Hunting – David Willett

On The Cassiar Highway: Destination Hyder, Alaska

The best halibut fish and chips you can imagine…..

Finding the northward-bound Alaska traffic to be annoying (we now feel entitled to have Alaska and all her campgrounds to our selves), we decided to get off the Alaska Highway at Watson Lake and head south on the lesser-traveled Cassiar Highway.

Briefly leaving the Cassiar Highway, we drove through the beautiful coast mountains and along the Portland Canal to the twin towns of Stewart, B.C. and Hyder, Alaska, passing the Bear Glacier.

The Hyder – Stewart Border Crossing connects the communities of Hyder, Alaska and Stewart, British Columbia on the Canada–US border. It can be reached by British Columbia Highway 37A from Stewart and International Street from Hyder. There is no US border inspection station at this crossing, making it the only land border crossing where a person may legally enter the United States without reporting for inspection. The US closed its border station, which was located in the same building as the Boundary Gift Shop, in the late 1970s. As a result, all flights leaving the Hyder Seaplane Base to other cities in Alaska are treated as international arrivals, and all passengers, including Hyder residents, must be inspected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers. Hyder is the easternmost community in Alaska.
On April 1, 2015, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) decided to close its border station at Stewart between midnight and 8:00AM Pacific as a cost-cutting measure. The road was closed with a steel gate when the station is closed, cutting off the only road entry point into Hyder. The decision was met with protests from Hyder residents, as they rely on Stewart for health care and mainland road access, although the Canadian authorities reassured that the residents would continue to have access to emergency services. The move also inconvenienced people wishing to cross the border early, such as mine workers working in mines accessible only via Hyder, as well as tourists entering Hyder for bear viewing. Following discussions between US and Canadian officials, starting in June 2015 the road is reopened for 24-hour access. Anyone crossing into Canada after border station hours is required to report to CBSA by video telephone.
Wikipedia

Upon enquiring of a local Stewart resident as to the location of a good seafood restaurant, she said we had to try “The Old school Bus” in Hyder

Diana and Jim run a small business in Hyder. Jim fishes for halibut each morning and Diana cooks them up fresh each afternoon and evening. We all agreed that this was the best deep fried halibut in all of Alaska! The whole town of Stewart, including the Canadian Border Guards are regulars at the “Old School Bus”!

If you have a bit of extra time, read the photos of the hand lettered signs below, to get a feel for the ambiance of Stewart & Hyder

Bears were out roaming all over town. We were told a story that afternoon of a bear climbing into a man’s pickup truck and sitting in the drivers seat eating his lunch scraps. Sally was followed back from the campground toilet by a black bear. Just part of life here, apparently! Read Diana’s sign below.

Sally’s “bear encounter”walking back to our beautiful rainforest campsite from the ladies!

Sally asked me to drop her off in Seattle to see Julie and family, so our route would now take us directly south. Ray and Shirley decided to head for home in a more easterly direction, so we decided to part ways in Kitwanga. The trip was certainly not the same without them!

Ray and Shirley head east toward Banff and Colorado

Next Post: Prince Rupert to Seattle (Bothell)

An “Old-Fashioned” Wyoming Horseback Elk Hunt

Grizzlies and Wolves and Elk, Oh My!

My son-in-law, Ben, and I recently returned from a guided horseback elk hunt with Lynn Madsen, at Yellowstone Outfitters, Afton, Wyoming. It was incredible!

Here’s what Lynn has to say about his outfit:

“Our Hawks Rest Camp is located in the Teton Wilderness northeast of Jackson…It sets off the southeast corner of Yellowstone Park between the Yellowstone and Thorofare Rivers (Area 60 on a Game & Fish map). It is one day-pack 28 miles, from our base camp at Turpin Meadows…The Hawks Rest camp holds the reputation of being the furthest spot in the continental United States from a road in any direction. Not only will you be hunting in one of the best trophy elk camps in the United States but you will also be hunting in country that looks the same as it did 100 years ago.

Our fully equipped camp consists of a large cook tent, shower tent, sleeping tents with cots, foam mattresses, and wood burning stoves along with plenty of fire wood. We are proud to say that our camps hold an excellent reputation earned by hiring reputable licensed guides, maintaining a clean comfortable camp, serving good food and supplying both good horses and mules and equipment.”

Well, our experience lived up to Lynn’s promotional material and then some. We had a “once in a lifetime” experience. Read on, if you are interested in the details.

Ben flew in from California and the following day we made the 8 hour drive from Fort Collins, Colorado to Jackson, Wyoming, where we spent the night. You can fly into Jackson’s small airport, but it’s kinda expensive and you have to pay hundreds of dollars to ship your elk meat back home, so driving seemed like the frugal option. Besides we were able to enjoy each other’s company and the lovely Wyoming scenery as we motored along.

