Cordillera
11-11-2016, 09:23 PM
I turned 50 this year, so the annual hunt had to be special. My regular partners were game to do something different; more adventurous. So, we spent the year researching options for a mountain hunt. We don't like company so needed to find a place without too much competition. Definitely a fly in show. Part way through the year, a new partner joined. He had shot one moose in his life and really needed to connect with a moose. So we were aiming for sheep/moose combo for the last two weeks of September.
After much research, we landed on a lake that we knew the outfitter was not hunting, and was off the beaten path for most residents. Definitely has had sheep killed before but is a relatively small pocket of sheep habitat. A local fellow we knew said the lake itself was "excellent moose". Game on. We booked the trip in April and training began; lots of hikes with packs, running and even a half marathon for one of us. The plan was to arrive at the lake, spend 6 or 7 days on the mountain and then back to the lake for moose for 6 days.
Finally we arrive at the floatplane base September 18 totally stoked. Unfortunately the pilot has news; someone may have flown in to our lake from a different base (one about 50km further). OK we ask, how about our "Plan B lake". Oh, he says that has someone already. OK. how about Plan C? Three parties on that one.
Well, they say the best plans disappear on contact. We really did not want to share a modest size area with others. Not good for them or us....
So, there is another lake near our first choice. Its not known to have sheep, but maybe? And there should be caribou and goats. So we load the plane and head to lake A. Sure enough, a small camp is already established so we head to Lake B. A little bummed but once we are there, it looks totally nice. A great base camp with sandy beach and a meat pole.
We set up the wall tent, stash some gear, cut some firewood, and grab packs to head across to the mountain.
The packs are all about 65 pounds, and are not that bad. The climb up looks ok, but its an old burn (50 years or so) and is pretty thick balsam and willow. Push, grunt, repeat.
After about 2 hours we have reached treeline and need a break. We have no idea if there is game anywhere here so we plan to camp, look around and then....
We sit down for about two minutes when one of the guys says "Goat!". Sure enough about 1.5km away a solitary goat on a small rock knob. I run for the spotter. Then I hear "holy...!#@ Grizz". What the?
Sure enough there is a bear on the ridge just above the goat. Clearly, the grizzly knows the goat is there. The goat looks total oblivious. A second grizzly appears upslope. We watch for about 45 minutes and the grizzly wanders around and then disappears up the ridge. We decide this little knoll is a great place to camp so set up the tents and split up to do some scouting before dark. We have goat tags but figure that we don't need to chase that goat with a grizz so close.
Later that evening, the two grizzlys return and try to make a frontal attach on the goat. For 45 minutes we have front row seats as the goat is getting surrounded by two lunging bears. But the little rock knob is enough and he sticks to it. As dark comes, the goat is there and the grizzlies are gone.
Dinner in camp that night is awesome. We have a cozy fire in the tipi with wood stove, and a pretty awesome mountain dinner.
The next day we split up to scout. The goat is gone. Shane sets up on a high knob to spot for moose in the valley below. The rest of us head around the mountain. After mid-day and about 8 k hike we spy a group of goats another 5 or 6 km away. Too far to chase (we are not that keen on goats, as there are lots around home). The we spy another Grizzly on the far ridge too. Way cool!! Then an inreach message arrives; "Grizzlies at close range". We had left one guy back partway and he had two bears come to within 100 meters while he hunkered under a rock. They were probably the same two bears from the day before.
On the way back, we circle above our camp to see if we can find the goat. No one home. We have seen some nice rocky cliffs and good talus, but very few tracks or other sign. Some caribou sign from about 2 or more weeks ago. Not a single sign of a sheep. When we are back at camp, Shane arrives looking pretty flushed. He had a quiet morning under his little tarp to stay out of rain squalls. in the middle of the afternoon a nice moose booked it through the valley below him and headed into the pass towards our camp. Shane went into "persistence hunting" mode, and tried to close the gap. Saw the moose a couple times but that bull was not slowing down.
At camp I was glassing the mountain on the other side of the lake. Hmmm, small dots that look like.... caribou! Spotter reveals a small herd with one decent looking bull. Cool.
We have another great dinner and break out some refreshments. What a great day in the mountains! Goats, grizzlies at close and far range, a mountain moose, and a herd of caribou. The problem is we don't want a grizzly and it looks like they have chased all the game on our mountain away. We decide to sleep and decide what to do in the morning.
