This forum is so cluttered by political crap!!!! How about some hunting stories?

the chef

I agree!

If hunting politicians was legal, we'd have the best of both worlds

Vote anything but liberal

Well....got no recent hunting stories of Canada....but recall incredible numbers of whitetails in southern Manitoba ....absolutely everywhere...even in Winnipeg...in the fields that border the city....in the backyards in Charleswood part of town.....loads of them west around Virden...walked into almost any field and kicked out deer from small clumps (maybe 30 to 200 feet diameter) of brush. It's still the same. Used to stay in a VERY primitive hotel room in a small town in western Manitoba (1.25 per night). I wonder whether the prices have changed?! I'll bet the room has not. When I go "home" to Winnipeg, I see American deer hunters in the airport who are spending alot of money for whitetail "outfitters". Why bother? You can get same deer without "outfitters" in northern North Dakota (Turtle Mountains), and you don't have to pay 50.00 to bring in a gun, and you don't have to deal with the mindless Canada Customs. Ah well.....just my 2 cents worth. Heck, I now live in (GAG) Florida, and sit here day-dreaming.

You would have to use a super premium for polititians. Must have a SD of at least .250. The bullet has to go through alot of shit and then they have very irregular vitals no hearts, No Brains. You can't even accidently gut shoot them as they have no guts either.

I think the Canadians don't like to talk about their hunting because they fear more of us Americans will come visit them.

quote:

Originally posted by calgarychef1:
This forum is so cluttered by political crap!!!! How about some hunting stories?

the chef

Do you have any stories or are you just expecting us to entertain you?

I think you will find a majority of us Canadian
hunters are very casual about our hunting stories.Most people i know dont go out of their way to talk about hunting.EG "Fred you hunt this year?" "Yeah i did,shot a nice buck on the north forty" "Oh yeah,right on" end of conversation.Americans have more to talk about because hunting is more of a privelage in the U.S.A.,EG paid hunting on private land ,access to govt land, the amount of hunters etc.We just take some of our hunting for granted.Also we welcome American hunters,the tourism dollars keep alot of local economies healthy.

tourism dollars - OOPS!

In my experience many Canadian hunters treat hunting much like they treat a day at work, get up have breakfast, load gear in truck, drive x number of hours to the same area that entire generations of family has hunted, look around see a suitably sized animal (some don't care about horns and consider it a bonus) shoot animal, snap a few picks, clean it, load it into truck and off home they go, rest of the time they booked off is utilised for other things, since they are done hunting.

I usually walk out the back door and shoot a nice sized doe or buck, that I have been watching for some months, in my back 40 and then I use the rest of the time off to catch up on work that has been put off, due to lack of time.

Average time spent hunting this last year, per season

Archery - 2 days nice doe
Muzzle loader - 2 hours nice doe
Rifle - 20 minutes 4 point buck

Then you have the half dozen or so friends and or relatives that drop in and I place them in prime spots and they are usually done with in a day ot two, having harvested a suitable animal.

Consider it a slightly different perspective in regards to hunting.

I've got tons of stories but I'm just too lazy to type for that long !!! plus, some of them I just can't share

I'm sorry, but that "political crap" is part of our daily life and if you ignore it, you may end up like the Germans, where your favorite pasttime of shooting animals with pointy sticks is apparently considered animal cruelty. We are all under attack and had better recognize it
I went to vote today and as one in my middle 50 s, was just about the youngest person at the polling station. Most of my thoughts on seing my fellow voter wer something like, Holy shit, he's still alive. The oldest person I saw there, was just short of 100. Did you vote today?
As for hunting stories, maybe we could have a forum, just for that. Lots of other places seem to have them and I always feel like Im reliving a Hunt when I write it out.
Grizz

I am probably the guy who posts the most "political" material here and I probably shouldn't bother as I am retired, fit and healthy and can afford the gear and trips I have dreamed of all my working life; so, why should I do anything to possibly save the hunting/gun ownership I have known for younger people?

