22 minute read
Preferred Conservation Partners
WILD SHEEP FOUNDATION Summer 2020
An American friend posted a hilarious meme a few months back on social media that read:
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“I bet Canada feels like they live in the apartment above a meth lab.”
As an American I had to laugh but also lament on the truth of it. From a disproportionate infection rate of COVID-19, sickening civil unrest, destruction of public property, urban chaos, to a cultural (or cancel culture) revolution all on top of the typical American presidential election-year antics and follies, living north of the 48th parallel must feel like living above a meth lab.
All jokes aside, the past five-to-six months have been a challenge at best for our industry – especially the guide outfitting community dependent on foreign ecotourism.
We all learned mid-July that the Canada/USA border will remain closed to August 21st. Sadly, the closure is likely to extend beyond August and into the fall with the result being a significant loss of a major component of GOABC members’ business. We are all feeling the pain.
But there is light at the end of the tunnel. Hunters and anglers are a resilient lot. We thrive on overcoming adversity. We’re working together and we’ll take care of each other and our industry.
As for WSF, we are working with outfitters, clients, state, provincial, tribal and territorial agencies to work through the border closure challenges and the effects on hunts and trips booked as well as the risks to the conservation dollars generated. We are working on our January 13-16, 2021 convention and various options on how it will be conducted. We are working on what-if scenarios of knowns and unknowns for our exhibitors, donors and attendees. Rest assured, there will be a Sheep Show in January 2021. And while it may look a bit different than prior years, we are excited and confident for the future.
Be strong, be safe, and stay healthy...we are sheep and mountain hunters. We’ve got this.
Gray N. Thornton, President & CEO
DALLAS SAFARI CLUB DSC Signs Memoranda of Understanding with Key Partners
As part of a long-range strategic plan, DSC has recently entered into a number of partnerships by way of MOUs (Memoranda of Understanding).
DSC and the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation (CIC) signed a joint MOU, formalizing their partnership to benefit wildlife conservation, and support sustainable wildlife use and the livelihoods of rural and Indigenous people.
This partnership provides the opportunity to leverage the combined reach and influence of DSC’s and CIC’s knowledge, programs, and networks to effectively guide policy in a way that encourages science-based wildlife management. DSC and CIC will work diligently on all matters impacting hunters internationally.
DSC Executive Director, Corey Mason, stated, “CIC is an institution in the international conservation arena. DSC is greatly looking forward to this partnership and the significant results that our combined efforts will bear.”
Also this past summer, DSC and the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) signed an MOU, formalizing their partnership to further conservation efforts. The goal of the MOU is to advance the missions of DSC and PERC through collaboration, communication and interaction between
the two organizations.
Both organizations will strategize ways in which to protect and advance policies that enhance conservation at the state, federal, and international level. Further, both organizations will support research activities that uphold rights of sovereign nations to manage their natural resources, support rural livelihoods, and protect legal and regulated hunting as a conservation tool.
DSC looks forward to working with PERC on environmental policy and engagement, and enhancing the efforts of both organizations for the benefit of people and wildlife across the world.
DSC Convention Dates Changed
Save the date! The 2021 DSC Convention has been moved from January to February 11-14. Considering the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions on travel and other uncertainties, a decision was made after numerous discussions and feedback from exhibitors and sponsors to find the best date. DSC hopes this change will provide the very best opportunity for a wildly successful and enjoyable convention for both the attendees and exhibitor partners.
DSC Renews Partner, Title Sponsorship with Sports Afield
Since 2009, wildlife conservation, education, and ethical hunting have been the beneficiaries of an ongoing partnership between Sports Afield, the premier big-game hunting adventure magazine, and DSC, a premier international conservation organization. A new five-year agreement, 2021 through the 2025 show, will continue the partnership well into the next decade. As a result of the agreement, Sports Afield will continue to be the title sponsor of DSC’s annual convention. Over the past decade, the show has grown exponentially as a result of the combined marketing efforts of both groups.