Dinner was excellent. we had seen 6 goats, three grizzlies, a moose, and a herd of caribou.
PS: I can't manage to post photos. I'll try again tomorrow.
After much research, we landed on a lake that we knew the outfitter was not hunting, and was off the beaten path for most residents. Definitely has had sheep killed before but is a relatively small pocket of sheep habitat. A local fellow we knew said the lake itself was "excellent moose". Game on. We booked the trip in April and training began; lots of hikes with packs, running and even a half marathon for one of us. The plan was to arrive at the lake, spend 6 or 7 days on the mountain and then back to the lake for moose for 6 days.
Finally we arrive at the floatplane base September 18 totally stoked. Unfortunately the pilot has news; someone may have flown in to our lake from a different base (one about 50km further). OK we ask, how about our "Plan B lake". Oh, he says that has someone already. OK. how about Plan C? Three parties on that one.
Well, they say the best plans disappear on contact. We really did not want to share a modest size area with others. Not good for them or us....
So, there is another lake near our first choice. Its not known to have sheep, but maybe? And there should be caribou and goats. So we load the plane and head to lake A. Sure enough, a small camp is already established so we head to Lake B. A little bummed but once we are there, it looks totally nice. A great base camp with sandy beach and a meat pole.
We set up the wall tent, stash some gear, cut some firewood, and grab packs to head across to the mountain.
The packs are all about 65 pounds, and are not that bad. The climb up looks ok, but its an old burn (50 years or so) and is pretty thick balsam and willow. Push, grunt, repeat.
After about 2 hours we have reached treeline and need a break. We have no idea if there is game anywhere here so we plan to camp, look around and then....
We sit down for about two minutes when one of the guys says "Goat!". Sure enough about 1.5km away a solitary goat on a small rock knob. I run for the spotter. Then I hear "holy...!#@ Grizz". What the?
Sure enough there is a bear on the ridge just above the goat. Clearly, the grizzly knows the goat is there. The goat looks total oblivious. A second grizzly appears upslope. We watch for about 45 minutes and the grizzly wanders around and then disappears up the ridge. We decide this little knoll is a great place to camp so set up the tents and split up to do some scouting before dark. We have goat tags but figure that we don't need to chase that goat with a grizz so close.
Later that evening, the two grizzlys return and try to make a frontal attach on the goat. For 45 minutes we have front row seats as the goat is getting surrounded by two lunging bears. But the little rock knob is enough and he sticks to it. As dark comes, the goat is there and the grizzlies are gone.
Dinner in camp that night is awesome. We have a cozy fire in the tipi with wood stove, and a pretty awesome mountain dinner.
The next day we split up to scout. The goat is gone. Shane sets up on a high knob to spot for moose in the valley below. The rest of us head around the mountain. After mid-day and about 8 k hike we spy a group of goats another 5 or 6 km away. Too far to chase (we are not that keen on goats, as there are lots around home). The we spy another Grizzly on the far ridge too. Way cool!! Then an inreach message arrives; "Grizzlies at close range". We had left one guy back partway and he had two bears come to within 100 meters while he hunkered under a rock. They were probably the same two bears from the day before.
On the way back, we circle above our camp to see if we can find the goat. No one home. We have seen some nice rocky cliffs and good talus, but very few tracks or other sign. Some caribou sign from about 2 or more weeks ago. Not a single sign of a sheep. When we are back at camp, Shane arrives looking pretty flushed. He had a quiet morning under his little tarp to stay out of rain squalls. in the middle of the afternoon a nice moose booked it through the valley below him and headed into the pass towards our camp. Shane went into "persistence hunting" mode, and tried to close the gap. Saw the moose a couple times but that bull was not slowing down.
At camp I was glassing the mountain on the other side of the lake. Hmmm, small dots that look like.... caribou! Spotter reveals a small herd with one decent looking bull. Cool.
We have another great dinner and break out some refreshments. What a great day in the mountains! Goats, grizzlies at close and far range, a mountain moose, and a herd of caribou. The problem is we don't want a grizzly and it looks like they have chased all the game on our mountain away. We decide to sleep and decide what to do in the morning.
Dinner was excellent. we had seen 6 goats, three grizzlies, a moose, and a herd of caribou.
PS: I can't manage to post photos. I'll try again tomorrow.