2005 BC Whitetail Deer Hunt

My 2005 BC Whitetail Buck

Every year during November I head back to my home town of Fort St. John for a little deer hunting. This is where I took my first big game animal. It was a dinky little 4 point muley buck that I took 10 or 11 years ago.

On the 2nd day of hunting we were doing our usual rounds of the deer patch. We were looking for fresh sign and noticed some rubs that were hit during the night as well as tracks going every which way. We were glassing the rolling hills of the lightly snow covered alfalfa and spotted several does and a few small bucks. We watched them for a bit watched what they did and then started to move on.

We started up a long steep hill that is just like a corridor leading from one alfalfa field into another. There were rubs running up both sides every 20 feet or so. It was obvious the bucks work this track pretty heavy in the rut. As we started to near the crest of the hill it quickly opens back up into rolling fields on the right hand side and in one the dips only 30 yards away we noticed horns… 2 Sets… It’s two Muley bucks and they are fighting.

These deer were in a fierce battle totally oblivious to our presence less then 40 yards away. They were both decent 150-160 class mule deer but neither buck was really what I was holding out for so I elected to pass the opportunity at one of these bucks onto our hunting partner. He happily agreed and we watched them for a minute to decide on which was the bigger buck.

By this time they were 100 or so yards away and still fighting broadside to us. It was the perfect shot opportunity. We told our partner to setup and nail the buck on the right we no sooner said that and *BOOM* the 30-06 dropped the buck in his tracks you can see him going down in this picture.

Even though the mule deer buck was down and obviously not fighting anymore the other buck was still hanging around within 20 yards of us walking around in circles. It was crazy. I had a tag and he was legal but we already had one deer to get gutted and hung before lunch and he just wasn’t big enough. We hung the muley up in some trees and then headed off for lunch.

Now that we had a muley down I joked that now it was time to hunt for my big whitetail. We left our deer patch and had one field left to check. We almost never even looked into it until my dad said you wouldn’t be much of a hunter if you didn’t…

I laughed and we checked the field… Sure as shit if there isn’t 4 or 5 whitetail does out in the field and standing around with them in the middle of the afternoon is an amazing 5×5 typical whitetail buck! This was exactly what I was after so much the dismay of my hunting partner I didn’t pass this one up!

The deer were about 400 yards or so away but they were in the middle of the alfalfa field and starting to move away. I didn’t have time to make to hit the bush and flank the deer out of sight so I had to make the stalk in the
open. This field had some very slight rolls to it so the decision was made for me to go straight at the buck in one of the these little dips.

I got my rifle ready and started off on my stalk… I was crouched down, as low as I could go taking quick little steps… I made it 50 yards into the field and the buck looked right up at me. I froze… Shit… I am busted I thought to myself…

I remained calm and still frozen solid. It felt like 5 minutes but the buck eventually put his head down and I went back to my quick little steps trying to get to a good shooting position. This cycle repeated a few times with the buck looking up at me, me freezing and then he’d get back to eating again.

As I came into the last dip I was now within 200 yards of the buck and couldn’t advance anymore. As I crawled to the shallow little crest of this dip I removed my Ronyn Fleece Camo jacket and rolled it up into a rest… Slowly laid down and put a shell in the chamber… I immediately found the buck in my scope.

He was facing left and broadside about 200 yards away with his head down eating
alfalfa he had a doe right behind him so I had to wait a minute or two until she cleared out the way. I held just behind his shoulder and let one fly out the barrel of my 7MM. The buck was hit incredibly hard and must have
jumped 8 feet in the air as he sped off like a rocket. He made it about 150 yards to the edge of the field and collapsed.

Not too bad for the second day and the conclusion of my 2005 whitetail hunt.

Hope you enjoyed!

Happy Hunting!

Carl

Jetboil Stove Review – The Perfect Stove For Backpack Hunting

If you’re a backpack hunter you know one of the most important items you can carry on your hunt is going to be your stove.  Chances are you’re eating freeze dried meals and your stove is going to be what saves you from having to eat your dinners cold! Not to mention provide you with a source to kill bacteria in drinking water and heat up your morning coffee. Your stove is a critically important piece of gear. Obviously you can accomplish all of the above with a fire but it’s a little more convenient with a good backpacking stove.

