My Broken Curse

Hunting season. So it begins for a new year...archery starts September 1st-9th and rifle opens the 10th. Some are polishing up their archery skills before opening day and even more are cleaning their rifles in anticipation for 10 days later. Kyle and I are among the few that get to start our season early in hopes of beating the rush. Some come in from all over the province for archery season while many come in for rifle. Most are in hopes of scoring on an elk. Ive been hunting since 2005 and have not gotten an elk..year after year i would try my hardest and get out whenever i could. Most of the time with my 2 kids in tow. It wasn't easy and i kept wondering if maybe i was cursed. Would this be the one animal that would elude me and haunt my dreams for all my days? Or has it just been year after year of bad luck and my time will come? Either way i started my year with hope that this would be it.
The archery season came and i was ready. 

I headed out opening day, kids at the grandparents, so i had the whole day to myself to hunt. I met up with my friend James and his boy to hunt in the morning. We seen 2 cows and a calf first thing in the morning, they were pretty spooked but i figured i would try anyway. I knew where they would pop out of the trees and i already knew which cow had the calf. I set off and as i came around the treeline to the opening i was stopped dead in my tracks. There was a guy walking slowly down the treeline towards where they would pop out and i was frozen with disbelief. At first i thought maybe he didn't know i was there so i stood there contemplating what to do next. While lost in thought he stopped and turned around. Noticing me standing there he came walking over to me. It didn't take long of talking to him and the hunt was ruined for both of us and I discovered he was well aware that i was chasing them. I left the clearing fuming. That was the first time I've ever had another hunter deliberately ruin my hunt. 

The rest of my archery season go by at a fast pace. We managed to make a trip to visit and Hunt with Kyle's cousin Randy in the next valley over for a couple days. We seen lots of bulls and some were calling but nothing managed to come together for us. Out of the archery season i only missed 1 or 2 days of hunting, i didn't see elk every day but I did see some decent whitetail bucks that I was able to attempt a stalk on. 

The archery season passed and although I was feeling slightly defeated, I was looking forward to rifle season-sort of. This year rifle opener fell on a Saturday, which meant the amount of people in the bush was going to increase big time, more so then if it fell on a weekday. While archery season I can shoot any bull and below 1100m a cow as well, come rifle season its 6 point or better unless you stay below 1100m then spike is open as well. My chances were narrowed down significantly, but at the same time increased. Getting into range of a bull with my rifle would be much easier than with my bow but it was finding a 6 that was the hard part. Last year we had elk everyday of season (except in archery, we seen nothing) but none were legal. 

The day before opener, September 9th, still during archery season and Kyle was on days off. So his parents took the dogs and kids for us and we headed up the valley. The plan was to get up to where Kyle wanted to hunt for the morning of rifle opener and we would hunt our way up with our bows. On our way up we seen a nice black bear but no elk. We got up into the mountains and it was full of people ready for opening morning. Every corner we turned held a new camp, some with multiple trailers, ATVs and trucks. We did see a cow and calf moose. Kyle was frustrated. We glassed until dark and without seeing anything Kyle decided he would rather sleep in our own bed for the night. So we started the long drive home. On the way home I suggested going up to where we had our trail camera in the morning, traffic in there was pretty limited and I just had a good feeling about the area this year, even though we hadn't seen a 6 point in there. He hummed and hawed but i insisted. So in the morning, that was the plan.