Please mark your calendars and make plans to join DSC in Dallas on February 11-14, 2021, to celebrate our hunting heritage and all things outdoors. Corey Mason, Executive Director
GRAND SLAM CLUB/OVIS Adjusting Our Sails...
We might as well jump into the meat and potatoes of current events – COVID-19. It goes without saying we are living in uncertain and unprecedented times. The coronavirus has created a huge crippling and hurtful impact on our economy. Many businesses and companies are suffering. The hunting industry is no exception. Outfitters, hunters, and wildlife conservation organizations are facing stiff headwinds. Jimmy Dean once said, “I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” All of us stakeholders will be adjusting our sails while we navigate through these tumultuous times.
Outfitters and hunters alike are a tough, resilient bunch. We’ve experienced hardships before – and we’ll endure more in the future. Joshua J. Marine was quoted, “Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” Realizing we are all in this together, we will get through these rough times by working together. I don’t have a magic wand or concrete formula but it’s going to take some flexibility, understanding, and perhaps the toughest of all, patience. I don’t see a quick turnaround from the COVID impact – it may take two or three years to circumnavigate this crisis. Robert H. Schuller said, “Tough times
never last, but tough people do.” And we are tough.
The hunting industry and wildlife conservation organizations are going to take a hit from coronavirus. The programs and projects we are supporting may take a setback. The challenges we face in the coming days are many but our conservation goals and objectives are too important to throw in the towel. We must and will prevail. “It is under the greatest adversity that there exists the greatest potential for doing good, both for oneself and others.” Dalai Lama. Brighter days are ahead, and we’ll work our way through to see them!
Mark Hampton, Executive Director
SAFARI CLUB INTERNATIONAL SCI Continues to Fight for Canadian Hunters
Safari Club International maintains an active presence in Canada, with 16 chapters and nearly 3,000 members. SCI employs full-time staff dedicated to protecting Canada’s proud hunting heritage and promoting wildlife conservation across the country. SCI monitors developments at all levels of government in Canada and works proactively to ensure policy development recognizes the rights of hunters and the critical contributions hunters make to conservation and the economy.
Earlier this year, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau proposed a firearm ban that included modern sporting rifles, but even more concerning was the initial inclusion of modern 10- and 12-gauge shotguns, some of the most commonly used firearms in Canada. Such a ban would have made some of the most exceptional waterfowl hunting opportunities in the world inaccessible to the majority of hunters and devastated the outfitters who facilitate these hunts. SCI acted quickly, urging members to sign a petition calling for the ban’s repeal and launching a grassroots campaign through the Hunter Advocacy Action Center (HAAC), a software tool SCI utilizes to connect members with elected officials regarding issues of importance for the hunting community.
SCI has similarly steered grassroots campaigns in Canada through the HAAC focused on increasing financial support for Canada’s outdoor recreation industry in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, supporting the permanent authorization of Ontario’s spring bear hunting season, and engaging on a variety of proposed hunting regulatory changes in British Columbia.
During the month of August, SCI conducted one of the largest fundraising efforts in recent memory in support of hunting guides and outfitters whose livelihoods have been threatened by COVID-19. SCI’s Share the Impact Outfitter Benefit is expected to generate substantial and necessary funds for the Canadian Federation of Outfitter Associations, further cementing SCI as First for Hunters in Canada and around the world.
Brett Stayton, Communications Manager
BOONE & CROCKETT Promoting Our Ethics: The History of Fair Chase
Most of us have heard of the concept of fair chase hunting and aspire to be ethical hunters living up to this standard. However, many may not understand the history of fair chase and how it became the founding principle of the Boone and Crockett Club.
By the late 1800s, unregulated sport and market hunting had decimated wildlife species throughout North America. The broader public was becoming aware of this devastation, and to many the logical solution appeared to be ending all hunting. However, avid sportsmen like Theodore Roosevelt believed differently. In 1887, they formed the Boone and Crockett Club and began promoting the concept of “conservation.”
