Don't Worry. We're from the Government

There are some big changes being looked at for sheep hunting in Alberta for 2013. I'm just working on an article about them for the February Alberta Outdoorsmen. Make sure you know what's being proposed. This is one of those cases where, "Don't worry, we're from the Government" definitely does not apply.

Cow Elk success!

Matt drew a late season cow elk tag and today we got our first crack at hunting it. With Good buddy Pro Staff Luke Viravec on lead point we ended up chasing 84 elk through the big timber. The game of cat and mouse ended at 2:30 in the afternoon when Matt made a great shot 170 yard shoot and threaded the needle through the under brush. The cow is enormous and will be very tasty no to mention a great episode of the show this year!

New Season of Outdoor Quest TV

The new season of Outdoor Quest TV begins on December 26, 2012 on Wild TV. Episode #1 sees TJ and Vanessa head to New Zealand in search of free-range red stag and arapowa ram. Watch Outdoor Quest TV at its new times:

Monday 1:30pm CST
Wednesday 8:30pm CST
Thursday 9:00am CST
Friday 12:00 noon CST

Pack Dogs

Time to remind the new Minister of SRD that the use of pack dogs should be permitted in Alberta. I got a look at the proposed changes to the hunting regs for 2012 and no mention of them. Hopefully it was just an oversight on his part. Might not hurt to send him a quick e-mail as ask ;) Frank Oberle peace.river@assembly.ab.ca

Yikes!

Wow, this grizzly footage is intense...not sure I want to be cameraman for a 9 yard kill on a grizz again..lol That 225-grain Interbond really ruined his day...thankfully! Episode #5 is going to be an awesome one!

A Grizzly Task next!

Episodes #1 and #3 going in the mail today. It's nice to actually be slightly ahead of the game for once. Number 5 is in the works...Vanessa's Yukon grizz at only 9 yards. The hair still stands up on the back of my neck just watching that footage. It's going to be another gooder! What a season we had.

Episode #1 is complete!

Just finished up Episode #1 of Outdoor Quest TV for 2012. Our new episodes start airing on Wild TV the week of Dec 26 and the first episode is a great one. Vanessa and I head to New Zealand in search of red stag, Arapowa ram and chamois with Sue and Gerald Telford. What an incredible hunt!

Early Christmas Present

After a 7 month wait, our New Zealand trophies arrived today. It was great to see them again...what a rush of great memories. They took a bit longer than normal because we had our possum hides tanned there and man, they are so soft it's unreal. Customs was super easy to deal with and they didn't get crazy with the GST so pretty awesome day all round. Now to just get them up to Curtis and let him work his magic. Can't wait to get them on the wall and to go back to New Zealand. What an awesome trip.

Foiled!

So close and yet so far! With less than 2 km left to cover to reach Russ's brokedown snowmobile we ran into a snag. 24 hours of rain in the mountains had swollen the creeks to the point they were lifting the ice. Once the Argo dropped through here we were beat. Getting the Argo out was easy but there was no way to get the brokedown snowmobile on the skimmer back across the creek. So we decided that wisdom was the better part of valor got the Argo out and turned around and headed back for the truck. Once the water has a chance to go down and the creeks have refrozen Russ will have a better chance to get his machine out.

New Opening

Check out the new 2012 opening for Outdoor Quest TV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KdN1KjCUxM&feature=share

Mose - day two report

No moose for the second day.  No rain but snow in higher elevations.  They are moving camp Sunday and hope for better luck.  Very little sign where they have been.

News from Moose Camp

The guys are sitting in the rain and have seen very little sign.  Hoping for better tomorrow!

Final Kick at Bighorn Sheep

Argo is loaded and the gear is in my pack. I leave today for my last kick at a ram for this year. Matt and I are headed out for four days on the rocks hoping to find a good one. For the first time in a couple of years I'll be serious about filling the tag in my pocket! I'll keep everyone updated by sat phone on how things are going so watch this blog for news.

Matt's Smoking Hot Wyoming Antelope!

Temperatures soared to 93 degrees F on opening day of the Wyoming Antelope hunt but that never stopped Matt from killing his first ever antelope. Watch for this episdoe in the 2012 Outdoor Quest season.

Gun Room Done and Now it is time for Wyoming Antelope!

