Apex System features three new products built to keep you quiet in the moment of truth. The Apex Hoody is a feature-rich layer combining premium merino wool with a durable nylon face. The Apex Pant helps the hunter adapt to changing conditions and varying levels of activity with a thermoregulating micro-grid interior and a weather-resistant polyester face. The Apex Pack completes the series with a quiet low-profile design and easily deployable components for capitalizing on hard-earned close encounters.

An Interview with

GOABC’s Executive Director Scott Ellis had the chance to sit down by phone with Australian-born and Alberta-raised Canadian country music star Gord Bamford to chat about his 20-year career and how he got his start in the industry.

Gord is an avid hunter who reached out to GOABC after encountering a copy of Mountain Hunter TM magazine while on a recent hunt in the Yukon with a GOABC member. Turns out, not only does Gord have really great music, he’s also a really humble, likeable guy who loves hunting and the outdoors just like the rest of us. Listen in as the two of them talk a bit about music, hunting and how the two go together to share an important message.

Scott: Thanks for reaching out to us here at Mountain Hunter magazine, Gord. Let’s start by giving our readers some perspective. You’re 44 now; what age did you get into music?

Gord: I got into music as a young guy. I’ve always loved music, but I didn’t start thinking about it seriously until high school. Back in the early nineties, everybody who was putting on a cowboy hat was getting a record deal. Garth Brooks was a big deal and it was a wave of country music back in that time.

I started to really get into music through high school when I and a friend formed a little duo and started playing at noon hours. I wasn’t playing any guitar at that time; I was just singing. We would run our little concerts during the noon

38 |

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020

hour and some people would show up and some people would make fun of us...and, well – it sorta went from there.

I’ve pretty much always liked singing and being a part of music. As a young guy, I went to all the music festivals and sang – but I never really thought of it as it is today, which is weird, but things happen for a reason.

Scott: How did things evolve from there?

Gord: I got into writing songs when I was about 21 – 22. I had a pretty good mentor out of Nashville, a guy by the name of Byron Hill, who produced a number of my records. He’s written some big songs, his first number one hit was a George Strait song, Fool Hearted Memory (1982). He was kind of a mentor to me in the songwriting world, and then also on the

producer side of things. It all just kind of elevated from there.

I’ve always looked at my career like working to become a carpenter, an electrician, or a doctor. You’ve got to go through an education system, and mine was through Byron. I was a kind of a fourth-year apprentice before I got any good at it.

Byron discovered and produced the likes of Gary Allen. He and I worked on quite a few records together. Even though I eventually decided I wanted to go in a different direction, we continue to stay in touch. He was a good mentor of mine for sure.

Scott: You mentioned Garth Brooks – he’s the guy that got me into listening country music, which I absolutely hated, at the time – until the 90s.

Gord: Yeah, I think he got everybody into it. You know, both him, and George Strait. I enjoyed the Garth Brooks stuff a lot back then. These days I listen to George Strait, Blake Sheldon, Eric Church-type stuff. Merle Haggard was a huge influence on my stuff too, and still is.

Scott: Country music refers to hunting a fair amount.

Luke Bryan comes to mind for me, and Brad Paisley too.

How does hunting play into your music?

Gord: The topic of hunting has made an appearance in so many of my songs, I’d need to actually have to think about it to count how many! For me, hunting and fishing and the outdoor life has always been a huge part of who I am. I grew up on a farm, so grew up around it. I started hunting as a kid with my uncle Gord and learned quite a bit about hunting through him. And then, as I got going on later on my life, I didn’t do a lot of it because I was just busy with my career – and kids! We have three now, two girls and a boy.

A few years ago, my son – who’s 15 now – began to get interested and that got me back into it. We lived in Nashville for a few years and didn’t have much for hunting land there, but now that we’re back in Alberta we’ve got a lot of hunting land around us, so we’ve been getting back into it.

Scott: How old would you have been when you first started hunting?

Gord: I would have been in my early teens. My uncles all farmed, and one cousin is really big into hunting. In fact, it was he and I that went up to the Yukon to hunt along with another friend of mine. All through my career, I’ve been lucky to run into lots of outdoorsmen who have offered up all sorts of opportunities. Fortunately, this time I was able to go up into the Yukon and on this moose hunt. It was pretty awesome.

We were out with Yukon Big Game Outfitters, Don Lowen and the guys up there. Don

was a big fan of my music. I’d met him through some guys a couple years ago when he wanted to do a show in the Kamloops area. He’s got a place on the river and wanted to have some friends out, so we made a trade – it was a good trade! I was finally able to get up to the Yukon with them to see what they do and it was neat.

The hunting part’s great, but it’s the nature and the beauty of the land. When you’re drinking fresh water right out of the river, it’s pretty cool. Even the float planes in and out are spectacular. It was a great experience and I sure am looking forward to getting back there again – hopefully bring my son next time. I’d love to enjoy that with him.

Scott: Those kinds of experiences are certainly something special – especially with your kids. Looking back, what would you say is your fondest hunting memory?

Gord: That Yukon hunt was definitely right up there - a bucket list kind of hunt. But, you know, those times just being outside as a kid, being in nature, are pretty special too.

Hunting has changed a bit – it’s a little more comfortable, with our tower and ground blinds, and the heaters that we can put in there now. But I think for me, it’s just the sitting out there. Whether we’re seeing animals or not, I find it really peaceful. Getting away from the day to day and being out there in nature is a kind of therapy for a guy like me.

Scott: I hear you – I feel the same way. What about meals – do you have a favorite wild game meat or recipe?

Gord: Oh yeah – an elk roast is pretty tough to beat! But you know, I think most wild game is really good but, of course, it depends how it’s done. We’ve got a great butcher in the area, and the Hutterite colony near where I live has been making these really great jalapeno beer smokies.

We love all the meat, and I think that’s something people need to understand. Everything we hunt, we eat – that’s what we do it for.

