Saskatchewan Bear Hunt 2018

It has been 3 years since we were last in Saskatchewan chasing the giants of the woods. Well this year we made it back to hunt again with Warren and Kerwin in north-central Saskatchewan. The last 2 years just didn't work out with Kyles schedule for Rescue Competition season. This year it did, so we took advantage. We planned to be there on the 20th of May and stay for 7 days. Kyle had to be back to work the 28th for rescue training. So we packed up the kids and dropped the dogs off with his mom and dad and we were off. We made it to Kerwin's late on the 19th and stayed the night, unfortunately he wouldn't be able to come hunt with us until later in the week. We all had a good sleep and left in the afternoon. It was another 2 hours before we would get to Warrens family ranch.

When we arrived we noticed they were having a big family gathering, Warrens sister and husband were there with their 2 boys as well as an aunt. The kids were excited they had someone to play with. It was so nice seeing Warrens parents again, they really make you feel like you're at home on the ranch. After we visited for a few hours, Warren asked if we wanted to sit for the evening because if we did we needed to get a move on. We only had about 4 hours until dark! Warrens mom offered to watch Easton, he could play with Warrens nephews and Pheonix decided she wanted to sit with me in the tree. So we got our gear on and set off to what Warren calls the "pasture", from there we quaded in to our stands and went our separate ways.

Kyle was sitting alone and Pheonix and I were cuddled up on a double ladder stand. I helped her get in to the stand and made sure she was tied in good, this was only her second time sitting in a tree- the first time was 3 years ago with Kyle. She was nervous- the wind was blowing pretty good and it was moving our tree around- so I couldn't blame her. Now if you have ever met Pheonix, you know she has no off switch...like at all. She talked non-stop the whole night, with multiple reminders to keep her voice down from me. It was nearing 8pm now and the wind started to die off, and get really quiet. There weren't even birds chirping, although a squirrel had me all excited and scaring Pheonix for a while. Now when I'm in a treestand I don't stop searching and listening the entire time im in the stand. I heard the slight snap of a twig off to my left and it had me swinging my head over and full attention scanning the bush. It took a few minutes until my eyes locked on black through the trees, But the bush was thick so I couldn't be sure. I sat staring, straining my eyes to catch some type of movement from the black. Pheonix knew I could see something and went very still, and repeatedly asked me if it was a bear. I wasn't sure so I just told her I didn't know. Finally movement, after what felt like forever, I was able to catch part of his face pass through and opening while he was smelling the air. I quietly told Pheonix it was a bear and she finally went quiet haha! I had my rifle between my legs so it was easy to get it up into position. I waited to see what we he was moving before shouldering my gun. He was coming straight in, but very slowly. So I shouldered my rifle and watched him come in through the scope. From past experiences, I knew that if the bear was a boar he would be very wary of coming into the bait and might not give me lots of time to get a shot, or he would skirt the outside of the area- never coming into sight. I held my rifle up in my shoulder waiting...and waiting...he would take a couple steps, stop and smell, and look around before coming a few more steps. He repeated this the whole way into view. Just when he got into my view he stopped and stood up on his back legs- he was looking into the bait without having to come in. Checking for sows. After about a 30 second sniff check on his back legs he dropped down again and changed his course of direction. Instead of coming into the bait he was going to skirt around it- he wasn't interested in food, just ladies. So I followed him with my scope until I had a good broadside shot. He wasn't walking fast, but he wasn't stopping either- so once I had an opening I took it. Pheonix had her ears plugged from the moment I put up my rifle. I took my shot and it was perfect. He ran about 10 feet and piled up- unfortunately he did quite the death moan, my first bear to do one and Pheonixs first time ever hearing it. It scared her and I had to reassure her he was dead and that some bears do it when they die.

