Winter 2001-2002 Newsletter

Well our 2001 season is over and by all accounts it was another good to great year. As usual we had great clients and the crew did an outstanding job.

The only problem is that I am having to spend too much time in town expediting rather than guiding. According to Ruth, I need to have either her or myself cloned so we can get all the work done and I could still guide. It was a great fall in spite of the wet September. Many records were broken - some happy ones; others in a different category.

For the record we had:

• one hunter take five animals in twelve days.
• two hunters three days late flying into camp
• moose shot and hunter in Watson in under three hours
• moose shot right from the cabin door
• our oldest hunter - 86 - born in 1914

August first opened with Joel and Floyd taking Randy Brown and Michael Harris out after goat. They were capably assisted by Heather Majak as wrangler and Chelsea our daughter as cook. A huge bull moose kept their attention for a couple days but they were unable to lure him into range so Joel has put in an official request to hunt the area Sept. 8 - 19, 2002 and get him. It's first come, first serve if you want a try at him.

They then moved to Coal River Cabin where Randy got his goat. Michael hurt his back here so they moved to Ceaser where Randy continued his taking spree (that's politically correct for killing) with two wolves, a moose and a grizzly. Our old record of four animals on a fourteen day hunt was soundly beaten.

Next up was Guy Pulvermacher after sheep. Donn showed him a nice ram on day three and then returned to Ceaser to look for goat but four days of rain and fog limited their hunting to the cabin. During this time Joel and Floyd were guiding Wayne and Chris Marley. Chris took a beautiful caribou with one shot and then his dad took a nice billy with Joel's rifle. A two hundred yard open sight one shot kill.

Aug. 26th arrives and I got to guide again. Floyd and I took repeat bow hunter Bill Cox to South Camp after goat while Donn and Joel guide Steve Lange and Rich and Mary Karow. It took us a couple days but Bill put on an impressive stalk, shot one arrow and has his beautiful billy. Rich and Mary added a goat, 65 ½ inch moose and a grizzly to their trophy room. The grizzly came into camp while Mary was out. It walked onto the porch of the cabin, then went down and ate a couple of backstraps while Mary snuck into the cabin to get the boys who tried to scare it away but finally had to shoot her. Steve in the meantime had a cloud of rain and snow follow him for ten out of twelve days. The two sunny days were spent moving to a different camp but he did end up with a nice caribou.

Sept. 7th arrives with Edwin Orr, John Guzeman and Mike White. I raced Edwin out for Floyd and Phil. Phil, the first graduate of Ceaser Lake School of Guiding, is from New Zealand and would be a welcome addition to any hunting camp. They were the lucky ones as the weather closed in on us and it took two days before John and Mike were able to get into Greyling Lake. Ed already had his 64 1/2 inch moose and was working on his goat before they were even in camp.

The delay in flying also had Steve, Rich and Mary late in getting back to town. Ruth scrambled about and was able to get their return flights changed. Rich and Mary made it home but Steve got caught in the September 11th disaster delaying him even further.

John and Mike had a small war with a pack of wolves the first day (one dead and many warned ) then took two caribou, a moose plus had a big grizzly get away.

The last horseback hunt had Mark Wright with Joel and Alfonso Celis with Floyd. Floyd took Alfonso back to his secret valley which had been full of moose, specifically after a huge bull they had seen a couple days earlier only to find nothing. All moose disappeared. Several days later, one bull committed suicide by walking into camp and then a couple days later a grizzly also fell to Alfonso. Joel and Mark stalk a huge bull caribou (419) and take him and then try Joel Lake for moose but are beat by the six hour wait. This big guy does look good on video. They later take a nice 200 point bull right from the cabin door at Phylis's cabin.

Boat Moose in Rut Hunts

The boat hunts were supposed to start Sept. 15th but nobody could get in. Our only German client of the year had to cancel but Dwayne Wolters finally made it Sept. 17th and started down the river with Robbie on the 18th. He had looked at Joel's huge 65 ½ inch bull so turned down several really good bulls and finally was sitting empty-handed when a 56 " showed up opposite camp. Robbie raced over, Dwayne shot the bull and less than three hours later was back in Watson with the horns and cape. Robbie did say he felt bad that I had to complete the caping but the big smile on his face said it all.