On Monday morning October 9th we rose early, ate breakfast and made the 1 hour drive north and East to Turpin Meadows where we met Lynn, our guide, four other hunters and were introduced to our horses who would become our new and closest friends for almost 10 hours today.

Lynn provided quality, well cared for horses that are a cross between big, strong draught horses (for strength and stamina) and quarter horses (to reduce the size). They are still really big, tall horses and getting a leg up into the stirrup was my yoga/stretching challenge each time we mounted. Getting off was no issue, but is was a long way down.

fullsizeoutput_810e — The yellow marker highlights the beautiful pack trail into camp. We cross the Continental Divide at Two Ocean Pass and gain over 1,300 feet in elevation over the 28 mile trek.

fullsizeoutput_8107 — Hunters “chew the fat” while pack mules wait patiently

Heading up the mountain, we were passed by Lynn’s string of mules bringing our gear and replenishing needed supplies. On the way in we passed several sets of grizzly and wolf tracks.

Buffalo Fork Valley

Crossing Atlantic Creek

Heading up the mountain

Nearly there! Riding through the Yellowstone Valley, soon to cross the Yellowstone River, Hawk’s Rest Mountain in the distance.

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Sunrise at 9,100 Feet

Colorado Bow Hunt

Rainy Spring Days in the Mountains

Arriving at our cabin for a rainy-day work weekend, we count ourselves so lucky to have such a wonderful retreat.

View from the back deck on a cloudy evening. Snow drifts are still quite deep!

Two pair of geese mating on the beaver pond, then the beaver makes a dramatic appearance as the rain falls heavily.

New shooting gear! Even the drizzly cold weather doesn’t dampen my excitement. Getting prepared for my 2017 horseback elk hunt! Labradar Chronograph and Lead Sled+ make shooting much more fun and setup much less time consuming. Unfortunately, one Barnes round penetrated the steel plate backstop

A few of the early wildflowers in bloom. Pasque flower and buttercup. Due to the rain, I couldn’t get a good picture of the forget-me-nots covering the front yard.

In addition to the usual moose, elk and deer captured in the game camera, we found a few less frequent visitors: a marmot, a goose in flight and a coyote.

Rained all last night and all Wednesday. It’s no hardship with a cozy fire and a good book.

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Archery Elk Hunt 2016

Late August 2016. The Colorado high country is still enjoying summer, but night temperatures are dropping down to freezing. Aspens show just a few leaves beginning to turn to gold and elk have not quite entered the “rut”.

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Elk Hunt 2017

I just booked a guided horseback elk hunt for Ben and I in 2017 with Lynn Madsen, at Yellowstone Outfitters, Afton, Wyoming.

Horse and mule pack trip to Hawk’s Rest Camp – 28 miles from the trailhead

Here’s what Lynn has to say about his outfit:

“Our Hawks Rest Camp is located in the Teton Wilderness northeast of Jackson…It sets off the southeast corner of Yellowstone Park between the Yellowstone and Thorofare Rivers (Area 60 on a Game & Fish map). It is one day-pack 28 miles, from our base camp at Turpin Meadows…The Hawks Rest camp holds the reputation of being the furthest spot in the continental United States from a road in any direction. Not only will you be hunting in one of the best trophy elk camps in the United States but you will also be hunting in country that looks the same as it did 100 years ago.

Our fully equipped camp consists of a large cook tent, shower tent, sleeping tents with cots, foam mattresses, and wood burning stoves along with plenty of fire wood. We are proud to say that our camps hold an excellent reputation earned by hiring reputable licensed guides, maintaining a clean comfortable camp, serving good food and supplying both good horses and mules and equipment.”

My brother Tom and I are considering a summer fishing trip with Lynn Madsen as well….

Lathrop State Park

Early morning hoarfrost

Post hunt cleanup

Sick all day Monday, so couldn't enjoy the warm, sunny weather. Better yesterday. I emptied the composting toilet, breaking the plastic drum catch in the process (no big deal, they will send me a new one for cost of shipping). I filled the water tanks – we were down to 25 gallons, and I emptied the grey water holding tank which was nearly half full. I estimated it had about 500 gallons of grey water which is nearly 1/2 of its 1,250 gallon capacity.