Moose is pretty great too. We had a successful moose hunt in the Yukon, but since it’s so tough to get the meat back home, we donated it to the First Nations people up there.

Scott: It’s great that if you can’t bring it home, the meat goes to good use. That’s awesome.

Gord: Yeah, outfitters and great hunters make sure that happens. You know, I like to go looking for trophy animals too, but nothing goes to waste. We don’t just pull the trigger on anything – I think it’s the proper way to hunt. And up in the Yukon, there’s a lot of meat being donated to the people who need it.

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020 |

39

Scott: What’s your favorite species to hunt?

Gord: Moose hunting’s a lot of fun when we’re calling them in, same with elk. I want to get into the bow hunting side of things too – I hear it’s quite an adrenaline rush when the elk start moving in. I’ve done a lot more whitetail and mule deer hunting, but the whole concept of calling in an animal and having to make sure your wind’s right, and the whole idea of the patience and the stillness that you need to have to call an animal in...definitely gets the heart pounding!

Scott: Yeah, it’s pretty exciting when you’re talking to them - when they’re coming in, and you know they’re coming! Bow hunting is right up there, like Steelhead fly fishing - I don’t think there’s anything better.

You said you didn’t hunt much in Nashville, and I guess you don’t get too much time to get out and hunt or fish when you’re touring around.

Gord: Unfortunately, no. We get lots of offers but we’re usually under 24 hours to each town. The easiest part is to get out and fish a little bit but, we really don’t have much time. People also offer golf a lot, but we don’t have time for that either.

People just don’t understand the profits behind touring.

Only once in a while do we get a day off in a town where there’s an opportunity to go out and do some stuff. Hunting’s tough because we don’t have our gear with us and there’s just not a lot of time so it’s not really feasible.

Scott: What’s coming down the pipe for you in terms of touring across Canada and album release?

Gord: Our new album – our ninth - will be released on April 17th. Once the #REDNEK song came out, we built this lifestyle kind of album. We’ve got a couple of more singles off of it – and there’s one song, called White Oak Cathedral, and it’s a really cool story.

A guy by the name of Buddy Owens, who lives down in Nashville and writes for my company, is an avid outdoorsman and hunter. He was at his in-law’s one weekend and it was a Sunday morning, and they announce they’re going to church.

Instead, Buddy says he’s going to his church – and was talking about his deer stand. He wrote the lyrics of this song while sitting up in his tree, in a white oak cathedral. He sent me the song after that and it kind of blew me away. As a hunter, I’ve had that one around for a couple of years, but it really tells the story about life and nature. It’s going to be coming out on this new project. I think it’s going to really hit home – and not just with hunters and outdoorsmen but with people. It’s a cool twist on life and the outdoors. It may not be a song that hits radio but it’s one that anyone who loves the outdoors and wants to hear great lyrics about life should definitely check out.

Scott: Sounds right up our alley, can’t wait to hear it – and the rest of the album!

Gord: We’re just about to head out on the western Canadian

40 |

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020

run of the #REDNEK Music Fest tour and will be hitting a bunch of locations March through June. Then we’ll be starting back up in September to November for the eastern run through Ontario and the Maritimes.

Scott: Sounds like a great tour!

Thanks, Gord, for taking the time for a brief chat about music and hunting. You’ve touched on a lot of the “three Cs” stuff we talk about every day at GOABC – conservation, consumption and community. Hunting is about far more than just a kill, it’s important to be selective in our harvests, and to ensure the animal is well used.

And thanks too for bringing that message to your fans and those who may not have grown up around hunting or understand the role it plays in conservation. Getting that message out through music is a really great angle and we appreciate you doing the heavy lifting!

About Gord Bamford Australian-born and Alberta-raised Canadian country music singer Gord Bamford stands as one of the most decorated artists in Canadian country music with an impressive 26 Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) awards, multi JUNO nominations and the only two-time winner of Nashville’s Country Music Association (CMA) receiving the 2013 and 2015 CMA Global Country Artist award. He is just about to release his ninth studio album after releasing the hugely successful first single, #REDNEK. Other familiar hits include Dive Bar, Tin Roof, and When Your Lips Are So Close.

Gord is a man who believes with his whole heart in

giving back. The Gord Bamford Charitable Foundation has generated over $3.6 million since its inception in 2008 for children’s charities such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Ronald McDonald House, Big Brothers & Big Sisters, numerous children’s hospitals across Canada and MUSICOUNTS. Gord’s current Canadian tour, #REDNEK Music Fest, was postponed after this conversation took place, due to COVID-19 and at the time of printing, is scheduled to begin in June. Visit gordbamford.com for up-to-date locations, dates and ticket information.

Scheduled Canadian Tour Dates June 6 – Estevan, SK July 24 – Morris, MB July 26 – Thunder Bay, ON August 20 – Hanna, AB August 22 – Bashaw, AB August 29 – Fort McMurray, AB August 30 – Spruce Grove, AB October 18 – North Battleford, SK October 22 – Abbotsford, BC October 23 – Penticton, BC October 25 – Terrace, BC October 28 – Lethbridge, AB October 29 – Trail, BC October 30 – Cranbrook, BC October 31 – Calgary, AB November 6 – Grande Prairie, AB November 7 – Peace River, AB November 13 – Lac La Biche, AB November 14 – Sedgewick, AB

Stay up to date - Visit gordbamford.com for more information MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020 |

41

CONSERVATION MATTERS

TM

with Shane Mahoney A RESILIENT TRADITION Shane Mahoney is considered to be one of the leading international authorities on wildlife conservation.

A rare combination of historian, scientist, and philosopher, he brings a unique perspective to wildlife issues that has motivated and inspired audiences around the world. Named one of the 10 Most Influential Canadian Conservationists by Outdoor Canada Magazine and nominated for Person of the Year

by Outdoor Life Magazine, he has received numerous awards including the Public Service Award of Excellence from the government of Newfoundland and Labrador and International Conservationist of the Year from Safari Club International.

