2018...A Year of Firsts

For the first time in a long time, I did not harvest anything during the fall season and I didn't kill a bear at home in the spring- but looking back on the year, it was an amazing year. Not just for me but my family. This truly was a year of firsts for us.

The spring season started off with bear and turkey here in BC. I have never killed a turkey, although it wasn't for lack of trying lol. But this year I was lucky enough to get my very first one! And to top it off, Kyle and I doubled on them- a first for us.

At the beginning of May, Pheonix turned 10- legal age to hunt in BC. From then on we were on the hunt for her and her first big game animal, she wanted a black bear. We had a few plays on different bears but she just wasn't quick enough. Then we went to Saskatchewan (unfortunately the age there to hunt is 12) for a week and a half to do some bear hunting with friends. It wasn't long after we got home that she was able to fill her first big game animal! And it was a dandy bear. She got the enjoyment of being able to watch him interact with a sow and they had no clue she was even there. Kyle was with her when she pulled the trigger and was hanging back with Easton. Her first hunting season ever and she got her first big game animal and her first bear. She was over the moon.

In Saskatchewan, I was able to accomplish a first for me as well. We had been there 2 other years previously and each time I left with just a tag. This year was different. The very first night we were there- Pheonix and I sat in a stand and waited patiently. The very first bear that came in was the one I took. I knew he was a decent bear but I wasn't expecting for him to grow in size when I walked up to him. 3rd time...or year...was the charm apparently. And he is my biggest bear ever, he even beats Kyles grizzly bear! We both came home with beautiful big bears.

The fall season came along and I was 100% dedicated to getting Pheonix her first buck. She had so many opportunities but she just had troubles getting on them quick enough or was picky about what she wanted. When the doe season opened for youth she was excited to be able to shoot a buck and a doe, so of course when the first doe she had an opportunity at came she took it without hesitation. It was just the kids and I hunting when she got her first deer. It took a bit for her to get set up, but the doe wasn't concerned with us. She missed her first shot, and I was keeping an eye on it in my binos. I was very impressed and proud of her on how she didn't even miss a beat when I told her to shoot again. She adjusted her shooting sticks and shifted over and reset up like a pro in one swift movement. Perfect shot and she had her first deer.

When she shot her first deer, Kyle was away up north hunting for moose with his cousin. His first time hunting moose up north. He was successful with a beautiful tri-palm. His first moose ever.

For the 2019 season, Pheonix already has her sights set on a cougar! We will see....

 

Pheonix's First Deer

Friday! The start of the weekend. Work is done, school is out and we are scrambling to get our hunting gear together and into the truck so we have time to hunt. The sun sets at 7pm now and is black out by 7:30, so it doesn't leave a lot of time to get everything together and to get out.

We managed to get everything done and horse fed by 4:30 and we were hunting by 5. Doe season had opened up on the 10th of this month for everyone. On the way out I was telling Pheonix she had the rest of season to shoot a doe and a buck, October 10-31 was doe for everyone, and youth had a doe season Nov 1- 30 and general buck season went until the 30th of November. She had passed up so many spike bucks since September 1st, I wasn't sure she would be wanting to shoot a doe as her first deer. We have been hunting for this one big buck we have seen 4 times now and she has had a chance at twice. So I was a bit surprised when she said she was willing to shoot a doe.