I Last pumped it out Sept 24th when Sal, Bill and I arrived to work at the cabin. According to the cabin calendar we have been up here a total of 25 days since last pump-out including Bill's visit, Sal with Lisa and recently Sal, Ben and I hunting. On average then, we use 20 gallons of water a day – hard to believe. Cross-checking, I last filled the water tanks when Bill was here and today added 525 gallons to the tanks, so the numbers tie out, given that Sal throws out the dishwater in the yard to feed the wild flowers.

Today I pack up and go home, tidying up in case Ray and Shirley are able to come to the cabin for Thanksgiving.

Elk hunt 2013 leaves many great memories. Maybe next year's hunt will also include bringing home the bacon (er……….Elk)!

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Elk Hunt Day 9

Feeling that I may have finally gotten the best of my bronchial crud, I endeavored to climb to my favorite meadow at 9,700 ft to watch the sun rise and hopefully catch elk feeding. The sun kept to it's appointed hour, however the elk were not so courteous. I heard cow elk calling to each other in the distance, but before I could locate the source, they moved off northwest toward the peak of Bull Mountain (10,082).

The sunrise was glorious!

Boulder Ridge & Jimmy Creek Valley with Rawah Mtns in background

Pretty fresh elk sign in my meadow.

The meadow was full of “skid marks” – elk sliding in the snow covered mud on their way down the mountain to feed last night.

Ancient Limber Pine grasping a boulder in its roots

Mid-morning snack: orange, jalapeño cheese sticks and M&M's

On my way down the mountain, 4 deer (all does) sauntered onto the meadow only 30 yards away. They somehow must have known I only had a buck deer license. When they saw me, they picked up the pace a bit, but when I didn't try to immediately eat them, they slowed to a fast walk and moved toward the trees. Pretty girls!

My truck needs a bath!

My neighbors David & Janet Lochman stopped by to discuss our Wood Duck Introduction Project and mentioned that he had frequently been seeing a big bull elk with a small herd of cows feeding on the Big Meadow above his cabin. So, of course, the evening hunt was at the Big Meadow. The temp has climbed to 51 degrees and most of the deep, crusted, snowdrifts had melted a bit, so getting up there was no problem with the chained up truck.

I immediately found the tracks of a small herd of about a dozen, crossing and recrossing. The sign looked to be a few hours old, from this morning or thereabouts, so after tracking a while, I returned to the Big Meadow for the last 30 minutes of the hunt.

Elk tracks in the forest east of Big Meadow

The meadow smelled strongly of elk, however, they did not deign to appear, so I returned home to drown my sorrows in Thai Green Curry with Shrimp and Broccoli.

This years hunt was quite exciting, despite getting sick a couple days before the start. We saw lots of elk (maybe 75 or so – but no clearly identifiable 4point legal bulls), I saw a few deer, we had 2 lovely falls of tracking snow, 30 mph winds, calm days, and the temps ranged from a low of 11 to a high of 51 degrees, so we certainly had lots of variety. Son-in-law Ben displayed great endurance and enthusiasm in improving his hunting craft and was rewarded with a plenitude of elk sightings. He is a fine elk hunting partner.

We ate well, got lots of excercise and enjoyed the peace of the Rocky Mountain wilderness. Can't get much better than this!

Self portrait in sunrise hot light!

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Elk Hunting Day 7&8

Yesterday, we hiked in before light to the south school section ridge to see if the elk would repeat their performance. Yes and no. Elk showed up at a meadow, but not the one we we’re sitting on. 600 yards away, 50 elk were moving into the tree line. Ben decided to chase them, a gutsy move, requiring a sprint, ascending 1,00 or so feet in elevation. The elk dispersed into smaller groups to bed down and chew their cuds, Ben following a group of 8 or so, finding them bedded, but unable to determine if any legal bulls were present. Presently, they eluded him and he gave up the chase. David spotted a small band of cows and immature bulls, but again, was unable to determine sex.

In the afternoon, we hunted the north school section near Sand Creek. Ben saw some elk, but the light was failing and again could not determine sex.

Saturday, Sally and Ben left for town, while David hunted Lyle,s road turnoff. Unfortunately, the county road was still snowbound and at 6:30 am, David got stuck, high centering the truck and necessitating 90 minutes of shoveling. 2 trucks arrived nearby, but watched David shoveling for an hour, before offering to help pull him out (nice fellas). Hunting Lyle’s road, David found a zillion elk tracks, a fast moving deer and a couple moose. I met a Mr Marshall who related that he and family found a large herd the prior night and deciding not to disturb them (due to the late hour), located them in the same place in the morning and shot 2 cows and a bull. They camp every year at the cattle guard, just before you reach the Boulder Ridge turn, and hunt the area just east of their camp and north of the county road. They said that due to the wind, the elk, uncharacteristically, went to the south side, but moved north after the wind abated.