Spring Bear Hunt

Just received this from our friends at SCI

Folks:

I know it may affect you directly, but our Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources is proposing to bring back the spring bear hunt in parts of Northern Ontario. We need all the support we can get on this....

Get onto the site and vote for reintroduction of spring bear hunt and pass this along to as many hunters as you can. Let’s not let the antis decide this for us.

http://www.torontosun.com/2013/11/14/ontario-bringing-back-spring-bear-huntSee More

Melissa Bachman

It's encouraging seeing hunters rallying in support of Melissa Bachman....now if we could only hold those in our own ranks to the same standards when they start bashing on other hunters and imposing their personal ethics. Anti hunters are a concern....but hunters publically bashing other hunters will be the end of our great heritage!

EHD confirmed in Alberta deer and antelope

 I was working down in the region when these deer started showing up and it appeared that EHD was to blame and it seems tests have confirmed it. Hopefully it was just a result of the unseasonably warm fall and not a sign of things to come.

http://www.healthywildlife.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/EHD-in-Alberta-2013.pdf

Great Pacific Adventure

Great Pacific Adventure

By T.J. Schwanky

 

 

There are many towns and cities across British Columbia that claim to be the salmon capitol of the world but I’m not sure you’d find a place more deserving than Prince Rupert. This quaint little costal town has been the hub of salmon fishing activity since the late 1800s when countless commercial canneries dotted the nearby shorelines. While a profitable commercial fishery still exists in the region, it’s sport fishing now, however, that brings most fishermen to Prince Rupert. For some reason, I’d never fished this region so when SCI supporter, Jamie Hunt of Great Pacific Salmon Lodge suggested we come up and check out his new lodge, Vanessa and I jumped at the opportunity. We managed to talk a few friends into joining us and Jamie gave us run of the lodge. We’d be his only guests for four days.

 

Vanessa and I arrived a day early which gave us the opportunity to check out the town and enjoy some of the local fare. Right along the waterfront adjacent to our hotel was the Cow Bay Shopping District. This historic part of town offers a number of great shops and fabulous restaurants; the highlight of which was dinner at the Cow Bay Café. This tiny little restaurant is world renown for their fusion cuisine and reservations are an absolute must. The town is also rife with totem poles and being real fans of these Native monuments, Vanessa and I took a few hours to go check them out. Many were brought over from Vancouver Island and the Queen Charlottes many years ago and they are unquestionably some of the most incredible totem poles I’ve ever seen.

 

Spending a day in town was a great way to acclimate to the West Coast pace but we were ready to go fishing the following day. Great Pacific Salmon Lodge is the only lodge right in Prince Rupert. It is located on a sleepy little island directly across from town so despite Prince Rupert only being a few minute boat ride away, you still feel like you are in a wilderness setting. The lodge itself is a converted house and it offers all of the amenities, including a chef that offers up some of the most incredible West Coast cuisine. Jamie has a fleet of three well-appointed boats with guides and also offers a service for anglers wishing to utilize their own boats and fish on their own.

 

The first day found us heading north for a couple of hours and as we rounded the corner of a particularly rocky point, our guide, Matt Anderson, pointed to a steep rock wall. “We’ll start there.”

 

Matt worked quickly to set up a couple rods with cut-plug herring and in no time both downrigger cables were singing in the morning breeze. We were right at the tail end of the Chinook run and Coho could be seen jumping everywhere but Matt figured if we put our time in that we could still pick up some monster Chinook. Vanessa really had her heart set on catching a Tyee and of course there were the bragging rights that went along with hooking the biggest fish.

 

Just as Matt was heading back to grab the steering wheel, the first rod began to bounce. Vanessa picked it up out of the holder and under Matt’s careful supervision, reeled down until it was tight and then she set the hook hard and began feverishly reeling. In no time she had our first fish of the trip to the boat; a fat eight pound Coho.  For the next 30 minutes or so, we caught and released another half dozen Coho when Matt suddenly said, “Oh no.”

 

On the horizon, water spouts could be seen rising out of the water. They were moving ever closer and even this prairie boy knew that a pod of killer whales was on the way. I was actually pretty thrilled to see some whales but little did I realize that a pod of orcas moving through the fishing grounds is similar to a pack of wolves invading your favourite moose swamp. The whales passed beside and under the boat and Vanessa and I jockeyed for position to gain the best view for our cameras. We could feel the spray on our faces as the whales surfaced. Once the exhilaration of seeing them so close ended, however, the realization that our hotspot was now devoid of salmon became all too clear. Matt suggested we head out to deeper water and try our luck for halibut.

