Onca Gear

Welcome to Onca Gear! 

Some of you may remember the camo I was wearing last season from Spain, well I am bringing it to North America! Its been a slow process but we finally have a website up www.oncagear.com, make sure you check it out! We have a new Twitter and Instagram accounts as well. Search for OncaGear on both.
We will be at Wild Tvs Outdoor Expo in Stony Plains August 14-16, 2015. If you will be there come by the booth and check out our gear. We will have some there available for purchase and you will get to see some prototypes of new gear that is coming. We will be in the North Pavilion #3 at booth N120.

Saskatchewan Bear Hunt 2015

Our 2nd annual trip to Saskatchewan to hunt with Kerwin and Warren, this time with the kids. We left at midnight on the 30th of May planning to drive through the night in hopes the kids would sleep the entire way. Easton did...Pheonix not so much. We made it to Edmonton 2 hours  before Cabelas opened, so we went for breakfast and waited. We managed to find a youth harness that fit Pheonix and myself so she could go up in the stand too. She was excited, mom not so much, but I didn't hold her back.

We got to Lloydminster that afternoon and had a chance to relax a bit and get a good nights sleep before heading to Saskatchewan with Kerwin in the morning. We got our tags bought in the morning and were off to Warrens families ranch. Warren wasn't due home until later that evening so we hunted the families property for the evening. Kerwin and I only had one little bear come in, Kyle had 3. He had one little one and a sow with a decent boar. I would have taken him if he came to my stand. Kerwin and my hunt unfortunately was interrupted by a couple wolves. The neighbors had their cattle out in the pasture next to us and you could hear them mooing all evening, but close to dark 2 wolves lit up howling. They were in among the cows, and after there was some silence and then a single cow started calling again-but it sounded in distress. We thought maybe a calve was taken, so that night we told Warrens dad about it and he was pretty worried, he was taking his cattle out there the next day.
The stayed the night at the ranch and the next morning we got everything packed up and ready to head north. It was another couple hour drive to get to where we wanted. Once there we set up camp and got ready to hit the stands. I hunted with Kerwin again and Kyle on his own. Warren wanted to do a fish fry for dinner so he offered to take the kids fishing with him, of course they were ecstatic. Later I received a picture of them and Pheonix had caught her first pike all on her own. They had a lot of fun. Kyle had one bear come in that night and Kerwin and I had 5- including big red. It was a pretty cool night and I had all my layers on minus my thick Oncatherm extreme shirt on, and I was wishing I had it on too. We had little bear after little bear come in. Then we seen this big red colored bear come in hopping on 3 legs, at first we thought he was a sow because you could hear him popping his jaws the whole we in, he stopped just in the trees before one of the black boars put a run on him. Then just before dark he came hobbling back to the bait but really on edge. I was standing ready for him to come in as soon as we heard him popping. I had one really good shot opportunity but I couldn't draw my bow, after sitting 6 hours in the cold and getting stiff- I just couldn't get my bow past the wall. And once he heard me draw, he was gone like a shot. I was really mad. I could not believe I just missed out on that big boar because I couldn't get my bow back.

Next day Kerwin and I hunted the same stand, hoping big red would come back in. He had come back in at 3am that night, but I wasn't very optimistic about him showing up in daylight again. Again we had 5 bears come in. 3 were the same little ones from the other night and 2 new ones. The one new one was a bigger boar, not as big as red but decent. He had a nice head on him and that was about it. He was skin and bones and his hair was patchy and rubbed right off. He came in very cautious and he came straight to the stand to check it. When he walked under me he stopped and looked up, I had a wave of Deja vu hit me, like I had seen him before- those eyes and his face...but I couldn't quite place it. He didn't stay long, he put the run on one of the 3 little ones (a little 3 year old boar with big attitude) then never came back. Just before dark the little boar got spooked and ran to our tree, he huffed and made a ruckus and then we had a big black come in, he was about 4 inches above the barrel and the little boar came right up the tree under our feet. I was watching the little boar and Kerwin trying to shoo it down with his hat. He didn't know who he should take his chances with, us or the bear. When I drew back I couldn't see him in my pins, we had ran out of light. So we waited a minute and he just wandered through. We also had the little boar with attitude watching us from another tree and a sow watching from about 60 yards out. When we started down out of the tree the little boar took off, the sow just stayed put. She was only 10 yards from us sitting at the baits, she did not care we were right there. So we made our way out and sat at the truck. As we came out we noticed a bear standing about 30 yards from the truck making its way to the baits. Kerwin had a trailer on the back which smelled of meat so we went to check if the bear had destroyed anything. Nothing was ruined but he was definitely in the trailer checking everything out, you could smell him like he was standing beside you.