Let them do it for themselves as "Grizzly" is right, this is the ONLY international forum where there is a dedicated section for Canadians to discuss ALL aspects of the political situation that threatens our existence, so, many of us choose to do just that.

Where "stories" are concerned, I have lots of them, but, I have found that making posts that include specific details of your bush experience in order to elucidate a given point oftimes encourages the youthful "experts" on certain forums to accuse you of "boasting".

I am reminded of a forum where a certain poster frequently lashes out at people whom he does not know, accusing them of being "posers"; this same self-styled "bushman" also posts very strong opinions on wildlife management, etc.....in areas where he admits he has never even been.

Stories are fine, but, if we don't use this forum to communicate about the political problems we face here in Canada, we are well and truely fucked.

The major reason I participate in AR is because of the fact that the mods here do not interfere in heated discussions AND they do not moderate according to their own biases, which means that everyone can express their thoughts freely and we can all learn from each other.

I like AR and am very grateful for the opportunity to participate; one has to take his lumps, but, this is a good site with some great guys and worth my time and serious thought.

Awe come on Kute, in all of those years you spent out in the bush you must have seen some very interesting things, or some very big animals, or something that would be interesting to us that have not had the experience in the bush that you have. Forgo your political thoughts for a minute and provide us with a good story of one your memorable experineces.

Here's lots of hunting stories by Canadians for you.

huntshoot.com

Canadiangunnutz-hunting

HuntingBC

Predator Hunt Canada

Now can you leave us to our political squables!

sorry guys I guess I shouldn't have said "stories" I was referring to hunting "talk" pertinent to Canada and Canadians. There's not much traffic here about hunting in Canada. It's a bunch of whining and sniveling, we Canadians seem good at that for some reason. As far as discussing anti hunting, peta etc. yes it's important, but not as important as getting involved in some of the hunter volunteer groups. All this complaining online doesn't do much good- if you have concerns, get out and volunteer.


The chef

Here's how I spent my day after voting. Took my kids to the range to do some plinking. Seemed appropriate after sending Paul Martin packing.

Nb starting him early huh? Good to see. My girls are 2 and 5-I could leave guns and ammo laying around (I don't) and I know they wouldn't touch them. They've been trained that guns aren't toys and never to touch them without an adult. That said the oldest one shot her first gun when she was about 3 and she has her own .243.

Both girls help me build the fire in our wood heater and the 5 yr old lights the match and lights the fire. They both know that if they play with fire or guns it's an automatic spanking unless adunts are supervising.

Start them early and give them responsibility!!

the chef

I agree. Kids like to be given responsability so they work for it. My boys don't even go into my gunroom alone because they know that all they have to do is ask and I'll show them any gun in there and they worn't get in trouble for it. My 6 year old was ezplaining to my 3 year old the other day that pretending to shoot someone wasn't funny that once you shoot them they're gone forever and it wasn't like a cartoon. Guess he was payying attention eh?

Very enjoyable discussions....a pleasure to read. Thanks.

quote:

calgarychef1
one of us
Posted 24 January 2006 19:51
They both know that if they play with fire or guns it's an automatic spanking unless adunts are supervising.

It is good to see that us fellow chefs share the same frame of mind. I received a spankin for stuff that would hurt me, Seems nowadays, you can not discipline anybody(even your own children) without being non-PC. I am a "cook" in th USCG. I was stationed in STE. ST. Marie for my first tour. It was great. Except for the Canandian's



Sorry for being "political"

...it's a bunch of whining and sniveling..., Oh, really? Do you consider my discussions with Canuck on forest management, for example, to be whining and sniveling? He is a Registered Professional Forester and I am a former employee of TWO provincial forest services; maybe we actually are contributing to the pool of knowledge here?