Right off the get go we found a deer, from a distance it looked like a doe but as got closer you could see it was a little button buck so we continued on. We came upon a lone doe after that, she wasn't concerned about us and was just kind of milling around. I asked her if she wanted that one and she asked my thoughts on it. I told her she was a young doe and that was all she needed to hear- she wanted to pass. Onward we went. After that every doe we found had fawns with her. But it was a beautiful evening and we were having a good time. She wanted to go into the area where the buck hangs out. I told her we wouldn't see him because we are going in to early- she was ok with that. Now I drive a half ton truck and this road is basically a rough quad trail, I don't really like taking my truck in there because I have poor tires for the type of terrain I have to drive through but we took it slow and my truck made it in one piece lol. 7 o'clock hit and I told her that we didn't have much light left for hunting, so if we seen a deer and she wanted to take it, she would need to move a little faster getting set up than she usually does. Shortly after I said that she says deer! So I stop and look with my binoculars. A doe- I scanned the clearing looking for any sign of another deer with her and there was nothing to be found, so I drove the truck up a little farther and parked it. We jumped out and walked the fence line back to where we seen the deer. We got there and the doe was still there feeding. So Pheonix tried to set up using the fence as a rest- didn't work. It was either to high or too low for her. So we set up the shooting sticks aka my trekking poles strapped together. She goes mom they are to low, so I reset them and she was good. I sat watching the doe in my binos. Now she has missed 2 bucks this season already, so I was hoping she wouldn't have a threepeat. The doe was in a massive clearing up on a steep hill and Pheonix was shooting off her knees because that's the most comfortable position for her- so the shot was a steep one and more difficult than the two misses earlier. It didn't take her long to find her in her scope and after a minute- boom. I watched the doe run about 10 yards then stop and stand there. I quickly said reload reload! She did and was able to shift the gun and shooting sticks so she had a sight of the doe and within a few seconds- boom. Off goes her second shot. I said you got her! I watched her run about 30 yards and she disappeared from my sight. So we listened and sure enough you could hear her crash. Pheonix asked what was that? I replied, "That's your doe crashing. She's down! " She was pretty excited, she wanted to go find her right then and there. I told her to wait a few minutes so I could bring the truck back down and get my pack.

By the time we got the truck back down the light was fading fast. So I looked for my headlamps in my pack. I found my back up lamp- batteries were dead, crap! I looked around and couldn't find my good one, double crap. So I searched my truck to find the yellow one I kept in it for emergencies and it was no where to be found....maybe Kyle took it? uh oh. No headlamps and it was now dark...so I used the flashlight on my phone which sucks...bad. So we headed towards where we last seen her, in the dark with the flashlight on my phone. Pheonix was nervous, there was a cow bull hanging out in the clearing and now that it was dark you couldn't see him. But he never bothered us. We searched for an hour and I started to say it would be better to come back in the morning. But as we started walking down I found blood, so we searched for a little longer. Couldn't find her, so I went through my pack and found a garbage bag (my flagging tape was in the truck) and tied it to a tree marking the blood trail for morning. We got back to the truck at 9pm. She was understandably worried that coyotes were going to get it, but I reassured her it would be fine.


I got the kids up early the next morning so we could eat and get going right away. We headed back in and as we pulled up to where I had parked the truck the night before I looked up on the hill and said there she is. Pheonix was excited and asked how I knew it was her- I could see her white belly from down here. She was about 10 yards from where I tied the garbage bag onto the tree- we had walked all around her the night before! To be fair she did die in like a dug out on the hill lol. We had brought the dogs with us just encase she was hard to find- more eyes the better. But they weren't needed this time lol. So we all hiked up to her and not a hair was out of place. We looked her over and it looked like Pheonix missed her first shot and her second one was perfect- double lung shot. Unfortunately the steep angle of the shot resulted in the bullet exiting through the guts- I was careful not to puncture the bloated belly. Koda was not being helpful trying to bury the deer in dirt while I was working on it. After pictures, I got all the meat off that I could and strapped it on my backpack- Pheonix had to help me get up lol. And we hiked back down to the truck. Once at the butcher he weighed the meat- 60lbs. Now she's asking every day when her deer will be done!

Pheonix Turns 10!

Since she was 6 shes been begging us to let her hunt. In BC though the legal age to hunt is 10. So every spring and every fall, out we would go hunting and Pheonix begging us the entire time to let her hunt. So obviously she was on the countdown until she turned 10, which was the beginning of May 2018. In December we allowed her to do her hunter education course, but the paperwork could not be sent until it was closer to her birthday. She passed her hunters education and we sent her papers in a week before her birthday. The day after her birthday, she received her hunter number and congratulations from the BCWF- she was now allowed to hunt and it was spring bear season! To say she was excited is an understatement.

