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!

Loba Outdoors

September 16, 2013

Back in July, I was asked by a new and upcoming womens outdoor site if I would be interested in writing them an article on my mountain goat hunt. I accepted and had to keep it a secret until the site launched...I felt like I was going to explode with excitment lol. The site launched in the beginning of August and since then I have written 2 more articles for them.
The site is called Loba Outdoors and it is a site directed towards women that love the outdoors. They have categories for hunting, fishing and cooking. They also have a spotlight where you can nominate a woman for "Loba of the week", and they have a write up about them and pictures.

• You can check out the Site here: www.lobaoutdoors.com
• The link to my mountain goat article: http://lobaoutdoors.com/how-i-learned-to-hunt-mountain-goats/
• The link to my bowhunting article: http://lobaoutdoors.com/bowhunting-strategy-archery-season-tips-success/
• The link to my article on Fitting the female hunter and gear to take: http://lobaoutdoors.com/outfit-what-to-take-hunting-fitting-the-female-hunter/
• The link to my How to introduce Kids to hunting article: http://lobaoutdoors.com/how-to-introduce-kids-to-hunting/
• The link to my scouting deer in a new area article: http://lobaoutdoors.com/hunting-new-area-find-deer/

Keep an eye on the site for more articles!

You can find them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/LobaOutdoors
and Twitter: @LobaOutdoors

I hope you enjoy the site and write ups as much as I do! And maybe nominate a woman you know for Loba of the week :)

Nikita

Tips for getting your ladies out!

October 26, 2012

Gentlemen! I know their are lots of guys out there that have wives/girlfriends that do not hunt, and some of you would like to get them to or maybe they want to try it out but you don't know where to start. I have asked some ladies and guys on the Coach 2 Camo page on Facebook for some input, but first I'll put my thoughts on the subject.

I think first you need to find out what it is they are interested in. Is it shooting? Is it seeing the animals? Do they want to harvest something? Seeing the scenery?
For me, I grew up in a hunting family but had never hunted or even shot a firearm. I didn't start until I started dating Kyle(my husband for those just coming through :) ). He took me out to shoot a rifle and a shotgun. When I found out I was actually a good shot, it made me enjoy it more. I had got my C.O.R.E our first summer together and went out for my first time that fall. I did get a deer, a 4 point whitetail buck and I freaked out when he didn't drop on the spot, he only ran 40 yards before he did drop, but I still freaked out. I soon learned that it was normal for them to run a ways before dieing. I wasn't a hardcore hunter though, like Kyle. I would go out here and there with him but that was about it. I tried the treestands but froze my butt off very quickly and ended up hating them for a while. I didn't really get into it head on until they started coming out with women's hunting clothes. I get cold very easy, and when clothes don't fit properly they don't keep you warm or you feel like a marshmallow. Then seeing the pictures he would take out on his backpack trips in the backcountry made me want to go back there also.
So for me the deciding factors, besides me wanting to try it, was proper clothing and getting to see the views/animals I was missing out on.

What others had to say about why/how they started:
Trish- "Well this will be my first year going hunting I didn't Really like guns but then one day he was out target practicing and I thought hmmm I want to try it.So I went outside and started target practicing and I'm so excited to go hunting in November I have been watching a doe since the end of summer.I call her big mama and I just think this is going to be new hobby for me."

Char- "I wanted to spend more time w/my husband, n our kids got older I had more time. I started going w/him. He's a good teacher. We laugh about some of the things I did in the beginning. But I'm getting better making better decisions. Understanding wind,and scent. The people I work with don't get why I save vacation time for the first 2wks of Nov. I love going n wish I would have started earlier."

Colleen- "I grew up on a 500+ acre farm was around it all the time... My husband & his family hunted the whole we dated I didn't want no part of it, then the kids came around. I got away from my country up bringins by working in the city & it just hit me one day. Stop trying to be someone your not & get those country roots back up. Before you know it I killed my first deer (doe) field dressed her & everything all by myself. I think it's like the viscous animal that gets its taste of its first kill, it hungers & wants more. That's me. "You can't take a man out the stand but boy can you sit next to him in one"

Jessica- "Well...mine didn't "get me out." The decision that I wanted to begin hunting was entirely my own, and my goal from the start was to be able to do it independently. However, he helped me along by enabling me...helping me to choose and procure gear, teaching me things, and never being too selfish to include me in his hobbies. He's my biggest supporter when it comes to my outdoor pursuits, and I'm thankful for that!"

Dian- "hmmm my hubby took me while we were dating, had a few years break and in 2010 I went myself........and now he hunts again too. But I am the one that really enjoys the whole process and he is more spur of the moment without checking the wind type. I think going hunting for something little like squirrel or rabbit maybe better than deer at first. Other than that, it's really dependant on what appeals to the person."

Scott- "Add in the fact that not only do they get to enjoys God's great outdoors,,,,its the Perfect "Mommy time" for those who can't get some quiet time :-) even when the hunting is slow,,,best time in the world to read a book,,,,its where I read the Bible uninterrupted :-)"

Figure out what they are interested in. If they aren't sure what it is they are interested in, then take them out with you and make sure they are comfortable and it's enjoyable. Maybe start small. If they aren't ready to shoot a deer let them shoot a grouse or some other small game. Make sure they understand that if they shoot something that it will run, not drop on the spot! A lot of interest may come from just seeing animals, a double treestand is a good idea or a ground blind. If they are nervous of the dark in the woods then makes sure you get out in daylight (even though that's when the animals move, you don't want to make it a negative experience).
Remember, make it enjoyable for her and keep her fears/dislikes in mind!

Nikita