YUKON MOUNTAIN GRIZZLY-1999

Riding out from  a very successful dall sheep hunt with Mervyn's Yukon Outfitting by harvesting a beautiful 40 inch ram guide, Ken Bodally, and I spotted a Mountain Grizzly one ridge over.   Leaving our horses tied up we immediately began a stock on the Grizzly.  He was slowly ambling along and digging up holes in search of rodents.

Within 30 minutes we were able to get within 75 yards of the Grizzly who was still digging for rodents. I found a flat rock to put my backpack across making for a good rest for my rifle. I waited until the bear turned broadside. When he turned I made a well placed shot into the "boiler room" putting him straight down into the snow. Thinking he was down for good I jumped up and began to celebrate, when the Grizzly jumped up also. Reacting very quickly I placed another 180 grain Nosler behind the shoulder putting the big Bear down for good.

After taking a lot of pictures we skinned the Bear for a full life size mount, loaded everything on the pack horses and once again headed for our main camp at Lake Killerman.  The Grizzly was a beautiful Silver Tipped animal that measured 8 feet square. This is large for a Mountain Grizzly as they are the smallest of all the Brown Bear Species.

This had been a very successful and exciting hunt having harvested both a beautiful Dall Ram and large Mountain Grizzly. Both of these trophies became life size mounts and have provided me with memories that will last forever.

YUKON DALL SHEEP-1999

I was sitting in the Phoenix airport terminal waiting for my flight to Seattle for the first section of my trip to Whitehorse in the Yukon Territories. I had booked a Dall Sheep and Grizzly hunt with Tim Mervyn of Mervyn's Yukon Outfitting for September of 1999 and this was the beginning of a fabulous adventure.

After arriving in Whitehorse on September 2, I was met by Tim and immediately taken to a rifle range to check the accuracy of my rifle. I was using an ultralight 300 Weatherby Magnum, shooting 180 Grain Nosler Partition which had been sighted in to be 3 inches high at 100 yards. This allowed me to shoot dead on out to 450 yards without making any adjustments. My rifle was perfect after the trip.

Early the next morning after spending the night at the High Country Inn in Whitehorse we flew by small float plan to the main camp located at Lake Killerman. My guide Ken Bodally had camp all set up and was waiting for me to arrive. After making our plans for the next five days we had a great dinner of Moose steaks, corn on the cob and apple pie. It was lights out at 9:30 as we had to be up by 5:30 and get ready for a 3 hour horseback ride to our first spike camp which was to be our home for the next 5days.

After we arrived at our spike camp and unloaded all of our gear we took off on the horses scouting for dall sheep. We were able to locate 3 small groups of sheep all of which had at least one ram that was of legal size. The largest of which, as you quessed it, was in by far the hardest location to get to. We made plans to be at the base of the mountain the next morning before the sun came up. It was going to be a 2-1/2 to 3 hour hike straight up over rocky and slate covered ground, with very little cover to hide us from the sheep.

Seven o'clock the next morning found use on top of the mountain after what I would have to say was the most grueling hike that I have ever experienced in all my years of hunting. We had our spotting scopes out and we were viewing 3 small rams and 3 ewes, but the big ram was nowhere to be seen. We spent the rest of the day on the mountain top in search of the big ram with no luck. We did spot 3 other groups of sheep of which also contained no shootable rams. We left a little late for our hike back to the horses and had to hike in the dark down hill for approximately 1 mile. The hour ride back to camp was also in the dark and hair raising as we jumped a Grizzly that scared our horses. I quess that's why they call it hunting.

This pattern continued for 5 days with the same results. Lots of sheep and legal rams, but not the ram I wanted. On the sixth day of the hunt we packed our horses and headed back to the main camp for a much needed good nights rest. We also needed to replenish our supplies and get fresh horses before we set out for a new spike camp.

