The Safari Club International Convention just wrapped up and as ususal, they once again out did themselves. We actually sold more hunts than any previous convention of their's, which was great. The only downside of that is they were all for 2009 and we still have several openings available for 2008 including 2 Stone Sheep hunts, 2 openings on our last hunt of the year, and room for 3 moose/caribou combo hunters in mid September.

 There was no sign of a slowdown in the way hunts were gobbled up and our donated hunt sold on the Saturday night Gala Auction at higher than list price. A couple of the people who booked with us are in the agriculture business and told me "this is our time to shine!"

Email is the best bet to contact us in the next couple of weeks. I'll be attending the GrandSlam/Ovis convention in Las Vegas in booth 125, while Shane will be in Salt Lake City at the FNAWS convention in booth 1006.

I have not yet been officially notified but have received 2 second hand emails from Ministry of Environment officials saying Stone Shee quotas in Region 6 are going to be cut 20% for the next 4 years. That, and the falling US dollar will bring more pressure to bear on current prices. Don't delay. 

A number of years ago while employed by a helicopter company I was asked to write up a Standard Operating Procedure for Wildlife Capture for our operations manual. After the writeup I went to see how they would apply in the field and I had so much fun I quit the helicopter company and got quite involved in capture projects. To date I've been involved in the capture and collaring of Stone Sheep, Wolves, Caribou and about 150 moose. The latest moose capture  project was with  Fish & Wildlife personnel north of Prince George in December. We ended up capturing and collaring 23 moose.

 The process involves quickly chasing a selected cow moose with a helicopter (pilot's job), shooting a net over top of them (net gunner's job), jumping out of the helicopter and getting control of them (my job, with assistance from one more "mugger"). Usually the net trips them up in the deep snow and we run over, jump on top, get control of the feet, blindfold them, clear the net from their top feet and using 2 sets of leather hobbles, tie the front and back legs together. Then you stand them up, flip them over, clear the net and hobble the other legs. Blood samples and body measurements are taken, a radio collar with it's own specific frequency fitted and then the moose is realeased.

 And it's much quicker and a Hell of alot easier to say it than to do it. 

But if you do it correctly with the right people it's remarkably easy on the animal, with a lot less stress on them than using a tranquilizer. The process can have a negative impact on the human body though, even when things go well.The collar is good for 3 years and can give wildlife managers an incredible amount of data they could never get otherwise. Plus it keeps a couple of "muggers" off the streets and out of trouble.

I've attached a few photos to the 2007 Gallery and a link to a lot more photos on our Links page.

 And if you're interested in being involved in a "non-consumptive hunt" - an old time idea from an old friend Jack Pichette, let me know. We have a couple of proposed projects in our area at Turnagain Lake. 

Happiness is - looking back on the toughest season I've ever had and knowing next year can only be better! We actually got off to a really good start on our sheep hunts, getting 6 rams for 8 hunters and finishing off Ed Swanson's Grand Slam. Quite an accomplishment for a guy of 67. Especially considering he cancelled a Stone Sheep hunt 12 years earlier because he thought he was too old and fat then. Another Oregon logger returned to hunt with us again and this time Mike Kehoe didn't wait until the last day to pull the trigger, getting a nice dark colored ram just half way through his hunt.

Our 2 unsuccessful hunters on the first hunt, David Pakula and Larry Davis did everything we could ask of them. Shane and Eugene Egeler guided them in what has traditionally been one of our best ranges but the rams just weren't there, nor were they in our secret backup spot. At least not then, we saw a couple of good rams there later when we were Caribou hunting.  

All 4 hunters got rams on the second hunt and although the weather wasn't great we didn't lose any hunting time. My hunter on that trip, Dale Kluth managed to get a nice 10 year old ram on one of the tougher shots I've ever asked a hunter to make. It wasn't particularly far, about 200 yards but it was almost straight down. This is not a prone postion shot, it's the same as shooting off hand but lying on your belly. Anyway, it was a great shot but the ram fell and in total we climbed that mountain 3 times before we found it the next day. And Dale climbed it with me every step. This is probably a good time to let it slip that Dale was 68.

Steve Bate came looking for a ram on the suggestion of his friend and ours, Ron Sherer. Steve's wife accompanied him on the trip and I had no doubt that she was up to it because it seemed every time I spoke with Steve, Gloria was off on another 75 mile backpack trip through the mountains of Idaho. Steve got a great ram in just a few short days so the happy couple left early for the drive home. Which  gave his guide, Al Crawford time to show Shane some country Shane hadn't hunted before. Warren Taylor and Shane then got Warren's ram in some deteriorating weather. Tracy Noll waited until the second last day of the hunt before getting his guide, Dave Cargo to cape and pack a sheep that Dave had put in an outstanding effort on.

The end of August brought the end of any good weather and we struggled through the next hunt trying to find Mountain Goats or some days even mountains. In the end we got only 1 goat but a good one for returning hunter Reinhold Kimmel who had taken a huge moose here 2 years earlier. The rest of our group all managed to shoot nice caribou but someone missed a grizzly standing looking at him at 70 yards! In return for brushing up on his shooting and booking to come back again I have promised not to mention his name!