We were up early even after a late night, all the gear was still in the jeep so we just had to get dressed and grab the guns then go. It was a closer drive then where we went the night before but difficult to get into with the jeep. We managed to get in with it still dark out and parked down below. The plan was to walk the 2 kms in then go sit where we could see the trail that cut through the clearing  and where the camera was set up. The wind was perfect and it was still fairly dark when we started walking up the road but light enough for me to see the rocks on the road so i didn't kick any. We got up to where the trail cuts through the clearing but it was still too dark for me to walk up it without scaring everything in the valley ( I cant see very good in low light and usually end up kicking something, tripping or falling). As we waited for it to lighten up more I scanned the clearing with my binoculars. I was really happy I had my Minox binos because they work awesome in the limelight. After about 10 minutes of glassing on and off, I found 2 elk. I quietly said Kyle there are a couple of elk on the landing, which was about 500 yards in front of us, but I cant tell if any are bulls. We stayed rooted to the spot, we were in the wide open and didn't want the elk to notice our presence. I watched them through my binos, as it lightened up a little bit more I could tell one was a bull and now Kyle could see through his binos as well. He confirmed the bottom elk was a bull but couldn't get a count on him. We watched until they disappeared around the ridge and we started hiking up to the landing- abandoning our original plan. We got up to the landing and it was finally light enough to see around us without issue, so headed up and followed the ridge. On the other side of the ridge it dropped down into a small clearing without any type of road or trail access. Just as we crested the ridge to see down into the clearing we caught them heading into the trees on the other side- we were too late.
We backed away and went to the landing and decided to go back to plan A, the wind was still good and we had time to get up there before it got too late in the morning. We went up and sat for a couple hours until the wind started to change and swirl. So we backed out. 

We decided to go into town to get some gas and a snack. We tried to decide what to do for the afternoon/evening. I suggested going back to the same area and having an afternoon nap until it was time to go again for the evening. So we did. After a late night and early morning I was tired, the jeep isn't the most comfortable thing to sleep in but i still managed to get a couple hours in. Once it was time to go, we got ready and checked the wind-it was blowing all wrong. It was a huge dampener on our evening..now what to do? We took a chance and left the area for another one, we didn't want to stir the area up with our scent and I was dead set on being back in there for the morning. So we drove around, glassing trying to find something but we had no luck at all. After dark Kyle wanted to go all the way back home to sleep but I didn't want to, I wanted to go back up to where we had been that morning and sleep in there, i mean we had the tent and our sleeping gear along with the stove and mountain houses- we were set up to stay on the mountain. So much to Kyles dismay and my persistence and stubbornness- we slept on the mountain. I wanted to be the first ones in there just in-case that bull was a 6. We parked farther down then we had parked that morning and Kyle in all his grumpiness said he didn't want to have to mess around with the tent in the dark or in the morning so I suggested we sleep in the jeep, that didn't make his mood any better. I grabbed my sleeping bag and put my seat all the way back and settled in for the night. It wasn't the best night sleep, my knees disagreed with this sleeping arrangement immensely.

In the morning we didn't even bother eating, we just put our gear on and went up to where we had parked last time. Kyle was concerned we weren't going to see anything, and i was worried as well but didn't want to divert from our course. The night was a very bright night, it was like daylight- you could see everything.We were worried they would leave the clearing earlier and we would miss them again. As we hiked up to the same spot as before we stopped to glass the clearings, there was nothing. So we continued to the clearing  he had disappeared to the morning before. We came up to the ridge and with Kyle being over a foot taller than me, he could see much more than me. We didn't get to far up the ridge when Kyle grabbed my arm and said the bull was bedded in the middle of the clearing.I quickly got my rifle ready while he counted his tines. I got up to a spindly little Christmas tree and used it as a rest...it wasn't the best rest. Kyle said he is a six, take him when you are ready. It took my a few seconds to feel like I could take a good shot off that spindly thing. Once I felt a little more comfortable i squeezed my trigger on my new Browning x-bolt 300wsm. After I shot I quickly reloaded, and Kyle was already celebrating. My bullet hit him and he didn't even move, his head just dropped. I instantly started shaking so bad from the adrenaline and cold, I was in shock- I finally after all these years got my elk!! 

Kyle said he would go back the 2 kms to the jeep and bring it up to the landing and grab our packs. I stayed with my rifle ready for either a bear to come in or for the bull to jump up and run (it has happened before to people we know!). I was still shaking pretty badly and I thought I had seen his head move. So I tried my best to look through my binos and keep still to watch him. Sure enough he moved his head again! I got back behind my rifle and tried as hard as I could to stop shaking. I wasn't succeeding very well. One I felt somewhat better I tried to put another in him- and missed. After hearing my gun shot Kyle rushed a little more to get back to me, not knowing if a bear came in or my bull got up. Once he got to me I told him the bull was still alive and to please put a bullet in it to end its suffering- I tried but was shaking to badly. So he did and with that the bull expired right away. 

