So, a little better than 2 weeks ago I set off for BC's mainland in hopes of finding a cooperative moose and a deer or two.
Encouraged by good reports of sightings in our area from a few locals (THANKS!) An Island Buddy and I set off on the long run to Area 3-29B where we had drawn bull moose LEH tags. Arrived rather late at night, and so simply camped in the ditch adjacent to the hunting area we had been directed to...
We headed into the hills before daylight, and began to check the area out rather intensely. Not having been there before, we wandered around checking out the various ice and snow covered trails. Shortly into the look, I spotted a moose around 275 yards out, but could not see it's head to ensure antlers. With the Weatherby, that distance is more than do-able for me, so I settled in and hoped the animal would show it's head. It did, as it turned and presented an ass-on shot, running at now over 275 yards through the timber. I simply will not take that kind of shot, and the little two-point (apparently the odd immature bull does exist there) got a reprieve to wander.
Not much after that my Partner spots a small-palmed bull just shy of 100 yards out on a lightly timbered hillside. Off he goes to try his luck, but that canny critter deciphered what was up, and slipped quietly over the hill into VERY dense timber. An effort to trail him showed well that the crunchy snow certainly wasn't going to allow for a stealthy approach, and the second bull we encounter also made a clean getaway...
Hmmm... At it an hour and a half, and already seen two! This is gonna be a cakewalk I recall thinking...
WRONG!! A week literally flies by. Up at 4:30 am, and back to the relocated camp (lakeside) a couple hours after dark every day. Worked it Damn HARD! 1,200 kilometers on the truck, split up to different trucks and had help from a couple of Local Ladz to increase the effort, 200+ kilometers on the boots, and not another single bull seen! Did see several sets of cows and calves, but the bulls had seriously decided to get into Stealth Mode!
A quick shot of the area we were working:
Every day we would encounter in excess of 200 fresh deer tracks laid down over night. And did see quite a few rubs indicating at least a decent population of deer in the area:
But despite working the area heard we saw but 6 deer between us over the week and change. Here's one, a Big Two-Point Muley Buck (4 point only zone) asleep on his feet next to his Lady Of The Moment:
And a Runner doing exactly what almost every other deer we saw in that zone was doing... Running HARD!
I did however have an interesting encounter with a nice 4 point whitetail buck up there though. Sneaked over a ridge above where a bull moose had recently wandered to see if I could spot him. Long Gone obviously, but as I scrutinized the distant bushline, a good 4 point whitetail stepped out and began wandering... RIGHT AT ME! Having taken literally dozens of whitetails in this class over my many years of hunting, I decided to try and get my Partner in on him. Long story short - one little squeak from a boot, and he is off like a racehorse! No shot presented for my Buddy, and although I could have taken him, I decided not to as I had an upcoming whitetail bow hunt with another Buddy just around the corner...
More to come...
The two men in their mid-50's that saddled up to the task of dragging her UP to the closest trail were huffing and puffing like old draft-horses well before we reached the top! But we managed to persevere and Get 'Er Done!
Obviously mature - she either has bambi hidden nearby, or one of those bucks ain't far off...