We stayed in the stand for a few minutes to make sure he wasn't going anywhere. I messaged Kyle Bear down and he was floored. He asked me how big of a bear was it and I told him it was a decent bear but nothing like "double chin" (a giant of a bear that Warren has been hunting for for a long time). After talking to Kyle I told Pheonix to stay in the tree while I climbed down to check him. I clambered down the ladder, shaking uncontrollably, and walked over to my bear. He had a skinny back end, but once I got closer to him his back just kept going, then I got to his shoulders and head- I had underestimated this bear! His head was so big I couldn't lift it and he had massive muscular shoulders. I texted Kyle saying I was wrong and he was BIG, I wouldn't be able to load him onto the quad...at all. So Kyle said stay there I'm on my way. He had called Warren and told him and he left his house and was on his way in too. I helped Pheonix come down just before Kyle showed up. He was speechless when he seen my bear. Even him and I wouldn't be able to load the bear and there was no possible way he would fit on a quad. We got some pictures and then Kyle had to go meet Warren with the Quad and pick up the quad trailer too. It was starting to get dark now and I felt uneasy being on the ground next to the bait- hidden in the brush. Pheonix was freaking out too. So we hopped on our quad and headed out of the trees out into one of the big open fields to wait for Kyle and Warren. I left the quad running so we had some light but she was still crying and scared-I gave her my phone to play a game and that helped calm her-kept her mind busy. We probably waited out there for a good 30 minutes before they showed up, we followed them back into the bait to load the bear. It took Kyle, Warren, Nat and I to load it into the trailer that was laying on its side. We took it back to Warrens house and skinned it out there. Warren was starting to wonder if it WAS double chin, for the next 2 weeks the guys poured over every photo of big bears that they got to figure out if it was. Kyle is positive it isn't him.

And just like that, my week of hunting was over! Kyle continued to hunt, sometimes solo and sometimes with Pheonix but it had slowed down and there were just little ones coming in. I hung out with Easton and sometimes both kids- took them to the lake for some swimming. Kerwin eventually showed up, he got his bear the same night I got mine where he lives, so the night he came in he went and sat the stand with Kyle. Sure enough a big lanky bear came in, Kyle passed him up twice that sit before he decided he was going to take him right before dark. They came in with the bear loaded in the trailer like mine and pulled into the carport- holy hell did that thing stink! He was definitely a big bear, younger than mine and full of scars. His hair was really thin too. He was obviously a scrapper. As we were skinning him the smell turned to a rank smell- rotten almost, and it was all we could do to finish the job.

Warren was hunting the whole week as well. The mornings we spent helping him with checking his beaver traps, which the kids found fascinating! Our last day there, Kerwin had headed home and warren suggested we all go fish for some walleye and pike. It was slow but it was the perfect night to be on the water. The kids each caught a pike and that was it lol. And they got to see a beaver up close- one came off the bank by the boat and went swimming across the lake.

I love going to Saskatchewan to hunt. Not because of the chance to kill a monster bear (ok maybe a tiny bit lol) but because I have so much fun watching them around the bait. How they interact with each other, their personalities, and the cute little cubs. I was hoping to spend more time in the stand- mainly in hopes of being able to get some decent photos of the furry critters....but alas....maybe next time!

Solo Spring Black Bear

Its been a slow spring for us getting out to do some hunting. We had a huge snowfall, followed with endless amounts of rain this spring. I got out a few times to look for antlers with the kids, once by myself for turkey and really that was it. It was May 10 and the weather was finally getting beautiful and I figured it would be the perfect day to go out to look for a bear. I decided to go after I picked the kids up from school instead of trying to squeeze a hunt in before they were out at 3.