As we got our packs on and loaded up to hike down to retrieve him, I had a mixture of emotions. I was excited to see my bull but it was now overshadowed by this guilt and doubt. If my shot didn't kill the bull right away, but Kyles did- was it really my bull? Did I just wound him superficially? If I did, how could I claim the bull as mine when it wasn't a killing shot? Was it my fault that the bullet strayed from where I wanted it to go? Did my rifle somehow get knocked out? All these questions would be answered once I got my hands on that bull. 

I desperately needed the answers and I was trying to rush down to my elk, but Kyle wouldn't allow it- he wanted pictures of me when I lay my hands on him. I was impatient. When I finally got to him, I was in awe of his beauty and strength. My shot was a killing shot, it would have just been a longer death and for that I was racked with guilt. I was thankful that Kyle had been with me and was able to make death quicker for him, I didn't expect to have quite that strong of a reaction after shooting him. I always shake a little after I pull the trigger but never so much as to render me useless if I needed to take another shot. My only guess is after trying so hard, doubting myself, working myself up every season, excitement, disappointment...10 years of all these emotions built up, and in that moment of celebration it came out all at once.

After we got some photos, i started to field dress him but I was going to slow for Kyle and he soon took over. So I got all the bags out and the tarp out to put the meat on and held legs when he needed. Once one of the hind quarters were freed from the bulls body I put it on my pack and strapped it down. I managed to get my pack on and get up without any help, the pack didn't feel too bad (Thank you Crossfit!) and I made my way up to the ridge and dropped down to the jeep. By the time I got to the jeep, unloaded the quarter into the jeep and made my way back to Kyle he had the bull pretty well done. He was just working on the head but all the meat was separated. This round I was taking a front quarter, backstrap, tenderloin and the head as well as my rifle- it was much heavier than my first pack. Kyle, being the giant he is, decided to take both quarters, tenderloins and backstraps in one trip. Needless to say I had to help him up off the ground, but he still beat me to the jeep.

A week later I took my gun out to double check my zero. It was off by almost 3 MOA- which was exactly how far over my bullet hit from where I was aiming. I was happy it wasn't me, but confused how my gun got knocked off. It must have gotten bumped or something while it was in the jeep.

Nikita

Sept 5 - Archery Season in BC 2015

The day started like any other day during hunting season, except I was not hunting with Kyle or the kids. I was heading out to hunt with a friend of mine and his son, while Kyle took the kids hunting. Both of us were looking for elk and decided maybe we could do better split up.
I got to James camp site at 6:30 am. It was perfect timing, they were pretty well ready to go. So we grabbed our bows and started walking. It was raining, and had been raining all night so everything was already saturated. We had to wait a little bit for daylight to come but once it did we were able to  glass the fields down below. It didn't take long to spot a small herd of about 8 elk, 6 cows and 2 calves. Luckily the area was open for cow. They were at the opposite end in the farthest field from us so we started to walk when movement caught my eye below us- 2 elk had come onto the field below us. It was a cow and a spike bull. The guys gave me the go ahead on first elk so once they had gone behind some trees a scooted down the large steep hill and across the field. I had kept an eye on them until i lost sight at the bottom, I noticed the cow had made the tree line on the other end of the field when I reached the bottom. I hoped that the spike was still in the field, lagging behind her like he did before. I got to the edge of the field and could hear him making his way up the big hill in the trees. James and Chris caught up to me and we decided to try for the larger group of elk at the opposite end of the area. We made our way through soaked waist high grass and down to the river. Unfortunately we ended up jumping the cows and they took off so we made our way back to their camp. The rain never let up the whole time, I was really happy with my Onca Gear. Under my softshell jacket I was completely dry, even my phone in my pocket was dry, and my pants and jacket both were dry by the time I made it back to town in with the heat on in my truck. My boots on the other hand felt like they had enough water in them for fish to live in. As I made my way out of the bush I called to see how Kyle was doing with the kids. He was successful! Apparently he got a cow elk right at daybreak and by the time I phoned it was already dropped off at the butcher. So we met up and left one vehicle behind and tried to find me an elk. We found a grizzly and lots of whitetails, little bucks and does with fawns- but no elk. So I finally had enough of my wet feet and we made our way home.

