IronNoggin
Well-Known Member
Graphic Warning: This is a hunting tale. There will be pictures accompanying that are directly related. Don't proceed if such sights may bother you please.
As many here might recall, 2020 wasn't overly kind to me nor my family.
It very much appeared that Fate was conspiring directly against any possibility of hunting for me this fall.
As the days i should have been in pursuit of blacktails streamed by, the anxiety of not being out there increased, and in hindsight made dealing with the various situations I had to even more stressful.I did manage to get out Remembrance Day (a long standing tradition with me) and although the time out there was refreshing, no deer were to offer themselves up for the pot.
As December neared, the situation with the Covid Virus began to worsen in my home province as it did many places elsewhere. Deep consideration was given to the thought of travel under such circumstances, especially so in that I have been deemed "High Risk" & operating under Medical Isolation orders since roughly March. Several calls between my hunting partner & I ensued. each expressing increasing concern with the possibly hazards...
Then one morning I wake, and said To Hell With It All! I can & will take whatever precautions are necessary, and I am GOING! I NEED to LIVE Dammit, and this is how I do so... Within days the truck was packed, and I bid my sweet Lady adios for a spell as I wandered off to the ferry. There, they put me on the top deck as to accommodate my desire to not leave my vehicle. Short run later, and I was off to run the gauntlet of Vancouver and the lower mainland. Nice thing about traveling that early on a weekday is you face relatively little traffic. So it was that a couple hours later I stopped to fuel up in Hope - mask and gloves of course while paying at the pump. Then off again.
Although it had snowed the previous week, the highway was in fine winter driving conditions. The entire run from the ferry to my Partner's place in Kelowna took but four hours. There I was warmly welcomed, and we enjoyed a few hours' conversations regarding hunts of the past, and what this year might bring. An early drop into slumber, as the 4:00am departure was going to be early.
The next day we wandered down to the areas of Lumby & Cherryville. In position well before light, but to our dismay there was extremely little sign in the areas we had permission on. As the day marched forward, it became rather obvious that the lands we were working were basically devoid of wildlife. So, we decided to take a tour and explore the area although we pretty much know it well. Of course we then ran into several whitetails, all on posted land that the landowners do not give permission for. Tough to take! The evening produced much of the same, and we did not happen across any deer in any of the areas we could hunt.
A few calls that eve to other ranchers we knew suggested that this past rifle season had been "a war zone". It seems that with all the folks off work due to the bug, a great many decided that meant they should go hunting. We were informed of numerous complaints regarding poaching incidents, a lot of trespassing and otherwise **** poor behavior, and even a case of cattle rustling or two. To their credit, every single one of them went on to invite us to hunt should we want to, albeit noted "there are damn few left around here"...
Sleep was fleeting that night. It seemed all the worry, precautions and travel may well yield a dud. Damn.
We spent the next day exploring the entire length of the snow=draped Christian Valley. This was one of BC's "Hot Spots" for whitetails and more seasons past. But the trend initiated day one continued. Despite haunting some of our favorite back-country ranches we saw but three deer all day, and those well appeared to have bottle rockets up their behinds in their mad desperation to escape. Frustrating!
And on it went. By day four, the highlight of the trip was seeing 26 elk in an area we had never seen them before. It appears they at least are expanding their range. Beyond that, encounters with deer declined, and discouragement was settling in...
Continued...
As many here might recall, 2020 wasn't overly kind to me nor my family.
It very much appeared that Fate was conspiring directly against any possibility of hunting for me this fall.
As the days i should have been in pursuit of blacktails streamed by, the anxiety of not being out there increased, and in hindsight made dealing with the various situations I had to even more stressful.I did manage to get out Remembrance Day (a long standing tradition with me) and although the time out there was refreshing, no deer were to offer themselves up for the pot.
As December neared, the situation with the Covid Virus began to worsen in my home province as it did many places elsewhere. Deep consideration was given to the thought of travel under such circumstances, especially so in that I have been deemed "High Risk" & operating under Medical Isolation orders since roughly March. Several calls between my hunting partner & I ensued. each expressing increasing concern with the possibly hazards...
Then one morning I wake, and said To Hell With It All! I can & will take whatever precautions are necessary, and I am GOING! I NEED to LIVE Dammit, and this is how I do so... Within days the truck was packed, and I bid my sweet Lady adios for a spell as I wandered off to the ferry. There, they put me on the top deck as to accommodate my desire to not leave my vehicle. Short run later, and I was off to run the gauntlet of Vancouver and the lower mainland. Nice thing about traveling that early on a weekday is you face relatively little traffic. So it was that a couple hours later I stopped to fuel up in Hope - mask and gloves of course while paying at the pump. Then off again.
Although it had snowed the previous week, the highway was in fine winter driving conditions. The entire run from the ferry to my Partner's place in Kelowna took but four hours. There I was warmly welcomed, and we enjoyed a few hours' conversations regarding hunts of the past, and what this year might bring. An early drop into slumber, as the 4:00am departure was going to be early.
The next day we wandered down to the areas of Lumby & Cherryville. In position well before light, but to our dismay there was extremely little sign in the areas we had permission on. As the day marched forward, it became rather obvious that the lands we were working were basically devoid of wildlife. So, we decided to take a tour and explore the area although we pretty much know it well. Of course we then ran into several whitetails, all on posted land that the landowners do not give permission for. Tough to take! The evening produced much of the same, and we did not happen across any deer in any of the areas we could hunt.
A few calls that eve to other ranchers we knew suggested that this past rifle season had been "a war zone". It seems that with all the folks off work due to the bug, a great many decided that meant they should go hunting. We were informed of numerous complaints regarding poaching incidents, a lot of trespassing and otherwise **** poor behavior, and even a case of cattle rustling or two. To their credit, every single one of them went on to invite us to hunt should we want to, albeit noted "there are damn few left around here"...
Sleep was fleeting that night. It seemed all the worry, precautions and travel may well yield a dud. Damn.
We spent the next day exploring the entire length of the snow=draped Christian Valley. This was one of BC's "Hot Spots" for whitetails and more seasons past. But the trend initiated day one continued. Despite haunting some of our favorite back-country ranches we saw but three deer all day, and those well appeared to have bottle rockets up their behinds in their mad desperation to escape. Frustrating!
And on it went. By day four, the highlight of the trip was seeing 26 elk in an area we had never seen them before. It appears they at least are expanding their range. Beyond that, encounters with deer declined, and discouragement was settling in...
Continued...