Born and raised in Newfoundland, he brings to his writings and lectures a profound commitment to rural societies and the sustainable use of natural resources, including fish and wildlife.

Thank you to Sports Afield for permission to reprint this article.

42 |

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020

Despite the drumbeats of doom and gloom, there are many reasons to be optimistic about hunting’s future. n a world where hunting is often misunderstood and frequently criticized, it is easy to become overwhelmed. Bombarded by a stream of sensational representations of hunting’s true nature and conservation influence, we cannot but sometimes wonder where all this is headed. So we ask ourselves how many more challenges must we face; how many more false statements must we counter? How will we ever make our critics understand? How can deal with those who are ideologically opposed to hunting and the use of animals under any circumstances, those who will never even try to understand? Are we to be like Sisyphus, constantly pushing our arguments before us but never cresting to a plateau where a shared understanding of hunting’s value is reached? Who in the hunting world does not ask themselves these questions?

It is only natural that we should worry about hunting’s future. After all, it is of great importance to us personally and we know full well its conservation value.

To lose hunting would be a matter of significance to wildlife, human cultures, and economies. Furthermore, focusing on our challenges is a logical response. We want to fight back, provide counterarguments, and safeguard this tradition, and we feel frustrated that others do not see the conservation and societal value of what we do. How can this be when, to us, the evidence is so overwhelming? Yes, we spend a lot of time wondering what the future holds for hunting and wildlife. And, so we should. Like conservation itself, hunting’s future will be no accident; it will be secured by the actions we take, the commitments we make.

At the same time, however, we need to reflect on just how remarkable a force hunting remains in modern society. It is hardly a weakling on the verge of demise.

On the contrary, it is a robust and resilient force in the lives of tens of millions worldwide and held close with intense conviction and purpose that lead to activism and a defense of the sacred. Hunting’s legacy runs deep and its appeal and relevance

radiate across a widening spectrum of society, attracting more women, urban residents, and people of different nationalities and cultures. Its repositioning as a healthy and environmentally friendly food procurement system can and will encourage a new wave of interest in the activity. There are many reasons to be optimistic about hunting’s future.

Hunting is not going away.

Indeed, even for those of us who have been part of the hunting world, the scale and vibrancy of the activity worldwide is incredible. True, the screaming anti-hunting headlines and frenzied fringes of social media do sometimes capture the public’s attention. However, beneath these episodic squeals of outrage rolls a quieter thunder, a deep resonance of the citizen multitudes who on landscapes as diverse as savannas, rainforests, and glacier-fed mountain valleys pursue the hunting tradition of their forebears, passing it on to their children and grandchildren. Sharing the wild meat they capture, hunters convey to a wider gathering the ecological appropriateness of taking responsibility for animal death, an inevitable consequence of the global food web that links humanity to the consumption of wild, living resources of all kinds.

There is no escaping the great universal truth that flesh eats flesh. We will either consume it literally through our fisheries, livestock raising, and hunting, or less directly by displacing the wild others of this planet to make room for fruit and crop production. As current international trends indicate, meat consumption is rising globally. So, while some might wish to eliminate hunting, this will certainly not eliminate animal death by human hands. Perhaps to the critics of hunting, we might say, Choose your poison: Let animals live wild lives and die a quick death, or live lives of confinement and domestication, and die just the same. For me, the choice is clear. As far as humanly possible, let them live wild and die wild, participating like us in the ritual of existence. Hunting mirrors our true

human ecology, that of often predator and sometimes prey.

Our dentition and our physiology indicate where we came from and will dictate what we seek. Meat will be high on our list.

Hunting is no sideshow. It will not be driven to the darkened corners of irrelevance by ridiculous claims that it is frivolous and without social or conservation value. No matter how shrill the protestations, hunting will stand firm. You might hear the call to stop all hunting, but let’s hear the plans to replace its conservation support and practical services to society. Tell us what will replace it. Give us the blueprint for sustained economic and political support for wildlife conservation, should hunting disappear. Please tell us who will pay the bills. Who will pay for nuisance black bear removals, the counting of animal populations, the habitat recovery and restoration programs, the wildlife disease research, the antipoaching and enforcement efforts, to name just a few of the issues that in North America and elsewhere are significantly or entirely supported by hunters’ dollars? The social, economic, and conservation benefits of hunting are manifest. What is the alternative model that will provide the same over the vast jurisdictions where hunting is presently so critically important?

Blind faith and empty rhetoric are not enough, not when the future of wildlife is at stake. How will wildlife be cared for and managed? Why would citizens who have little or fleeting engagement with wild animals willingly pay for their protection and management? Who will manage the superabundant species, the threatening and dangerous carnivores, the disease agents passed between wildlife and humans?

These, of course, are practical questions. There are also more philosophical ones: Who has the right to take away the legal harvest of wildlife by individuals for their own sustenance and well-being while industries are encouraged

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020 |

43

and often subsidized to harvest fishes and domestic animals in their billions for food and profit? Further, in a world, altered massively by human commerce and abundance, wildlife will not be sustained without human agencies to counterbalance these potentially destructive forces. We need every community that can and is willing to support wildlife to be in the conservation game. Hunters are, indisputably, one of the most enduring and effective of these. Why would anyone concerned with wildlife conservation want to eliminate any pro-wildlife force?

Despite its critics, hunting is not going to disappear and there are many reasons to believe that it will not just survive, but thrive, into the future. Nowhere is this more true than in Canada and the United States, two countries that have embedded hunting within the fabrics of their society and within their wildlife conservation system, a shared binational approach often referred to as the North American Model. It is recognized as one of the most successful wildlife conservation systems on the planet, having rescued wildlife in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries and brought

it to incredible twenty-first century abundance. Look at the deer in our gardens, the black bears in our communities, the turkeys in our driveways and the geese on our lawns – does anyone really believe this is a beautiful accident? Who made this happen? Who invested most and why?