I changed my boots and we headed out again. The rain was still coming down but it was getting the animals moving so we didn't want to waste it. We went to a different area and it didn't take long for us to start seeing game. Right away we started seeing deer and a black bear! Then another black bear and another. We ended up seeing 6 black bears total, 3 young bears and a sow with little itty bitty cubs. I made attempts at stalking several deer but the one wasn't going to stick around for anything and the other I came close to but a truck pulled up and was making a bunch of noise and scared the buck away. After that it was all does and little bucks. We did manage to kill a couple grouse for the freezer afterwards tho, the kids were pretty excited. As we were running out of light we happened upon a couple deer. Kyle takes one look and says Nice Buck, Go! So I got my arrow nocked and started to pull a stalk, I only seen the one buck because he was a red color and he had a nice 4x4 rack that was tinged slightly red. He seen me and he spooked into a large patch of xmas trees, but when he spooked the other one slowly jogged behind him into the tree patch. So I didn't get a good look at him, just noticed movement and a grey body. So I made my way quietly around the xmas trees until i found a slight opening through them. I tucked in a little so I had cover and decided to wait to see if they would come through it. As I was tucking in the red buck spotted me. All i could see was a face and antlers watching me from the trees. So I froze. It took him a minute to decide what he wanted to do but he eventually scooted across the opening without giving me the chance to draw back. So i knelled down hoping the other one was coming. It didn't take long and I seen antlers coming through the trees. Knowing I had a small window of opportunity I pulled back right away and waited at full draw. He didn't even know I was sitting only 20 yards away, he started to walk into the opening and as soon as I had a clear shot i took it. The arrow hit him hard. So I waited for a minute or 2 before running back to get Kyle, just making note of where i was and where he was when i hit him. I knew it was going to be a hard search for him, the xmas tree patch was HUGE and extremely thick. Kyle came in with me and the kids waited quietly in the truck. We found my arrow and started to do a bit of a grid through the trees, it didn't take long and I could here truck doors banging back at the road and the kids making a bunch of noise. So Kyle kept looking and I ran back down to the truck to give them poop for being so noisy. As soon as I opened the door to give them trouble Pheonix cuts me off saying she found my buck. I looked at her dumbfounded. She pointed out the window into the trees a little ways, she says hes right there I watched him and the other buck run over there and then yours fell down and the other one ran. So I put my binos up and sure enough there he was, 30 yards from the damn dirt road! So I bailed the kids out so they could come and see it with me.

I was so excited to see him. I never realized how big he was until I walked up to him and was able to put my hands on him. He is definitely my biggest deer to date.

Elk Season 2014

This had to have been the best year for elk we have had. We both hunted hard from September 1st to October 20th, and I think I only missed a total of 7 days hunting in that time. We seen lots of elk, we had elk everyday whether we seen them or heard them bugling. But finding that legal bull during rifle season or a bull I could get a chance at during the short bow season was tough!

September 1st, opening day,  we had action. We had 2 different bulls calling back and forth and cows walking around our blind, unfortunately the winds changed and screwed us over- everything went silent and the cows left. Afterwards we decided to hike around and see if we could find something. We did find where the one bull that was above us had been when he was calling and basically where he had been living. The whole area reeked like him and there was fresh sign everywhere.

 

Another memorable day during the elk season was hunting in Skookumchuck. Again we found lots of elk but nothing that was legal. We were heading down the dirt road and Kyle looked to his right and seen a bunch of elk in an opening, but instead of just letting me get out and going to check it out he bailed out with me. Unfortunately in his excitement he scared them all off by just charging in and not realizing that the elk could see him. As we watched them take off Kyle could see the herd bull mixed in with his cows and he was a BIG 6 point. So we tried to make a plan of one of us dog behind the herd and the other try to cut them off. It worked but he never gave either of us a clear shot. We ran out of light and had to call it quits.