When I was embarking on my first sheep hunt I needed to buy myself a backpack hunting stove. I had been looking at stoves from the likes of MSR, Coleman, and a few other well known brands. The only problem with many of these stoves is they are incredibly expensive and they are not incredibly simple to run there is a bit of fiddling required. I wanted something simple, compact and reliable that I wouldn’t have to worry about.

I found it while I was looking around eBay one night checking out stoves. I came across a neat little gadget called the Jet-Boil. When I came across this eBay auction I was intrigued by what I saw and read about more about the little Jet-Boil stove. I found out it was rated the #1 Stove by backpackers guide in 2004 and I was impressed with all of the positive feedback I was reading.I found several other positive reviews as well.

The stove was light (less then 1 pound with burner, fuel and cooking cup) it was compact. (a little smaller then a killer can of beer) and it was inexpensive compared to some of the other similar stoves on the market. At only $89.00 USD for the stove, accessories and shipping it looked like a bargain so I purchased one of the stoves that night. I was eager to get the stove in my hot little hands to try out and see if I had either wasted my money or acquired a new piece of really useful gear.

Fast forward 6 days and my Jetboil arrived in the mail. It was a small enough package that they dropped it off into the parcel compartment of our community mailbox. I eagerly tore open the package to see what awaited me inside.

- Jetboil Burner

- 2 Jetboil cooking cups (I ordered an extra
one)

- 1 small can Jetboil fuel.

- 1 Lid and 1 Measuring Cup (doubles as the
burner cover)

Now one of the claims Jetboil makes is that it can boil 2 cups of water in about 2 minutes… It’s more like 3 or 4 minutes if you’ve just collected some cool water from the creek but 2 minutes was definitely bang on if the water was already room temperature.

Since acquiring my Jetboil I’ve taken it on a few hunts and backpacking trips and with nearly 2 years of use I can’t say that I have ever had a problem with this stove. Just one of the small canisters of fuel was enough to boil water for 2 guys eating mountain house freeze dried meals for 4 nights and boiling soup during the day.

Because of the Jetboils unique patented design it’s incredibly fuel efficient and and super easy and convenient to use it’s so simple I wonder why it didn’t come out years ago… I’ve been on a few trips now where others have been fiddling with their backpacking stoves trying to get them to light, or get the flame just right or messing with different pieces and connectors.

I pull out my Jetboil, take off the lid and pull
out the burner and fuel canister.  Screw the fuel cansiter into the burner,
attach the burner to the actual Jetboil cooking cup with a simple 1/2 turn and
then you’re off to the races!  Turn on the gas, push the piezo lighter and
"Whooshh…" the stove is going and you are ready to cook. 
Everybody that watches me use this asks me where I bought it.

Being a backpack hunter you probably know all about eating soups, oatmeals and freeze dried meals. They are backpack hunting staples and this is where the Jetboil excels. Boiling water for these meals is a breeze and the jetboils burner cover doubles as a measuring cup or even a small bowl should you need it. The cooking cup of the jetboil is also marked at the 2 cup mark for easy measuring. I simply boil the water in my Jetboil and then pour it right into the freeze dried package. No mess to clean! Make sure you never turn the stove on without water or contents inside. You’ll melt the neoprene cover on the outside. Go ahead and ask me how I know.

While I do think this is the Stove of all backpacking stoves for hunters it does have a few drawbacks.

1.There is no windscreen. In high winds the flames are so concentrated from the burner that the wind can drastically slow your cooking time and decrease the efficiency of the
stove. If you have a windscreen problem solved. If you don’t have a windscreen I’ve used everything from rocks to my pack or the tent to get out of the wind and cook the meal. I think they should include a windscreen.

