Buffy...some great 'bous and a dandy ox too. You should go on one more hunt to Newfoundland for a Woodland and have your "Grand Slam" of 5 species as recognized by B&C. You have 4 nice now! And I like your methodology of getting the first crack if you are the oldest!
I'd consider an outfitter in the Mackenzie Mts of the NWT versus BC as caribou numbers are much higher there. That said, Dustin is a good guy and has a good track record as a guide that is for sure...not up to speed on his outfitting area that he has had a few seasons.
Our Mt Caribou numbers are not great in BC right now. And we have a "6-point" antler point restriction where one antler has to have 6 points minimum including the back-tine and the top points (no back tine...then 6 or more points up top to be legal). My experience is many herd bulls here...
I've hunted Mt Grizzlies (BC, 66 days over a 5 year period), Polar bear (Nunavut) and brown bear (Alaska) successfully with my bow. They all were great adventures and a bit hair raising...i.e. the grizzly shot was 13 yards and he ran past at 2 yards as he "escaped". Then the sow had to be...
I've been lucky to live and bowhunt in CO and BC as a resident and plus take a bunch of DIY trips when I drew a tag or bought an OTC license in various states and provinces (+20 species). That said, some of the critters I've had on the bucket list were Alaskan Brown Bear, Polar Bear, Grizzly...
For hunting purposes I became eligible for a BC resident license after living and working in BC for one year. Canadian citizenship (dual) took around 6 years.
I've been fortunate enough to live in sheep country my entire adult life. Got lucky and drew 6 CO resident archery ram tags and arrowed a couple in the 35 years I lived there. Some of the tags were second choice back in the 1980s. Even more fortunate was getting a non-resident NV desert tag...
Remington 700 .204 R that shot very poorly. After a new PacNor barrel in .204 R, Gretan firing pin and spring, BDL bottom metal and a B&C stock it shoots great....just like the used Cooper .204 R I bought for less $$$!
My lucky "item" is persistence. For a bowhunter helps increase your odds like spending time in the field. Someone once said "the harder I hunt the luckier I get".
I use a Cabelas Ripcord XL rolling duffle. Cost $159 last year and has survived many flights in Canada since. It is oversize so I end up paying a small fee ($26-$29 C a few times) for it. I've had no trouble with the airlines as long as I keep it under 50#s. I can put two bows in my Prime...
Griggs..not sure how to send you a private message...(I typed one out to you but it appears it may be a public "conversation"?) I don't understand the site as I am new here.
Griggs,
ULUKHAKTOK/HOLMAN, NWT: A friend and I drove up to Yellowknife in late August 2016, then flew to Copper Mine (Kugluktuk) before flying on to Ulukhaktok up on Victoria Island for the musk ox hunt. The first day we went a long ways North from town by quad, each driving across the gravel...
What are the names of the villages in your photos? Neat as heck to have experienced the Canadian Arctic like you have!! I've bow hunted Holman, NWT (Uluhaktuk) and Baker Lake and Resolute, Nunavut recently and really enjoy being with the Inuits and out on their lands. Thanks for posting!
Two hunters were mauled in a tent in SE BC a few years back. Both lived to tell about it.
I've had Alaskan grizzlies sniff the backpack tent inches from my face on two separate occasions years apart....scaring the heck out of me, and the other one or two guys that were in the tent with me...