The next camp was called the Ruby Camp and was a seven hour ride by horses from the main camp. We reached the camp at 3 o”clock in the afternoon in the middle of a heavy snow storm with the wind blowing at 50 miles per hour. Hunting that day was out of the question. The next morning came with a very heavy fog cover with the viability being zero. By 2 o'clock the fog began to lift enough for us to take a ride up the valley in search of sheep. We had only gone about a mile when we spotted two large rams running up the mountain out of site into the thick fog. We left our horses at the bottom of the mountain and headed into the fog on foot in search of the big rams. The visibility was only 30-40 yards making the search extremely tough and dangerous as there were steep cliffs on both sides. We finally just sat down and waited for the fog to rise. In an hour the fog had risen enough for us to see under it and continue with our hunt. To our surprise while walking up in the fog we had passed within 40 yards of a group of 23 rams of which 5 were of trophy size. They hadn’t seen us and were feeding directly in our direction. We just laid down and waited for them to get within shooting distance. When they reached a distance of 100 yards, from a pron position and with a sold rest from my Harris bi-pods, I was able to make a one shot kill of a 40 inch Yukon Dall Sheep.

The trip back to the main camp the next day once again in a snow storm but for some reason the trip was a lot more fun with the beautiful dall sheep. On the way back I did harvest a beautiful Silver Tip Grizzly, but that is another story.

BACK TO ALASKA FOR GIANT MOOSE

I had booked an Alaskan Moose hunt in 1999 for September 13-22 2000 with Gary "Butch" King, who owned Cinder River Lodge and Wildman Lake lodge on the Alaskan Peninsula. I flew from Phoenix, Arizona to Seattle, Washington then on to Anchorage, Alaska where I spent the night. Early the next morning I flew to King Salmon where I was picked up by Butch King in a Piper Super Cub and we flew to the Cinder River Lodge. Upon arrival at the lodge we immediately packed all our gear into the super cub and left for our spike camp that would be home for the next 10 days. Upon arrival in camp I met my guide Jae Makee and we started developing strategy and making plans for the hunt starting the next day. In Alaska you can't fly in and hunt on the same day.

During the night it began to snow and the temperature dropped considerably but inside our tent it was very comfortable. I was prepared for the worst weather that Alaska could throw at us. Equipped with everything from long John's, socks, boots, water proof outer gear, rain gear, hats, boots and gloves I was ready for the first morning.

For the next five days we were up two hours before sunrise and in the field before daylight came. It rained and snowed every day making the hunt even more exciting. We saw moose every day, but passed on them always looking for that monster of a life time. On the sixth day as we were glassing from a high vantage point we located a large set of antlers moving through the 10 foot high alders at a distance of approximately 500 yards. The moose was moving parallel to us at a high rate of speed so we made a plan to cut him off about a half mile from were we were located. This was longest half mile that I have traveled in all my years of hunting. The alders were thick and tall making it hard to walk through let alone run like we were trying to do. After we reached our destination we found and climbed a small knoll, got into position and waited. We were hoping all the time that the moose was still coming in our direction.

A hour had gone by and our hopes were dwindlig when we heard the loud cracking of alders in front of us. My fist thought was that it was going to be a big brown bear. Then out of the maze stepped the biggest moose I had ever seen. At just 50 yards he stopped broadside and looked straight at us giving a perfect shot. I put one shot from my 340 Weatherby behind the front shoulder as he bolted into the alders.

For the next 5 minutes we could hear the moose running through the alders. Then it became totally quiet. The sun was beginning to set and we were 2 miles from camp. The decision was made that we would come back early in the morning to retrieve my trophy. We also hoped that no bear would find it first.

When we arrived at the same location early the next morning we found that the moose had left us an easy trail to follow. He had cleared the alders making a good path to follow. We went about 250 yards into the alders where found the moose, the moose of a life time!

After we cleared the area for pictures the the work really began. We had to butcher the moose in more then just quarters and it still took both of us to carry the meat approximately 200 yards for the bush plane to pick it up. As hard a work as it was I found it to very rewarding and actually fun. The last part of the moose to go to the plane was the set of antlers which measured 72”. Yes, I was the one to do the carrying.

