My wife and I just returned a few days ago from the Spatsizi Plateau with the Collingwood Brothers out of Smithers; we caught enormous trout on dry flies for a week out of the 5 star lodge at Laslui and spent 2 days hunting ptarmigan off horses and behind dogs up at Worry Creek camp. It was fantastic. I would have gone home to Texas a happy man then but we are able to impose on Ray and Reg Collingwood's graciousness and stayed another 2 1/2 weeks in Bug Lake and Highland Post with old friends, Sharon and Martin Lamoureux guiding us. My wife killed a fine, 56 inch pre-rut moose from 225 yards, freehand) and I then hunted the stone sheep ram I have always dreamed of. I did not find the one I was looking for this year so I was forced to commit again next year; that will be our 5th time to this part of British Columbia with the Collingwoods'. Its hard work but somebody has to do it, right?

North American big game hunting IS hard; it is the way it should be. To take a fine animal's life there should be a physical and emotional payment made with it. Our days in the Spatsizi started way before the sun and often ended in the dark under head lamps. We rode horses sometimes 9 hours a day to spike camps, were stepped on, shit on, thrown, impaled, scratched, brusied and often crawled into bed rolls too exhausted to change clothes. We sometimes stunk like goats. We ate moose meat steaks over open fires and drank strong whiskey out of tin cups; at night the stars seemed close enough to touch and the northern lights were mesmerizing. We heard and saw wolves, chased bears out of camp and huge caribou bulls followed our pack strings like stray dogs. It was 80 degrees one day and 2 days later 35 degrees. It rained, hailed, snowed and several times were almost blown off the mountains by 60 mile per hour winds. We saw no other human beings on our hunts, not so much as a plane flew over high above us. With all due respect to my African hunting colleagues (I have been to Africa 8 times myself), this kind of hunting is not riding around in a Landcruiser shooting stuff that crosses the road simply because you have not shot it before; this is real hunting. And the outfitters and guides that work in British Columbia do it ALL; they wrangle, shoe and doctor horses, pack and plan for 8 day spike trips, fix tack, make and break camps, cook, do dishes, guide, skin, and process meat; always smile and tell good stories, always happy to be doing what they do in such beautful, pristine surroundings. These men and women are the definition of tough.

And nobody, I repeat nobody guides better in British Columbia than the Collingwoods'. Carrie Collingwood and her husband, Billy Labonte, Ray and Beanie and Reg and Mary Collingwood, Sharon and Martin, Max, Al and Manny, Jake and Robert, Heidi and Ester and Curt, Tim and Clay and the entire staff at all the various camps are the kindest most geniune people you will ever have the pleasure of being around, ever. Ray Collingwood IS British Columbia.

So don't hesitiate anymore, make that goat or carribou your goal next year and go! Get some good boots and start walking to prepare. Whatever you do it won't be enough, trust me. When you get there keep your head up, its not killing that makes the trip; enjoy a place on earth where God must spend a lot of His spare time. Once you get there don't whine too much because it's hard, or your tired, or your butt is sore. Relish in it.

Pictures, or it didn't happen

Wonderful post sir! You have distilled what it is all about in a few paragraphs. Bravo!

I'm betting pictures don't come close to doing it justice. You have to be there.

It did happen, all of it, and it was wonderful. Canadians know that, it is your home and you live outside in clean air where it matters, all the time, not just a trip or two now and then go beat the summer heat. No photo of dead animal or the ass end of a horse in a snow storm can tell the real story. The real story is like a good book you have read several times over the years, that stays on the shelf for reasons that make you remember good things.

Thank you, stay warm this winter.

quote:

Originally posted by M. Shellman:
The real story is like a good book you have read several times over the years, that stays on the shelf for reasons that make you remember good things.

So true

I haven't met the Collingwoods, but agree on the B.C. experience. I do know Martin and Sharron Lamaroux and they are indeed, fine, fine folks.