We had a first on this hunt when Pieter Van Geest joined us , our first client from The Netherlands. And for a guy with 2 replacement hips he moved around pretty good. Brian Walter and David Pacinda came back on hunt 3 as well, Brian for his 4th trip with us and David his second. Both had taken big moose with us the previous year and the caribou they got this time were a nice addition for their trophy rooms. Nelson Layman was our hard luck hunter on this trip. He and Kelly Kranz, who was guiding in his first season for us but 10th overall worked their butts and their boots off but couldn't come up with the big billy Nelson was looking for. There was just no cooperation from the weather.

The 4th hunt was a highlight hunt for me as my son Rob was finished with his job as a UVic track coach and had time bfore moving to Alberta to give the old man a hand. And we couldn't have asked for a nicer group of guys to hunt with than Bob Shippy, Dan Homberg, Tim Smith and Tim's dad Al who came along to observe - and to eat us out of house and home! Al is 70 and kept up to us in the mountains and ahead of us at the table, just an amazing guy.

Tim got a very respectable caribou on the first day, Bob shot one of the best moose of the season on day 3 and then things just kept hitting the ground. The weather was all over the place from being down to just shirt sleeves one day to having everything you owned on, 2 days later.

 Jim Bishop returned for his second trip with us, having taken a last day ram with us 2 years earlier. He and Kyle Serle went looking for the ever elusive grizzly and perhaps a huge moose while Shane and Craig Ainley headed out for sheep. The rams they got on kept shifting around and confusing the situation while the weather was playing havoc too, so the net result is a return trip for Craig to try again. 

I had started 2007 hunting in Mexico with Verne Crookshanks and some other friends and followed that up with a trip to Verne's duck club to hunt with his friends Mike Beckwith and Mike Halley. All 3 of them swarmed us on the next hunt and along with Rob, myself and Carman Nyuli we had a great hunt at our moose camp, which thanks to Carman now has a VIP lounge with a slabbed spruce bar. The grass is definetely going to grow greener there next year with the fertilizer knee deep.

 Bentson Falb came on his first hunt with us and it's great to see guys born in the 80's coming through the hunting ranks. Bentson and Kyle got a tremendous moose and had a grizzly come into camp and chew up the cape. Jerry Wright and Harriet Arnold joined us at base camp where Paul Gladue helped them get onto some good moose but not the really big one Jerry was hoping for. The weather was unsettled to say the least during their hunt and with a son's wedding in Mexico on the horizon they decided an early departure might be he safest course.

 On our second last hunt Shane, Carman, Chris and Steven Shaw headed for the high country looking for moose and caribou for returning hunters Jim Dismukes, Paul Maples and Bing Graffunder. Bing brought along Lynn Gravely for his first hunt with us and they all quickly managed to get some great caribou. Continuing bad weather had them make up their collective minds to slip out early before they got weathered in. A good plan but too late! The plane couldn't get into their high lake so they rode the 8 hours back to Turnagain and got the plane to meet them there.

Hop Pettit came back on this hunt and brought his son Kevin along. Kevin wasted no time in showing his Dad he was worthy of the trip and took a very nice caribou and an old bull moose with massive beams and points. While Jenn, our cook and Kevin packed those trophies back in Hopp kept at it with Kyle until the last day and got a great moose. They arrived back at dark thirty and even though we were facing a busy change day the next day Carman stayed up until 3 am getting the meat cleaned & hung  and the cape completed. What a great crew!

 Tony Mudd and Ron Sherer came back again on this hunt. Both had taken nice rams with us in 2005 and this time talked Ron's wife Suzy into joining them. Well for the drive at least 'cause as soon as they arrived in base camp they abandoned her and headed for another camp with Rob, Paul and I. Ron and Tony were both bow hunting and Ron managed to get 70 yards from a huge caribou in a herd of 30-40 animals but with that many animals milling around at that range didn't feel comfortable with the shot and I admire him greatly for making the choice he did. This was a 400 point + bull. After that escapade Ron and Paul moved back to Turnagain and although they couldn't do it with the bow did get a nice 7 & 1/2 foot grizzly after a very exciting stalk. Meanwhile Rob's other job committments called him away so Tony and I continued on the hunt getting thwarted in every effort by the weather. We finally headed off on horseback to a different valley and in a 3 hour span Tony got a terrific moose and then a 369 point caribou, both with his bow. His story will be posted on our Feedback page once it is published.

That trip with Tony and what Shane had gone through on his hunt forced us to make a tough decision about our final hunt. It was obvious with all the early snow we were having in the high country we couldn't conduct our last hunt the way we had planned and there was really no choice but to cancel at least part of it. I have to thank Rick Edelen who was returning for his 3rd hunt with us and Scott Gedelian coming on his first, for being so understanding and willing to defer their hunts until 2009. I need also to thank Myles Bradford and Billy and Devlin Oestreich for offering to accommodate Scott and Rick if they couldn't make alternate plans. It's wonderful to have such great friends and neighbours.