 

We enjoyed a great afternoon of halibut fishing and decided to head back to the lodge about 4:00 in the afternoon. Fishing camps with buddies are always a great time and this was no different. There were plenty of tales of the ones that got away and plenty too of the ones brought to the scale. Everyone had a great day, although it seemed the killer whales had made their presence known right down the coast. After an incredible meal of fresh Dungeness crab, we enjoyed an evening on the deck, watching the sun go down on Prince Rupert.

 

We were up early the next morning and Matt wanted to head right back to where we had started the day before and this time the horizon was clear of water spouts. It didn’t take long for Vanessa to hook into her first Chinook, a 24 pound beauty. I followed shortly after with a 26 pounder and then a number of boats started to slowly move in on our position. We’d had the spot all to ourselves but it was hard to hide the excitement of catching the big fish on the single-action reels. We continued to work the steep wall with cut plug but the action definitely slowed. A few of the boats around us were boating big fish and you could see Matt’s frustration was growing. He asked Vanessa to reel one of the rods in.

 

Matt rummaged through a tackle tray and pulled out a big Atomic plug. “Let’s try something different.”

 

It didn’t take long for the plug to hook up with a couple fat Coho but when the rod doubled over and the line began to sing as it spooled off the reel, we knew it wasn’t another Coho. Vanessa grabbed the rod and tried to get her palm on the spool without the wildly spinning handles removing the skin from her knuckles. This fish was different than any other we’d hooked so far and it led us on a wild chase down the rocky shoreline. Each time Vanessa would gain a few feet of precious line, the huge fish would take a few yards. While I’m sure it took no more than 15 or 20 minutes for Vanessa to get the big Chinook boat side, it seemed an eternity.  We all let out a big sigh of relief as Matt slipped the net under the behemoth. Vanessa had her Tyee and then some.

 

While we never did top the weight of Vanessa’s Atomic salmon, several more Tyee came to the boat and by the end of the third day we had caught several hundred fish I’m sure. Most went back to complete their journey up the nearby rivers to spawn, we did manage to bring home nearly 150 pounds of processed salmon and halibut. It had been several years since I’d last fished the Coast but this trip definitely reignited a passion for fishing these monsters of the West Coast. I will definitely be going back to fish with Jamie and the great crew at Great Pacific Salmon Lodge.

 

For more information on booking your own Great Pacific adventure, Contact Great Pacific Salmon Lodge, Jamie Hunt, at 1-855-227-4775 or check them out on-line at www.greatpacificsalmonlodge.com

It's only a broken arm!

Vanessa has had a tough season this year, taking a fall on a goat hunt in October and badly breaking her arm. She ended up in surgery three weeks later and I don't think anyone figured she'd be hunting this fall. But, despite broken arm and all, Vanessa knocked this big boy down at 542 yards yesterday afternoon. The Creedmoor draws blood!!!!!!

New Zealand Adventure

Hunting, New Zealand Style

By T.J. Schwanky

 

Selecting an outfitter for a hunt can be a daunting task, especially when you are wandering around the Safari Club International convention and there are roughly 44 of them offering similar services. This is the dilemma we faced a couple years ago when trying to book our New Zealand hunt.  We did have a few very definite criterion that eliminated a few but there were still quite a number to choose from. We definitely wanted to hunt the South Island and we wanted to do a free-range hunt without the use of helicopters. We preferred a small operation with some very personal service and we wanted a good opportunity to take some mature animals. After that we were pretty open to anything. I've learned from years of traveling that it's good to know what you want but also be open minded enough to hear what is realistic. Vanessa and I spent the better part of three days meeting and chatting with outfitters and at the end of it all, there was one that really stood out. Gerald and Sue Telford are, as my Mom would say, just nice folks and in the end, that was the deciding factor on who we booked with. There were many others that offered similar hunts but we just really liked them and a trip was arranged for the following year.