I picked them up and we went home to get our stuff together. They complained the whole time because they wanted to go to the park- i told them too bad. I needed to get out after being trapped in the house all winter with a bad back and then with the endless rain. I decided to go out to our favourite spot for bear and check our little honey hole first. A friend I took out last year had missed a tank of a bear in the same spot and I figured it would be a good place to check out first. We got out there by 5:00 pm and started slowly making our way through the bush roads. On one stretch of road we came across a painted turtle, hanging out on the road. So we pulled over and helped him get across to where he was going. Our little honey hole is just a very short, very old bush road that leads to a grown in landing and massive clear cut. I pulled into the mouth of the road and stopped to check the wind, it was blowing right into the clearing. The wind always seems to blow in the wrong direction in this area but the road goes along a little ways before it drops into a dip and turns a corner to the clearing. So i drove in a little farther keeping an eye as far down into the dip that I could see. Eventually I seen a small patch of black, so I stopped and put my binos up to take a look- it was furry. So I put the truck in park and said to the kids that there was a bear in the clearing. Pheonix right away was sitting on her window with her binos looking at the bear, repeating to me, "Mom its a good bear!"

I turned the truck off and told Easton to stay in the truck and be quiet, he was more than happy too. After-all, the little monster refused to wear any other footwear then his flip flops, but I did make him pack his gumboots. I got out of the truck and got my rifle ready and told Pheonix to jump out with me. She has never been on a stalk with me other then for grouse so she was excited. I gave her the camera and showed her how to use it so she could video it all for the show. She was very determined but her footsteps were pretty loud. I kept turning to her to remind her to walk lightly, but i knew it was hard while holding the camera so I didn't worry to much. We slowly crept up the road until we got to where the road dropped, I couldn't see the bear and I was worried he had heard us and took off up the bank into the trees. So I quickened our pace until I caught a glimpse of him around the corner, he had no clue we were there, he was just milling around feeding on green grass. We went to the right side of the road where the bank dropped, I got set up on a root-ball as a rest and I told Pheonix to stay just behind me. I was all set and ready, I watched him through my scope waiting for the perfect shot. He was a good bear, and had a beautiful coat on him. He eventually started to walk back on to the road and stopped to sniff something in the dirt, so I took my shot. It was a perfect shot at less than 100 yards. It went right behind his shoulder and took out the far one. I watched him rear up and spin a few times while I was re-loading my 300 wsm. I watched him take a few steps and I put my rifle up again, but once I had it up he disappeared. So i stood up and turned to look at Pheonix. She was vibrating with excitement, and was the first to say anything. She whispered loudly too me, "Did you see him spin!!!" and she never stopped talking all the way back to the truck. She wanted to go get him right away, but I told her no we should go back to the truck and Easton and give him some time. Little did I realize that she had watched him drop right after he took his 3 big steps. But I still wanted to be sure. So we walked back to the truck and Easton was asking if we got him, he was all excited asking if we could go see him. I decided to drive the truck down to the clearing much to Pheonixs dismay, I made her ride in the truck instead of running down the road like she wanted. As we drove down, I seen a black thing laying only 10 yards from where I shot him. I made the kids stay in the truck while I checked to make sure he was dead and there weren't any other bears hanging out in the clearing. When I gave the Ok, they both jumped out excited to see him. Then the hard worked started...i now had to skin and quarter the beast by myself, and his hide was so nice that I wanted to rug him. I'm not a good skinner...unfortunately lol...but I tried my best to skin him out good and tried to keep it somewhat symmetrical. I was glad to have Pheonix with me, she held a leg here and there for me or pulled on the hide to help me skin it. He was heavy, I can lift 240 pounds off the ground and I had troubles rolling him- I had the kids help me roll him over. After 2.5 hours of skinning and field dressing, I finally had him in the truck and we were headed home. The kids were just buzzing the whole way home, asking if we could go out again the next day for a bear. I just laughed and told them we wouldn't be able too- I needed to deal with this bear and buy my second tag before we could head out again. The next day Pheonix was still pretty pumped and dressed in head to toe camo for school, I took the meat to the butcher and measured the head and hide. My skinning job wasn't as good as I had hoped, so i will probably just have him dry tanned. But he was a 6 foot bear and his head was a green score of 17 1/2".