I just loaded my first ammunition at my new loading bench. Things are looking pretty good and I've pretty much filled it all and Sandi thought that 10 feet of cupboards was too much! All that is left in the basement is to touch up the paint and have the rug laid.
The rug will have to wait until next week though as tomorrow Matt and I leave to go antelope hunting with Ralph from Trophy Ridge Outfitting in Wyoming. Long drive starts in the morning but we are eager to get back in Wyoming and pit the long range 260 AI RMR against the little prairie speedsters.

BC Goat trip review

Sandi and i got home last night and after showers (MUCH needed!) and a little unloading we were in bed by 11 and never stirred again until 9 this morning. It has been 30 years or more since we've been in bed at 9 in the morning so I guess we didn't miss the posterpedic roots and rocks we've been sleeping on the last 9 days.
Our goat hunt was a dream, traveling through breath taking country and hunting with great friends. Greg from Corlane's gun shop was our hunter host and we couldn't have asked for a better companion, or boat driver. The grueling hunting and hiking will be made into a great episode for the 2012 season of Outdoor Quest TV.

Two Goats Down

News From Goat Country

Back From the Yukon

Three days and 3,000 kilometres later, we are home from the Yukon. As always, we had a spectacular hunt with Deuling Stone Outfitters that saw Vanessa shoot a monster boar grizzly at only 9 yards. It couldn't have been more exciting. We'll chase elk and sheep around home for the next few weeks then I'm headed to Kyrgyzstan in search of Marco polo sheep and mid-Asian Ibex.

Yukon Update: Giant G Bear at 9 yards!

Click the video to hear the Sat phone update.

tales from the mountain top wanderers

Dad just called me with an update from the mountain top

they hiked hard again today but were yet again unsuccessful but not detured! they saw 30 some odd sheep and 5 rams tho none were legal they are gonna start their hike out tomorrow which should take two days

tales from the mountin top

ma and pa just called with an update opening has coma nd gone with no legal rams to be seen saw about 50 other sheep tho and had some goats put on a good show for them scurrying up and down the cliff faces everyone is hoping for better luck tomorrow

tales from the mountain

Just heard from my parents things are good they are camped at 8000 feet tonight and the weather is warm they spent the day scouting and seen somes ewes and lambs but no rams they are getting ready to settle in for the night and get a good hike in again tomorrow

sheep huntin'

Ma and pa just called me from the sat phone to let me know that they had reach base camp and that after the 16.5 km hike everyone was dragging ass with soar feeties

it was just after 7 and the sun was slowly sinking behind the hills and they were all getting ready to call it a night and go hit some sheep scouting in the morning the seasons opens up on the 25 so they are hopuing to be sitting on some good ones by tomorow evening :)

Up coming sheep season

So Ma and Pa will be trekking off to the wild boonies shortly and are leaving me in charge of the homestead and hounds (look out fridge and pantry here I come ) and will be calling me with nightly up dates while I yell at the dang blasted machine (not used to two handed typing you see)

so if any balls have been dropped or words poorly misspelled we all know why :)

New Taxidermy comes home

The tahr is from 2006, the stag from 2008 and the whitetail from 2010. Very special thanks to Curtis from Silverwillow taxidermy for his quality work. If I'd have known they'd turn out like this I'd have got them to you sooner!
No surprtise the critters are all Sandi's.

What a Trip

Sadly, today was our last day fishing with Great Pacific Salmon Lodge and it was another great one. Thanks to Jamie and all the staff for an awesome trip.

Day 2 at Great Pacific Salmon Lodge

What an incredible day fishing with Great Pacific Salmon Lodge in Prince Rupert, BC. Vanessa caught her first-ever chinook salmon and it was a beautiful tyee to boot. We limited out on chinook, coho and halibut and the weather was incredible. It really doesn't get any better than this. And, we still have one more day on the water.

First Day on the Water

Today was our first day fishing with Great Pacific Salmon Lodge and it was an awesome one. We were treated to a real show when three pods of killer whales came through. It kind of shut the fishing down but it was really cool to see. We caught lots of halibut today and Vanessa hooked some really nice coho. Tomorrow we go in search of some big springs.

We arrived in Prince Rupert and got out to see some of the sites followed by a phenominal meal at the Cow Bay Cafe. This is a must try next time you are in Prince Rupert. Tomorrow we visit the the Cannery Historic Site and then we are off to Great Pacific Salmon Lodge.