Shane did manage to get the horses out to the highway so we could pack back in from there. We got Thomas Pigeon and Taylor Wright from "Canada In The Rough" television series along with Jodee and Jerry Kawasaki and Darell Luther, friends who came up from Montana, into camp and as luck would have it, had no more snow during their hunt.

In the 31 years since I started guiding, I've never faced such a long stretch of tough weather. From rain, snow and fog in the high country to wind and sometimes even warm temperarures in the lower reaches we were always facing some challenge or another. As my farming brothe-in-law said "It's always too something!"

There is no doubt that 2008 will be better and Shane and I are really looking forward to it. 

Managed a quick trip home this long weekend due to a cancellation but I get a chance to get some much needed paperwork and banking completed. The Sheep season went well, other than the late cancellation and I've added a few photos from our first hunts. We're 75% on some very good rams including a 10 year old and a 38 inch, heavy based one.

I was lucky enough to guide Ed Swanson on Hunt 1 and get a nice dark ram 3 days after Ed's 67th birthday. That completed Ed's Grand Slam. He played it smart and brought 2 friends along to help us out and they certainly did their part. Troy & Bruce - you guys made my job a Heck of a lot easier!

Hunt 2 saw me teemed up with Dale Kluth, whose son Dan hunted here in 2001. I've never worked so hard for a first day ram in my life, nor have I ever asked a hunter to shoot almost straight down. The result was a nice 10 year old ram. 

We have room for 1 moose on our last hunt and there is a possibility fro grizzly bear as well. You need to call by Sept. 21 to get in on that hunt for 2007.

I'll add a more complete report on the season when I get out in late October. In the meantime get out there hunting and take your kids or somebody's kids with you. If you have to stay in try to watch "Canada In The Rough" TV series. They have a hunt with us from last year they're broadcasting.

 Good Huntin'

As a pilot on a flight plan, you never want to be "overdue" and as an outfitter, I never wanted to be this overdue on updating this website. But time seems to fly by quicker than my airplane ever does.

We are just about ready to head off to Turnagain for the season, a bit later than normal and with lots to do to get ready, but we'll be ready. Ous season has been fully booked since we left the Safari Club International show in Reno and many of our 2008 hunts are already full so of course the priorities shifted a little bit.

Joan and I left Prince George right after Christmas for a quick drive to California and joined friends Jeff Batchman, Patti Mumma, Verne and Mary Jo Crookshanks along with Steve and Adonis Hobbs for a jaunt to Mexico. We had a great dove hunt with Pollo Acosta and a lot of fine food and drinks both at his Hacienda and on the town in Los Alamos for New Years. Then back to join up with Shane at the FNAWS convention in Salt Lk. City.

The winter in the north started off mild and with less snow than normal. In fact friends of ours spent New Years at the main lodge at Turnagain Lake with snow not quite to their knees and temperaturs just below freezing. All of that changed in February, with snow almost every day so that by the time Shane and I arrived in early March there was more snow than the locals had seen since possibly 1949. Our snowmobiling trip was near disastrous and involved a minor helicopter rescue. In spite of some hard headed and repeated efforts it soon became obvious we weren't going to be able to get supplies in or work done so we had to pull out and head for home. That got us back there in time to go to the annual Guide Oitfitters Association of BC convention in Victoria. If you haven't made it there yet, you should check it out. It's a really fun time and we host a major auction on the Saturday afternoon with some of the best outfitters donated trips being sold in Canadian dollars. This year was an especially great time and we were fortunate to have a good many of our hunters join us there.

Joan and I were home from Victoria for only 2 days before we left for a month in Australia, visiting our older son Brian who has taken a job there as a mechanical engineer. We had never been before but certainly want to go again. We just simply had a lot of fun! Sydney first, then off to the Snowy Mountains for a 5 day hunt with Eric Blewitt Safaris. We had a great time and Eric is a true professional so if you're headed down under don't miss the chance to do a bit of hunting with him. After Eric's we swunf through Wallabadah and had a heart warming vivist with Peter Clark who had hunted with me back in 1984 over on the Toodoggone River. We followed that up with a lot of sight seeing, beach time and relaxing. It's not often a man is lucky enough to get 3 uninterrupted weeks of quality time with his grown son so i felt extremely fortunate. 

May and June have involved a lot of reserach and compiling a position paper for the Guide Outfitters Assoc. on the new Wildlife Act the Ministry of Environment hopes to enact in 2008. It's interesting to note that at the time the current Act took effect in 1982, faxes were not even common and now look at the technological developments. Contrast that to the fact that our hunting country is basically unchanged from then and that we still hunt on horseback, the same way as then. About the only real difference and it is a significant one, is that we now have portable satellite phones for increased safety. 

We hope that your hunting trips and ours are successful and safe this year. We look forward to sharing some stories.