Do you think that MattB is whining and sniveling when he posts his opinions on wildlife management....he is, after all, a working professional in the field and I find his posts highly informative and thought provoking; I have a bit of actual experience to base this on, as well.

My point is perhaps best made by a question, what hunter organizations do YOU involve yourself in and how many years have you been an active conservationist. I started in 1960 and began campaigning against gun control in 1968 and I am STLL doing it, although there is no direct benefit to me, as I mentioned.

You seem to be a nice guy, but, maybe you should realize that your opinions on child rearing may be as uninteresting to others as some of our posts may be to you; in short, we all contribute and I suggest just ignoring the threads that don't interest you.

Telling people that they are ...whining and sniveling...is not likely to encourage participation here and I, for one, think that internet communication is VERY beneficial in the battle to preserve our common heritage of gun ownership and hunting. If, I was not convinced of that, I wouldn't visit or post here or on any of the few other forums I log onto. So, maybe think about this, eh?

I think there's more than enough room to discuss a variety of issues here on the Canadian forum. The technical, regional, anecdotal and historical aspects of our hunting activities are, as Chef points out, somewhat under-represented as of late. However, I think the socio-political aspects of Canadian hunting and firearms use are very, very relevant and useful to discuss here. I asked some colleagues, both Wildlife Managers and Hunters, what they thought was the most significant issue was about hunting in Canada. Interestingly, most said "opportunity". They clarified this by saying that 'opportunity' related to the diminishing emphasis of legislated priveliges to hunt, the difficulties with accessing land because of tenure, increasing urbanization and alteration of habitats, emerging wildlife diseases such as CWD, the increasing difficulty in obtaining firearms licenses and registration, and an alarming trend in "user-pay" type hunting such as hunt-farms. Interestingly, public anti-hunting sentiment did not rank highly. From a social point of view, some said that the issue of youth recruitment was more important.

Several years ago I had the opportunity to interview Jack Ward Thomas, former Chief of the US Forest Service and current Boone and Crockett Chair of Wildlife at the University of Montana (or is it MSU?), considerd by many to be the father of MODERN wildlife management (with apologies to Aldo Leopold). I asked Dr. Thomas, who spent years dealing with the Spotten Owl issue as well as a number of other wildlife management problems, what he thought the most important thing governments can do to promote wildlife conservation and hunting. Without hesitation, he said that all teachers should undergo a summer internship and learn this stuff themselves. He emphasized that societal change would be most effective if it was nurtured in our youth. He saw very little advantage in other methods.

Hope this helps the discussion,

Matt

Unfortunately, until we finally get our rights restored to us, politics and hunting are very much intertwined.
With a Conservative government in power now, providing they do what we elected them to do, we may talk a bit more about hunting, or at least a little less about politics.
I could easily fill these pages with scandals and corruption from the Liberal administration.

quote:

...it's a bunch of whining and sniveling...,

When people have nothing to contribute to an intelligent conversation, it's "stupid"!

Even though there's a Political forum here on AR, it's very counter productive. Just the location of the topic starter usually draws in a 100 insults and nothing ever comes of it but shit slinging(it can be fun at times ).

The "Canadian Hunting" forum is pretty laid back considering how much political discussion it involves. I don't see it as a negative thing at all. Like Matt says, there's lots of room here for political discussion.

CalgaryChef 1:

OK! I have a Canada hunting story. It was told to me, an American, by a Canadian whom I regard to this day as the finest woodsman I ever saw in my life - and I'll be 76 in a few months and have hunted in a few places.

We were bouncing around in a pick up in early afternoon on our way to where I would be dropped off to walk to my bear stand. (I always wanted to be on stand for hours before late afternoon because my guide said so) We were navigating the ruts of what was hardly even a trail, (much less a road) and going through some fearfully thick brush of a low lying area. ( not a swamp, but damn near it!)