Off to Great Pacific Salmon Lodge

We are just sitting in YVR waiting for our Hawk Air flight to Prince Rupert where we'll spend the day touring the town and the Cannery historic Site and then it's off in search of giant chinooks and monster halibut with Great Pacific Salmon Lodge.

The Water Keeps Rising

Just when we thought the Fraser River couldn't get any higher, it rose another foot over night and the amount of debris floating in it was unreal. Despite all that, we still managed to get 10 fish to the boat today, including two 5.5 footers. We ended the day with a double header. Randy Beck from Ultimate Sportfishing really knows the river. We were the only fishing boat on it today and most of the other guides didn't even think of going out and thought we were nuts. Off to Prince Rupert tomorrow but we'll definitely be back to fish with Randy.

River Monster!

Despite the worst conditions ever, Randy got us into six sturgeon today including this six and a half foot monster that Vanessa landed. We saw just about everything floating down the river today including 60' trees and even docks. The Fraser is totally blown out but we'll give it another try tomorrow. What an awesome day!

Arrived in Cloverdale

We arrived safe and sound in Cloverdale and will be heading out fishing with Randy Beck of Ultimate Sportfishing in the morning. Our target is monster sturgeon but the Fraser River is totally blown out with flood water right now so it will be interesting. We are staying with Randy and Trish at their Bed and Breakfast and the accomodations are incredible! Should be a fun day tomorrow.

River Monsters!

Were headed west tomorrow in search of some true river monsters. Hopefully all the rain doesn't put an end to our plans. We'll be updating the blog daily starting Wednesday.

Prince Rupert!

We met Jaron Janas of Terrace Sportfishing Adventures at 7 am at the dock in Cow Bay. Jaron had his 33' Thunder Jet idling at the dock waiting for us. It didn't take long for us to load all our gear and soon Jaron let the throttles out on the twin 225 Yamaha's and the boat effortlessly lepton plane. We ran north for a little over an hour to the north end of Dundas Island and the floating lodge where we would spend the night. After storing our gear in our rooms we headed out to fish. The weather was still not cooperating. The rain and cold was no problem as the boat has a fully heated hard top with all the amenities. The Jaron could make the Thunder Jet stand up and do tricks, we went where ever we wanted in spite of the heavy seas we just couldn't fish for ground fish and halibut. None of these spots were sheltered and even though  we anchored up on a couple spots it was impossible to work the rigs effectively with the boat going up and down 10 feet. Jaron had plenty of great salmon spots and it never took us very long to catch a limit of springs, coho and pinks each day. Most of the boats were crowded along the lee shore near the lodge but we fished in complete comfort and seclusion on a spot several miles away. On the second day the wind hadn't let up at all, still it took only a couple hours to get the 12 fish limit  for Sandi Bill and I. I caught the largest a 28 pound spring and missed my Tyee by two pounds! Humpback whales fed around us on the giant bait ball we were fishing and then several pods of Killer whales, about 25 total came through. We were mesmerized by the frenzy of the Orca attacking the salmon even though it meant we had to move to another spot to fish after they chased all the salmon out! We picked up our crab traps on the way back into the dock and had our limit of huge Dungeness crabs to take home as well.
We tried one more day on the Skeena and Jaron took us on quite the tour in the jet boat but there was nothing we could do to compete with mother nature.
Our trip was fantastic, Jaron's knowledge and first class gear and boats more than made up for the atrocious weather and rather than being stuck on shore we never missed a minute of trying on our trip. Accommodations and food were also top shelf and we can't wait to go back!

Day 1 The Kitimat River

With 45 km winds forecast for Rupert and the Skeena blown wide open from all the rain we traveled 30 km south west and put a drift boat in the Kitimat River. It was also high and discolored but we caught salmon with Sandi's first Chinook coming on a back trolled Hot Shot.
Tomorrow we head to Prince Rupert for a couple of days on the ocean.

Gone Fish'n!

