2010 Hunting News

by Brent Giles

February

Our 2010 hunting started out with a bang!  A few days after returning home from the Washington Sportsman's Show, we hosted our first hunter of 2010.  Rocco Verelli of Montreal, Quebec joined us to hunt cougar with his bow.  Rocco was hoping to take a tom that would make Pope & Young and ended up with much more than he bargained for.

The snow conditions last winter were less than optimum, to say the least, making the search for cat tracks a more arduous task than usual.  Luckily, we had a fresh snowfall just a few days before Rocco arrived.  Things were looking up.

  The first day of the hunt we located the track of a good tom, but it vanished into an area of bare ground and we were unable to pursue that particular cat.  However, later that same day we cut the track of an even bigger tom in an area with better snow conditions.  Unfortunately, it was too late in the day to turn the hounds loose.  It would have to wait until morning.  The hardest part about dealing with this sort of situation is trying to get to sleep that night.  You know that you could be facing a grueling day in the field, and need all the rest you can get, but the anticipation of that day and what it could bring makes getting to sleep a challenge.

Once asleep, morning came quickly and following a big breakfast we loaded the dogs and hit the road.  Half a century of logging has created much access in our area which is a huge asset when cat hunting.  That morning we were able to completely circle the area the cat was in and determine that he had not left a relatively small piece of real estate.  With so many mule deer and moose wintering in the area, we suspected the lion had made a kill and was hanging around to fill his belly before moving on.  We leashed up the dogs and began following the track into the timber.  Soon we found where the cougar had killed a young moose, probably within the last 24 hours.  He had eaten part of it and covered it over with sticks and other debris before bedding down under a nearby tree.  We turned the dogs loose and within 20 minutes this huge tom was in a tree.

After taking some photos and tying up the dogs, we found the best spot for Rocco to shoot from.  Many people think that shooting a cat out of a tree with archery equipment is almost without challenge.  This couldn't be farther from the truth.  In the densely timbered, and relatively flat, country we hunt, a hunter will quite often be shooting up at a very steep angle with limbs and other obstacles in the way.  Needless to say, Rocco didn't let this stop him from making an excellent broadside shot through the cat's vitals.  After about 30 seconds, the cat fell to the base of the tree and ran about 30 yards before piling up.  And what a cat he was!

Rocco's mountain lion tipped the scale at 184 lbs and his skull green scored 15-11/16 inches, qualifying him for the all-time Boone & Crocket awards book.  Congrats on an awesome cat Rocco!

Testimonial:   

Thanks Brent ... I'm still on cloud 9 from that great mountain lion hunt. … Please let me know what he scored...

P.S.S. I really enjoyed the hunt. Expect me to return.

 Thanks Rocco

Montreal, Quebec

We began our spring Black Bear hunting on May 8 with Brian Christiansen & Jeryl Struck of Boise, Idaho.  We were experiencing an early spring and there were plenty of bears out and around by the time this hunt started.  The first evening out with Jeryl & Brian, we saw 6 bears in just a few hours and it looked like the hunt was going to be a good one.

On the third day, Brian & Jeryl both shot nice boars measuring 5' 11" & 5' 10" respectively.  During the time hunted we saw a total of 24 bears.  With the growth of new, green grass and shoots, the spring season always reveals the area's abundance of wildlife.  During this hunt we saw a good number of moose and over 200 mule deer.

Testimonial:   

…Just a quick note to thank you again for a great hunt.  Your hospitality was much appreciated and the food and accommodations were awesome.  We feel like you really went out of your way to make it a comfortable and successful hunt.  I had the hunt of a life time that I will never forget, seeing so many bears during our stay and taking a nice big black one.  My expectations were exceeded in every aspect…

Thanks again,

Brian Christiansen

Idaho

Our second and final hunt of the spring was with return client, Kim Jensen and his partner Henrik Valbum, both from Denmark.  Kim hunted with us in May 2009 and, like the rest of his party, took a bear.  However, he decided to return this year to try for a bigger bear or perhaps a color phase bear.

It rained a fair bit on Kim & Henrik's hunt which surely slowed down the hunting and we were not seeing as many bears as on the previous hunt.  Early on the third day, Henrik shot a nice boar measuing 6' 6" (our biggest this season).  After that, it rained harder and harder and we struggled to find Kim a good opportunity on a nice bear.  On day 4 we saw a large, dark chocolate colored bear, but he got wind of us and that was the last we saw of him.  The next day Kim got a shot at a very nice cinnamon bear, but things happened very quickly and the shot was low and, unfortunately, a clean miss.