 

Probably the most exciting days were hunting river bottom. We had the kids with us again and we parked the jeep and Kyle let out a locator bugle to see if we could get an answer. Right away one fired up not far from us. So I loaded up and went into the thick bush to find where they were. I got to the rivers bank and caught sight of a spike through the trees down in the river. So I quietly creeped to the edge of the river but still hidden by brush and sat down. There was the spike and a couple cows hanging out in the water. Kyle kept calling and I watched and listened. A bull lit up again right away, but I couldn't see him because he was on the other side of the river in the extremely thick river bottom brush. After waiting for what felt like hours he finally was mad enough to come to the river. He was aggressive, thrashing the brush with his antlers and screaming back at Kyle every time he let out a call. They were only about 40 yards from me and my heart was pounding. Kyle kept letting out calls and the bull got more and more aggrivated- but he never left his cows. I think I counted his tines 20 times while sitting and watching him- wishing a 6th would magically sprout. But unfortunately he had busted off his main beams which made him a 5X4. As the light grew dimmer he started to herd his cows down the river towards the open fields so I quickly made my way back to Kyle and the kids and headed for the fields on my own. I had seen the spot that they crossed over the fence when we had come in so I went there and sat. They jumped the fence only 20 yards in front of me, but they were moving. The bull was pushing them and I couldnt figure out why, Kyle wasnt calling anymore and they were quite a ways from where we had been. I followed them into the christmas tree patch and froze when I heard the squeak of the fence catching. I slowly turned my head to my right to see a satelitte bull come walking up behind me and only about 20 yards to the right of me, following the herd. He stopped next to me and looked around, smelling. I held my breath. And he let out a bugle that was so loud it had my trembling with adrenaline. The herd bull screamed back and he started to walk the same direction. He only made it about 50 yards when Kyle let out a bugle and it made him stop and turn, he went straight towards Kyle. By this time it was to dark for shooting but I was having such an amazing time I didnt care that neither bull was legal- I wanted to watch them. Kyle didnt realize the satelitte bull was there nor that it was comng to see him and with all the christmas trees Kyle and it almost walked into each other. By then I was making my way back to him and the kids. The kids were so excited they talked about the elk the whole way home.

 

The next day we decided to go back to the same area in hopes that with all the talking another satelitte would have come in and maybe he would be a legal 6 point. We got in and Kyle took the kids farther down the river bank and I went to the same spot. You could see all the kokanee swimming in the river and jumping for the bugs. I was only seated for about 5 minutes when movement caught my eye- bear. I sat still and watched as it came out of the long grass down to the water. It was a grizzly cub...then another one came running down to the water. I sat frozen, heart trying to pound out of my chest. Thats when momma came out. She wasnt a very old bear, it took another minute of watching her and the made their way to my side of that river. I quickly got up, grabbed my gear and phoned Kyle. He answered a little peeved I was phoning instead of texting him, but all I had to say was Grizz sow and cubs  and he was packing the kids up. I met them at the grass road and took the kids to the jeep right away and stood outside with them inside. Kyle was standing on the road watching for her- he knew as soon as she had found where I was sitting because she started huffing and popping her jaws. She followed my scent right out towards the road and Kyle yelled at her. She stopped and each cub popped their head out on a side of her to see what was going on, it just took another yell from Kyle and she took her cubs and ran.

 

Although we both hunted hard only one of us came out successful. The second to last day of the season, and only the second time we got out without the kids, Kyle shot a big young bull. We were heading out with a couple friends and only about 15 minutes of driving down the dirt road a herd of elk were standing next to the road in a clearing. We watched them run pretty far out and stop and watch us. The bull was just a legal 6 point. Standing at 425 yards Kyle dropped him from within the clearing, and just like that we had meat for the freezer! We loaded him up and finished the evening off trying to find another one since there were still 3 of us with tags, we never found another legal bull but the one guy did manage to fill his whitetail tag on a big bodied 4x4 buck.

