Of Tipis, Wolves, SIBs & Whitetails

[prairie tuber]

Well its that magic time of year again, when the whitetail deer are in the full rut, and the general (rifle) season opens. Normally by this time of year all of the lakes are iced over and use of the SIB is not an option. This fall has been a mild one, and about once every 4-5 years most of the lakes around here are still ice free and navigable. The SIB is the perfect craft for hunting on back country lakes when freeze-up is imminent. I was also fortunate enough this year to be able to take a full week off work to hunt.

I got away last Thursday afternoon and headed to the eastern part of the province, where I would set up camp for the week. If it were earlier in the fall, I would set up camp at a boat access only location. At this time, that is not a good plan since a lake could ice over overnight, potentially leaving you stranded for a long time. I set up camp at a nice spot near a remote forestry road that gets very little use at this time of year. The tent set up was an '8 man' (if jammed in like sardines) tipi (~8 lbs) and a foldable stainless steel stove (~4 lbs), both from Kifaru. This system works extremely well even at very cold temperatures.





You can run these stoves extremely hard (as shown here when stuffed full of oak) without burning them out.



With camp set up, I went to check up on 3 friends who had come out from Ontario and had set their camp up not far from where I was set up. They were on the 2nd last day of a 10 day hunt. While they only got 2 whitetails between the 3 of them, they did get these!:



Those 2 on the ends won't be dancing with Kevin Costner anytime soon. The wolf population has been extremely high here for the last couple of years, and have decimated the deer populations in the area. Hunters are encouraged to take them, should the (rare) opportunity arises. A high wolf population will have many times the impact on the deer population than hunters will. While completely inedible, wolf rugs make incredibly beautiful wall hangings. These Ontario hunters will now have some gorgeous souveneirs of there time spent in Manitoba which simply can't be bought in some trinket peddling souveneir store, all while doing their part to benefit the ecology of the region.

The next morning, I launched my SIB along the edge one of the many lakes in this area. The general idea was to get access to some remote shoreline with alot of high ridges to walk along. The intention was to get to the south end of the lake where the topographic map showed ideal terrain, however this was thwarted by ice covering the south 3/4 portion of of the lake. While the ice was thin enough that the outboard was more than capable of pushed the boat through, it certainly was not worth risking potential damage to the fabric. I was pretty much restricted to the outflowing river at the northern portion of this lake;






It's late and I have to get up early, so I'll continue this story tomorrow...

[willk]

Originally Posted by prairie tuber

Well its that magic time of year again, when the whitetail deer are in the full rut, and the...

... Annual PanCanadian Trolling Championships begin again .

Nice tipee, BTW

[Jono]

Originally Posted by willk

... Annual PanCanadian Trolling Championships begin again .

Nice tipee, BTW

....... Git !

I go with a canvas bell-tent (oo err missus) myself... if weight isn't a real issue...

[willk]

Originally Posted by Jono

....... Git !

... not petrol sniffing after all

[PeterM]

Looks like a nice place - but any chance of binning the pics of the dead animals ? Not against hunting at all - just feel I dont want to see it on a boating site.

[willk]

Originally Posted by Blackroady

Looks like a nice place - but any chance of binning the pics of the dead animals ? Not against hunting at all - just feel I dont want to see it on a boating site.

[hushed tones] ...and so Mr. Blackroady makes his delicate trademark cast Trolling a little fluffy complimentary lure with a carefully concealed double barb. Hours pass and barely a ripple disturbs the surface of RibNet NA; are they sleeping or just sated on Rye? This impass cannot go on much longer...

[willk]

...HANG THOSE DAMN WOLVES GOOD 'N' HIGH GUYS!

[PeterM]

Come on Will............Fair enough , but if the wolves have decimated the deer population why go out to shoot some more?

Like I said I'm not against it & love the the outdoors - great tent , stove , situation - just rather see more of that than dead deer.