For over a century now, hunting has been at the heart of conservation in our countries, and in others around the world.

Its social relevance and resilience have been maintained over that long stretch of time, despite the enormous changes that have occurred in our communities, societies, and natural landscapes. This is the headline we need to focus on. What has sustained hunting is the passionate commitment individual hunters have to their tradition and their willingness to give back. This is not going to change.

Hunting remains vibrant in the lives of tens of millions of citizens and thousands of communities. Its impacts for conservation and the economy are enormous and without parallel in North American society. Wildlife cannot afford to lose it. Neither can we. And we won’t anytime soon.

The Guide Outfitters Association of British Columbia (GOABC) wishes to create a fundamental shift among hunters from caring about hunting to caring about all wildlife. Ranchers care about cattle and anglers care about fish, but hunters are concerned for all animals and their well-being. Hunters must be committed to the responsible use of wildlife resources and passionate about preserving a diversity of wildlife species. GOABC is a strong supporter of the North American Wildlife Conservation Model, which stipulates that law and science should manage wildlife. This model is the result of hunters and anglers who were dedicated to conservation. As anti-hunting pressure becomes louder, it becomes increasingly important to continue and enhance the legacy of the hunter-conservationist.

“As long as hunters remain passionate about their traditions and continue to pass them on to the next generation, hunting will continue to be a powerful force in society.”

44 |

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020

MOUNTAIN HUNTING

I S W H AT W E DO RAISE AND DIRECT FUNDS FOR WILD SHEEP RESTORATION, CONSERVATION, ADVOCACY AND EDUCATION... WE DO THAT TOO MORE THAN $2.65 MILLION TO BRITISH COLUMBIA SINCE 1977, PLUS $1.35 MILLION THROUGH OUR PROVINCIAL AFFILIATES AND PARTNERS, AND NEARLY $500,000 TO BC WILD SHEEP CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE USE EDUCATION PROGRAMS FOR 2020.

JOIN US! RESPECT CAN BE HARD TO EXPLAIN, BUT YOU KNOW IT WHEN YOU LIVE IT

WILDSHEEPFOUNDATION.ORG BOZEMAN, MONTANA

ANNULI COLLECTIVE | STEVEN DRAKE

Enjoy Traditional Outfitting at its Finest

YOUR ULTIMATE Stone Sheep Mtn Goat Moose Elk Black Bear Caribou Wolf

Monty Warren Box 59, Hudson’s Hope, BC V0C 1V0 tuchodiriveroutfitters.com

BACKCOUNTRY EXPERIENCE

BRITISH COLUMBIA HUNTS FOR:

Tom Kotlarz OUTFITTER/OWNER

Elk, Black Bear, Mule Deer, Whitetail, Shiras Moose, Mountain Goat, Cougar, Bobcat, Lynx, Wolf, and Family Recreational Trips.

Cell: 250-263-5537 monty@tuchodiriveroutfitters.com

250-464-9565 silentmtn@gmail.com

www.silentmountain.ca

GUIDE TERRITORIES IN BRITISH COLUMBIA 3,100 KM2 TERRITORY + 320 acre Ranch & Lodge

PRICE: $5,400,000 - Accepted

Offer

1,800 KM TERRITORY 2

PRICE: $660,000 (CAD) - SOLD

1,580 KM2 GUIDING TERRITORY PRICE: $720,000 (CAD) - SOLD

Seeking new listings!

I have qualified clients looking for territories in Region 6, 7a and 7b.

Also seeking Outfits that have an all season main camp as full time residence or that have deeded land within the territory! I can help those wanting to find a territory by being their agent under Buyer’s Agency.

PLEASE CALL THE LISTING REALTOR OR VISIT BACKCOUNTRYPROPERTIES.CA FOR MORE INFORMATION AND FOR A SHOWING OF THESE TERRITORIES. Horst is licensed in British Columbia and Alberta. He has also outfitted in Northeast B.C. for 20 seasons and is a proud Life Member of GOABC, SCI and Dallas Safari Club.

HORST MINDERMANN PHONE: 250-467-3019

dcr.horst@gmail.com 46 |

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020

10224-10th Street Dawson Creek, BC V1G 3T4

The hunter that travels out into the woods is lost to the world, yet finds himself. join the boone and crockett Club and save $10!

Special offer for readers of Mountain Hunter Magazine!

Use promo code GOABC10 at checkout to receive your discount.

Can’t be used in conjunction with other discounts.

TO JOIN CALL 888-840-4868 or www.BCSTORE.org BCSTORE.org

South Nahanni OUTFITTERS LTD.

Dall Sheep • Mt. Goat • Mt. Caribou • Alaska-Yukon Moose

Backpack Hunts enjoyed by all – using Bushplanes and Helicopters Phone: (867) 399 -3194 Werner and Sunny Aschbacher Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada

www.huntnahanni.com NORTHWEST TERRITORIES – CANADA MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020 |

47

GOATS

by Archie Landals

48 |

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020

I felt as if we had been climbing for an eternity. By now I was beyond exhaustion and completely on auto pilot. I was lagging behind my brother but kept telling myself that he was younger. I was 68; he was only 64. We were two “old goats” hunting for two old goats. aving dreamt about a mountain goat hunt for much of our lives but never being lucky enough to get a tag in Alberta, we decided to look at BC. After searching the outfitters online and exchanging emails with some, we booked with Greg Williams of Golden Bear Outfitting which operates in the Telegraph Creek/Stikine River area of northwestern BC. With horses in one of their remote camps we could ride to tree line thus reducing the climbing required to get to mountain goat habitat. It seemed like a hunt that was tailor made for the two of us. We had both spent considerable time in the mountains and were only too aware of our diminishing capabilities.

