Dease Lake Hunters Be advised...
1. The Dease River is extremely low. In many places the river has only 3" of water flow. Lots of chaps are burning out jet impellars right now. I even had a few challenges runing a canoe because I was running into sandbars.. Stay to the outside of the corners but be careful.
2. The Jade Boulder Road is badly punched out and in rough shape. Lots of pickups have been severely stuck and the jade boulder truck drivers are getting pretty tired of pulling people out. Some of the boulder trucks coming out of Caribou Pass are sinking half way up the tires in some of the bigger mud holes. FYI these tires are about nine feet tall.
3. The Taltan First Nation is very unhappy with folks hunting in their traditional territory. I didn't hear any news of vandalism or road blocks but there has been some aggression shown to hunters in the Tanzilla Pub by the local indians. The Tanzila Pub's owner / operator does not condone that kind of behaviour and has thrown a bunch of them out on their ear. Just take note and be aware.
Anyhow, the good news.
I harvested this 44" Bull monday evening september 20th. His antlers are pretty darn long and pointy - friggin spears. Don't think he had been in too many fights yet. Either that or he's been the clear victor. Very little to nil bruising on the meat. Not sure the same could be said about the competition. He was pretty aggressive and motivated to fight after challenging him with a number of grunts..
Called in from about 750 metres (+/-) away on a windless quiet late evening. It took a lot of grunting, water splashing and willow beating to get him within range but when he was moving he did so with shocking speed.. One well placed shot at 180 metres and this warrior was offcially harvested. Fully dressed with bone in he weighed 698 lbs delivered to the butcher.
One shot from the 35 whelen and a 200gr Hornady Round Nose at 2650 fps just behind the shoulder. The quarters were quite heavy. My hunting buddy and I could not lift the front quarters.
Anyhow, here is a pic from the next morning. I gutted him by flashlight that night. Pretty steamy but meat loss was very very minimal - the shot was very well placed and he only ran about 20m before going down. Incidently later on that evening we discovered it was a full moon. We had been hunting for over one week and had not seen a single bull (about 4 cows though). I don't think it was a coincidence he came out that evening. I believe he had a cow in the bushes nearby. He kept glancing in my direction then back to the bushes he had walked out of numerous times. If true it explains why he responded so well to grunts and not cow calls.
The next morning we quartered him and packed him out - bit of a bugger getting the meat across the river back to camp. At least the skies were open and the nights were cold. You should be able to see the frost on the animal.
PS: That rifle is a Winchester Model 70 push feed with a 24" Semi-Heavy Taper Douglas Premium barrel 1:16" twist in 35 whelen. She looks like a featherweight but she ain't one.
ANY OTHER HUNTING SITREPS OUT THERE?
THINGS TO BE AWARE OF?
Cheerio guys and good luck with your hunting endeavors.
Richard
1. The Dease River is extremely low. In many places the river has only 3" of water flow. Lots of chaps are burning out jet impellars right now. I even had a few challenges runing a canoe because I was running into sandbars.. Stay to the outside of the corners but be careful.
2. The Jade Boulder Road is badly punched out and in rough shape. Lots of pickups have been severely stuck and the jade boulder truck drivers are getting pretty tired of pulling people out. Some of the boulder trucks coming out of Caribou Pass are sinking half way up the tires in some of the bigger mud holes. FYI these tires are about nine feet tall.
3. The Taltan First Nation is very unhappy with folks hunting in their traditional territory. I didn't hear any news of vandalism or road blocks but there has been some aggression shown to hunters in the Tanzilla Pub by the local indians. The Tanzila Pub's owner / operator does not condone that kind of behaviour and has thrown a bunch of them out on their ear. Just take note and be aware.
Anyhow, the good news.
I harvested this 44" Bull monday evening september 20th. His antlers are pretty darn long and pointy - friggin spears. Don't think he had been in too many fights yet. Either that or he's been the clear victor. Very little to nil bruising on the meat. Not sure the same could be said about the competition. He was pretty aggressive and motivated to fight after challenging him with a number of grunts..
Called in from about 750 metres (+/-) away on a windless quiet late evening. It took a lot of grunting, water splashing and willow beating to get him within range but when he was moving he did so with shocking speed.. One well placed shot at 180 metres and this warrior was offcially harvested. Fully dressed with bone in he weighed 698 lbs delivered to the butcher.
One shot from the 35 whelen and a 200gr Hornady Round Nose at 2650 fps just behind the shoulder. The quarters were quite heavy. My hunting buddy and I could not lift the front quarters.
Anyhow, here is a pic from the next morning. I gutted him by flashlight that night. Pretty steamy but meat loss was very very minimal - the shot was very well placed and he only ran about 20m before going down. Incidently later on that evening we discovered it was a full moon. We had been hunting for over one week and had not seen a single bull (about 4 cows though). I don't think it was a coincidence he came out that evening. I believe he had a cow in the bushes nearby. He kept glancing in my direction then back to the bushes he had walked out of numerous times. If true it explains why he responded so well to grunts and not cow calls.
The next morning we quartered him and packed him out - bit of a bugger getting the meat across the river back to camp. At least the skies were open and the nights were cold. You should be able to see the frost on the animal.
PS: That rifle is a Winchester Model 70 push feed with a 24" Semi-Heavy Taper Douglas Premium barrel 1:16" twist in 35 whelen. She looks like a featherweight but she ain't one.
ANY OTHER HUNTING SITREPS OUT THERE?
THINGS TO BE AWARE OF?
Cheerio guys and good luck with your hunting endeavors.
Richard
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. I only used it on a cow elk.