The first day she could hunt, we took her out. Easton decided to stay with Oma and Papa decided to hop in the jeep with us. We came to a road that Kyle and I had seen a blonde black bear and he dropped Pheonix and I off to walk it. He stayed parked and watched us in the binos. Pheonix and I didn't get very far down the road before I told her to stop, there on the side of the road about 150 yards ahead of us was a bear. He seen us and was sitting on his backend eating grass. He wasn't worried. I told her to stay put and I walked out so I could get a better look at him. I put my binos up and was watching him, she made her way over to me quietly and sat down. Unbeknownst to me, Kyle had seen me react to the bear and knew I had my sights on one and was making his way to us. He came up beside us and got really excited, which got Pheonix excited. He was getting her to get her rifle ready on the shooting sticks....I told him No, its not the right bear. He kind of brushed me off and said its a huge bear, it has no hump I already looked. So more sternly I said to him No Kyle! Look at its face...look at its head...its a Grizzly! He rolled his eyes, and looked through his rifle scope for a better look (has a higher power than our binoculars), after a minute or so he told Pheonix to put her rifle down. Mom was right. It was a massive grizzly bear. We sat and watched him for a few minutes as the great brute got off his butt and waddled up the road and off into the bush. He was so fat he had no hump!
When we got back to the jeep Kyle apologized for not listening to me, he was just overexcited with the idea Pheonix might have got a monster black bear for her first big game animal.

Our next outing we found a beautiful black bear really early in the evening. Kyle and Pheonix jumped out and pulled a stalk on it. They got within range and Pheonix got set up, after a minute the bear spooked off and they came back to the jeep. I asked what happened and Pheonix quietly said she left her clip in the jeep. She was upset, but she learned a lesson! We seen 3 more bears after that (all cinnamons) but they didn't stick around for her.


We ended up getting a bunch of rain for a week straight, so on the first break we got we headed out. We went back into our favourite bear area, the same area she forgot her clip, and things seemed pretty quiet. We decided to go down a road we don't normally travel, but we had seen 3 cinnamon bears in that area before so figured we would give it a shot. We slowly drove down keeping a close eye out. Suddenly, Kyle stops the jeep and is staring at a pile of rocks. I asked what he was staring at and he said there's a bear behind it, sure enough all we seen was a black ear moving behind the pile and he threw the jeep in reverse. He parked us a ways back down the road and he and Pheonix jumped out and went back down towards the bear. I stayed with Easton at the jeep. Everything was saturated and mosquitoes filled the air. As we sat in the jeep they swarmed around, trying to find a way in. I felt bad for Kyle and Pheonix, they had to have been getting eaten alive. I watched Kyle and Pheonix disappear out of view and I got out of the jeep to listen. It took a while before the gun shot. Apparently they set up 9 - 10 times before taking the shot. The bear had a sow with him and they moved around a lot, so they had to constantly move to stay in range. Kyle would help her adjust her shooting sticks to where she needed them, I guess she was quite bossy about what she wanted haha! Eventually a gun shot rung out into the evening air. I slowly started to walk down the road a bit and seen Kyle, he motioned for me to bring the jeep down.

 I parked the jeep down where they were standing on the road and jumped out. Pheonix was vibrating and telling me all about it. Kyle said the bear dropped just at the treeline (they were in a clear cut that I couldn't see before) and that she had made an excellent shot, but when he ran Kyle was worried it would make it to far and darkness was coming. So when it had stopped to look back at them, Kyle let off a shot too. The bear only ran 5 feet and he dropped. So off we went to find her bear. I was really wishing for a pair of rain pants or gaiters! There we found him at the edge of the treeline, I looked at the bear and I looked at Kyle- it was a big bear. He had a big noggin on him and was 6 feet. Much bigger bear than we were expecting for her first bear! We got some photos of Pheonix with him and we got to work quartering and skinning him. I checked the skin and noticed it only had one entry and exit. I looked at Kyle and asked him again, Pheonix for sure hit him? He said yes no doubt about it, she hit him good. I laughed and told him he missed then! He said no way and looked at the skin. Sure enough...only the 2 holes. He covered it up with saying he shot at it free hand lol!

It was a great spring for all of us! Although Kyle and I didn't get our bears at home, we both got our bears in Saskatchewan which was a first for me...third times the charm apparently! But we all got big impressive bears and our freezer was loaded with pepperoni and cheese smokies!