Although I go out on my own a lot or with the kids, this was the first time I got an animal on the ground. Kyle was at work in Sparwood which was 3 hours away, Pheonix made sure to text him from my phone to rub it in a little bit. I was pretty proud of myself being able to do everything on my own with 2 kids in tow. It may have taken me a looooong time and I couldn't move the rest of the night because my hips hurt so bad, but I was pretty happy. Not bad for my first trip out for bear and being the first bear of the season! 

Last Stand Goat Hunt 2016

Our 2016 fall hunting season has been quite a bit different compared to previous years. Usually we spend our majority of September and October trying to get an elk. I have been trying for 8 years to get an elk without any success until this year. On top of that success, i managed to get him the second day of rifle opener (Sept 11). So this made for a pretty relaxed season for both Kyle and I. Since I had a bull down he wasn't in a hurry to get himself one ( that would be a lot of meat!) so he focused on helping other people and trying to get himself a sheep, and I helped out a friend a few times that is new to hunting. October it was back to the grind, particularly for Kyle, for Mountain Goat. He and I had a trip planned together then afterward he had 2 of our friends coming in from Alberta on an accompany to hunt permit. Well our first trip in ended up being a dud. It rained the whole time and the clouds never lifted enough for us to see up where the goats hang out. 4 days and not a single goat.

After our hunt, it was Myles turn (one of our friends from Alberta) to try and tag out on his first mountain goat. On day 2 of their hunt, Myles took a goat. Although it was a nanny, it was a trophy of a lifetime. His goat aged out at 13 years old, was skinny and had no teeth left. She wouldn't have made the winter. The perfect nanny!

Kyle came home early and went to see if he could find a sheep before he had to go back to work. Next days off Kerwin was coming in for his goat hunt. Kyle has taken Kerwin out before on a permit in the same area, but our friend Warren was with them. On that hunt 2 years ago, Warren was successful. Now it was Kerwin's turn at success. They had a little less than 7 days to get it done. They seen lots of goats but most were nannies and kids with a couple young billies. The young billies stayed higher in the rocks then a few of the nannies, so they just watched until they had an opportunity. On the last full day of their hunt they decided to take the Nanny that was on their hit list (if a billy didn't come lower for Kerwin). This nanny was not in good shape. She was completely emaciated and never ventured farther than the alder patch and the creek.

Kerwin's Nanny

Worried that she had an illness, parasites or a disease they took her. If she did, we don't want her to infect the rest of the herd. They videoed the field dressing and she had no fat at all and very little muscle mass, her hair was also much shorter then it should have been...more like a mid-late September hair. Her growth rings indicated a healthy life and good feed. So what happened? What ever happened to her happened during this year. We took the meat in to the biologists in hopes they can test it, unfortunately (and we didn't know at the time) the organs would have been a better thing to bring them. The taxidermist skinned the head out and commented on how the muscle in the jaws was like hamburger and her teeth weren't very good as well. So maybe she had an injury? Either way she wasn't going to make it through the winter and she was probably living in a great deal of pain. And Kerwin got his first goat.

Second times a charm...well that's how it worked out for Kerwin so I was hoping that would be my luck as Kyle and I headed out again to try and get me a goat. We had even less time this trip, 3 days but the sun was shining which was rare for this area. The first day was a wash, we knew we wouldn't get a stalk on unless we just happened to stumble upon the goats right away. As we came in we noticed a truck parked with ramps out for an ATV and a sled stashed beside it off the road, weird. It was right before the slides that take out the road. We kept going and once we got through the slides there was another sled stashed just off the road, concerning. Someone that knows this area is getting prepared. This didn't sit well for Kyle as we continued on our way. The whole month of October when Kyle was in here he never seen another sole. That all changed in about  an hour for us. We came upon an ATV, the guy stopped to chat. He was the trapper in the area and the truck and sleds are his. He was getting prepared for when the slides come down so he wouldn't be trapped in the back. He proceeded to tell us the last 3 years the slides blew out the road on Oct 29, Nov 5 and Nov 9...and it was November 6. He told us a guy last year got stuck in there with him, the guy was hunting for goat but the trapper was prepared and had no issues leaving his old truck or ATV in there for winter, the hunter wasn't. They had to barge the guys truck out on the lake and it cost him $600. This made us nervous...we started to second guess our staying there. After chatting with him for a half hour or so he mentioned just before we parted ways that there was a few guys camped up farther, goat hunting, but they were packing up camp. We passed the guys as they were coming out. We got up to the slides where Kerwin and Myles got their goats and they were bare. Not a single white body. We found where the guys had their camp set up, right at the bottom of the slide in the wide open where the goats could see them. I was feeling pretty deflated and Kyle was frustrated and worried.