The guide mentioned that he shot a moose in exactly this particular area. In fact, it was almost exactly where we were right at this moment. It seems that he shot the moose with his 303 (What else in Canada!) After making sure the bull was dead, he went back to the truck ( about 100 feet away) to get a saw. After field dressing,he sawed a section and hauled it back to the truck and got it up into the bed of the pick up.

Now he went back and sawed a second section. He drags it back - and sees several wolves up in the bed of the truck trying to drag off the first section. (There had been some very mild winters and the wolves were desperate) They take off, of course - but when he returns on his third trip, they are back again. He ended up carrying the rifle as he dragged sections back to the truck. He was an excellent story teller and had me laughing to tears as he described that he couldn't even shoot at the wolves directly because he was panting so hard and was afraid of putting a bullet through the gas tank!

Gerry thanks for the "hunting talk!!" Much better than the whining

the chef

That reminds me about the two nice bucks that had their noses in the back of my truck cap last year. I couldn't shoot for fear of putting and arrow through my truck.

the chef

Well, I suppose I can tell one on my old Dad, now that he's been dead about 30 years.

A long, long time ago he was out moose hunting in his almost new pickup. He had to make a hurried trip into the underbrush to answer a call of nature and, although he took his rifle along, left the pickup door open.

Upon his return (from the rear of the pickup) he realised a bull moose was standing about 50 yards ahead of the truck....and he figured he could sneak a bullet through the gap between the door and the cab. An inch to the left, and it would have worked.... and he never did live that one down.

Kutenay sorry I didn't respond sooner. I was out this weekend..... volunteering....I was helping to teach a group of new hunters a little about meat cutting. We had a great time and I hope I gave them the confidenct to try cutting their own meat. They certainly learned a lot about the care of their meat after the shot.

I helped a group of 25 or so newbies to join the world of hunting and conservation. I tried also to instill a bit of respect for an animal who's life they have taken to feed their family.

so you see.....I do walk the walk.


The chef

I don't doubt it, my point was simply that your words could have been better chosen and your interests here might not be shared by all.

Besides, "I" am the resident grumpy, old bastard here and don't want competition for my "spot" from you young and upcoming curmudgeons!

Tumbleweed:

That is a hilarious story! (I think I would have tried the same shot!)

I hope that you also honor your dad's memory in noting that he was so honest as to have told the family the story in the first place!

Harry came into the Macleods hardware store one day about 20+ years ago and asked if I could fix the mirror on his truck. I said "Harry, what did you do to this mirror?" Harry mumbled and fidgeted and I said "Harry, did you shoot the mirror off your truck?" And Harry finally said well, yes that's what had happened. I said "Harry, was it, oh let's see, a .300 Weatherby magnum?" He said, "Well, as a matter of fact, it was!" Then he added "I'd just as soon you didn't bother telling anybody about it though." Well, that was a promise I just couldn't keep.

In Canada the main hunting issue at the moment is the political issue. Harper has a minority. He needs a majority and his government won't last long. Lots of magazines and internet addresses out there filled with puff hunting stories.

Here is some interesting information if you know someone out there who is pro-guns and pro-hunting and has money.

The largest circulation Outdoor Magazine in Canada as far as I know is Ontario Out of Doors.
It caters to hard core hunters and anglers and carries the news of the Ontario Federation of Anglers and hunters which claims to have about
86,000 members organized into dozens if not hundreds of clubs. The circulation can be checked through the CCAB. I think it must be about 120,000 or so in total.

The magazine was started by Dan Thomey who sold it to Ron Goodman who sold it to Maclean Hunter who was bought by Rogers cable.

The editor through out this whole transition was a guy named Burt Myers who was just given the golden handshake. He has been replaced by a lady editor who wants to make it into a camping magazine. But the readers are all hard core anglers and hunters so the ad base will soon evaporate and the magazine will end up being sold for peanuts. In fact they just took it of the internet.

You would think the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters would buy it but they just got suckered into a bogus lawsuit which they lost and which cost them about a $ 1 million in lawyers fees so they haven't got a pot to piss in.

