A season of dinks, mostly!

[SaskHunter]

I haven’t done a season recap in quite some time and quite frankly wasn’t going to until I recently reflected on how this past season has been my hardest, best and most rewarding to date. From Saskatchewan to Wyoming with a stint in the Yukon, this season has been my busiest, most demanding at times, and definitely one to remember until my last day on this earth. I’ve changed my perspective on what success means though there’s still more room for growth!

I’ll start with Saskatchewan Spring bear season. It was a nice way to start my 2024 season. I hunted my usual spot in the forest fringe and had a lot of bears hitting the bait, though no real big boys ever showed up on camera or in person. I made two trips North, one in May and the other in June during the rut. I was very fortunate to do my absolute favourite thing while hunting bears over bait; watch bears do bear things from up close.




The past three seasons, I’ve changed my tactic as my previous spot had been clear-cut. This wasn’t a huge deal as it pushed a lot of the bears to my current location. I used to bowhunt hunt from a treestand but transitioned to hunting them from the ground with a rifle. Man, I never thought bear hunting could get any more exciting than sitting my butt at their level, and boy did I get my money’s worth this season.


I was fortunate to watch tons of bears this past season and shoot a nice 18inch bear. This bear came into the bait following a big colourphased sow. It didn’t take me long to recognize him as that “big black boi” that had started to come into the bait a few days before, and the largest bear at my bait that year. I remember the shot as being a pretty good one, the sow was feeding when he came around to her, and finally gave me my first broadside shot. I was on him the whole time and shot once he extended his front leg facing me. That’s when things got Western! The bear acted pretty much like any hit with a 45/70, it growled and ran away to my W. The sow, took off in a SW trajectory on a well travelled trail that the bears use most of the time. Right away I got up to stretch and start getting my ducks in a row, when suddenly, I could hear the clear sound of a running and panting bear, coming for me, the thick green ground cover obstructing my view. I started shouldering my rifle, when the sow cleared the bushes 10 yds in front of me, coming directly at me. I barely had time to aim as the sow realized I was obstructing her path, and slightly changed her trajectory, passing a mere 3 ft from where I stood, to my left. Feeling her wind and smelling her as she passed me by me. I have to admit, this was by far the most intense moment I’ve had while hunting. I didn’t have time to feel anything really, it all had happened so quickly that I barely had time to process anything other than the feeling of: “quick, get ready to shoot”, which I failed miserably at.

*not to scale

I quickly realized what had happened and that I wasn’t in any danger, other than maybe getting run over by a heavy fur missile had she not seen me in time. Turns out, that the boar crossed the path the sow was on as it ran away and likely pushed the sow away towards me. The bush she cut through is some of the thickest in that spot, with zero visibility and she simply pushed through 50 yards of branches and prickly green stuff in no time. She physically closed the gap between her and myself and the only thought I could muster was “f*ck, get ready” and never even managed to get her in my scope due to the heavy cover and having to go off of sound. 20/20 hindsight, bear mace was definitely the right tool for this situation. Man, bears are FAST!


After bear season, we rolled into ball, riding, camping and draw results season. As the summer progressed, I received quite a few good news.

-Yukon Caribou/Moose Special Guide license, awarded;
-Wyoming elk, awarded;
-Wyoming pronghorn, awarded;
-Saskatchewan either-sex mule deer, awarded; and
-Saskatchewan antlerless mule deer, awarded.

I was in for a heck of a fall season!

 

[SaskHunter]

 

[SaskHunter]

We took it easy this summer, I retired from “Active Duty” in the Canadian Army after 19 years. Right time, right qualifications and right place, led to me getting a pretty good job with the government where I can keep adding to my pension, benefits, etc. Most important of all, I became master of my own destiny and my family’s. No more moving, no more last-minute deployments, training, etc. Stability for my family and I!


The summer went by quick, dance competitions, ball tournaments, camping, riding, beach days, etc!





Even had a week without mom, so obviously, the girls and I got our party on!




As fall neared, I started preparing for my trip to the Yukon. Packing and getting everything ready for my first fly-in trip! This Yukon hunt is available to Canadian non-residents only, who must be accompanied by a resident. I had found a “sponsor” on a Canadian forum who had graciously volunteered to take me. He had zero caribou experience and limited moose hunting experience which wasn’t a big deal considering I’d kill a few bulls already. I did most of the e-scouting and trying to find information online, which turned out to be HARD. Unlike Alaska where you can easily find information about hunts, there is very little info about the Yukon for DIY hunters. Local knowledge is kept tight, understandably so.

After many unreturned calls to biologists and conservation officers, I found a good starting point based on some information found online with migration maps and a couple hints from locals. We aimed our sights on the Yukon side of the Cassiar Mountains.

Got some not so good but expected news a few weeks before leaving, my last grand parent had passed away so after speaking with the wife and thanks to thr goverment of Canada's policy on bereavement leave, I took an unexpected trip to Eastern Canada where I got to see family I rarely see, even got to hit the East Coast for some absolutely amazing food!






For this hunt, my partner and I were going to take ATVs as most of our hunting would be done from a base camp and ride into the mountains, to do overnight spike camps as needed. I secured an ATV and rental truck weeks before the hunt and started preparing myself and equipment for the hunt. A few days before flying in, I called back the rental place to confirm my reservation was still good to go. “Sorry, we don’t have a machine for you after all… Too many machines returned broken or not returned at all…”. This rental place was the only one in Whitehorse, I quickly got on the phone with one of my buddies who was a cop up there to see if he knew someone who could help. I also joined a few local buy and sell pages to see if some courageous soul would be willing to rent me their ATV. Low and behold, a hunter reached out to me saying he had a machine to lend me if I needed!!! We agreed on cost and pick-up time. This guy was awesome, as a hunter himself, he completely understood the situation I was in and how I felt, he was taking a huge leap of faith into an absolute stranger who pretty much pinky-promised to return his ATV back in one piece!



I flew into Whitehorse late September and was fortunate to have all my gear land with me. I felt like an imposter at the airport, waiting for my rifle to show up, surrounded by what looked like very wealthy individuals, clad in the finest of Sitkas and Kuiu, fancy bags and big pricey rifle cases. There were 10 or 12 of us waiting for our oversized luggage to show up. Three separate outfitters coming to us one by one to see who’s clients we were. “Are you hunting with XX outfitter?”, “Nah bro, I’m hunting with a buddy!”.

I spoke to a group of hunters, one of whom completely put me off. I asked what they were hunting and this dude with a thick Southern accent (which is the Canadian equivalent to you guys making fun of our “Sorry, eh Buddy!”), who went: “I’m not here to hunt, I’m here to kill a moose” with a very rude and condescending tone. That was it, I was done talking, I was tired and and hangry, but couldn’t help but think this guy was absolutely right, he was going to be flown in, cared for by the outfitter, fed, ride the outfitters horses, put on a moose by a guide who had done all the scouting for him, the same guide would likely call the moose in for him and he was going to do just that; kill a moose. I am sure most of those hunters were nice people, but it was midnight, I’d had a long day and I was ready to have a snack and go to bed.

 

[F250]

You are being too polite. The person with the attitude and southern accent was a complete Jackazz !!!

 

[JLDemo]

Gravy aside, that east coast food looks great.

Forget about the south cat, some people have more money than sense and he showed it.

Looking forward to this one, congratulations on the retirement. That's a long time to put everything else before yourself and family, you deserve the rest and hopefully some good experiences from here in Wyo. I have a tad more than 24 months left and I'll retired from the service myself. Seeing a beard and trips like this post retirement is encouraging!

 

[Nick87]

Congrats on the new job as well!