DrMike
Ballistician
- Nov 8, 2006
- 36,965
- 5,190
I'll cut to the chase. I didn't tag out on my grizzly this year. Now, I can start the draw process over again. If I'm willing to go up north (all fly-in or river boat), I can go immediately next spring. If I want to hunt locally, it will probably take a few years before I draw another tag. I'm thinking north. I have several members of the local RCMP detachment wanting to head north. In any case, I hunted long and hard this year.
My grizzly season began the first week of September. It rained steadily for four days and my hunting partner and I hunted hard. I had previously reported on this (http://www.noslerreloading.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13302). I posted an update on the day the forum switched over. Eventually, that post was lost. However, the hunt took us into some beautiful country. For instance,
The season began just as the fireweed was lighting up the mountainsides and the leaves were just beginning to turn.
Gil made one further trip into the region with me as we hunted hard in about ten separate drainages. We saw sows and cubs on multiple occasions. We saw wolves, though we were unable to get the scope on one before they hied into the bush. There were lots of bears and wolves in each of the valleys if the scat and multiple spoor were indicative. In fact, during the entire season, I saw a total of four moose and no elk. I found lots of sign, but the animals were very wary and mostly nocturnal. It was apparent that the predators were in great shape and the ungulates were being pushed hard. There weren't even many black bears. I made several more trips in, either hunting by myself or accompanied by friends. The results were a repeat of earlier efforts--lots of paw prints, even steaming scat on a couple of occasions, but no bears willing to come out and play.
It had been a very dry summer, but the rains began in September, just as I began to hunt, and they continued somewhat steadily throughout the following six weeks. Consequently, the rivers were all up, making access interesting on occasion.
On Friday and Saturday, October 29 and 30, I spent each day hunting. The first day, I concentrated in the region known as Rocky Creek and Gulf Creek, and the second day I focused on the Upper Burnt River. It was snowy with the first true snow we had seen this year. The snow did get the ungulates moving. I found lots of tracks from the night before and saw deer in each valley. When I got back into the first area, it was snowing or raining most of the day.
I tracked one large bear, probably a boar, headed for the high country, for over six kilometers. The tracks were fresh and he wasn't too far ahead of me. However, I never did catch up to him and finally lost him as he cross a peak in the high country. I had tracked at least four sets of sows with cubs heading for the north slopes to den up. The boars, however, were still moving. However, most of their movement appears to have been nocturnal, as there were fresh prints in the snow each morning, but no bears standing in them. I closed out Friday driving up into the Upper Burnt. At the first bridge, I noted that no one had been into the area since the snow began. I left the bridge covered in snow as darkness settled onto the valley floor. As I neared the 16 and 1/2 kilometer bridge, I swung behind a coal truck and journeyed out to drive the two hours home. I cooked a hot meal and crashed.
The next morning, I was up at 3 a.m. and on the road by 4 to make the drive into the Upper Burnt. I followed a coal truck until I reached the 16.5 km bridge, and drove the remaining 40 km to the Upper Burnt road, arriving at the bridge at around 6:45. It was light by 7 a.m., and I walked over to the bridge to see what had made the tracks that were evident in the frosty morning light. Grizzly, and they were fresh. A bear had crossed the bridge sometime early that morning. I followed him for a distance, only to lose him when he left the road and dropped down to the river far below. Somewhere down in that bush is a grizzly bear.
The road I drove in on is no longer heavily travelled, and in places it is falling into severe disrepair, which could make some crossing interesting.
I finally cross the Upper Burnt River, a lovely stream flowing with crystal clear water.
This would be the last valley before beginning my ascent into the high alpine.
The drive through the valley was a delight for the eyes.
By the time I reached the summit, it was snowing heavily, already accumulating to about six inches or more. At those high altitudes, I found some moose, but no bears. So, I dropped back down to the lower elevations and invested the remainder of the day exploring for bears. I made another trip up Skeeter Creek to see if the large bear I had tracked the day before might have ventured back into that region. However, there was no evidence that he had returned. Finally, I was compelled to call it a day and admit that the season for grizzly was over. I had pastoral responsibilities on Sunday, the last day of the season, which precluded spending more time. I managed to get some mud on the tires. The Lariat took me many kilometers along some rough roads and brought me home safely, for which I'm very grateful.