Conservation was based on the fact that people need and will use natural resources, including wildlife, but this use would now have to be regulated and guided by science. If hunting was going to be allowed to continue, how it was being conducted and the character of the hunter now mattered. For society to accept this new idea over complete protection, Roosevelt and the Club began to promote another new concept: one called fair chase.
Fair chase became a part of an overall conservation ethic. It defined a true sportsman as one who could kill game yet use self-restraint and stand guard to ensure that wildlife populations would never be threatened again. It didn’t mean hunting was a sport like other contests, but rather its participants used a “sporting” approach. Fair chase defined the rules of engagement that elevated sportsmen to being highly respected members of the community, both for their skill as woodsmen and providers, but also for their commitment to something greater than themselves. Danny Noonan, Sales & Corporate Relationship Manager
*according to Grand Slam Club Ovis
by George Lawrence
booked my ram hunt with Craig Kiselbach and Terminus Mountain Outfitters at the Wild Sheep convention. The year before I had been on a hunt that lasted 21 days without success. Weather, smoke, and anything that could make the wheels come off a hunt seemed to have happened. My guides and outfitter were great but it just didn’t happen. This time I was prepared mentally and physically for another very difficult hunt.
Finally, the day came when I flew to the base of Terminus Mountain, which is the furthest most point of the Rockies and why they call it “terminus” – the final point, the end. My wife Kelly and I flew there via Darwin Carey in a Cessna 206 wheel plane. The lodge was amazing with cute cabins for a private stay for Kelly and I. Hospitality and comfort were over the top. The Kiselbach family greeted us warmly and I immediately started shooting my bow with Craig’s 10-year-old son Gage, then got my gear ready for an early morning float plane ride to a lake with no name. My wife planned to stay back at the lodge, where there was an abundance of spectacular scenery to take in from the large window.
The next morning, my guide Jared Christon and I were flown into the lake one at a time. Then we mounted horses and a wrangler took us up the mountain with a string of riding and pack horses. At the start, the weather had looked good, but a little rain came our way as we rode, higher and higher into the mountains, for about eight hours to our destination. On our way, we watched eagles soaring above. We got to our campsite and set up quickly, jumping inside just as it began to hail.
We had gotten to our site four days before season so we could survey the area and find a legal ram for opening day. During that time, we found two legal rams. One all by himself, and one in a group of about eight. Things were looking good except for the close encounter with a
Photos: (clockwise from immediate left) George Lawrence and wife Kelly; Darwin Carey and George in Cessna 206; George, Jared, Craig and Gage; (above): Kelly enjoying some trail-time.
grizzly that came right through our camp one night.
Opening day, we were up at 3 a.m. The only contents of my stomach were coffee, instant oatmeal – and a large amount of butterflies as we began the two hour climb up the mountain to find our ram. Half way up, with the wind in our faces and the sun at our backs, we found the lone ram with nine ewes feeding above us. Unfortunately, one of the ewes spotted us. She slowly fed away from us while the ram stayed and watched us. Why?
As soon as we had been made, we hunkered down and I got out a decoy I had brought along with me. My guide got out his spotting scope to ensure the ram was legal. We both hid behind the bighorn silhouette and the ram was initially curious, then went back to feeding. Wow – it worked!
I got my crossbow ready and walked directly away from the ram that was about 325 yards away. I then scratched the ground with my hand multiple times and acted like I was bedding down. (I’ve done this before while bow hunting and have had similar results.) The ram just bedded down, chewed his cud, and watched me. At no time did he look at my guide who was sitting still behind his spotting scope. We had made the plan that I would not shoot any ram without him giving me the thumbs up, meaning the ram was 100 percent legal – which he had still not done at this point.
While the ram was bedded, I used another technique to get close. I got up, and slowly zig zagged closer to the ram. Once at 134 yards, I acted like I was bedding down again. That maneuver took roughly 35 minutes. I couldn’t get any closer because of a steep draw between us. I couldn’t shoot that far – and had not received the thumbs up yet. Yikes! Now what?