We only had 2 hours before dark so we decided to sit tight and hopefully the quiet valley would coax some goats out. About an hour before dark a nanny came out to feed. Some life jumped back into us. We watched her for a bit and decided to go down to the next slide to glass. Right away we found 2 more goats, both billies. One very young and small, the other was a shoot able goat. We didn't have time to go up after them so we sat and watched trying to decide the best way up to them for the morning. As kyle was occupied i looked up and noticed a third body, i announced the third goat noting how much bigger it was then the other two. This got Kyle excited. He got the spotter out and sure enough it was the massive goat he seen with Kerwin. So we stayed there until he finally bedded and we quietly made our way out of the valley. We decided to go back to town and stay at a hotel. Kyle's reasoning (although he was partly kidding) was it was good luck to go back to town, get a cheap hotel and go to Boston Pizza for dinner (he did this with Kerwin and Myles and both shot their goats the

next day). I just shook my head and rolled my eyes.

We went back in the morning and sure enough the big guy was still there and a nanny was just below him. But he was watching her intently. So we packed up and got ready to hike up after him, Onca stayed in the truck. After an hour hike we were just below the rock cliffs, we dropped our packs to strap our rifles to them so we could have 2 hands for climbing the cliffs. I put my rifle down then peeled my pack off and put it down- ready for my rifle. Before I decided to strap my rifle on, I looked up out of habit and there he was. All I said was Goat. Kyle kept messing with his stuff without looking up and brushed my word off saying it wasn't that he already checked. I said Kyle, there is a goat watching us. He stopped, unbelieving and looked up asking where? I told him to look on the left side of the saddle, that its standing on the top. He seen him, he put his binos up and started cursing- it was the big billy. I knew it was farther then 200 yards so I instantly jumped on Kyle's rifle (my rifle is new and i haven't figured out the drop yet at farther distances). I got set up with his pack as a rest while he ranged him. 390 yards but i was shooting at about a 50%+ incline, he said put the 300 mark on him. He was facing chest on but I wasn't concerned. I put the 300 on him and felt very stable. I squeezed the trigger and instantly reloaded after the shot. Kyle announced a miss. I was baffled, how did i miss?? He disappeared into the trees and never gave me another chance. We climbed up a little ways into the cliffs and sat for a while, hoping the other billy would come down to check out the ruckus. He never did and I was feeling pretty frustrated. The fog started to roll in and we made the decision to go back to the truck before we got stuck up there with no visibility. When we got down, Kyle wanted to go check the zeroes on the rifles. He was confused at the turn of events, I kept saying I felt solid and his rifle has killed 2 goats in the last 2 weeks