Pete

[prairie tuber]

Why take more deer? - Because they taste great and there are not enough hunters that go into this particular region to have a significant negative impact on the deer numbers. On the other hand, a single small pack of 4-5 wolves can easily wipe out over a couple hundred deer in a year.

Bin the dead animal pictures? - Nope. There are plenty of threads on this SIB forum with pictures featuring (dead) fish obtained via the useage of SIBs (which I have no problem with) so pictures of other animal food sources obtained via the useage of SIBs should be fair game as well.

Canvas bell tents (when weight isn't a critical issue)? - Yes, they are indeed an excellent choice, especially for very cold weather when used with a centrally located wood burning stove.


Back to the story at hand, I landed the SIB at a few spots and climbed along the various ridges in the area on the first day & saw absolutely nothing. The daylight hours burn up so quickly at this time of year and your out of light before you know it. I landed the boat and loaded it back on the trailer and headed back to my camp site for the night. The next day I headed back to the same lake to see if the ice situation had changed overnight (was warm and windy). The lake was wide open, so I launched the SIB and headed down to the south east end of the lake where it's feeder river flows into this lake. Went up this river until I reached these falls & landed the boat.







I worked this area for a couple of hours, then headed back down river and found another area with high ridges & landed there.



I walked several km along these ridges, saw no deer but was able to watch a couple otters playing in the river for about 1/2 an hour from a ways up a ridge. On day 3 I tried getting into a different lake via a chain of lakes, but it was blocked off by more ice at the halfway point.





Day 4 involved going to a different area of lakeshoreline of the lake that the first 2 days were spent along. Again many kms of walking, but no deer seen all day.







Day 5 was the full day I had left to hunt. I launched the boat on a different lake, crossed it and again made my way up some ridges between the adjacent lakes. Again several km of walking without seeing anything. I sat down on a rock to check my location with my GPS, and while watching the GPS screen, I heard soft steps to my left and behind me. I slowly turned to my left and saw a large, mature buck that seemed so intent on tracking the scent of a doe that he was completely oblivious to me being a mere 25 meters away. My 35 Whelen was quite effective or this large bodied whitetail. My estimate is that he had a body weight somewhere around 250-280 lbs, so there was no way I was going to carry him whole for over a kilometer back to where the SIB was. This meant cutting the meat up on the spot and doing a couple of trips to carry the meat, head & hide. It was well after dark and very windy when I got the last load back to the boat. The 3km ride back across the lake in the dark with 3 foot waves made the return trip that much more lively.

[Poly]

Originally Posted by prairie tuber

pictures of other animal food sources

what does wolf taste like?

[Clipper]

great story, and very nice whitetail. im sure the venison will cook up a treat. looks like some awesome country you have there.

strange that people are okay with eating meat from the supermarket, seeing fishing photos, but object to game pictures?

[willk]

Originally Posted by Polwart

what does wolf taste like?

I hazard a guess at "not great" . Although, at the heel of the hunt, they're dogs and as such, edible. The heart can't be good, the Chinese have an uncomplimentary expression "a wolf's heart and a dog's lungs" to describe anything/one that's completely useless - they think neither part can be consumed, even by deploying their renowned culinary genius .
_______

This hunting subject was well flogged on here last season and I don't think we arrived at any consensus - in fact, it may have placed the seeds of the "bilges" concept in Mr K's mind (I may have a little helped too ).

Telling rural folks that killing game and game predators is like telling Muslims they should have a beer and relax - it's not going to work! The argument will just get personal.

So Canucks, bring on the hunting/boating stuff, I think most of us are impressed and more than a little envious. It certainly has to stir the soul more than an expedition out to The Dreaded Needles on a blustery Sunday. Frankly though, although I actively defend your right to your sport and freedom to discuss it, the trophy photography leaves me cold.

Incidentally, removing "excess" predators does not "help the ecology" of a region, it skews the herbivore populations and allows less fit animals breed, larger herbivore populations effect vegetation growth and change the nature of forests/grasslands etc. What you are doing is more akin to "ranching" or running a "crop" species in an open environment.