2017 Whitetail Buck

Hunting with the kids can some times be a challenge, especially when the temperatures are starting to drop and you can feel winter trying to claw its way into the area. We do a bit more truck hunting when it's cold, mainly because Easton has a hard time staying warm. He's like me in that way, I have a hard time keeping warm and I always carry a backpack full of layers with me. This year we haven't been having to much luck when it comes to elk. The hot summer and drought conditions pushed the elk out of our usual elk spots and so we had to do a little more exploring. So we haven't been seeing much of elk, actually we weren't seeing much of anything for the first week or two after the bush was re-opened. Due to fires the bush was closed from September 2-14, they finally re-opened it on my birthday (15th) at noon.

We traveled a little more north hoping we wouldn't see too many people out, boy were we wrong. Truck after truck and we ended up seeing nothing at all. The terrain in there is to thick and steep for the kids to hike, so we chalked it up to a nice evening drive.

Next time we stayed a little closer to town and tried sitting. We each took a kid and separated.  I had Easton with me. We were seated in the middle of a rock ledge with a bunch of fallen trees to cover any movement. After about 30 minutes Easton was asking how long we were going to stay. The wind was howling and it was a bone chilling one that cut right through your clothing. I told him until dark. He was bored but played with his lego men beside me. I wasn't too worried about the noise he was making-the wind would cover his sound.  By this time he had his hoodie on and his jacket along with my gloves and toque. After another 15 minutes, he said he was cold. So I pulled out my down jacket for him to wear and pulled both his hoods up over the toque. I bundled up after I got him cozy, wearing my vest and softshell jacket, gloves and toque. We sat there for a little bit and he snuggled up to me. After an hour he was asking if daddy and Pheonix were back at the truck yet, I kept telling him no they weren't but he wanted to go check. This was his way of saying he wanted to go back to the truck. We sat for another 10 minutes and I could see he was cold, I was starting to get pretty chilled too. So I suggested we head back to the truck. I messaged Kyle to let him know what we were doing and he asked us to come pick them up then. Neither of us seen an animal, but that's part of hunting.

Finally, one evening I made a suggestion on where we should go. We have good luck with whitetail in there and we see bear and elk too. We were seeing a couple does, some little bucks. But not really anything either of us wanted to cut our tags on. We parked the truck where they deactivated the road and Kyle decided to go for a short walk on the other side, I stayed at the truck with the kids. I took a picture of the sunsetting and let Pheonix play with the big camera.
When Kyle came back to the truck it was about 20 minutes before we would lose shooting light, and we turned around and started making our way out. We only went about a kilometer down the road when he stops the truck and says big buck Niki. I coudn't see it, it was on his side of the truck down a pretty good hill. I didn't waste any time, I jumped out with my gun and dropped down into the clearing a little bit. I instantly seen him with the light bouncing of his antlers, he looked like he was the same size as Kyles big buck that he shot a couple years ago. He was standing just on the edge of the treeline in a cut block about 200 yards down. I didnt waste any time I put my rifle up, aimed and squeezed the trigger. Kyle watched him in his binos. As soon as my shot went off Kyle says you hit him hard, I reloaded and made my way down a little bit more to a giant root ball. I was going to use it as a rest if needed. But it wasn't needed. He was going down when he was heading back into the treeline and I watched him go down with a huge crash. I was over the moon! We waited a bit and grabbed our backpacks. Pheonix wanted to come with us, Easton stayed up in the truck and watched a movie snuggled in his nest of blankets. By the time we got down to him we were almost out of light in the clearing, it was dark in the trees. He was easy to spot though, he had fallen with his antlers stuck in the ground and his bright white throat patch seemed to glow in the low light.

Once we got to him he did have some ground shrinkage, but I didn't care. He was still an amazing buck. My biggest one and he had a unique rack- double brow tines on both side with a kicker on the one which made him  a 6x7.
Pheonix was getting nervous with the darkness in the trees, so I gave her my unloaded rifle to take back to the truck and she could stay up there with Easton until Kyle and I finished up, we kept Kyles rifle ready just in case.
It didnt take us to long to get him field dressed. We loaded him onto my pack and I hiked back up to the truck. Kyle didn't take a single piece of him. At the butcher we weighed just the 4 quarters, backstraps, and tenderloins- he came out to 67lbs.