The ram finally got up and started feeding downhill away from us. I waited until he was out of sight and then ran as fast as I could to get back beside my guide Jared. He told me to slow down – he wanted to get a better look at him, but he
was 95 percent sure he was legal.
We snuck along the deep draw looking over multiple times to check the location of the ram. To our pleasure, he had crossed to our side and we were now 112 yards above him. We snuck to 59 yards, Jared put the scope on him, and finally gave me the thumbs up I had been waiting for! I crawled to 50 yards and the ram gave me a perfect broadside shot. The arrow hit him exactly where it needed to bring him down.
Wow – it was done! The first ever Stone sheep to be taken by crossbow (according to Grand Slam Club Ovis). It was a very emotional accomplishment for me, especially doing it in one day instead of 21. I praise God for the opportunity to spend as much time in the mountains of British Columbia as I have. And for a wife who supports my passion.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
Reach Terminus Mountain Outfitters at 250-442-8195 or visit their website at www.terminusmountain.com
by Dallas Kaiser
first touched base with Stan Stevens, owner of Mackenzie Mountain Outfitters, in the summer of 2015. A mountain caribou hunt had been on my mind for some time but it seemed there was never extra money to undertake an adventure like that. While setting aside money where I could, I researched outfitters, areas, and of course the caliber of caribou that were available. One outfit seemed to stand out to me, and I decided if I was going to make this hunt a reality, I had to make the call.
Stan was very friendly and upbeat and had no problem adding my name to his list but informed me he was booked for the next couple years. I expected that and it allowed me more time to save money. Much to my surprise, Stan knew where I was from, near a small town in Alberta because he had been raised about half an hour from there. If that didn’t bring to mind that it’s a small world, it also turned out that Stan’s first guiding job had been right where I had guided back in 2008 and 2009 – at Toad River, BC. We had a few stories to share with each other after learning this and it made the phone call with a stranger seem like talking with a friend, neighbor or fellow hunter. After several emails and phone conversations, I finally received the news I wanted to hear: my mountain caribou hunt would become a reality in late September of 2018.
The day finally came. The flight from Edmonton to Yellowknife and on to Norman Wells didn’t take long. Then it was onto a floatplane charter with North Wright Air along with five other hunters who would also be enjoying caribou hunts with Stan’s outfit. It was a tight squeeze and we were only a couple pounds under the allowed weight of total gear and bodies, but finally we were on the last leg of our journey. The Mackenzie Mountains looked vast and untouched with fresh snow covering them from top to bottom. Every small lake we flew over was frozen so I was curious how we would be landing! Then a long narrow open water lake appeared, and we descended to land on it.
Six happy hunters and trophies were there waiting at the dock, ready to head home. Stan and his guides quickly unloaded our gear and had it packed to our cabins. At this point the reality of my long-awaited hunt hit home and I was excited. I met Frank, the hunter I was paired up with, and our guide Phil Weitzel. We unpacked our gear and Phil told us what we’d actually need in our packs, as we would be spiking out on the mountain that night, leaving the warmth of the cabin behind. A quick trip to the shooting range confirmed my rifle was ready. At the main lodge we enjoyed a hearty supper of caribou roast and then waited our turn to be shuttled to our spike camp via Stan’s helicopter.
A new reality set in once we were dropped off. There we were, with our gear, on a plateau a few miles from base camp. It was cold out, the wind was blowing, and we needed to get our teepee set up, a fire prepped and our bedding set
out. Survival mode was top priority. Only a few minutes into our set up of spike camp a lone bull caribou showed up out of nowhere about one hundred yards away and quickly reminded us of why we were there in the first place. It was the first mountain caribou I had seen that close in full winter coat. The encounter didn’t last long but what a beautiful animal in such a beautiful but harsh environment.