without fault. We left the area and headed down low to shoot them at our metal gong. My gun was still on, Kyle's was shooting 4 inches to the left at 100 yards. I was relieved that it wasn't me that caused the miss but I was still pretty down. Did i just lose my chance at filling my tag? With the cloud cover low again and not letting up I wasn't very hopeful. We had to leave the next afternoon and if we didn't find a goat right away than all i had was the next morning. We went and checked another valley but it was fogged in worse then the area we were just in. So we made the decision to go back and hope we could catch something moving below the fog line. We were coming up to the slide that Warren had shot his goat out of 2 years prior, but there was a slide before that one- so we slowed down to take a look. I was on the wrong side of the truck so couldn't see up the slide, but it didn't take long and Kyle slammed on the brakes-Goats! He was instantly out of the truck with the spotter. 2 young billies and 2 nannies. So I got my pack and my rifle out. They were 800 yards, we had to hike up into the slide to get closer, this time we brought Onca along. We got as close as we could without them busting us, 500 yard shot. Kyle gave me his rifle again and I got set up. I wasn't nearly as stable as the morning shot but stable enough to make a shot. I put the 500 marker on him and squeezed my trigger. Kyle watched in his binos and said he went down. Over and over again I asked him if he was sure he went down and he repeatedly told me I folded him. I felt a little better but was not getting my hopes up until I had him in my hands- all I needed was another fiasco like my elk!

"I have learned not to celebrate 

until I have my animal in my 

hands because as soon as I celebrate,

I shake uncontrollably." 

Kyle decided he wanted to try and get the other billy, so he grabbed the rifle and took a shot. I was watching in my binos and he missed, I watched the rock blow up above its back. Then all hell broke loose and there were goats scattering all over the place. Finally things seemed to quiet down so we decided to head up and retrieve my billy. He died in the cliffs above the alders, and let me tell you....that slide is NOT what it seemed from the road. From the road it looked like it was nice and open most of the way up with a gradual increase in steepness, then comes to a short alder patch then clears up again just before a bit of cliffing. NOT! The entire slide is thick alders and it gets steep fast then continues to get steeper the closer you get to the cliffs. And under all those alders its grass and with the rain it was very slick. Anyway, we get up to the rocks and Kyle decides to go up to find my goat while I stayed with the packs and Onca. Onca wanted to go with him but the rocks were steep and slick and the bush on the top of them were 10 times thicker than the alders we just fought through. So I'm standing there with my rifle strapped to my pack- on my back, petting Onca when I hear Kyle yell Get ready he's coming! I'm like what the --??? So I yell back, "What do you mean he's coming???" I was under the impression I killed that goat. All of a sudden the bushes start shaking violently jut above me to the right but they are so thick I cant see him, until he is RIGHT THERE! He pops out of the alders about 15 yards to my right and starts walking straight towards me. I froze. My rifle was still strapped to my pack on my back and I didn't want to make him bolt, but he was going to walk right into me! I momentarily forgot Onca was sitting on my feet until he started growling at the goat walking at us. The goat stopped at about 12 feet from me and focused on Onca. My thoughts went to Oh Sh*t what if he comes after Onca? Thankfully he didn't and instead he turned around to head back towards Kyle (who was about 100 yards above us still fighting his way down the cliffs) giving me the time to whip off my pack and grab my rifle. I put my rifle up, announced to Kyle I was taking a shot, and all I could see was hair- my scope was on 15 but I didn't have time to fiddle with it. I found the top of his shoulder in the scope and went down a little ways and fired. He dropped on the spot about 10 yards from me, then rolled down to 15 yards below me before he got hung up on some alders. About 10 minutes later Kyle's head poked out at the top of the cliff asking if I got him. He then proceeded to tell me his story of finding him, still alive, 10 feet from him in the thick bushes. My first shot did get him and that's why he dropped but it was a little far back, so he didn't die right away. 

After we got our pictures out of the way, Kyle insisted on packing him out whole. We didn't have any cliffs to deal with, just alders but even with that he fell down a lot. I kept asking if he was sure he didn't want to quarter it up and he insisted on doing it, and he said it was faster this way and was concerned about bears.

I have been on 3 goat hunts now (my own hunts, I've been with Kyle for his), 2 being successful and the successful ones always ended with a close encounter with a goat.  
I'm pretty happy to finally have my billy!! My first goat was a nanny, so I'm happy to be able to say I have a billy under my belt as well.  