PREDATOR HUNTING

Looking for something to do when the rifle and bird seasons were complete?   I turned to Predator Hunting to fulfill the desire to be in the field with a gun.  Living in Northern Arizona at the time I was very aware that there was a great abundance of Coyotes, Foxes and Bobcats in the area from all my trips into the back country fishing and hunting.

As a rifle, I already owned a Ruger M77 Mark II in 22-250 that was topped with a Zeiss Diavari-C, 3x9x36 scope.  While shooting Federal Premium V-Shock 55 grain AMMUNITION it proved to be a deadly combination out to 300 yards and more.  I also carried a set of SWAROVSKI EL-10X32 Binoculars to make spotting the charging animals at a distance much easier.  All this plus a full line of CAMO HUNTING GEAR from Cabela's and I was set to begin actually hunting for varmints.  The only thing left I needed was to choose a Varmint call to bring the creators to within shooting distance.  Not being good with mouth calls as attested by my bad Duck Calling I originally chose a Johnny Stewart electric caller.  This worked great for years until I called in 4 foxes at the same time and they attacked and destroyed both speakers before I was able to collect them with the shotgun I was carrying at the time.  I now use a FoxPro SPITFIRE REMOTE CALLER for all my calling.  It is very light and easy to use, and comes at a comfortable price.

I go calling as often as I can and highly recommend it to anyone that wants to add a exciting sport to occupy their time when everything else is closed or just for enjoyment any time.  One thing to remember is that the animal being called is coming to get his meal and has a bad attitude.

MOUNTAIN LION HUNTING IN ARIZONA

A good friend of mine Chris Williams owns Trapper Den Taxidermy in Pinetop/Lakeside in North East Arizona.   Over the years Chris has mounted more then 20 of of my animals and trophy fish.  Chris also is one of a hand full licensed guides on the White Mountain Indian Reservation in Northern Arizona that is not a tribe member.  This reservation is known mostly for it's world class elk, but there is a large population of deer, black bear, antelope, varmits and lots of very large mountain lions.

I scheduled a mountain lion hunt with Chris for January 1995.  At this time I had to assure Chris  I would be on call 24/7 and that I could be ready in 15 minutes for him to pick me up.   We were waiting for a light snow fall in order to locate fresh lion tracks for the dogs to pick up the sent.  On January 18th  I received a call at 4:30 am and we were on the road by 4:45 headed for the reservation in the middle of a light snow fall and -20 degree weatther.

The reservation was only 6 miles away but the location we wanted to hunt was a 2 hour drive in a snow storm and on a 4 wheel drive road.  We reached our destanation at 7:30 am just as the sun was rising.  It was a very cold but beautiful morning.  Perfect for tracking a mountain lion.

As luck might have it after only a half hour we came accross some very fresh lion tracks and the race was on.  The lion had crossed this back road not more then 15 minutes before we arrived.  The dogs were let loose and the chase was on and what a chase it was.  We were in very rugged country that seemed to go straight up beside being covered with 2 feet of soft snow.  This made the traveling very slow and hard.  Chris being 20 years my younger was able to keep up with the sound of the dogs.  I eventually lost the barking so I was left with following the fresh tracks.  It was only about a mile up the hill before I begain to hear the dogs.  They were at bay which indecated that they had something treed.  I was out of breath and praying that it was not a bobcat, as we had seen may signs of them along the way.  Chris begain yelling for me to hurry up and get there as he had a  big suprise for me.

Upon reaching the the top I was overwelmed to find that the dogs had treed a very large Tom Mountain Lion.  After taking some pictures with the cat in the tree I had my trophy lion with one shot from my Ruger Black Hawk 44 Magnum Pistol.  He weighed 190 pounds and made the SCI Record book and at the time was the 3rd largest Mountain Lion to taken in Arizona.  Thanks to a life size mount from Chris he is over my bar providing me memories and stories for everyone.