We had a pretty long wish list that included a red stag, chamois and tahr for me and fallow deer, arapowa ram and tahr for Vanessa. New Zealand has no native land mammals and everything that walks on four legs can be traced back to early settlers bringing them over on ships, primarily from England. As there are no predators, save for ferrets and weasels in New Zealand, larger animals flourish and can only be controlled through hunting.  It truly is a hunter's paradise with a very unique list of huntable species.  There are no specified hunting seasons, no licences are required and there are no limits on harvest numbers, yet they still can't keep up with exploding populations. We booked 10 days of hunting with Gerald and Sue. They felt checking off everything on our list wouldn't be an issue.

Getting from Canada to New Zealand is relatively painless now that there are direct flights from Vancouver to Auckland and New Zealand is a super gun friendly country so taking your own rifle along is not a problem at all. As we knew we could face some long-range shots, especially for the tahr and chamois, we chose to take my Rocky Mountain Rifle chambered in 270WSM. It wears a Zeiss 4.5-14x44 Conquest with Rapid Z 800 and both Vanessa and I were very comfortable shooting it out to 500 yards and spent the month before the hunt doing a lot of long-range shooting. While Gerald also caters to bow hunters and enjoys extremely high success rates, he felt with the long wish list that we had, that being able to shoot 400 yards would definitely stack the odds in our favour.

We arrived a couple days early in Wanaka to give us some time to get over the jet lag that 17 hours of flying can cause and after a couple easy hikes and checking the zero on our rifles, we were off hunting. Gerald was tied up for the first couple days so he teamed us up with a young guide by the name of Duncan. The plan was to hunt Arapowa ram first as Gerald felt it would be the toughest animal to get. While these sheep closely resemble their domestic cousins, they have been feral for centuries and are indeed very wild and challenging to hunt. In fact, after a long day in the mountains we only managed to spot a couple small rams. Exhausted from the long day of hiking, Duncan suggested we head to another area to try and located a big red stag that Gerald had tried unsuccessfully to get a hunter on earlier in the season. It was a long shot but we were game.

After a strenuous climb, we arrived at a beautiful meadow tucked away deep in the trees. The rut was pretty well over and in the strong wind, it's not like we could have heard the distant roar of a stag anyhow. Duncan spotted them first. There were four cows or hinds as they are called and one small stag. I studied them carefully through the binoculars and suddenly another stag walked into view. I looked to Duncan for direction but he seemed somewhat unimpressed. "Is that good stag?" I whispered.

 

"A really good one."

It was in fact the stag that Gerald had tried to take earlier in the year. Duncan whispered something about it only being the first day. I'd seen all I needed to see and after having Duncan reassure me one more time that it was indeed a tremendous trophy, I leveled the crosshairs on the big bull's shoulder at just over 200 yards. The shot rocked him hard and after taking a couple steps forward, he careened backward and slid down the steep slope. The stag was an absolutely magnificent free-range specimen and I couldn’t believe my good fortune. First day or not, I couldn’t have been happier.

The following day, Duncan suggested we head higher into the mountains in search of chamois. While a diminutive trophy, chamois inhabit the most inhospitable terrain imaginable. Mountain goats would get a case of vertigo trying to follow in their footsteps. A very steep road led us to the top of the mountain and the plan was to check out several long ridges and then drop several thousand feet to a road below, hopefully with a chamois in our pack.

 

We spotted several female chamois after hiking a short distance. There were a few small males in the area but nothing that interested us. Then, Duncan spotted a good male across a steep canyon and as the rut was just beginning, he suggested we get closer to the females with the hopes the buck would come to check them out. It took a couple hours to make our way down the steep cliff and as if on cue, the buck began moving our way. An hour later, he was standing broadside at 165 yards. It was an easy shot and as the crosshairs settled just behind his shoulder, I had no doubt of the outcome as I tightened up on the trigger.  Rocks exploded just above the chamois and he scrambled down the cliff and quickly disappeared. I'd shot high. The six-hour hike to the bottom of the mountain couldn't have been longer.

There were still a couple of hours of daylight left when we reached the bottom and Duncan suggested we go take a look for an Arapowa ram.  We were both surprised when after walking only a short distance, we spotted a lone ram at just under 400 yards. With light fading fast and no way to get closer, Vanessa found a comfortable shooting position and gave us a thumbs up. With one well-placed shot she sent the big ram tumbling down the hill. She had her Arapowa ram, a unique trophy indeed.