 

Opening Day of Hunting Season 2014

September 1st!! Opening day of archery season. Kyles parents took the kids for a sleepover last night so that we could head out bright and early. We got up into the blind at about 7:00am and it was cold! It was only 5C and windy. I really should have worn a couple more layers but dumb me thought the blind will block most the wind, I should be fine....WRONG. I had layers in my pack but once we were settled I didnt want to go digging through it incase I scared an animal away. At about 8:00 we had a bull light up...and then another. We were getting excited that we may actually have a chance at one the first day. They called back and forth for a bit and then we heard cows chirping, not far from us. So I got my bow and started to get ready hoping the cows would get one of the bulls to come down. Then the cows went silent...the wind had picked up and changed. It was swirling right to them and they left. Shortly after that the bulls went silent too. It was pretty frustrating. So we sat for another hour or 2 hoping maybe they would come back but the wind was not cooperating. It was constantly changing and swirling so we decided to get out of the blind and hike...Thank god! I was freezing, my feet were so numb I couldnt feel them for a little bit of the hike and was pretty clumsy. But the rest of me warmed up quick especially with the sun out now. We decided to hike up out of the basin and up the mountain. Close to the ridge we found the one bulls bedding area and where he was calling from. So it was nice being able to learn the area a little better and have an idea where he hangs out now. So we made our way down to the jeep and decided to go to a different area.

We headed to a different area in hopes we could find a bull, even though we were running out of time. We had to pick up the kids before dinner time. So we parked the jeep and hiked up to the ridges. We had run out of time, and if we had shot an elk we would have been very late so we decided to do some glassing from the top and get some pictures. It was beautiful country and very steep, but we had a good view of some slides and an adjacent mountain range. We gave our new Onca Hunting Wear a good first test run and were happy, but we have a whole season to put it to the test still. We had a good day and had some fun. I was happy to be back in the high country.

Ground blind with a 2 yr old

So a couple weeks ago, the cow elk were open. We had done a couple drives with the kids but the problem with this is that cow season is ridiculous here. Every hunter and their dog are out driving looking for a cow. Every time we have seen more hunters then wildlife. So this time we left earlier in the afternoon and decided to drive a big loop and find a place to set up the ground blind. We went up behind Moyie on the sunrise. After about 10-15 mins of driving we found some wildlife...a big old grizzly bear. So we watched him for a while, took a couple pictures then continued on our way. The trip we were taking was up through Moyie, through the south country to eventually come out of Kookanusa to head home. It is quite the loop. After the grizzly we started to find everyone and their dogs...soo many trucks and quads...cow season. So we drove for a bit, until we got to Kyles area for the ground blind. As we were heading in...of course a truck comes driving out. The one nice thing with cow season is a lot of the people stay on the road. So if you get off the road, you don't see anyone. So we parked got the packs filled up and the kids on our shoulders and started hiking. We got out to the spot Kyle figured was good enough and set up. Now sitting in a blind with a 4 yr old and a 2 yr old is interesting. Pheonix was fine, she had been in a blind before and knew to play quietly. Easton on the other hand....is a 2 yr old boy that can not sit still for the life of him and is not what you would call quiet. So of course, Easton is hanging out the windows, flopping against the blind, climbing on us, and squealing at every noise he hears. After about 5 minutes you could tell Kyle was losing it...but he never said anything. After 10 minutes he started to voice that the elk would never come. At 15 minutes he's shaking his head, still saying we're not going to see anything. At 20 minutes he gave up...That's it, were packing up! Me on the other hand was having trouble controlling my out burst of laughter from 5 minutes in. The look on Kyles face mixed with a 2 yr olds joy had me in hysterics. Oh Easton loved the blind...but is still too young to understand you need to be quiet!

First Hunt of the Season

September 3, 2012

Kyle and I decided to go out for a late afternoon/evening hunt. We got our packs ready with some food, knives and clothes..and anything we may need. Changed our field points to broadheads. I asked Kyle if he thought I would need my insulated jacket and he waved a hand at it. So, I ended up wearing my light hoodie and packing my vest and rain jacket. We headed out at 3pm and took the kids up to the grandparents then headed up the valley. We were heading to our elk spot that we hunted opening day last year.

Unfortunately the road had been washed out near the valley bottom and we had to hike in much earlier then we had thought. We parked the truck, put on the war paint, buckled up and started trekking up the mountain. It was a nice day, 21 Celsius with a breeze. It was a long walk up to where we wanted to cut in to head up to the ridge. As we came to the clearing we were planning to cut through Kyle whispers, "Bear!". I look up and sure enough a big black bear was meandering about in the clearing. Black as black could be! Kyle looks at me and asks," Do you want him?"