Bet they're still tasty though

[Poly]

Originally Posted by willk

I hazard a guess at "not great" . Although, at the heel of the hunt, they're dogs and as such, edible. The heart can't be good, the Chinese have an uncomplimentary expression "a wolf's heart and a dog's lungs" to describe anything/one that's completely useless - they think neither part can be consumed, even by deploying their renowned culinary genius .
_______

This hunting subject was well flogged on here last season and I don't think we arrived at any consensus - in fact, it may have placed the seeds of the "bilges" concept in Mr K's mind (I may have a little helped too ).

Telling rural folks that killing game and game predators is like telling Muslims they should have a beer and relax - it's not going to work! The argument will just get personal.

So Canucks, bring on the hunting/boating stuff, I think most of us are impressed and more than a little envious. It certainly has to stir the soul more than an expedition out to The Dreaded Needles on a blustery Sunday. Frankly though, although I actively defend your right to your sport and freedom to discuss it, the trophy photography leaves me cold.

Incidentally, removing "excess" predators does not "help the ecology" of a region, it skews the herbivore populations and allows less fit animals breed, larger herbivore populations effect vegetation growth and change the nature of forests/grasslands etc. What you are doing is more akin to "ranching" or running a "crop" species in an open environment.

Bet they're still tasty though

Complete agree - the pictures cause me no offence - but they were posted here in the full knowledge that they would be controversial.

[prairie tuber]

Originally Posted by Polwart

Complete agree - the pictures cause me no offence - but they were posted here in the full knowledge that they would be controversial.

Whaaat? You mean I might have known some people would object?

[willk]

Originally Posted by Polwart

Complete agree - the pictures cause me no offence - but they were posted here in the full knowledge that they would be controversial.

Ah well, it is the Pan-Canadian Trolling Championships after all and ya can't Troll with out a supturating carcass, sorry, I mean Bait
_________________

Sorry Polwart, the general discourse below the line was not specifically addressed at you.

[prairie tuber]

Originally Posted by willk

Ah well, it is the Pan-Canadian Trolling Championships after all and ya can't Troll with out a supturating carcass, sorry, I mean Bait

Cool word (had to look that one up) but inaccurate in its' useage given that there was no pus to be found.

Definitions of suppuration on the Web:

festering: (medicine) the formation of morbific matter in an abscess or a vesicle and the discharge of pus
pus: a fluid product of inflammation
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Pus is a whitish-yellow, yellow or yellow-brown substance produced during inflammatory pyogenic bacterial infections. An accumulation of pus in an enclosed tissue space is known as an abscess. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suppuration

Decay in tissue producing pus, or the pus itself
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/suppuration

The production of pus.
pearlspad.net.nz/Medical.htm

the formation of, conversion into, or process of discharging pus
http://www.history.navy.mil/library/...enza_terms.htm

[willk]

Originally Posted by prairie tuber

Cool word (had to look that one up) but inaccurate in its' usage

Patently, as at the ambient temperature in situ there could be no supturation after such a short duration. Wouldn't stop me using it though, the mental imagery suiting my purposes precisely

As Big Chris can confirm, I'm not known on Ribnet for the accuracy of my information. In other ways, I rarely miss....

[The Garfish]

Originally Posted by willk

... Annual PanCanadian Trolling Championships begin again

dat nobbur jonno tels mee dat hee wud lyke too av sum innput inntoo dis thred butt heez bizzy avin anuvver gow att fesant shewtin butt dis tyme wiv a shottgun.

hee sed dat hee fownd a .50cal a bitt too much gunn larst tyme

gArF

[Alangaq]

Wow…. Prairie tuber I really like that trapezoid shaped gear box in the front of your SIB. Who makes it, and were can I get my hands on one!

That looks like it was a great hunt and adventure! I am very envious about your road access to huntable areas…..