 

The following day, Gerald took over the guiding duties and promised us an easier day than the previous two. The break sounded welcome. At first light, we were overlooking a steep drainage where Gerald felt there was likely to be a good fallow buck. It didn't take us long to locate a young buck in the heavy cover below. With the rut in full swing, Gerald felt that there had to be more fallow deer nearby. After an hour or so, a big buck suddenly appeared and aggressively ran the little buck off. I could tell by the way Gerald's face lit up that it was indeed a good one. Vanessa slipped a round into the 270 and waited for the big buck to offer a suitable shot. Finally, at 312 yards, he stopped and turned broadside. At the shot, the buck simply began walking up the hill apparently unscathed. But, after a few steps he began to falter and tipped over backwards, the victim of a perfect heart shot.

 

The following day, Gerald suggested we try for chamois again. We headed to a new area and after a short drive, struck off of on foot. After checking out a couple very steep drainages, Gerald spotted a good buck on the opposite side of a particularly nasty canyon. The problem was that he was over 400 yards away and there was no way of getting closer. With the miss two days previous still weighing heavy on my mind, my confidence was shaken but with a little coaxing from Gerald, I found a semi-comfortable shooting position and everything felt good. I was well practiced at ranges well beyond that of the chamois and I gave Gerald a nod. As the last echo of the shot reverberated through the steep canyon, I heard Gerald say, "Good shot." It took us over two hour and some very precarious climbing to get to the downed chamois and I must admit that a great feeling of redemption came over me.

 

There were no tahr in the region we were hunting, so the following day we drove three hours northwest to a sprawling sheep station and that evening we did a short climb and put a couple really good bulls to bed. Originally from the Himalayas, tahr are right at home in the steep mountains of the South Island. It was still early in the season and the bulls were just beginning to grow their lush, long hair coats. Just before dark we located one bull that absolutely glistened in the setting sun. His coat was magnificent compared to all the other bulls and he sported a very impressive set of horns. Vanessa nicknamed him Puffy and he was the focus of attention for the following day.

 

We were up early the following morning and we located the group of bulls not far from where we had put them to bed. It was going to be an arduous 2,000-foot climb but with the tahr in sight, adrenaline carried us up the mountain. After a few hours of playing hide and seek in the dips and folds, Puffy appeared directly above us, about 300 yards away. Vanessa found a comfortable shooting spot, extended the legs on the bipod and found the big bull in her scope. Gerald confirmed that it was indeed the bull we were after and told Vanessa to shoot when she was ready. As the bull stepped onto a rocky outcropping, Vanessa seized the opportunity and placed a perfect shot right in his heart. We were back to camp for lunch.

 

We had seen some more tahr on an adjacent mountain and Gerald suggested we head out late that afternoon and try to put one to bed for the following day. After lunch, we climbed about 500 feet up the mountain and glassed for a while. Then Gerald suggested we climb a bit more. Vanessa gave me one of those looks. We knew that our scouting mission was actually a hunt and for the next few hours, Gerald urged us up the mountain, a couple hundred feet at a time. Soon, we had gained a couple thousand feet and were near where we had seen tahr earlier. Darkness was coming on fast and Gerald suggested we do one last climb to a small copse of trees, from where we would glass until dark. Just as we reached the trees, Gerald hit the dirt and trained his binoculars on the opposite slope. I desperately searched for the focus of his attention but couldn't find it. "It’s a good bull. Take him," Gerald said matter-of-factly. Vanessa had the camera pointed across the valley. "I've got him," she said confidently.

 

Still desperately searching, I finally saw moment high on the slope. I looked through the binoculars and the rangefinder said 326 yards. As if on autopilot, I extended the legs on the bipod and found a comfortable spot in the dirt. Gerald urged me to hurry, as the bull would soon disappear over the ridge. Just as I found him in the scope, the bull paused and the 300 yard crosshair settled high on his shoulder. The report of the rifle surprised me but I had no doubt that the 130 grain bullet had found its mark. The big tahr ran a few steps and then tumbled several hundred yards down the hill. It was well after dark when we staggered back into camp. While Gerald said he had taken two tahr at once several times, this was the first time he'd had hunters do it on two separate mountains on the same day.

 

In six days we had taken six great animals so Gerald suggested we take a day off and then over the course of the next few days, he treated us to some long-range rabbit hunting, Vanessa took a couple of big mature Merriam's turkey and we enjoyed an incredible night of possum hunting. The best way to describe New Zealand is a very target-rich environment.

 

For more information, contact:

Telford Fishing and Hunting Services

http://flyfishhunt.co.nz/