The mountains were getting higher and steeper as we got older.

Leaving Edmonton, we’d envisioned hunting in spectacular mountains with sunny days and glorious fall colours. Together with my wife Carole, my brother Duane, and his wife Lucille, we spent a week driving to Telegraph Creek, visiting some of the attractions along the way. We watched First Nations people dip netting salmon in the Bulkley Canyon. Guided tours of Ksan First Nation Historic Village near Hazelton were educational and enjoyable. Especially intriguing was the ceremonial mask of a one-horned mountain goat, and we joked about how great it would be to shoot one just like it. Gitanyow/Kitwancool Historic Village with the world’s largest collection of totem poles was awe inspiring. At Hyder, Alaska a viewing boardwalk provided a safe opportunity to get close to grizzly bears as they caught salmon in a small creek.

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020 |

49

The Stikine Canyon between Dease Lake and Telegraph Creek was an adventure. The scenery was spectacular, but the road was not for the faint of heart. Around sharp corners and on steep hills there were no guard rails. In places the gravel road was only one lane and we felt like we were hanging over the cliff. At Telegraph Creek we were met by our pilot Rick with a 1953 Beaver on floats. He flew us to a lake, where we met our outfitter, Greg. Landing in a downpour with pea sized hail, we waited for the thunderstorm to pass before boating to the lodge at the end of the lake where several old log buildings served as a comfortable hunting lodge. After settling in, Greg directed us to his favorite fishing hole, hoping we might catch a salmon for supper. I soon had a strike and landed a 15-pound chinook.

The next morning, we boated down the lake in a square nosed aluminum scow with our guides, Mitch McKibben and Clayton Steffey. This was not the horseback hunt we had planned but hunts seldom go as planned. Four weeks of unseasonably hot weather had resulted in rapid glacial melting and the usually

shallow streams were rushing torrents. Crossing what were now raging rivers, with horses, to get to the goat haunts on the adjacent mountains, was impossible. We had anticipated a moderately easy hunt with the horses but instead ended up on foot in the rugged coastal mountains. But hope runs eternal; we were still optimistic. Little did we know what we were in for. Clayton, having guided throughout northern BC and thee Yukon, told us this was some of the most rugged goat habitat he had ever hunted. After our first attempt of scaling what looked like a climbable slope from down below, we knew firsthand what he meant.

At times the lake we were on was mirror calm; at other times we were apprehensive as the waves slapped the boat, drenching us with ice cold water. Thankfully we had rain suits. Boating to the end of the lake, we watched the mountain sides for goats. It was soon apparent that the favorite haunt of the goats were the slopes above the cliff faces on the west side of the lake. Working our way back along the lake, we stopped in sheltered coves and glassed the slopes. We looked at about

The spectacular scenery around that beautiful lake in British Columbia and watching so many goats was reward enough for the first day.

50 |

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020

40 goats, mostly nannies, kids and small billies. Except for a nanny with a small kid, all were in inaccessible locations, yet the sightings proved instructive as we plotted in our minds how we might attempt a stalk if one was a good billy. Three billies lived on a cliff face that went straight up from the water.

We decided to keep an eye on these hoping that one would wander to the edge of the cliff where a stalk might be possible.

The spectacular scenery around that beautiful lake in British Columbia and watching so many goats was reward enough for the first day.

At daylight the next morning we again headed for the other end of the lake hoping to see a billy where a stalk would be possible. One large billy appeared just below the skyline on a distant ridge near the top of a mountain. Together we considered our options and discussed how we might approach a climb and eventual stalk. An avalanche track to the east of the goat looked like a climbable angle and ended in meadows not far below the mountain peaks. Alas, after a careful look with the spotting scope we concluded that the willows and alders on the avalanche track were so thick that they were probably impassible. Furthermore, above the avalanche track there was little cover for a final stalk if we made it that far.

To the left of the goat a long heavily forested ridge leading toward the top of the mountain looked like it might get us to the backside of the peak where the billy had bedded down.

We would be flying blind once we entered the trees, seeing nothing until we reached the top. There were no landmarks that would help us to know where we were in relation to the goat if we did manage to reach tree line. Sitting on the shoreline, however, was getting us no closer to shooting a goat so we decided to tackle that approach. There was a small creek entering the lake that originated from somewhere behind the ridge we had chosen to climb. The creek would help on our return to the boat as we could not cross it in the dark without knowing it.

Leaving the boat near noon we hiked across an alluvial fan strewn with large boulders and logs, but it was easy going and we made good time. Unfortunately, this only lasted for a mile before the incline grew steeper and the brush thicker.

Dropping into a slow steady pace so that I was not puffing too hard, I was confident that getting to the top was only a matter of time, perhaps an hour or two. The black flies were ferocious; wiping my forehead on my sleeve left smears of blood. (By the next morning, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d look like I had the measles!)

The further we went, the steeper the climb. I soon had my rifle slung on my shoulder and was using both hands to pull myself upward with the fir branches and understory willows. I was constantly falling behind; the other three were frequently waiting. When I caught up, that seemed to be the signal to carry on. I seldom stopped for more than a minute or two. By three oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;clock, I was thinking that this was insane; there was not the slightest sign of getting to tree line. For some time, I had MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020 |

51

been thinking about trying to keep up with my dad when I was a kid, with him telling me that it was only a matter of putting one foot ahead of the other. This was no longer working! I tried thinking of my colleagues who had competed in IronMan, running the marathon and swimming from Alcatraz. They’d insisted it was more mental than physical. I started telling myself over and over “I can do this; this is what I came for.”

Although, I was beginning to wonder if I had died somewhere back along the trail and was only imagining that I was here.

Eventually we got to where we could start to glass small patches of open slopes through the trees and my spirits lifted a bit. By then it was six o’clock and Clayton asked if we wanted to continue or be back to the boat before dark. In unison, my brother and I said, “Let’s hunt!” We would have gladly spent the night huddled by a rock if it meant a chance at a goat...and avoiding another climb.