Nikita

Mause Creek Hike

July 6th 2017

 
Kyles suggested "Test Hike" for my legs. We packed up our packs like we were going on our hunt (just minus the large amount of food and our rifles) and headed out. We parked at the trail head, jumped out of the jeep and got eaten by mosquitoes. We loaded the packs after we sprayed down with bug repellent and we were off.

There was some blow down along the trail..but overall the trail was in really good shape. But the bugs were so bad for the first half of the trail before you really start climbing.I ended up spraying down 4 times on our way up.

Once we got to this point the bugs died down a bit, but there were more horse flies. Poor Onca was going crazy. All the bugs went after him instead of us.
 As soon as he seen the water he was swimming! He loves water, typical lab.




We continued to climb up the mountains on the left side of the saddle
in the picture above. We ended up having to climb up through snow
until we got to the pass. Where more snow awaited us as well as a strong wind. I welcomed the wind and snow and the significant temperature dropped it brought with it.  I dont do very well with heat, and by this point I had a headache starting.

The climb was somewhat steep, but the snow made it easier to go up. By the time we came back down though it was pretty soft from the hot sun which made it quite a bit harder.

Kyle standing on the top of the pass going over to the other side. It was an amazing view. He checked to see what the elevation was there and we were at 7400 ft.

A lot more snow on the other side. A good portion of the trail was snow covered all the way to the tanglefoot lakes. So we hung out up top of the pass for a while. Relaxed...I went exploring with Onca and Kyle had a nap on the trail.

Looking back at the trail while on my exploration.

I was actually surprised Onca came with me. He is the type of dog that takes the EXACT same trail you take when he is following you. When I left the trail to come over to this ridge, I took the rocks instead of the snow because I don't trust whats under the snow. He followed me through the rocks and got scared! He froze up and was shaking. I tried to give him a nudge to get him to keep going and he was like a statue. So Kyle tried calling him back and he still wouldn't move. Eventually I was able to help him get through it and he went back up to Kyle, but he didn't want to leave me. So he came down through the snow and joined me lol.

We eventually made our way back to Kyle and he made the call to turn around and go back down to the spring and meadow, and that's where we would camp.

We put the tent up and threw our sleeping pads inside then decided to have something to eat. We have been playing with our own meals to eat while out in the backcountry, rather then the typical Mountain Houses and this was the perfect time to try them out.
After dinner Kyle went in the tent to have a nap and I hung out with Onca and just relaxed. I have a hard time napping during the day.

Kyle was napping...and Onca was going crazy from the bugs so he decided it would be a good idea to sit on me. He is 80lbs...and does not fit on my lap easily...but he managed to get everything but one foot on me. See picture below


Eventually Kyle woke up and realized I wasnt in the tent and
started telling me to come lay down and relax. I figured it would give Onca a break from the bugs too. Even though Onca had the whole tent and there were no bugs inside...he insisted on sleeping on me.



After a bit Kyle decided that there was just way too much time between now and night time...and the fact we had to pick up the kids by 10am...to justify staying up there overnight. I was bummed but happy I wouldn't have to get up at 5am lol. 

So we packed everything back up and made our way back down the mountain. It was a good test for my legs, which never gave me an issue, and for testing our food ideas and to brainstorm how to help me stay cool when its hot.

We were also able to test some of the new gear we have acquired and decide if there is anything that needs to be changed.




If you are curious how hot it was, look below. That is the temperature when we got back into town at 8:30pm. Where we had the tent set up it was probably 30 degrees still, on the other side where all the snow was, it was more like 20-25 degrees.

Monkey wrench in the biggest hunt of my life...

July 11th, 2017

 At the end of the month we are heading north to hunt Stone Sheep with a couple of friends. This will be my first real backpack hunt. While I have gone for one night to two nights, this hunt will be 11 days all by backpack. This will also be Kyles first long term backpack trip as well. To say we are excited, is an understatement. As some of you know Kyle was fortunate to hunt Dall Sheep in Alaska last year thanks to the Wild Sheep Foundations <1 Club, where he won the hunt, so he has graciously given me first shot on our trip.

As always, something fun or of good fortune seems to come with a little bit of bad luck....