Kyle was hunting with Pheonix, and Easton went fishing with Warren. Kyle had apparently shot a bear. It wasn't the biggest bear but it was a good experience for Pheonix. Apparently she also got to see this years cubs during her sit with daddy, and got a good nap in ha ha. Kyle had to keep her from jumping up and down in the tree every time a bear came in. He shot it well before dark so had retrieved it and loaded it up with Warrens help. When they pulled up about 20 mins after we left the stand we told each other our stories.

The next 3 days were very quiet. We only had 2-3 little ones come in, but we did see some rut action. A real young shaggy boar was charming the 2 sows that were hanging around. We had a chocolate sow come in and try to get our attention in a frisky way. She laid back under our ladder watching us, rubbing a stick on her...same thing Warren and I had last year, except this little sow wanted to share her stick and wanted to come up the tree with it. We watched the boar chase the sows and wrestle with them...but we never had any good bears come back in. During the slow days the ugly boar kept come back to me in my head, the same picture over and over of him looking up at me....and it clicked. I think he was the beautiful black I shot at and missed the year before. It was a different stand this year but same location, and this one didn't have the high arm rests like the year before.  Warren also took a night to go back to his families ranch to hunt, there was a big bear there he was after. He didn't see the big boar that night but he did have quite the entertaining night. He had a cinnamon sow come in with 2 new babies, both cinnamon. They came into the bait and the cubs made a B line straight for Warrens tree. They shot up the tree and momma came to investigate what they were doing. He videoed them coming in and when mom decided to come over, you can hear him say Oh f*** when she makes her way to the tree, ha ha. Lucky she was a laid back sow and she just made a couple grunts and they scooted down and she went back to the bait to eat. As soon as she was eating though, one of the little ones went back up the tree to investigate Warren again. He managed to get almost up on his platform with him. Mom didn't even look at him again. The other little cub went to join his mom for a snack and apparently she pancaked him with her paw...flattened him right to the ground and the little guy just howled. Warren said it was the funniest thing he had ever seen.

We ended up staying a day later then we had planned, hoping that maybe some thing big would come back through. We woke up Sunday morning and was able to get packed up and leaving by 9:30-10 am. We had to stop at Jeanettes on the other side of Edmonton for a visit...mainly a business one that turned into a socialization...for 8 hours. We were able to meet Todd Brick, one of the hosts for No Limits TV, so it was a nice visit...but made for a real long drive home. We had to stop twice so Kyle could sleep and ended up home at 9:30 am Monday. It was another good year, had its ups and downs, but we had fun and so did the kids. Their last night they did some more fishing with Warren and his girlfriend, Natasha, and they caught 27 pike but kept 7 for dinner. So overall another awesome trip, and we look forward to next year.

*** 2 weeks after we left***
I get a text message from Warren sending me pictures of a massive red bear that showed up at the stand Kyle had shot his bear from, a week after we left. It was Red, and the left foot gave it away. He was still alive and hopefully he makes it to next season.