I can think of no two finer people in the world that Martin and Sharon and I am grateful that you would write and say so as well. When I grow up (I am 62) I want to still be as tough as Martin is now. Sharon's cooking is to to day dream of after long, wet days on horseback.

Mike

How refreshing to read this. There are still hunters out there who appreciate true wilderness and true adventure.............. even if there is no swimming pool, no daily laundry and you have to get your hands dirty once and a while.

Amen to the point of your post. I couldn't agree more.

Thanks to everyone for the kind posts; it was a slendid hunt in beautiful country, with good, honest people.

For other Americans going to British Columbia wanting to bring home the fruits of their labor we have had amazingly prompt and courtesous shipping service of our moose meat from Smithers to Vancouver and down to Texas via Ron's Wildlife Services in Vancouver. It looks like the shipping costs will equate to about 3.50 USD a pound.

Thems moosemeat hamburgers is sure nuff gonna be good!

This is a wonderful experience shared. Thank you. I have been reading up on Spatsizi and dream of going there someday. My pursuit will probably be a Grizzly and /or a stone sheep. I have been a mountain game enthusiast all my life and have taken some fine mountain animals. The talk of sheep hunting gives me goose bumps and so maybe I will give the Colingwoods a shout.. Would love to hear if you saw any Grizzly's on your trip..cheers.

Bob, thank you for the nice compliment.

There was a fine bear taken in another camp while we were in the concession and we saw lots of sign along rivers and creeks we fished. In Bug Lake a big griz was chased out of camp one morning. We swapped hunting camps one morning in a 182, the weather was very low and rainy. Along the way we saw a cow moose and what appeared at first to be two calves in the middle of small lake but on closer look the second calf was a very large griz that had the calf and mother in the lake, trapped. We could see the mud trails around the lake, back and forth, around and around, clearly the calf was getting exhausted and the griz closing in for the kill. Tim, one of the nicest most accomplished bush pilots I have ever flown with anywhere in the world, made a series of low level flyovers, I mean... 150 feet tree skimmers, gunning the engine immediately over the bear. The bear stood on its haunches in the middle of this shallow lake once and swatted at the plane like it was a fly. We spent 15 minutes and valuable fuel, in very bad weather running this bear off. Last we saw of it was bugging off for higher, quieter ground. The calf we believe lived another day and in the plane we gave each other fist pumps and flew on off into the clouds. Is it a contridiction to hunt and yet care so much about animals and habitat and preserving what it is we all love so much? No, of course not. That is precisely why we hunt. That bear event went into my memory library permanently. Volume 19, Page 23.

There are good bears on the Spatsizi Plateau and the Collingwoods hunt them well and often. Reg is a master bear hunter. The wolves are numerous and very problamatic. Most of the guides can call them in somehow and you should get a wolf tag, without question. Ray Collingwood likes to say minus one wolf, plus 15 moose. The Spatsizi is so incredibly beautiful it is hard to describe. It has been the Collingwood's home for a long time. They care about it deeply and trust me, when you go, and please do, you will come away caring about it deeply as well.

Sometimes memories clearly and concisely communicated beat the hell out of a few silent snapshots that could,nt possibly convey the experience the way a few well chosen words can. Thank you for sharing that experience. Used to do a Seattle run, come off the Cassiar, drop down thru Kitwanga, off to Smithers and headed south. Lot of beautiful country through there, a couple little rivers running along side the road seem to be always stuck in my memory.

Made me wish I,d stopped to do some some hunting, at least get out and do a little tramping around in the woods, instead of just watching the world go by through the windshield of a truck.

Mike Young gives Collingwood Bros a run for their money. His number is 250-877-2352; outfit is Lonesome Mtn Outfitters. I did a moose backpack hunt with him in 2007. What a hunt. I can still feel the cold water running down the crack of my ass when I fell in the river with a load of moose meat...

I agree there is no substitute for North American hunting. A pack string hunt for elk, moose, etc. - how can you beat that? The feeling of accomplishment is tremendous.