What a hecktic two weeks since our return from Africa! Some of you may have heard Sandi was in a car accident on Friday. Her truck was rear ended on the highway while she was waiting to turn into our drive way. The truck is a write off and Sandi has the biggest black eye but other than some stiffness and bouts of nausea things are on track according to the Doc. Now is the perfect time for  a break ands that is what we are going to do. Tomorrow we drive to Prince Rupert and start a 4 day fishing adventure on the salt and in the rivers with Jaron Janas of Terrace Sport Fishing Adventures

New Times

Don't forget to watch Outdoor Quest TV at its new times on Wild TV
Monday@00:30:00
Tuesday@02:00:00
Wednesday@20:30:00
Thursday@09:00:00
Friday@12:00:00
These are all CST

Hunting in New Zealand

Check out what Gerald and Sue Telford have to say about hunting in New Zealand. http://www.youtube.com/user/sheephunterab?feature=mhee#p/a/u/0/2oN-1O09HdY

SCI Canada News Letter Online.

Dear Fellow Hunter:
Please click here to view the exciting 7th Edition (June-July) of your 3D Online SCI-Canada Newsletter, Venator Borealis.
Thank you and good hunting!

Kitchen is Done!

Remodelling our kitchen has definitely been a labour of love and it's taken a little over a year to complete but we are done! We did everything ourselves save for the stained glass in the cabinets and the granite countertops. We think it turned out pretty well.

Our Africa Trip Wind up.

Well we have been home for 3 days now and life is almost back to normal. I've sort of made a dent in the office work that piled up while I was gone. I know I'd rather be back in the Eastern Cape sneaking through the thorn veld chasing one of the over 50 species that are there to hunt.
Here are the other animals that were on our list.
Springbok

Blesbok

Mountain reedbuck

Warthog

Impala

Bush buck

The people of the Eastern Cape were warm and welcoming. The number one question Sandi gets from other women is "Did you feel safe?" Yes, we felt safe, South Africa is a long ways away from the trouble spots and the Eastern Cape is just far enough south that you don't have to worry about health concerns like malaria.
Each animal was a very exciting hunt with just about everyone requiring multiple stalks. The incredible wealth of animals in the eastern Cape was mind boggling not only from the basis of variety but shear numbers as well. Guy from Wild Horizon can make any hunt or animal you wish happen. He has access to the premier areas that don't see the hunting pressure from the big number operators.  

Guy and Clint were great professionals, hunters and companions. The areas were first class with us being the first hunters ever on the one. I always look for smaller outfits to hunt with. I like to be hunting with the owner and not being another number in a big camp. Owners care and have a lot of pride in the results and it sure showed here. I like people who don't pressure me into shooting just any animal but instead look for great trophies. Contact Guy with your list if Africa is on the agenda, he can customise a trip for you and his prices are very reasonable. As Guy said, not only the wealthy come to Africa and everyone rich or not deserves that once in a lifetime hunt and memories.

PS Guy is planning a trip here later this summer so you can meet up and discuss this in person with him.

Northern Spot and Stalk

Well it was the 4th and final night of my spot and stalk hunt. Again I was spotting bears right from the very start. Seems as though the bears were just starting to get into the mating season and move around. I saw 7 adult bears and 3 cubs for a total of 10 bears in 3 hours. They all seem to be feeding on the clover and young dandelions. I had a great stalk on one young boar being only 15 yards from him he had no idea I was there. great looking bear with a wide V shape white blaze from shoulder to shoulder across his chest. I almost pulled the trigger but images of the big boar wouldn't let me do it. So I gathered some great video and headed out in search for more bears. As the evening was ending I came across two more small bears a few miles apart. I never did see the large bore again. I got to the truck mosquito ravaged and wore out. I poured a coffee and made the 5.5 hr drive home in the dark. I will most definitely be back out next year. But for now its back to work and almost time to start scouting for sheep.

Matt

Bush Buck success!

In spite of the heavy rain we have had success with our quest for a bush buck. They are the smallest of the spiral horned antelope that includes the kudu and the eland here in South Africa. The bush buck weighs in at 130 pounds on average and trophy horns start at 13" in length. The area they live in is impossible to describe as it is a thick twisted tangled mess beyond belief. My PH Clint Gower of Wild Horizon tells me that nothing is too small for a bush buck to get through and  I believe him. We hunt them as we would hunt whitetail back home, hitting the ridges early and hoping to spot one out sunning himself. The ram is a big fan of sun and that is why the weather has made it tough. We saw a nice ram close yesterday but he walked straight away not giving me a chance. Today we watched one feed out and I made sure of my shot.
As Clint said bush buck hunting is hours of boredom that culminates in seconds of panic. A very worthy trophy.