 ** Sorry about the different sizes in font...I have literally spent 2 hours trying to get it all to be the same and I give up. **

May 29 Black Bear

We hummed and hawed about heading out in the evening. We spent the whole day in Fernie dealing with trucks and the kids had been late to bed the night before and Pheonix had school. But in the end we decided to stay closer to home so we wouldn't be home so late.



We drove and glassed...drove and glassed. Never finding much for bear or bear sign. I was starting to think this night was going to be an empty one. We went into an area that the dog hunters hunt frequently (we normally try to avoid these areas because the bears are more jumpy) thinking that they probably hunt the mornings so that they have a lower risk of losing a dog. We drove and started to find some scat here and there. So we drove up to a high landing and glassed and let the kids out to stretch their legs. After a few minutes Kyle says Bear! It was a beautiful cinnamon bear across the valley feeding on a landing of an old unused logging road that was growing in.

We quickly jumped back in the truck and headed that way. Kyle parked the truck on a switch back and stayed there with the kids while I went after the bear. It was at least a 500 yard stalk up on this bear, thankfully it was slightly windy so it hide the noise of my boots crunching on the loose rocks and blowing the right way so my scent wouldn't carry to him. He was so busy eating he had no clue I was there and was able to get to within 60 yards of him. I could have done it with my bow! But I had chose to take my rifle instead, murphys law I guess! I put my rifle up and got lined up and squeezed my trigger. Hit him perfectly, right where I wanted. He jumped and scooted down the hill. I called Kyle on the radio and told him I had a bear down. I walked over to the top of the hill and there he was laying on the bottom.

Kyle pulled up in the truck and the kids were all excited and wanted to see it. So I packed one kid after another down the hill. It was very cold, felt like snow in the air and you could see your breath. Kyle skinned it because I wanted the hide to tan and he is much better at it then I am. Easton was the first one to cave and wanted to go back to the truck because he was cold, so I packed him back up the hill to the truck. I came back down and helped with the rest of the skinning before Pheonix said she was cold too. So I packed her back up the hill to the truck and came back down. When I got back down Kyles back was sore, so I finished the quartering and we got it loaded on the pack. I put the pack on laying down and Kyle had to help me up and I was off back up the hill. Good thing I had a warm up running the kids up and down the hill beforehand.

Predator hunting

February 7, 2013


So since I tagged out by the end of November, my season has been pretty quiet. Kyle got a doe on the last day of bow season, Dec 20, during the last few moments of last light. Since then we have been trying our hand at some predator control. Kyle has been out more then I have just for the simple fact of limited babysitters. Kyle has taken our daughter, Pheonix out for some coyotes and she fell in love with it, even though they didn't get anything. Ive had a couple days out for coyotes and a day for wolves but never see anything. Kyle has seen a few coyotes, found some wolves and managed to get a cougar. We don't hunt with dogs when it comes to predators, we do it all by calls and decoys. We have a wolf howler, a couple distress mouth calls and an electronic rabbit decoy that calls as well (in the picture). Unfortunately the weather hasn't been cooperating for good predator hunting. They seem to move more when its really cold and lately its been hovering around 0C. Sometimes a little bit colder but mostly warmer. It has been nice for shooting the rifles though! We painted our guns and have been shooting whenever we get the chance to.

When Kyle got his cougar he was actually out trying to get a coyote. He did have a cougar tag. We didn't have a sitter so just he went. He got all set up with the rabbit caller and he was only about 20 yards off the rabbit, this was only the second time we had used it. He sat for about 20 minutes and noticed something rustling in the tall grass just behind the decoy. He looked through his binos and seen the cougar getting ready to pounce on the rabbit. So he put the .243 up to his shoulder and the cat seen him move so it laid down lower in the grass trying to hide. It's a beautiful cat and we took the meat to the butcher and had some sausage made. Very good, better then pork any day :)

~Nikita & Kyle