Peter Smith was up next. Ralph and Lawrence guided him to a huge bull making Pete not only our oldest hunter ever (born in 1914) but he also took the biggest bull of the year. It was a three way tie between Pete, Edwin, and Rich (hunters) or Ralph, Floyd and Joel (guides) so we had to let them dry evenly for the final measurement.

Brian Mortz and Chuck Sherwin took the second hunt - Sept. 23 - 29 . Brian and Donn took a heavy 58 inch bull on day one at a new camp on Tamarack Lake while Robbie and Chuck took a heavy 52 incher at Taffie Creek.

The last hunt had Robbie take Jesus Abascal to Taffie where a wolf and black bear were taken plus Jesus wounded a huge bull moose. Donn and David Mack got frozen off Tamarack Lake where they had turned down a couple bulls and couldn't get close enough to one. (Dave was a bow hunter) I guided Nick and Clara Gonnering for a couple days unsuccessfully and then Joel took over and got them a nice bull.

Late Season Caribou By Snowmobile

The late caribou opened with Joel and Hugh Cropper taking a heavy 398 point bull on the first day. Donn and Mike Moore started two days later and after turning down many huge bulls ended up shooting a 408 on the third day which was also Mike Jennet's and my first day. We saw in excess of 200 caribou that day which just meant we had 400 eyes watching us so we couldn't get closer than 80 yards. Joel then took over for three days while I moved hunters and had many opportunities at 60 yards a couple at under 40 and one at 30 but they just weren't right for Mike to shoot an arrow. Joel now had to head for Alberta so I got the last day. Similar story though we did find a nice bull by himself and were able to get to about 50 yards before the crusted snow rolled and alerted him allowing us to watch him walk away. We had another opportunity on the way home when 15 caribou with a nice bull circled us for 15 minutes at 70 to 100 yards thus ending the season. 

What's New and What's Hot for 2002

Lynx - It's looking good for lynx this December as I have seen more lynx this summer than any other year. December would be my pick as February may be too late.

Wolverine - Joel has bought a trapline on the Upper Rock which is home to a good wolverine population. Feb and March are best.

Wolf - Wolf numbers are holding so any of the February and March hunts should be great. We will be offering a hunt out of Taffie Creek in late March. This one may be the best wolf hunt.

Spring Bear - I have the May 26th to June 4 booked for the bear that is wrecking our Lodge but have openings for an earlier hunt May 15th to 24th.

Sheep - The back pack hunts are already booked for 2002. The rams in the horseback area are recovering well so we'll be taking two hunters there again on a sheep-goat combo.

Caribou / Goat Combo - The Yukon is famous for its mountain caribou and should be for its goats. These are best hunted Aug. 13 - 24 and 26 to Sept. 6th. You can choose old tried and proven camps or areas seldom to never hunted.

Goat / Caribou / Moose Combo - Prime time for a long haired goat plus moose and caribou. Aug. 26 - Sept. 6 and one only Sept. 8 - 19th. Also great for grizzly

Moose - We took two hunters to the head of the Whitefish River (Tamarack Lake) country and are hoping to open up the river this fall. Will be taking a couple Jon boats 150 miles in by snowmobile for use on the river. It will be great hunting. Dates Sept. 7 - 13th, 15th - 21st and 23rd to 29th. 

Moose / Caribou /Grizzly Combo - Sept. 8 - 19th hunt at Lucky Lake after the grandpa bull Joel and Randy saw and of course the Sept 16th to 27th prime rut hunt.

Caribou - We may have a couple backpack hunts out of Caribou Flats open for next year. Dates Sept. 8 - 14th.

Fall Grizzly - My choice would be Sept. 8 - 19th or Sept. 16 - 27th.

We will be attending the following shows this winter. We would love to see you there.