On the 6th and final morning, it was still raining, but looked to be brightening up.  It rained for the first couple hours we were out and then stopped and the sun came out.  Soon we were seeing bears again.  While driving a logging road, we came across a brown sow with 2 beautiful brown cubs.  The one cub was a very light blonde color and climbed a tree and gave us a great chance to take some photos.  About 30 minutes after seeing the sow and cubs, we spotted a reasonable-sized single bear feeding inside an old loading corral in a large meadow.  The bear spooked and began to make a run for it, but we were able to stop him with a fawn distress call.  He stood up on his hind legs to check us out and at 110 yards, Kim drilled him through the center of the chest.  The bear fell dead and our spring season was over.  Kim's boar measured 6 feet and was black with dark brown highlights.  It was great to see Kim achieve his goal of taking a bigger bear.  We also saw quite a few moose on this hunt and a large number of deer, approximately 50% of which were bucks.

July

This summer finds us busy making improvements to our camp and scouting for the upcoming fall season.  We are currently putting the finishing touches on our new cook house and building a meat shed which we hope to get plenty of use out of this fall.  So far this summer we have had a fair bit of rain.  The past couple summers have been very dry, so most of us have welcomed the rain with open arms.  There is a lot of lush, green feed out there this year which should not only promote antler growth, but also help maintain good survival rates for fawns and calves.  The moose and mule deer populations are looking good this year.  Moose are a little harder to find during the summer months, but the deer are out in full force morning and evening and the number of bucks is very encouraging.

Before we know it summer will have came and went and clients will be arriving to go hunting.  I can't wait!

October

Our moose season has come and gone and we couldn't be happier with the level of success.  We hunted the first two weeks of this month with two groups of four hunters, all from Washington.  Of the eight hunters, seven of them took home bulls.  Our biggest bull this year was taken by Ray Willis of Goldendale, WA on the first hunt.  This bull was 44 inches wide and his quarters weighed right around 600 lbs on the hook. 

The weather on both these hunts was unseasonably warm and the moose were less active in the open than they normally are during this time of year.  Many nights the thermometer did not even hit freezing even though the skies were clear.  This seemed to be causing the moose to be more nocturnal leaving us a very short window of activity in early morning and then just before dark.  Still, with the area's healthy population of moose, that was enough to help us reach nearly a 90% harvest rate for the season.

Now, the camp is cleaned up and we are regrouping and preparing for the coming Mule Deer season.  We saw several nice bucks while moose hunting and I just can't wait to get after those big guys in the heat of the rut!

Testimonial:   

…So thanks once again for a great hunt.  Too many positives to mention!!...

Jim S.

Washington

December

As I sit here on the this 26th of December, I reflect on what a busy year it has been for us with nearly a full slate of clients, many camp/area improvements and the arrival of our son who is now almost 7 months old and growing like a weed.

Our late deer season started a little slow, but finished out reasonably well.  Our first deer hunt began the 2nd week of November and it seemed as though the warm, dry weather just wasn't helping to push the deer over the edge into full-blown rut.  Although a good number of deer were seen that week including a few nice bucks, opportunities were limited and no deer were harvested.

The following week (Nov. 16-22) the temperature dropped, snow hit the ground and the deer spring into action, the way they should that time of year.  It was as if someone flicked a switch.  We saw several legal 4 point bucks nearly everyday and had some very exciting close encounters with a few of them.  Our hunters, Don & Al, took home 2 very nice bucks that week.

The week of November 24 we didn't have any hunters in camp, but did spend some time scouting in the area and found that the deer were still running around just as hard.  I actually had two big bucks that almost ran into my pick-up while traveling down logging roads early in the morning.  They truly do lose their marbles in the heat of the rut.

On December 1(the last week of deer season) we hosted one last deer hunter, Wally.  This is generally more of a post-rut hunt.  In the first few days of this hunt we saw two really nice bucks, but weren't able to capitalize on either of them.  In the days that followed we saw plenty of deer, but just not much for bigger bucks.  Finally on day 5 we saw a younger buck that we thought may have been legal, but really didn't get a good enough look at.  The next morning we decided to go back and still-hunt the area where we had seen him.  After walking down an old logging road for about half an hour, we found the buck with a couple does, determined he had 4 points and with a clean 100 yard shot, Wally had his buck.

Our first cougar hunt started December 11 with hunter, Ward from MN.  Our first day consisted of the usual routine of covering as much ground as possible to find a reasonably fresh cat track.  However it hadn't snowed in about a week and it was hard to find much for tracks in snow so beat up with deer and other tracks.  We did find a few older tracks, but nothing fresh enough to really work on.  The next day our fresh snow arrived and on day 3 we started finding fresh cat tracks.  Patience is a virtue, especially when hunting.  Late morning on day 4 found us turning the dogs loose and by about 3 p.m we were at the tree where the dogs had put up the cougar.  Ward made a nice shot through the vitals and it was all over.  The cougar was an older female about 120-130 lbs with the thick fur the cats up here are known for.

Now we have just barely a week before we start cat hunting again, and I honestly can't wait to get back out there with the dogs for some more fun in the snow.  I'm also looking forward to seeing some of you at the shows this year including Puyallup, WA and Hinckley, MN.  Stay tuned!

Testimonial:   

...Thanks for sending the pictures and thanks again for a great hunt...

Don G.

Wisconsin

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