I can also appreciate the ice concerns but as our primary seasons open in August, it is generally not a concern south of the arctic circle and at lower elevations. But you never know what Mother Nature is going to throw your way, and I do have two acquaintances that spend two full days and one night playing ice breaker on lake Aleknagik (Google Earth, search for Dillingham AK, and it’s the first lake in the chain of four about 30 miles east of Dillingham) a few years back. They had been moose hunting way up on the third lake but on the return trip, when they popped out of the last agulowak they found that Aleknagik lake was completely iced over with about an inch of good clear ice. Not enough to walk on, and too much to plow thru with their 18’ flat bottom aluminum skiff….. they were about 15 miles from the village and took turns kneeling in the bow and busting a channel thru the ice with a spud bar…. For TWO DAYS… when they finally dragged their now pummeled, smashed and dented skiff ashore they were totally exhausted and extremely relieved to be out of the elements and off the lake!

[Alangaq]

"Incidentally, removing "excess" predators does not "help the ecology" of a region, it skews the herbivore populations and allows less fit animals breed, larger herbivore populations effect vegetation growth and change the nature of forests/grasslands etc. What you are doing is more akin to "ranching" or running a "crop" species in an open environment."



Willk, you are partially accurate on that one.

And I agree that it is indeed akin to ranching or running a crop species, albeit on a huge scale. There is no such thing as balance in nature, with huge cyclic swings in prey/predator populations being the “natural” way of the world. As much as we hate to admit it here in the great “wild” Alaska, there are no big game species, and few small game species that are left un-managed to fend for themselves. Native and Non-native subsistence hunting and fishing, commercial fishing, sport hunting and fishing, tourism, wildlife viewing and other groups all have a vested interest both philosophically and financially in the management of our fish and game species, with the goal of a “maximum sustainable yield”, healthy populations and optimum prey versus predator ratios…. The idea being to flatten the curve and do away with the natural cyclic swings. No it isn’t perfect, and there are many conflicting viewpoints and political pressure from both sides that skews things back and forth, but overall the system works fairly well.

While this may seem like a new way for man to meddle with mother nature, I can assure you that it has been actively practiced for more than 10,000 years. Even ice age cave men were smart enough to recognize that the predatory critters of their era could quickly decimate the numbers of prey animals that were available to feed the tiny bands of humans in any given area. You can bet that they skillfully and judiciously did all within there ability to control predator populations and limit the predication on their food supply.

Wolves, when over populated are simply a menace to everything they encounter. Part of the problem with the general publics’ perception of wolves is the pathetic rubbish that has been taught to us and our children for decades about how wolves only kill off the sick and old and that unlike humans they never kill for sport. Nothing could be farther from the truth…. Wolves do in fact kill without consuming the animals that they have brought down, although to say it was for sport would be unjustly applying human characteristics to an animal that does not in all likelihood posses them, so I wont go that far, but that fact is that they can and do kill a great number of prey animals without consuming them. Current theory seems to be that this is a skill building or training kind of activity…. But I will leave that for the “experts”. The taking of only the sick and old is also a big pile of hooey…. Wolves predominantly pray on pregnant cows (caribou, dear, moose, etc.) as they are generally slower and more vulnerable than the remainder of the heard, they also prefer young calf’s to mature animals and will take them whenever they are able.

But by far the biggest problem with public perception and wolves is that the dang things are such beautiful and majestic creatures…. Their dog like characteristics and mannerisms remind us of our own faithful canine pets at home, and their stunning appearance and graceful movements leave us in awe and wonderment in regards to these great creatures. That being said…. If they looked like a giant sewer rat or warthog there would likely be little if any public scrutiny or outcry when they were properly managed and their numbers kept in check thru hunting pressure…. So gentle reader… try to get past the beautiful façade and except the animal for what they are. A deadly efficient predator, and you will be just a little bit closer to understanding our viewpoint on wolves and game management.