Thursday, April 10, 2008
"Uncle Mike" vs. "Tatonka"!
Uncle Mike, my brother, has "graced" my "e-pages" before with some of his "true tales", including Justin And Mike Finally Get Their "Goat"!, where cousin Justin "gets his goat", and A Page From The "Hunting Hall Of Fame": Justin vs. "The Moose", where cousin Justin "gets his moose"! Anyways, Uncle Mike has been at it again! Let's hear him "tell it".........
Subject: RE: Maybe something for your Blog
Date: Tue, 1 Apr 2008 11:09:08
From: "Taylor, Mike"
To: "Steven Taylor" otterflogger@yahoo.com
Steve, here is the story and the pictures from my November 2007 Bison Hunt at Pink Mountain, which is 2 hours south of Fort Nelson.
I, Ryan Leighton, and Frank "Ooga Ooga Mooska" Butterfield, both from Prince Rupert, began our hunt in a leisurely manner after not enough sleep and too much karaoke at the Pink Mountain Motor Inn Pub the night before. We actually did not leave the Motel until approx. 10:00 AM, which is way later than I would ever normally leave for a hunt, but we had 5 days so I was not worried. It was a balmy -16 deg C with blowing snow.
We picked the brains of a few "locals" as to where we should perhaps try to find one of these behemoths, and were surprised with how forthcoming people were. Armed with our new information, we traveled 40 KMS by truck back into a valley where there are some beautiful hunting areas. We actually ended up stuck in the snow with our truck and had to unload our 3 quads and continue on this way, which was much more enjoyable, even in the cold.
After about 60 minutes of ATV'ing 16 KMS over 12" deep snow covered roads, we found 4 sets of fresh tracks on the side of the road. The bison like to paw the snow away in the ditches to reveal the sweet grasses underneath, and it is very obvious which animal has done this due to the sheer size of the "snow scrapes", as I refer to them. We hatched a plan (which comprised of, "let's follow the tracks") and then followed the tracks for 20 minutes up into the heavy timber. It is amazing how quiet something that big can be, especially when there are 4 of them traveling together....although some have said the same about me.
We knew we were getting close as the piles of dung were actually steaming and very hot, or so said Ryan when he stuck his finger into one. The beasts actually circled around us and lead us back onto the logging road. 2 minutes before this, I branched off from Ryan and Frank "Ooga Ooga Mooska", and veered off to the right thinking that I would maybe catch a glimpse of our quarry. Up ahead I could see the road through the trees. I cautiously peeked out and could see the boys about 50 yards away standing on the road looking down past me. They began to excitedly motion to me to look down the road. I did this but could not see anything as the road turned into a corner and from my angle I was blocked from seeing around it (turns out they could only see it's horns from where they were). I slowly stepped out further and could now see a bison standing approx 100 yards away on the bank on the right hand side of the road. I carefully took one step back and as quiet as I could, I chambered a round in my Brno ZKK602 in .375 H&H. I stepped back out and found the bison in my scope and sent a 300 grain Nosler Partition (hand loaded by yours truly, 75.5 grains of WW-760) to its vitals. The bison ran across the road and just before he disappeared over the bank I put one more in him, but this time through his heart. We could not believe it! We had a bison!!
We took the customary photos and then the work began. Ryan quickly removed himself from dealing with the viscera by driving his new hatchet down to the bone on his left knee (4 stitches required) when he was cutting a sapling that was bothering us. After gutting, it took us 20 minutes to pull it up the bank with our quads so that I could cape it whole...which I did. We then cut it in half and loaded 1/2 onto my quad and half onto Ryan's. We had un uneventful trip back to the truck but one that was extremely satisfying. We got our bison in the first 3 hours of our hunt! Ryan and Frank had driven 15 hours to hunt with me and it was over so fast! Both said they would do it again in a heart beat! The bison ended up falling 100 feet from our quads. The meat is so amazing...cut your steaks with a fork...no exaggeration!
-by Mike Taylor
---------------------------------------------------------------
"WOW"! Great tale! Wish I could have been there for the ....."Karaoke"! Ha ha! Yes, the hunt sounded like it was very "fulfilling"! Thanks for sharing, Mike!
Uncle Mike and "Tatonka".........