I pulled my cap back on and nodded. We started to cut through the clearing in the more grown in part, making it hard to keep an eye on where the bear was. Once we got to the spot Kyle thought was good we tried to look for him, but the trees were to tall and grown in, we couldn't find him. Then Kyle gets this brilliant idea to use his elk reed as a dying rabbit (predator call)....well let me put it this way...it definitely did NOT sound like a dying rabbit! It was a sound that words can not explain...
It obviously was interesting enough to catch the boars attention though. I had ranged a few trees to get an idea of shooting areas while Kyle was dying with his reed. Soon you could hear the boar coming in, but couldn't see him. Then, 30 yards from us, right behind the tree in my shooting lane were little nubby ears sticking out, then his face...I pulled back and anchored. Mean while Kyle couldn't see what I was seeing and is telling me I'm pulling to early and to let down. So I did...and as soon as I did he walked right into my shooting lane. SOB, I pulled back again, and again Kyle is chirping away beside me like a squirrel in a tree. I didn't have a clear shot so i let down again. After that he cut into the trees and slowly made his way past us and up to the woods. Not a bad start to the evening.

We cut up through the rest of the clearing and broke through the trees. Up and up we hiked. Soon the trees started to thin and turn into alpine. The colors were beautiful, fall had touched the top of the mountain. Brilliant reds and yellows. It was also much cooler up on the ridge, which was nice after climbing for so long. But I was soon wishing I had brought my insulated jacket! We hiked for another hour before Kyle picked a spot to set up. I dropped my pack, got the bear spray out, my bow ready and set up beside some root balls. Kyle went 60 yards behind me and started bugling. Not even 5 minutes after his first bugle, we got an answer. So they called back and forth for a while until the bull lost interest. So we packed up and headed to the valley he was calling from. Which included more climbing. We climbed and side scaled a step part of the mountain and set up. I went down into the trees and set up again while Kyle stayed up on the rock face. He started up again and instantly got an answer back. The bull was not happy we had found his valley. As Kyle was watching from the cliffs he located 2 of his cows, so he packed up and came down to where I was, told me about the cows and we decided that if he had cows with him he wasn't going to come out of his safe haven. So we headed down into the valley...crashing the entire way..it was steep and thick. Of course the bull heard us coming down into his territory, but he didn't take off. He came to us, screaming. He thought we were a herd of elk. When we heard him screaming and coming closer we stopped and got set up, Kyle 20 yards behind me. Soon you could hear the cows calling and him screaming, coming closer and closer. Then it went quiet for a minute....and not far off he started chuckling at us, then let out a loud and aggressive scream. Kyle let out a bugle back...but cut the bull off....crashing....then a bugle...from the bottom of his valley...more crashing...another bugle from the other side of his valley. We scared him, he thought we were a big bull coming to get his cows and so he took them and ran. After there was a lot of swearing coming from Kyle and my heart returned to its normal pace, we took a look around and noticed it was getting dark. We packed up, put my bow in my pack and we hurried down the mountain trying to beat the encroaching darkness. We made it to the road just as it got pitch black. We put on our head lamps and headed back towards the truck...keeping an eye out for bears. We came upon to sets of glowing eyes staring at us, Kyle started yelling at them and getting the defender ready. They bounded down off the road...mule deer..a spike buck and young doe, brother and sister. By the time we got to the truck it was 10:30pm.
It was a great way to spend our date night!


Kyle & Nikita

Scouting in August

August 12-13, 2012

Kyle and I decided to head out for a scouting trip and an overnighter. The valley we decided to go into is not accessible by truck, so we brought along our bikes. We loaded up the bikes, packs and 2 of the dogs (the other one( Koda) stays with the kids at the grandparents) and drove out. It takes about an hour and a half to get to the spot we park, then another few hours to get up the mountain. Unfortunately the terrain is not very bike for riding up the mountain, so with our packs on we pushed the bikes up it. That sucks by the way! Usually it is quite a bit cooler when you are up that high...but it wasn't. It was still 25 degrees while is was 30 degrees in the valley. The norm is about 15 degrees cooler then the valley...so we didn't know what we were getting into at all!