Nikita

May Long Bear Hunt

Kyle and I had the opportunity to have a weekend to ourselves, his parents had been south for the winter and were wanting the kids for a sleepover. So we took advantage, we dropped them off with them Thursday evening and got a movie and ice cream and enjoyed a quiet evening. The next morning we got ready to hit the bush. We had accidently slept in and were about an hour behind what we originally wanted to be. We got out and found lots of bear sign, the area had greened up nicely compared to the last time we had been out. Soon we were getting on into the afternoon and although we found lots of fresh sign, it had appeared that we had just missed the bears- so we decided to slowly head back to town ( I had a meeting with someone). So as we putted through a quad trail we came to another dirt road and headed down it. We came around a corner and off to the right there was a green meadow just through the trees, and there was a black bear. So we kept driving hoping we didn't spook him away. We parked a fair ways away and hiked back up to the meadow. He was still there feeding away. I slowly crept up where I had the cover of trees to the opening that we had seen him through from the road. It took me a little bit to sneak through because of all the sticks and dried pinecones that littered the ground, but I somehow managed to sneak to within 36 yards without him noticing me. When I knelt down he heard me, and his head snapped up and was staring right at me. I froze, hoping I didn't scare him. He slowly turned and walked a little to the right still staring at me. The stare down felt like 5 minutes but it was really only a few seconds. When he started walking straight at me and huffed, I decided to draw my bow just incase he decided to bluff me, I really didn't want to shoot him chest on but if he got too close I wasn't taking a chance. Eventually I think he decided I was nothing and he started to feed again, with me at full draw, he started making his way back left into the meadow only 30 yards from me and as soon as I had a clear broadside shot I let my arrow fly. It was a pass through and just my fletching was caught on the other side of him. He did a quick circle around and stopped by a tree. He looked up the tree like he was thinking of going up it and instead went behind it and laid down. When he lay down though he laid on my arrow and it scared him, so he got up and went about 30 yards into the bush before laying down again.
There wasn't much of a blood trail so I went on instinct and the direction I heard him go. Kyle seen him first just because of how much taller he was than me, when he pointed him out I stood on a log and was able to see his fur. I was very happy when I got to him. He had a beautiful hide on him, very thick and soft. I packed him out whole on my back and when I got to the jeep we started to field dress him. He had no fat on him at all. He was long and skinny, probably weighing at 130-140 pounds, but his thick fur made him look like a chunk! I didn't mind, it was nicer skinning him without the greasy fat on my hands and his fur had no rub marks or imperfections at all. He did have a small white mark on his chest, between his front legs.
I am very proud of myself for being able to accomplish this! My first archery bear. I started out so scared of bears and just started hunting them 4 years ago after pushing myself. Even then I didn't think id be brave enough to go after one with my bow. So this is a big accomplishment for me.

The next day we tried to find Kyle a bear. We went to 2 different areas but only seen one black bear in the evening. He was a homely looking bear with his head completely bald. We thought the evening was going to be a good chance, we seen a lot of animals and they were obviously moving. But the ugly little bear was the only bear. But we did see 12 mountain goats, tons of elk, whitetail and mule deer, a badger, a coyote and a bull moose. Even though Kyle didn't get a chance at a bear it was a beautiful day and I got some beautiful photos to capture the day.

One of my favourite quotes

"The very remoteness kindles the imagination of the adventurous hunter. From the top of any mountain the challenge extends far and wide, until the mountains meet the sky."

- Fred Bear  

Girls Guns & Rods

I would like to introduce everyone to the new womens outdoor magazine called Girls Guns & Rods, a magazine made for women by women! In this magazine you will find real outdoors women sharing their stories, tips, product reviews and more. Available in print and digital copies, this is a full color magazine.

Although the magazine is new, the Chief Editor Laurie Hauke is not new to the magazine world. She is co-owner of Airboating Magazine, a nationally distributed full-color publication in print and digital. Airboating Magazine started in 2007, and has been the leading magazine promoting and uniting airboat enthusiasts from all over the world.

We want to bring women from all over the world together and give the outdoors woman something for them! And what better way to do it then a magazine dedicated to them.

If you are interested in carrying GGR in your store or placing an AD in future issues please contact me by email nkdalke@hotmail.com

United... or are we?

The more I get involved in the world of hunting, the more strain I see...the more cracks that turn our sport into a fragile state of surviving. There has always been the issues of anti hunters and their actions and reactions of emotion over fact. Lots of us have learned how to handle an attack of this sort, but what happens when hunter attacks hunter- men and women. I've found more hostility amongst hunters then the usual hunter versus anti, and this will destroy our sport before any anti hunter or anti hunting group will.

First topic I'll cover is the real lady hunter vs. The fake lady hunter. There have been a few blog topics covering this exact topic, both for the comparison for it and against it. First thought is who cares? Women that hunt hard and work to be in the industry with the guys and truly love this sport, find it offensive and are scared of being labeled as "fake" before someone even knows them.  But what really makes a "fake" lady hunter? This is where it gets bad. You can find women attacking other women, calling them fake hunters because they wear make-up hunting, are pretty, have done their hair to go hunting or they like pink camo. And the list can go on and on. It's saddening to say the least. We have worked so hard to get where we are in the industry and women are starting to flourish in it, so why are we so focused on picking each other apart instead of building each other up? Who cares if a women is wearing make-up hunting and why are you so inclined to point it out? Why must we point out and comment on something that you personally wouldn't do and try to make someone feel belittled? It's not our place to tell another lady hunter that the way she is hunting is the wrong way because of her appearance or clothing choice, if that's how she likes to hunt so be it. It's not going to make her a bad hunter. But above all this, imagine what the younger generation of girls coming up into the hunting world must think when reading the comments and posts and memes. We are going to give them a complex! Oh, you can't wear pink camo because that's not real camo....you may have just crushed that little girl, I know my daughter would be- she loves pink camo. We need to change the way we talk to each other, if not for our own self but for those young girls that are easily influenced and want to be hunters.