Once camp was ready, we took a few minutes to set up our spotting scopes and glass the surrounding plateaus as the sun was setting. Two large groups of caribou were spotted a couple miles in the distance. Each herd had several bulls of various shapes and sizes. Some were feeding, others fighting and chasing cows. It was going to be a long night of excited anticipation, cold temperatures, and the uncertainty of whether the caribou would still be there in the morning.
None of us slept very well. I wouldn’t say I was cold but was cool enough that I never really fell into a deep sleep. Being a light sleeper, every time the guys would move around it woke me up as well. Shortly before first light, Phil started a fire in the little backpacking stove he had brought, which helped take the chill off.
Coffee and oatmeal warmed us from the inside and we were off to find the caribou. One large group was still visible from camp and they seemed to be headed down towards the creek below the plateau. Thinking that maybe the herd that had been above us the night before was doing the same thing, we eased up over the edge to take a look. Tracks were everywhere in the snow. Considering it had only snowed a few days prior, there had to be a lot of caribou around. We kept working our way up the plateau as more and more cracks and crevices revealed lots of potential hiding spots.
Maybe an hour after we left camp, we came onto a herd of about one hundred caribou. After glassing, Phil deemed there were two shooters and surprisingly Frank liked one and the other one appealed to me. Now we had to close the distance. The herd was feeding up the far side of a draw and we could stay out of sight until we got to the pinch point in a saddle on the ridge where we hoped they would be in range. We had previously discussed our comfortable shooting distances with Phil and were hoping to pull off a double, so now we needed to see if the caribou would cooperate.
Once we crawled into the saddle above the draw, the first caribou were straight across from us and as close as they would get. Phil ranged them at 350 yards. Manageable ranges for both of us. The bull Frank wanted was at 370 yards but the bull I wanted was towards the back of the herd, still 500 yards away. This presented a problem for me because I was not comfortable taking that shot with my over-the-counter 30.06. I didn’t want to wreck Frank’s chance on his bull so I told Phil to let Frank shoot first and we would see how the herd responded and go from there. I then asked Frank if I could use his custom made Gunwerx 7mm mag once his bull
was down and if my bull didn’t get any further away. Much to my surprise, he was more than happy to let me use it if that scenario presented itself.
Frank settled in and shot his bull and once he was down, he quickly reloaded his gun and I got in behind it. The bull I wanted hadn’t moved very far and once he cleared some cows, Phil ranged him at 470 yards. Frank reached over and dialled in the turret and now it was up to me. I couldn’t believe how close the bull looked in the Night Force scope! The gun was rock solid, and I slowly squeezed the trigger. I didn’t even feel the gun go off. I saw the bull drop in his tracks and a few seconds later, heard the bullet make contact. Phil and Frank erupted in cheering. High fives followed along with a recap of how this double had happened almost exactly as we had planned.
Walking up to my bull is an experience I will never forget. The time, effort, money, and emotions had all culminated at the harvest and recovery of a prized animal. It’s hard to put into words those feelings when standing over or putting your hands on such a magnificent animal but they’re ones that all hunters can relate to. Lots of pictures were taken and then Phil took over caping and butchering the animals as Frank and I soaked in the warm sunshine and marvelled at the breathtaking landscape we were surrounded by. Then it was a downhill hike back to spike camp to pack it up and call Stan to pick us up.
We were back at base camp before suppertime and I was happy to hear that two other hunters had also already tagged out on great bulls and were back at camp. Stories of the hunts were shared along with another great meal at the lodge and a couple celebratory drinks. The warmth of a cabin after the success on the mountain made sleep come really easy!
Even though my travel time to go on this hunt and back again was longer than my actual hunting time, it worked out great. I met great people, saw new country, hunted a new species – and brought my taxidermist some more work! Stan runs a first-class operation with great people working for him and the numbers and quality of game are second to none. I would highly recommend a hunt with him and perhaps one day I can enjoy another one as well.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
Reach Mackenzie Mountain Outfitters by phone at 250-719-8340 or visit their website at www.mmo-stanstevens.com