We got about 3/4 of the way up the mountain before Kyle called for a stop. We were both done, he was exhausted (he just got off night shift) and I was cooking. We stopped by a creek and the dogs were in seventh heaven! Kyle also decided to wear his new boots up and had some nice blisters emerging (yuck!). We dropped our packs, took off our boots and ate with our feet in the creek. After about an hour of resting we put our boots back on with some clean socks and decided to walk the rest of the valley with just the binos, camera and defender. Thank fully once your back there, the valley is not very long or wide so its easy to glass with binos. When we came up onto an open area Kyle announces that he sees elk across the valley. So we found some bushes to sit in and glass them. There were 10 elk in total and they had seen us. They were feeding above the tree line and one of them was a bull...a very mature bull, the others were 4 calves and the rest cows. So we watched them and scanned the rest of the valley for more signs of life and we eventually found a lone billy that came out to sun himself in the last rays of evening. We didn't stay long to watch the elk, the bull was getting pretty agitated with us and pushed the cows a little more up the mountain. We headed back to the bikes and Kyle decided we should head back to the truck.

 By the time we got to the bikes I was not feeling so good, I had a pounding headache. So we jumped on the bikes and rode down the mountain. It would have been nice....minus the headache...and it was definitely a lot faster then hiking down. While we were heading out the animals were starting to come out. On our way down the mountain we seen a massive Bull Moose, a mule deer doe and her fawn and a whitetail doe. Once we were at the truck we cooked up a mountain house and Kyle let me eat first to see if it would help with the headache...it didn't...it made me nauseous, so i didn't eat. Kyle drove us down to the valley in the dark and we set up camp..or i should say he set up camp. I was basically useless by this time, I had every piece of clothing packed on me and I was still shivering. Once the tent was ready i climbed in my sleeping bag and instantly passed out.

The next morning I felt refreshed but still a little fatigued. Kyle decided we wouldn't do any major hiking for the day. So we drove the valleys, we drove down one that we know well; it was washed out so we jumped out and walked a ways in. This time we ran into 2 cow moose, an owl, and glassed 2 more goats. After this we headed home, slowly, taking the long way around through the bush instead of heading back to the main roads.








Nikita & Kyle

Elk Hunting

Opening Day - Sept 1, 2011

In our area hunting season opens on the first of September for bow only and it lasts until the 9th, then rifle opens. So we decided to head out to an elk spot that is not accessible by vehicle. We backpacked in with all our stuff and man was it cold! There were patches of snow as went up the mountain and it was foggy.

 

Once we got to the top of the mountain to set up camp, the fog had cleared and the snow was about 2 inches deep. We had an awesome viewing area of the whole valley and a good vantage point to listen to any bugles. We got camp set and did some glassing before we decided to head down. We dumped the stuff we didn't need into the tent, grabbed our packs and bows then headed out. We walked the ridge, glassed and listened.

Pretty soon the weather started to change again. The temperature dropped and it started to snow. Kyle made the call to go back to camp and pack up. At this time my sleeping bag only went down to zero Celsius, and he was worried I would get too cold. (I'm a very cold person). We packed up camp and started to head down the mountain the opposite side we came up. It was a stupid idea at the same time it was a good idea. It was VERY steep but it dropped us into the valley that was full of bugling elk, as well as a grizzly sow.

We dropped into a bench that had a nice marshy area with TONS of elk sign. Tracks, feces, rubs and bugling. So we set up in an area to attempt to call in the bull. It took about half an hour to get him to come in. He came in hot and at a very rapid speed screaming the entire way. Kyle got set up, pulled back and waited. The elk was a mature 6-point. He came crashing in to 30 yards of us and stopped....his vitals covered by a tree. We gave a soft call and he took a couple steps forward...to another tree. While waiting the wind shifted, carrying our scent straight towards him. He spooked and took off. My heart was hammering in my chest. That was an unreal experience and I loved every minute of it.

Later on in the season Kyle went back up with his bow to try and get the same bull but was stopped short by the grizzly sow we had found signs of on opening day. He decided to not stick around!

 

Nikita & Kyle