For about a year now I have been having problems with my calves when I run. I never really thought much of it, just that perhaps my legs weren't use to the running. This year however, it has been getting worse. So I finally went to the doctor...she wasn't too concerned, but also wasn't sure what it could be. My calves only hurt when I would run, not when she manipulated the muscle, pulled on my leg, flexed my foot or squeezed the muscle. To give you an idea of what its like, the muscle gets really tight and then if I dont rest after and I keep running then the pain comes. It doesn't matter how fast or slow I run or how far, the pain always comes and then I can barely walk. If I can rest after before moving onto another exercise then I can continue on with the next exercise, but if there is no rest I cant even lift a barbell. I have a pretty high pain tolerance as well, but it has brought me to tears it's so painful. So the first step was a blood pressure test. She figured nothing would come of it because I was young, in shape and I don't drink or smoke. Basically it was to rule out things on her mental checklist. So I went to do the blood pressure testing and again the gentleman that did the testing scoffed at the idea of having to do this test on me and repeated the same words my doctor did. The test wasn't uncomfortable at all. I had to lay still for 10 minutes then he put blood pressure cuffs on both arms and on both calves and feet. Then it continues on like any blood pressure check and after it prints out the results. While he was removing the cuffs the results printed, he checked them and made the remark that they were interesting...uh oh...that's never a good thing. The blood pressure in my arms were at 107 and 109, which I expected- Ive always had a lower blood pressure. The pressure in my legs were at 125, while still within a normal range- was still alarming with the difference. Right away he says no more running, and that he had to apply quite a bit of pressure to even get a reading! But he said I had good circulation...this WAS a shock to me because I have always had very cold feet before any of this mess started.
No more running- no problem! That was easy. He said it had the characteristics of compartment syndrome, again not a shock for me to hear- I had been researching it before I made the doctors appointment and was prepared to hear it. What I was left with for the next 2 weeks was wondering what the blood pressure results would mean for me.

Two weeks later I had my follow up with my doctor. She wasted no time in breaking the news. She had talked with Dr.Chan ( one of the top sports medicine/surgeons in Canada, who also is a local Dr.) about my results, 4-6 weeks of rest to start with. That meant NO running, vigorous swimming or rowing, and no jumping...I was shocked. I was allowed to weight-lift still...but that wasn't going to help me with my cardio. My sheep hunt is in 4 weeks...I broke the news to her...she wasn't overly happy to hear we would be backpacking for 11 days in the mountains. She said she wasn't going to tell me I wasn't allowed to go but wanted me to rest my calves for the 4 weeks, then after my hunt we would re-evaluate. I was also told I would be going for a bone scan...which I found out today will be the 17th of August. Depending on the results of my rest and the scan will determine if I need to see Chan for more testing.

As you can probably imagine, this has scared Kyle...and made him question if I should even be coming now on the trip. I tried to reassure him that its only when I run that I have any pain and that as long as I rest when needed I will be OK. He still wasn't convinced....and to be honest I don't think he is sure even today. So he suggested we do a test run...a backpack overnight locally. So we went up Mause Creek.

For those that don't know what Compartment Syndrome is, it is increased pressure within one of the body's compartments which contains muscles and nerves. Compartment syndrome most commonly occurs in compartments in the leg or arm. There are two main types of compartment syndrome: acute and chronic.
Acute compartment syndrome occurs after a traumatic injury such as a car crash. The trauma causes a severe high pressure in the compartment which results in insufficient blood supply to muscles and nerves. Acute compartment syndrome is a medical emergency that requires surgery to correct. If untreated, the lack of blood supply leads to permanent muscle and nerve damage and can result in the loss of function of the limb.
Chronic exertional compartment syndrome is an exercise-induced condition in which the pressure in the muscles increases to extreme levels during exercise. The pressure creates a decrease in blood flow to the affected area which leads to a deprivation of oxygen to the muscles. The symptoms are a sensation of extreme tightness in the affected muscles followed by a burning sensation if exercise is continued. Chronic exertional compartment syndrome can develop in anyone, but it's more common in athletes who participate in activities that involve repetitive impact, such as running.
Chronic exertional compartment syndrome may respond to non-operative treatment and activity modification. If non-operative treatment doesn't help, your doctor might recommend surgery. Surgery is successful for many people, and might allow you to return to your sport.

So you can probably guess which one I have, which can only be verified by a compartment test. This test is done by sticking needles in the affected muscle to measure the pressure while exercising...if my rest doesn't help, this will be one of the tests Dr.Chan will be doing. I hate needles....so you can probably guess how excited I am about that thought.