Hunting along the ridge, the rocky peaks not far above my right shoulder looked like the backside of where we had seen the goat. Soon our guides signaled us to get down. A good billy was less than 100 yards beyond a small clump of krumholtz fir. Using my pack as a rifle rest I peeked round the trees and took aim as the goat walked away. He angled a bit, crossing a small ridge that would put him out of sight. It was now or never; I squeezed the trigger. Hearing the bullet hit and seeing the goat flinch I thought it was all over, but Mitch said to shoot again so I quickly drifted a couple more his way, perhaps hitting him once more. As I reloaded, the others started after the goat. I expected to find my goat piled up in the rocks but then saw Clayton pointing where he was circling the head of the valley. By the time I caught up to where I could see the goat, it was well below us and moving quickly back in our direction along the far side of the valley. Guessing that he was about 350 yards, I aimed a foot high and to the front and fired. Fortunately, I saw the bullet strike the rocks; right where I had aimed. He was much closer than I thought. My next shot was directly at his shoulder and I got a solid hit. As he scrambled out of a gravel wash toward a thick patch of fir, I took him through the neck and he crumbled.

With congratulations over, I told the others to go ahead and I would pick my way cautiously down the steep scree slope. Going down was just as hard as up; my knees were no longer strong enough, perhaps as a result of the slopes I had glissaded down when I was younger. For once, slowness worked to my advantage. Halfway down, I got some good photos of the guides using a rope to line the goat down a very steep rock chute. Although anxious to see my goat, I stopped for a long drink from the creek in the valley bottom and refilled my water bottle which I had been rationing for a long time. The alpine flowers along the babbling brook were magnificent but I was too

52 |

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020

excited to think to take photos. Even though the adrenalin was pumping, I had trouble climbing to where the guides had decided to skin the goat. The spot they picked was flatter than the slopes they had lined the goat down, but still almost too steep to stand. Photos simply cannot do justice to the steepness of the terrain.

After posing for photos, we counted the rings on the horns and decided he was 14 years old. Although the horns were not record book, the goat was massive, about twice as big as any goat I had seen; perhaps approaching 400 pounds. Skinning him out, it was hard to believe the impact he had absorbed before dropping; three direct hits in the left shoulder with 150 grain Hornady bullets from my .30-06. The head and hide were bundled into Mitch’s pack while Clayton shouldered his pack with 150 pounds of meat. I dreaded the idea of going back uphill but descending to cross the creek before climbing once more to the top of the scree slope was necessary to get around the head of a canyon. Following the creek was impossible due to steep cliffs and waterfalls. Finally headed back down hill, the slope was, of course, as steep as the one coming up.

Many times I was hanging on to fir branches and sliding on my butt to keep from plunging off the mountain. Although I was not puffing as hard, I found the descent tougher than the climb. I moved slowly and placed my feet carefully so that my knees could handle the strain. With a goat in the pack, there was no hurry; getting off the mountain safely was the priority.

The others occasionally stopped to wait but I don’t remember Clayton ever putting his pack down. He was like a bull moose going through the bush. The light hunting boots that had proven to be great for chasing pheasants and white-tailed deer didn’t cut it in the mountains. I never noticed that my toes were jammed in the front of my boots and the bottoms of my feet were bruised but I would eventually lose four toenails.

Darkness quickly descended in the narrow valley so we dug out our headlamps. With the blackfly bites on my forehead it was painful to wear my lamp so I carried it in my hand to avoid tripping over logs and running into trees. With relief, I noted that cottonwoods were starting to be part of the forest and there was gravel underfoot; we had reached the edge of the alluvial fan. This landmark had seemed like a short distance going up but now seemed to go on forever. Exhausted, I sat on a log and almost fell asleep but then heard a magical sound; the aluminum boat banging on the rocks. Reaching the boat at 11:30, I had the presence of mind to put on my raincoat. Cooling off in the splash and drizzle as we boated to the lodge felt so good. I had just concluded the hardest hunt in my life, perhaps the hardest day I had ever put in, but it had been extremely satisfying. I got my billy and really worked for it. We had climbed almost 4,000 vertical feet and switch backed up the mountain side for miles. We got back in the dark without anyone being hurt. This “old goat” had bagged his old goat. I couldn’t wait to get to the lodge and share my adventure with Carole.

But that is not the end of the story; my brother still needed a goat. For the next two days we beached the boat in the sheltered coves and glassed the slopes. Finding a comfortable place to lie in the deep moss on a headland or scooping out

a hollow in the gravel on the beach we would lean back with our heads on a log. Out of the wind in the sunshine I would doze off. The first time I awoke feeling guilty, until I realized the others were having a snooze too. After looking over the goats on the far mountain sides and waiting for them to move, having a nap was probably not a bad strategy. At one point I was watching about 60 goats but unfortunately there were no billies where a stalk could be considered. Needing a change of pace from glassing, I took a break to wander through the woods. By now we had thoroughly looked over all the goats visible from the lake and it was apparent that the billies on the steep cliffs were not going to stray from their sanctuary.

After boating down the very rough lake the next morning, we secured the boat in a sheltered creek mouth. We had previously spotted goats in a high basin above the creek, but they’d been so far away we had been unable to get a good look.

Several lone goats had appeared on the skyline and we hoped one might be a billy. Our best option for a second goat seemed to be to attempt the climb so we started up the steep valley.

There was no semblance of even a game trail as we worked our way through thick rain forest and around patches of devil’s club. It did not take long before I realized I was the weak link and holding Duane and Clayton back. Having already shot my goat, it’s possible I was not as motivated. I returned to MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020 |

53

This “old goat” had bagged his old goat.

the boat, built a shelter out of driftwood and started a fire. I spent a glorious day snoozing, admiring the majestic glaciercapped mountains and wandering around taking pictures. It was great to have a full day to relax and do nothing in the solitude of the mountains. To me hunting has always been much more than the pursuit of an animal.