In all, I spent eight weeks hunting hard, actually spending about 21 days afield looking for grizzlies. I saw mamas and babies, some quite close, but no boars or lonely sows. Now, I am focused on tagging out on whitetail and mule deer and possibly an elk over in Alberta where I have been invited to hunt this year. So, it is to be hoped that next year provides opportunity to look for another grizzly. I am precluded from applying for a spring hunt as I had a draw in this present year. However, the following year is open.
My grizzly season began the first week of September. It rained steadily for four days and my hunting partner and I hunted hard. I had previously reported on this (http://www.noslerreloading.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13302). I posted an update on the day the forum switched over. Eventually, that post was lost. However, the hunt took us into some beautiful country. For instance,
The season began just as the fireweed was lighting up the mountainsides and the leaves were just beginning to turn.
Gil made one further trip into the region with me as we hunted hard in about ten separate drainages. We saw sows and cubs on multiple occasions. We saw wolves, though we were unable to get the scope on one before they hied into the bush. There were lots of bears and wolves in each of the valleys if the scat and multiple spoor were indicative. In fact, during the entire season, I saw a total of four moose and no elk. I found lots of sign, but the animals were very wary and mostly nocturnal. It was apparent that the predators were in great shape and the ungulates were being pushed hard. There weren't even many black bears. I made several more trips in, either hunting by myself or accompanied by friends. The results were a repeat of earlier efforts--lots of paw prints, even steaming scat on a couple of occasions, but no bears willing to come out and play.
It had been a very dry summer, but the rains began in September, just as I began to hunt, and they continued somewhat steadily throughout the following six weeks. Consequently, the rivers were all up, making access interesting on occasion.
On Friday and Saturday, October 29 and 30, I spent each day hunting. The first day, I concentrated in the region known as Rocky Creek and Gulf Creek, and the second day I focused on the Upper Burnt River. It was snowy with the first true snow we had seen this year. The snow did get the ungulates moving. I found lots of tracks from the night before and saw deer in each valley. When I got back into the first area, it was snowing or raining most of the day.
I tracked one large bear, probably a boar, headed for the high country, for over six kilometers. The tracks were fresh and he wasn't too far ahead of me. However, I never did catch up to him and finally lost him as he cross a peak in the high country. I had tracked at least four sets of sows with cubs heading for the north slopes to den up. The boars, however, were still moving. However, most of their movement appears to have been nocturnal, as there were fresh prints in the snow each morning, but no bears standing in them. I closed out Friday driving up into the Upper Burnt. At the first bridge, I noted that no one had been into the area since the snow began. I left the bridge covered in snow as darkness settled onto the valley floor. As I neared the 16 and 1/2 kilometer bridge, I swung behind a coal truck and journeyed out to drive the two hours home. I cooked a hot meal and crashed.
The next morning, I was up at 3 a.m. and on the road by 4 to make the drive into the Upper Burnt. I followed a coal truck until I reached the 16.5 km bridge, and drove the remaining 40 km to the Upper Burnt road, arriving at the bridge at around 6:45. It was light by 7 a.m., and I walked over to the bridge to see what had made the tracks that were evident in the frosty morning light. Grizzly, and they were fresh. A bear had crossed the bridge sometime early that morning. I followed him for a distance, only to lose him when he left the road and dropped down to the river far below. Somewhere down in that bush is a grizzly bear.
The road I drove in on is no longer heavily travelled, and in places it is falling into severe disrepair, which could make some crossing interesting.
I finally cross the Upper Burnt River, a lovely stream flowing with crystal clear water.
This would be the last valley before beginning my ascent into the high alpine.
The drive through the valley was a delight for the eyes.
By the time I reached the summit, it was snowing heavily, already accumulating to about six inches or more. At those high altitudes, I found some moose, but no bears. So, I dropped back down to the lower elevations and invested the remainder of the day exploring for bears. I made another trip up Skeeter Creek to see if the large bear I had tracked the day before might have ventured back into that region. However, there was no evidence that he had returned. Finally, I was compelled to call it a day and admit that the season for grizzly was over. I had pastoral responsibilities on Sunday, the last day of the season, which precluded spending more time. I managed to get some mud on the tires. The Lariat took me many kilometers along some rough roads and brought me home safely, for which I'm very grateful.
In all, I spent eight weeks hunting hard, actually spending about 21 days afield looking for grizzlies. I saw mamas and babies, some quite close, but no boars or lonely sows. Now, I am focused on tagging out on whitetail and mule deer and possibly an elk over in Alberta where I have been invited to hunt this year. So, it is to be hoped that next year provides opportunity to look for another grizzly. I am precluded from applying for a spring hunt as I had a draw in this present year. However, the following year is open.
