Day 8
We packed camp, which I was hesitant about
as I just didnt want to leave, but truth is the Caribou werent moving through
here anymore. We hiked back to my Moose and did the analysis on the shot. Id
never been so sure of a great shot and removing the heart and lungs proved it
correct. The arrow was tight through the triangle, taking both lungs and the
heart.
Byron was impressed with the bow and arrow
at this point, myself being the first Bowhunter he has guided. Ribs posed no
upset with the right set up and this shot also proved that, Id taken dead
center of a rib on both sides, but still achieved full penetration on the bull.
The Arrow and Broadhead combination sent from the Hoyt Carbon Matrix on 70lbs
performed flawlessly, especially considering it went through both shoulders, a
rib on entry and a rib on exit. My shaft choice was the Victory VAP with
stainless steel insert and the VPA two blade 150gr broadhead. This will also be
my Cape Buffalo and Water Buffalo set up on a few upcoming adventures.
Finishing removing all the meat and cape,
we packed it to the pickup point. The antlers weighed a ton and were super cool
to pack out.
I love bowhunting. Its beautiful, peaceful
and sometimes has antlers.
Byron had a quick nap while we were waiting
for the helicopter to pick up the meat, a quick sleep that was well deserved;
great guy, great guide. The helicopters blades rang up the pass of the valley
and we signaled to him. He dropped in on the precious meat and antlers and we
loaded the net with a thousand feeds of Moose and the trophy bone.
The helicopter was rigged up and signaled
the all clear. It took off into the distance to drop the meat at the mud flat
for the plane to take it the rest of the way back to base before shipping of
the meat to local communities. The helicopter dropped back into the flat and
picked us up before landing at spike camp and picking up our gear for the
flight back to base camp.
The flight over the river on the way back
was beautiful and the mountains spectacular as we peeled off the winding river
and over the mountains before dropping into a massive canyon and travelling
along it to base camp.
Despite my hesitation to be back at base
camp, all reports were that the Caribou were moving through the base camp
mountains and river and with little to no Caribou moving in our area we moved
on. The twelve hour hunting count down started again. I made good use of it,
photographing around base camp and helping to cape out some game.
Werner came back to base camp with my Moose
after the helicopter dropped it off at the mud strip. I quickly raced out to
the air strip and helped unpack the meat and antlers, which I hugged and
kissed.
I spent the afternoon studying and glassing
the mountains around camp. The terrain that the Mountain Caribou frequent is
quite amazing and you could see these animals walking down the steep shale
mountainsides with ease and cover a mile of land in little time.
Ancient Mountain Caribou trails cut deep
into the grounds of the mountains, the migrating paths tramped even through solid
rock. The morning would see Byron and me sitting off one of these trails.
A beautiful big ram from the operation,
Ill be coming back to hunt one of these beauties.