Duane shot a billy around midday, but with the wind, waves and terrain, I did not hear the shots. Earlier at Ksan Village, Duane and I had joked about shooting a one-horned goat like the First Nations ceremonial mask. When Duane and Clayton got back to the boat late in the afternoon, I learned that they had in fact shot a unicorn. Although Duane’s goat had two horns, the right one pointed straight down in front of the eye.

A unique trophy indeed!

After 50 years of dreaming we concluded a most successful hunt. These two old goats will cherish the memories of an adventure of a lifetime and shooting two old goats.

EDITOR’S NOTE: You can reach Golden Bear Outfitting at 1-250-827-3648 or visit their website at www.goldenbearoutfitting.com

54 |

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020

Elk,

Deer,

Moose, and Black Bear Hunting in BC

WWW.BARWKOUTFITTERS.COM

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020 |

55

Tammy Wood

Sossy Outdoors

Tammy Wood is a wild game and seafood chef, author, and international huntress. When her husband of 18 years was killed in a workplace accident, she was left with their five children and a sixth on the way. It was then that she began to hunt to feed her family – and her love of wild game cooking blossomed. She competed in Master Chef Canada, finishing in the top ten before publishing her first recipe collection, The Venison Cookbook. She’s a contributor to the food editorial in BC Outdoors Magazine, is a Pro Staffer for Cabela’s Canada, and is an ambassador for Browning Firearms. Her TV show, Sossy Outdoors, began airing on the Canadian Sportsmen Channel in January 2020. She loves welcoming newcomers, youth and women to the outdoor lifestyle and participates on the board of SCI West Coast, and presents on sportsman show stages across BC and beyond.

I can honestly say that bear meat is the protein of choice in our home. It is very versatile; has great flavour and I tend to create a lot of ethnic dishes with it.

It needs to be cooked thoroughly, and most ethnic dishes are well-cooked dishes, so it works well. Indian, Greek, Italian and Mediterranean recipes all offer a wide variety of flavours to enhance your bear meat for family and guests.

The main thing to remember about bear meat is, regardless if it’s a spring or fall harvest, the meat is naturally greasy. If you want to add any other protein to your mix, make sure it is a lean game meat, or beef. I once made the mistake of using pork in my bear kielbasa and the greasiness was overwhelming.

The other thing to remember is that bear meat needs to be cooked thoroughly to 180˚. Trichinosis is a type of roundworm infection and cannot be killed by freezing alone. The only thing that can alleviate it is high heat. It is most common in pigs, cougar, bear, fox, and wild boar. In recent years, however, it has become less common in the domestic pig due to increased regulation in pork feed.

Using bear meat, I have made everything from smoked roasts, sausages, pepperoni, jerky, and – probably one of my favourites – Indian samosas. I love them so much that I had to share my recipe with you!

Some people find samosas to be on the spicy side, so making your own allows you the opportunity to gauge how mild or spicy you want them. When I make them, I tend to go

56 |

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020

on the milder side for the sake of my kids, creating spicy dips on the side instead. The dough is very simple to make, and samosas can be filled with almost anything! If you find that the triangle shape is too difficult to achieve, you can always cut out a 4-inch circle and create a nice little pouch full of this meaty mixture.

I really am excited for you to try this recipe as it is packed with flavour, texture, and the mango chutney is a fantastic accompaniment.

Now - onwards to preparation and cooking!

Bear Samosas with a Spicy Mango Chutney Filling: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Dough:

1 cup cubed potato (1” x 1”) 6 tbsp desi ghee (clarified butter) 1 tsp yellow mustard seeds 1 tsp brown mustard seeds 1 tsp fennel seed 1 tsp cumin seed 2 tbsp grated ginger 2 tbsp minced garlic 2 cups diced bear tenderloin 1 cup diced onion 1 cup diced carrots 2 cups beef or bear stock 4 tbsp garam masala 1 tsp paprika 1 tsp tumeric ½ tsp coriander 1 tsp kosher salt 1 tsp ground black pepper ½ cup chickpeas (cooked) ½ cup green peas (cooked) ¼ cup fenugreek leaves

• • • • •

2 cups flour 2 tbsp tandoori spice 4 tbsp oil Cold water for kneading 1 egg yolk (whisked with 1 tbsp water)

Mango Chutney: • • • • •

1 mango skinned and pitted 2 tsp cumin powder ½ cup sugar 1 cup water 1 tbsp red chili flakes

Yogurt Daikon Dip with Cilantro: • 1 cup plain yogurt • ½ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro • ½ cup grated daikon root

Method of Preparation Filling – Prep time: 15 minutes.

Heat deep fryer to 350˚. Meanwhile, bring bot of water to boil while skinning and cubing potatoes. Add to boiling water and cook for 5-6 minutes. Skin and dice carrots, diced onions and set aside. Heat skillet over medium heat with 2 tbsp of the ghee butter. Add mustard seeds, fennel, and cumin and heat until seeds begin to pop and become fragrant. Add ginger and garlic to spice mix and stir. Add cubed bear and toss until browned. Add onion and carrot and stir to mix. Add 1 cup of broth and stir while it steams. Add garam masala, paprika, tumeric, coriander, salt and pepper and stir well.

Add cooked potato, chickpeas and green peas and mix well, then add the remainder of the broth. Finally, add fenugreek leaves, folding into mixture before removing from heat and setting aside.

roll out to ¼ inch thick and about 9” x 13” rectangle. Cut into two pieces length wise, then again width wise so you have four pieces that measure roughly 4 ½” x 6 ½”. Brush dough with egg yolk mixture, then place a heaping tablespoon of mixture on each piece. Take the right corner and fold to the left creating a triangle. Seal the edge, and flip again to the right, sealing with egg yolk mixture. Repeat for all dough.

