What Will You Hunt Next Year and Beyond?

As we enter the final quarter of 2021, it’s time to make your hunt plans for 2022 and beyond. As you think about your goals for the next couple of years, it might be time to consider a multi-species dream hunt in some of the most beautiful terrain on earth.

Planning ahead is critical for these hunts. First, you must look at timelines and species opportunities. After choosing the best week and species for your ideal hunt, it’s time to really prepare. This requires gear checks, physical training and plenty of time shooting.

As we approach the end of another year, it’s time to begin planning for the possibilities ahead.

The Species

Perhaps the most difficult part of planning a hunt in northern British Columbia is choosing a species of focus. In some cases, like with Stone Sheep, the single species is by far the primary target. Our sheep hunts tend to be focused, as do our sheep hunters. We self-enforce a policy of only taking mature rams at 8.5 years or older.

Meanwhile, most of our other hunts are true combo hunts. You might think of mountain goat country being a long way from moose country. But here, that’s really not the case. Our mountain goat, moose and mountain caribou can all be in pretty close proximity – making these ideal combination hunts. When specifically targeting mountain goats, we use horses to access high basins above timberline where we can then glass and hike the steep ridgelines.

Moose and mountain caribou make up our most popular combo hunt here in northern BC. These moose are extremely large. We’re just a stone’s throw from the Yukon border. But on the BC side of the line, they are considered Canadian Moose. Those Alaska-Yukon moose genetics make them some of the largest Canadian moose found anywhere.

Our mountain caribou are big and beautiful, with often stark color contrasts between their dark bodies and white manes. These resident caribou move from the valleys up toward the high plateaus during the rut. These magnificent caribou draw hunters from around the world and for good reason.

In addition to these primary species, our hunters often carry tags for incidental species like wolf and wolverine. Each year, we have hunters get lucky and take one of these big canadian wolves.

Know the Terrain and Build Your Pack

After choosing the focus species and booking a hunt, it’s time to understand the terrain, weather and the upcoming hunt. Our hunters will fly into one of our three primary base camps, where you’ll have time to organize gear and repack your backpack. From there, hunters will usually depart on horseback for one of our satellite camps. In some cases, you may hunt right out of the base camp.

Hunters should be prepared to cover rugged terrain with steep inclines. This is British Columbia, so there’s always potential for rain, cold weather and even snow. Sheep and goat hunts are especially challenging due to their vertical environments. Horses provide a major advantage but always plan on hiking.

Spend plenty of time in your boots before the hunt, bring quality, lightweight rain gear and know how to utilize your layering system. Bring high quality binoculars for spotting and viewing. In most cases, a daypack with 1,800 to 3,000 cubic inches of capacity is ideal. Unless you’re told otherwise, you’ll be hunting from a fixed camp each day, so a large, overnight pack is not necessary. Bring what you need, but don’t overdo it. In addition to weight limits on the float plane, you’ll want to save your back on those long days of hunting.

To learn more about the gear we recommend and additional packing tips, please take a look at our Gear Page.

Train and Shoot

The two things that will make you a better hunter in northern British Columbia are shooting abilities and physical fitness. Hit the range as much as possible and get yourself dialed at ranges up to 500 yards. Having longer distance abilities and confidence is critical when an old stone sheep ram is standing broadside across a deep drainage.

Train physically by hiking, running and building endurance in your legs. Hike with your hunting pack and practice shooting while winded. If you can hike uphill until winded and setup on a steady shooting rest, harvesting the animal you want can quickly turn from a dream into a reality.

Contact Us to Begin Planning your Hunt

If you’d like to learn more about hunting with us in British Columbia at Kawdy Outfitters, please explore the rest of our website. For details and availability, please contact us. We’d love to help you begin planning your adventure!