All in all....this isn't a pity post (although I am pouting inside lol) but more of an informative one, I guess. Or maybe just a way for me to get it off my chest...I'm not sure. Either way, this hunt is a big deal to both Kyle and I...and if I am able to get a ram...it will be all the more special, having done it when there is so much doubt...

AFTER THE HUNT

Well our hunt was cut 5 days short. Unfortunately the day after we decided to come out to move to another area, my calves decided enough was enough. I could barely walk- never mind hike. I was heartbroken that we had to end our hunt early because of me. It took 4 days for my calves to finally relax and let go. You can read about our hunt here.

August 22nd- UPDATE

Well I had a bone scan done on the 17th. The nurses wouldn't tell me anything except that I would have my results on Monday when I went to see my doctor. Apparently the whole point of the bone scan was to look for any stress fractures. While they didnt find anything that would trigger the pain in my calves while running, they did find one on the top of my tibia which would explain the slight pain in my knee since May. After I found out I went to research stress fractures. They are caused by overuse. If they would have found some in my Fibula that would cause calf discomfort while running because the calve muscles attach to it. My doctor has basically said there is nothing left that she can do. Now I wait for Dr.Chan (specialist) to call me.

September 5 - UPDATE
Dr.chans office contacted me. The first step is a phone interview with him. That will be done the morning of September 15. I will update this post as things come along.

September 15- UPDATE
Talked to Dr.Chan and he wants to do an ultrasound on my calves before we do any tests.

October 2- UPDATE
I go for an ultrasound on Halloween.
Nikita

First Archery Shoot for 2017

Our first archery shoot of the year was on April 22-23. Unfortunately Kyle had to work and missed most of it, but he came out and did 1 round. Saturday we did a round with friends then I ran Kyle back to town so he could get ready for work and went back with the kids to keep shooting. Unfortunately I didnt realize that they had changed the required number of rounds you had to do. It used to be 5 rounds over the 2 days, now it is 3 rounds over the 2 days. So the kids and I did 3 rounds the first day and 2 rounds the second day. The first day we shot pretty decent, with the exception of the last round- that was a nightmare and it didnt help we were both tired. Pheonix and I were shooting for scores. The last course we did was labeled A course and it was tough. The shots were shots you would never take while hunting, they were all very far distances for the kids with tricky shots for them as well. By the end of A loop, Pheonix was in tears and beaten down. She had no confidence left and I kept telling her to keep her chin up and try not to worry about it. It was a relief when we were done and able to head home. We were all exhausted mentally and physically. But tomorrow was a new day and we would be refreshed and ready to go.

The next day we both shot really well, much better then the day before....but to our dismay the scores didnt count. It was still good practice either way. At the end of the weekend Pheonix and I both placed 2nd in our divisions. Pheonix will only have this year left as a mini cub. Right now she shoots a Diamond Prism with fingers and no sights (we put a sight on it and tried to teach her to use it but shes having some troubles adjusting and just shoots how she always has- by instinct).

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! 

Family Ice Fishing

Ever since I could remember, I have LOVED fishing. Growing up we used to have family ice fishing trips all the time in the winter and in the summer months i was casting off shore or sitting in a boat with my dad. My last ice fishing trip when I lived at home was with my Nana and Grandpa and Papa Pico, I was 17. I was up at 4am, wide awake and ready to roll when they picked me up. It was cold..and the bite was slow, but I wouldn't have had it any other way....

Fast forward a few years...

I now get to enjoy the same family tradition with my kids and husband. Both kids love fishing. Easton prefers the summer months to fish in where he gets to cast and reel in, Pheonix loves both kinds of fishing. Whether they are fishing or playing while Kyle and I fish, they still have a lot of fun. Sometimes we get used to just watch the rods and when a fish is on the kids take over. I have found it is a lot more watching them catch the fish then yourself.

Winter doesnt have to be cold, miserable and boring.  Grab some fishing rods, chairs and a wood stove and get out on the ice and have some fun.

Oudoor Adventures with Jayson Podcast Interview

I had the pleasure of chatting with Jayson on his podcast last month. You can hear it here at:

Interview

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