Place finished samosas in deep fryer for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown.

Mango Chutney – Prep time: 10 minutes Slice skinned mango into smaller chunks. Add to pot with all remaining ingredients and bring to a boil, then set to medium and stir occasionally, reducing mixture. When it becomes like a loose jam, remove from heat and pour into a dish. Serve with samosas.

Dough – Prep time: 7 minutes Yogurt Dip – Prep time: 5 minutes Add tandoori spice to flour in a bowl and whisk until blended.

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Pour in a dish and Add oil and mix well. Slowly add water while kneading dough, serve with samosas. until the ball of dough freely comes away from sides. Cut dough ball in half. Place one piece on floured surface and #sossyoutdoors @sossyoutdoors MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020 |

57

DSCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mission is to ensure the conservation of wildlife through public engagement, education and advocacy for well-regulated hunting and sustainable use.

JOIN US!

Mark your calendars for our 2021 Convention â&#x20AC;&#x201C; January 7-10! info@biggame.org I www.biggame.org I

Dallas Safari Club I (972) 980-9800

Mackenzie Mountain Outfitters Stan Stevens Recent Trophies

Phone # 250-719-8340 www.mmo-stanstevens.com mmostanstevens@gmail.com Facebook Mackenzie Mountain Outfitters

Eureka Peak Lodge & Outfitters Hunts for Mule Deer, Whitetail Deer, Black Bear, Mt. Goat, Moose, Cougar, Lynx and Wolf in Beautiful British Columbia Canada

Proud Member

Proud Member

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020 |

59

A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE Michael Sabbeth is a lawyer, author & consultant in Denver, Colorado. See his book The Good, The Bad & The Difference: How to Talk with Children About Values.

Available at Amazon.com http://tinyurl.com/c5flmmu Now available as a Kindle EBook.

Identifying Some Deceitful Tricks of Anti-Hunting Media Hunters are often interviewed or participate in debates about hunting. Sometimes, a hostile anti-hunting interviewer subverts the proceeding by using deceitful rhetorical techniques. Such an interview occurred on June 17, 2019 when my colleague, Danene Van Der Westhuyzen, agreed to be interviewed by Emma Barnett of the British Broadcasting Corporation. Danene is the president of Namibia Professional Hunters Association

tactic. Danene spoke about nature being about death, yet

and holds prestigious positions with Safari Club International

Barnett refers to Danene’s answer as “romantic.” Barnett’s

and the Dallas Safari Club. Barnett told Danene the interview

tactic to undermine hunting was done by rejecting or ignoring

would be about women and hunting. It was not. It was a biased

the substance of Danene’s answer—that nature is cruel and

attack on hunting.

drenched in death—and focusing on a trivial part of Danene’s

I share a small segment of the interview to illustrate some

answer: that sunsets are a beautiful experience. By focusing

devious techniques Barnett used. Becoming aware of these

on the trivial and ignoring the substance, Barnett trivialized

techniques, hunters can develop skills to help avoid this abusive

Danenen’s words by characterizing them as “romantic.” Then

treatment and to fight back.

Barnett fluidly transitioned into condemning hunting by

The setup to the moment in the interview seemed innocuous

quoting alleged statistics about wildlife population declines.

enough. When asked by Barnett how she became involved in

We may rightfully judge Barnett’s ethics by how she selectively

hunting, Danene replied that she had been hunting all her life

chose to ignore the important segment of Danene’s answer and

and that hunting was part of her sustenance survival regime.

focused on what was irrelevant and trivial to conservation.

Barnett then asked a question that should set off alarms in any

Another notable aspect of the interview is the moral defect in

hunter: “Are your clients killing for their dinner or are they

the binary choices Barnett gave to Danene regarding hunters’

killing because they want a head on the wall?” The reader

motives: dinner or the disparaging trophy on the wall. The

should note Barnett’s deception: she is giving Danene a false

choice is a false one, as mentioned above, but moral dimension

choice: A or B. We know other choices are possible, such as

of the false choice can be observed. With those two options,

hunting to provide food for others or to cull herds.

Barnett’s moral defect is that she focused on the intentions of

Carefully read Danene’s answer. She replied that hunters are

the hunters and ignored the consequences of hunting. If the

conservationists. “They don’t just sit in a vehicle and look at

hunter provides dinners for other people and or if the money

animals and say they are pretty. The hunter becomes part of

spent by the hunter for his or her trophy helps reduce poaching

nature and nature (and here is the key phrase) is not beautiful

or increases habitat, then such hunting is moral and should be

all the time. Nature is death.” Danene continued her answer:

praised.

“It’s all about the experience. It does not mean you randomly kill anything. It’s about seeing the sun rise.”

Barnett responded: “It sounds terribly romantic but take

Lessons can be learned. Do not let the anti-hunter control the interview. The hunter should speak up and say something like, “That is not what I said!” or “You misinterpret

the romance out” and then she asserted some alleged facts

my words.” Also, the hunter should carefully listen to the

regarding the decline in lion and giraffe populations.

interviewer’s questions and comments to enable a powerful

The reader should identify Barnett’s deceitful rhetorical

60 |

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020

effective response. Hunters: don’t get pushed around!

Northwest Big Game Outfitters

Black Bear • Moose • Sheep • Mountain Goat FREDDY DODGE

World Record

Muzzleloader Bull Moose

Jack Goodwin Box 344, Mile 5 Atlin Highway, Atlin, BC Canada V0W 1A0 Tel: (250) 651-7766 Email: nbgohunt@gmail.com

bcbiggamehunting.com

MOUNTAIN HUNTER - SPRING 2020 |

61

full service big game hunting adventures

family Owned & Operated Spring bear hunts Fall moose hunts Winter wolf hunts Trapline adventures

Located in BC Canada Call: 250-964-2257 Email: inzana@telus.net

WWW.INZANAOUTFITTERS.COM