Ryan and Frank "Ooga Ooga Mooska"...... (I am sure there is a great story behind that "nickname"...)
Ryan's and Mike's quads hauling out "the booty".....
"Great story, Mike!"
"Adios!"
Subject: RE: Maybe something for your Blog
Date: Tue, 1 Apr 2008 11:09:08
From: "Taylor, Mike"
To: "Steven Taylor" otterflogger@yahoo.com
Steve, here is the story and the pictures from my November 2007 Bison Hunt at Pink Mountain, which is 2 hours south of Fort Nelson.
I, Ryan Leighton, and Frank "Ooga Ooga Mooska" Butterfield, both from Prince Rupert, began our hunt in a leisurely manner after not enough sleep and too much karaoke at the Pink Mountain Motor Inn Pub the night before. We actually did not leave the Motel until approx. 10:00 AM, which is way later than I would ever normally leave for a hunt, but we had 5 days so I was not worried. It was a balmy -16 deg C with blowing snow.
We picked the brains of a few "locals" as to where we should perhaps try to find one of these behemoths, and were surprised with how forthcoming people were. Armed with our new information, we traveled 40 KMS by truck back into a valley where there are some beautiful hunting areas. We actually ended up stuck in the snow with our truck and had to unload our 3 quads and continue on this way, which was much more enjoyable, even in the cold.
After about 60 minutes of ATV'ing 16 KMS over 12" deep snow covered roads, we found 4 sets of fresh tracks on the side of the road. The bison like to paw the snow away in the ditches to reveal the sweet grasses underneath, and it is very obvious which animal has done this due to the sheer size of the "snow scrapes", as I refer to them. We hatched a plan (which comprised of, "let's follow the tracks") and then followed the tracks for 20 minutes up into the heavy timber. It is amazing how quiet something that big can be, especially when there are 4 of them traveling together....although some have said the same about me.
We knew we were getting close as the piles of dung were actually steaming and very hot, or so said Ryan when he stuck his finger into one. The beasts actually circled around us and lead us back onto the logging road. 2 minutes before this, I branched off from Ryan and Frank "Ooga Ooga Mooska", and veered off to the right thinking that I would maybe catch a glimpse of our quarry. Up ahead I could see the road through the trees. I cautiously peeked out and could see the boys about 50 yards away standing on the road looking down past me. They began to excitedly motion to me to look down the road. I did this but could not see anything as the road turned into a corner and from my angle I was blocked from seeing around it (turns out they could only see it's horns from where they were). I slowly stepped out further and could now see a bison standing approx 100 yards away on the bank on the right hand side of the road. I carefully took one step back and as quiet as I could, I chambered a round in my Brno ZKK602 in .375 H&H. I stepped back out and found the bison in my scope and sent a 300 grain Nosler Partition (hand loaded by yours truly, 75.5 grains of WW-760) to its vitals. The bison ran across the road and just before he disappeared over the bank I put one more in him, but this time through his heart. We could not believe it! We had a bison!!
We took the customary photos and then the work began. Ryan quickly removed himself from dealing with the viscera by driving his new hatchet down to the bone on his left knee (4 stitches required) when he was cutting a sapling that was bothering us. After gutting, it took us 20 minutes to pull it up the bank with our quads so that I could cape it whole...which I did. We then cut it in half and loaded 1/2 onto my quad and half onto Ryan's. We had un uneventful trip back to the truck but one that was extremely satisfying. We got our bison in the first 3 hours of our hunt! Ryan and Frank had driven 15 hours to hunt with me and it was over so fast! Both said they would do it again in a heart beat! The bison ended up falling 100 feet from our quads. The meat is so amazing...cut your steaks with a fork...no exaggeration!
-by Mike Taylor
---------------------------------------------------------------
"WOW"! Great tale! Wish I could have been there for the ....."Karaoke"! Ha ha! Yes, the hunt sounded like it was very "fulfilling"! Thanks for sharing, Mike!
Uncle Mike and "Tatonka".........
Ryan and Frank "Ooga Ooga Mooska"...... (I am sure there is a great story behind that "nickname"...)
Ryan's and Mike's quads hauling out "the booty".....
"Great story, Mike!"
"Adios!"