This magazine gives who ever owns it direct access to the only big organized hunters and shooters groups in Ontario. That is the mailing list.

Ontario has always been the weak link in the fight against Canada's gun laws. Lots of members who do nothing when push comes to shove because they get led down the garden path by weak leadership.

The leadership tends to develop the big frog in a little pond syndrome.

There are enough readers of this magazine to swing voting patterns in closely contested ridings in Ontario. That's how the NRA operates.
I know a guy who has already done this with this magazine. If anyone out there is serious and has real money I can put you together.


VBR,



Ted Gorsline

quote:

Originally posted by calgarychef1:
This forum is so cluttered by political crap!!!! How about some hunting stories?

the chef

No there are no hunters in Canada

Would a story about Lord and Lady McFartney and the harp seal hunt do?

VBR,

Ted Gorsline

Here are two Canadian hunting stories I would very muich like to hear about. They are so old and foggy in my memory that I have forgotten most of the details. But I am sure that many years ago I saw the photos, somewhere, of two massive Rocky Mountain bighorns, both taken at the headwaters of the Oldman River in southern Alberta that were much bigger than any of the modern record book rams. I think one ram was 52 inches with 22 inch bases and the other was either the same size or an inch longer.

The story goes that both heads were lost in fires in remote cabins. It may be that I saw a photo in an Andy Russel book but I am not sure. I think the animals were shot early in the 20th century and Bert Riggal may have been one of the guides. I believe the genetic type was wiped out by the building of a hydro electric dam at the headwaters of the Oldman River which flooded out their winter range. I have seen photos of the Chadwick ram but these two sheep were much bigger and the bases were so massive that they look like monstrosities rather than horns.

VBR,


Ted Gorsline

Here is my 2005 WT.
237yds with the 25'06 and 100gr. TSX's
I missed this guy at first light at 400yds(laser) dont know how, dead rest, broad side and still, I watched him head straight away over the hill, I knew he never went back to the bush with his honeys, so I legged it over to where I last saw him. I found nothing once hiking it over there, so I tried back lasering the stand to see if I coulf get to where he was standing, but damned if the laser could'nt pick up the hut for all the brush I camoed it with.
I was walking back towards the stand rather dejected, when low and behold guess who steps throught the windrow of trees seperating the two fields but old lover boy looking to get back with the gals. He walked about 60yds from the trees before seeing me and he just stopped and stood there, so what the heck I drilled him.
Neat looking buck double throat patch, and lots of cheater points.

I had awaken at 9:30.am on November 14th opening day of the Saskatchewan deer season, and the weather was horrible. The snow was driving sideways and the wind sent the snowflakes stinging into the cheeks of my face as i started the 2KM hike into a fresh hunting area.

Once i reached my hunting area i determined that even though the wind would be all wrong i may have a better chance with the wind at my back and the snow NOT stinging my unprotected face. I setup on the upwind side of a large slough in front of a deer trail leaving only 2 places a deer could approach me (either behind me and downwind or in front of me and straight upwind). I spread some Myles Keller Doe in Heat gel lure around my post and readied myself. I rattled hard for the first minute and waited....only hearing and seeing snow blowing and trees groaning in the wind. My second sequence of rattling was harder and louder almost with a sense of urgency, then it happened. A deer was approaching down the ridge in front of me at a brisk walk, then i seen an antler, Buck! I readied my Savage 270 and waited for the buck to come ito a shooting lane, as he approached directly downwind of my position i was ready for him to bolt away but he didn't. Instead he lifted his head and lifted his upper lip while quartering away, BOOM! I lost sight of him immediately but i knew it was a solid hit ..."YEAH!!" i stood up throwing my right arm in the air in excitement. The buck was the biggest i have ever killed and has the heaviest body weight i have ever encountered, well over 300lbs. Here are the photos (disposable camera)