2.The jetboil is HIGHLY efficient at cooking ANYTHING that needs 1 or 2 cups of water to eat. IE: Freeze Dried meals. It also works really well for canned goods. Trying to cook lipton sidekicks or something… No Go you’ll make a big mess and it simply takes too long. Don’t expect to be frying up any tenderloins with it either. While it does come with a pot/pan support the real efficiency in the jetboil comes from the patented jetboil cooking cup.  When you try cooking with a different pot or pan boiling/cooking times are greatly increased. Now the company has come out with a custom pot designed for the jetboil burner but I have yet to purchase one and try it.

The Bottom Line – If you’re heading out on a 14 day backpacking hunt into the most remote part of the country and you’re going to be eating plenty of soups, oatmeals, and freeze dried foods you would be doing yourself a great disservice if you didn’t give one of these stoves a try. It will make your cooking tasks painfully easy with very quick cleanup. It’s less money then some of the more well known stoves on the market and I think it’s twice the product. This stove with 3 or 4 small canisters of fuel would work for two people for 14 days.

If you do plenty of backpack hunting this stove is worth dropping $100 for. You’ll wonder why in the heck you didn’t have one years ago. I have yet to see this stove at a store in Canada so eBay I believe would be the best choice.

Happy Hunting!

Carl

Sil-Tarp II Light Weight Tarp Gear Review

Sil-Tarp II Gear Review

Product – Integral Designs Sil-Tarp II.

Size – 8′ x 10′

Price Paid – $125.00 At M.E.C. Victoria.

One of the exciting parts about planning a hunting trip is going out and
purchasing some new gear. For my backpack sheep hunting trip I went on this year I spent a bit of money upgrading some of my gear with the latest gadgets and goodies.

This year one of the pieces of gear I decided to purchase was the Sil-Tarp II
made by Integral Designs. This is an 8′ x 10′ silicon impregnated lightweight tarp designed specifically for backpack excursions. They are extremely lightweight and compact down nicely as you can see in the photo. I had heard about these tarps on various hunting and backpacking forums and figured it was about time to see what all the fuss was about.

If you’ve ever hunted the mountains in British Columbia you’d know that you need to be prepared for rain and plenty of it. A lightweight tarp seemed like a practical idea to me. After doing a little research on the web and reading a few good reviews I decided to head down to MEC Victoria and pick one up. Normally I wouldn’t shop here because they support anti-hunting groups and causes but they had the best price and it was convenient.

I paid $125 plus tax for a Grey Sil-tarp II and was out of there.

The first thing you’ll notice when you open up the new sil-tarp is that there
is a tube of sealant inside. You’ll need to use this to seal the seams of your tarp. This is rather inconvenient to do but will help prevent any water leakage at the seams of your tarp.

I sealed the outside of my Sil-tarp and there is really only 1 seam you need to do which runs right down the center of the tent. Just a simple small foam or bristled brush work well for applying the sealant. Make sure you have a big enough area outside to stretch out the tarp so you can seal it. Once you’ve applied the sealant you’ll want to let the tarp sit for at least 12 hours and don’t put it back into it’s compression sack until the sealant has cured as the seams will stick together screwing up your tarp.

They don’t give you any instructions on which side of the tarp is outside or
inside but you can easily figure it out. The side with the loops running down the center seam is the outside. These loops are so you can run a line from two trees or whatever you have and the tarp is then strung from the rope and secured down to the ground through the loops running along the edge. This keeps the tarp suspended and prevents your rope from chaffing a hole through the material.

The Sil-tarp really got to prove it’s worth in the mountains of Northeastern BC on this years sheep hunt.  My hunting partner had a really good Integral Designs single walled mountaineering tent that we used as our primary
shelter. I took my new sil-tarp and strung it so that it was sheltering our tent. In three straight days of rain our tent never even got wet. The sil-tarp shed all of the rainwater off our tent and was large enough that we even had room to store our backpacks on either side of the tent. I was impressed. It was definitely worth packing in for that extra bit of comfort and would definitely come in handy as an emergency shelter if you didn’t have a tent.

If you do some extensive backpack hunting were weight is an issue consider
looking into the Sil-tarps made by Integral Designs.  I think you’ll be
impressed too.  It’s an invaluable piece of gear.

Happy Hunting!
Carl