Well, life is G O O D ! On day two (the day before yesterday) of my latest eight day Bison hunt I was able to take another nice old bull from here in the Yukon Territory. The animal looked to be about 2100 pounds and was sporting nice and heavy 17+ inch horns.

I felt a little less like the protagonist from London's "To Build a Fire" on this trip as the temperatures were quite mild (-17 celcius at night and maybe -5 during the day). The snow wasn't nearly as deep as a few years ago and there was no wind to speak of. As discussed below, this was a mixed blessing.

On December 29th, my guide David, his wrangler Kelly and I snowmobiled comfortably for probably 30-40 minutes from our drop off point to a nice little cabin North of the Alaska Highway and then another 20 minutes into some gorgeous valleys to glass for bulls. To offer evidence of how good Mervyn's Yukon Outffiter's guides are, we spotted six bulls early on the second day and engaged in a LOOONG stalk to close the distance from 700 to 200 yards. We walked, crouched, skulked, shuffled, crawled and slid on our butts ten feet at a time whenever the majority of the bulls appeared to be feeding or facing away from our position. At 200 yards though, there was NO cover remaining and the biggest of the bulls was starting to get concerned about our already known presence. When he stood and IMMEDIATELY broke into a trot, I was already resting a borrowed .338 across my knee and put a Nosler Parition behind his left shoulder. Another two quick shots as he was quartering away and the bull dropped within 30 yards of his initial position.

After an exhausting afternoon of quartering/skinning and then another day of loading the meat, hide, and gear on the sleds, we were back in Whitehorse for New Year's Eve. Consequently, I am authoring this report from my guide David's home where I am also nursing a REALLY nasty hangover and awaiting the arrival of my lovely future bride so we can go house shopping a few hour's drive from Whitehorse.

The ONLY downside to this hunt was that the animals were spooky enough and the snow conditions crusty enough (they have had unseasonably warm weather this winter up here) that the use of my new 8-bore muzzleloader (an engagement gift from the fiance) became very impractical. Maybe we could have waited for a better opportunity but the noisy snow conditions sure weren't going to be changing any time soon and, frankly, when a B&C bull is staring you in the face from across 200 yards of open country and your guide is offering you his .338, certain sacrifices are likely to be made. Therefore, my new year's resolution is to draw first blood with my beautiful new smokepole....anyone got any suggestions?

I'd like to sincerely thank Tim Mervyn and, perhaps more importantly, David who may well be the best sheep guide in the Yukon and who is DEFINITELY the best Bison guide anywhere in the world.

This is a nice view of the country snowmobiling in...


Home sweet home...BRRRR!


Fortunately the bull went down in a clearing


This shot really shows the size of these animals in comparion to plains buff (yes, we are right behind the animal...no trick photography here).


This hind quarter really illustrates how tall these animals are as the peak of the hump is quite a bit taller than the back legs. Note: I am 5'10" and the quarter isn't completely vertical.


Finally, here's a close-up of the massive head. The outfitter estimated the bull to be about 10 years old.



Best,

John

Congrats John, and Happy New Year!!!!

Looking forward to the pics!

Cheers,
Canuck

ps: if you stop by the rec centre in Whitehorse, say Hi to my Ma. It'll freak her out. I believe she's working the counter this week.

Very Nice. Look forward to the pics.

Well done John. Glad to hear you enjoyed youself.

Weidmannsheil. Great and enthusiastic report! Good luck with married life as well!
- mike

Weidmannsdank to all !

Best,

John

Congrats , how about some pictures??? LOL
If you feel the need to share that buffalo meat I could be talked into taking it off your hands...LOL
Oh yea congrats on the engagement!!
Derrick Stone

So....how is it that you didn't just plink it in the lung with a 7/08, and then brew some tea while you waited???? (sarcasm).

Nice job, John.

Hi Coues,
I wish I could bring it back into the US...I would send some steaks your way!

Bren,
Don't get me started! Honestly, the .338 didn't feel like enough gun to me.

Enjoy the photos all!

Best,

John

MMMMMM Buffalo steaks. That is an impressive Buff. I didn't realize how much bigger they got up there. Very Nice.

Say, John;

When you made the original post on this thread (very nicely written, BTW) I noted the horn measurement.

I have the horns of our biggest buff hanging over a doorway in our house, so naturally had to go measure them. They span 27" to the extreme outsides of the curves, and the animal was about 13 years old, judging (roughly) from the rings on the horns. There's a repaired exit wound on the base of the left horn, where the 400-grain .404 coup-de-grace bullet came out.

From nose to tail, the hide was long enough that the tail was up one wall of our 12-wide trailer of that time, with the nose touching the other wall. We had about 1700 pounds of meat in the freezer (bone in) from the one critter. He was killed just outside the northern boundary of Wood Buffalo National Park, maybe thirty miles out of Fort Smith.

It is a strange, anachronistic feeling to hunt bison in this day and age. I often had to stop and mentally pinch myself to remind me that yes, I WAS actually hunting these great creatures in the late 20th century, and not having flashbacks of a hundred years or more.

They are awesome, incredible animals, and it truly is a privilege to be able to hunt them in the wild, on their own terms.

You done good, pard!

Congratulations!! Excellent pictures and story.

Looking at those pics with you wearing that red plaid jacket, are you sure your not Al from "Tool Time." Where is Tim Allen?

Just kiddin!. Great looking bull. I would love to do it some time.

Nice going, John! Have you moved to the Yukon yet?

George
P.S. What's with the boat-paddle Ruger?

John,

Great animal, really beautiful.

Congratulations,
Roland

Hey John, Congratulations on a fine kill and a fine story to go with it.

Since you are moving to that general area, you will have plenty of tiem to get the 8-bore into action.

quote:

Originally posted by GeorgeS:
Nice going, John! Have you moved to the Yukon yet?

George
P.S. What's with the boat-paddle Ruger?

The fiancee and I are going to be looking at places day after tomorrow when she arrives. As for the boat paddle, well it wasn't my first choice to use a borrowed gun but it damn sure worked.

Best,

John

John, that is very very impressive. I'm very happy for you! Incredible.