Next topic is the fight amongst hunters- male and female- over hunting styles. This is a big split amongst us and it will destroy our sport if we don't  stop the fighting. Bow hunters versus rifle hunters is a big one and even the split amongst bowhunters- traditional versus compound versus crossbow. "Trophy" (I hate this terminology) hunting is another big one that is very misunderstood. There are many, many more splits amount us, but one topic that seems to be growing is hunting for food, especially with the organic food and locovore movement where hunting seems to be becoming more acceptable- but only if it's for food. We seem to be moving away from the original purpose of hunting, conservation and management.  It never fails to see a proud hunter holding up his predator for a picture and in the comments are an overwhelming amount of negative ones from anti hunters and hunters, ridiculing the hunter on his trophy. The comments "I'm a hunter but that's not right" and "I'm OK with hunting as long as it's for food" are very common comments when it comes to exotic hunts and predators. If you want to hunt just for food that's fine, but don't go after those that still understand the meaning of being a hunter. If we don't take part in conserving and managing ALL species, be it lowering populations or protecting them to try and build them up again, we will lose our wildlife to poaching (particularly in Africa), disease and starvation from overpopulation and simply by being wiped out completely. And sometimes saving one species means controlling another, for example, the dilemma here in BC with the wolves and caribou. It's amazing how many people are willing to let a species be wiped out instead of controlling another that's overpopulated. It all comes down to education and I think that education is slowly dribbling away from the up and coming generations of hunters, particularly the ones that don't have a mentor. These fissures that divide us make us an easy target. It just starts with banning one type of hunting and it snowballs from there until nothing will be left.

Social media is both a blessing and a curse. While it has brought many of us together that otherwise wouldn't even know exist, it has brought out a lot of negativity in the world. Everyone has an opinion and isn't scared to express it because you aren't face to face with the person. The old saying "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all" has gone out the window and has been replaced with "I don't like your opinion and I'm going to verbally attack you or express my distaste with you" or just plainly call you an idiot and belittle you. We need to start putting aside our differences and start standing up together, not just for our sport and the upcoming generation but for our wildlife and wilderness. Without us who will fight for them?

Nikita

It's all about the kids! ~ Hunting 2014

It's All About the KIDS!

This past season was a lot more work but also a lot more rewarding- even though I only harvested a doe. I think through out the entire hunting season I got out twice without the kids, where it was just Kyle and I. I had a couple hunts where Kyle took the kids and dropped me off to hike and hunt as well. One of those hunts I was looking for a bull elk and Kyle took the kids in the jeep, he ended up shooting a very nice black bear. After he shot it, it took off up the tree it was standing beside and when he died he fell out. The kids were so excited when they came to pick me up that that was all they wanted to do for the rest of season was bear hunt.

I think the most rewarding part of the season for me was seeing how much more involved the kids were. Pheonix really started to pick up on things like the wind and why we sat where we did and where we wanted the animals to come out. She also got to try her hand at cleaning a grouse, although she wasn't strong enough- she tried! I had given her my Binos since I received new ones from the contest so she would help glass. Most of the season was spent split up- I had one kid and Kyle had the other- and sitting and waiting. They both did amazing and enjoyed themselves. We also brought coloring and cars to help keep the boredom at bay. We had lots of action almost every hunt that made them more and more eager to go out the next time- anything from black bear and grizzly, to moose and being surrounded by screaming elk, they got to experience it all.

Easton was getting into things more as well. He was enjoying the hiking more then past years and helping look for sign and animals. I took him out multiple times, just him and I, while Pheonix was in school. He did really well spot and stalk. The one day we seen  9 deer and a coyote. He tries hard to be quiet and sticks close to me, he was even getting into learning about the tracks, rubs and poop. A huge jump from previous years where he had no interest at all until an animal was on the ground.

I was one proud momma reflecting back on the past season and seeing the change in both kids. How much more their knowledge grew and how much more comfortable they were in the bush (Pheonix has always been very comfortable in the bush but it took Easton a few years). I'm excited to see what this new year and seasons bring and how much they flourish as little outdoors people.