Yukon Stone Outfitters Ltd.

Yukon Stone's 2010 Newsletter

2010 was another year full of adventure and successful hunts in the Pelly Mountains. It started in late July when we loaded up the horses and made the long trek to Lappie Lake in the heart of the Pelly Mountains. The trip went smooth with no break downs or hold ups. Jamie Connors was in the lead with Jessica Dyer, Clark Bostrom, and Heather Roe along. I followed behind in my Super Cub. The ride was a little rough over the Rockies but as soon as I reached the Yukon border it was calm and clear. A few days of gathering rigging, cleaning up and trailing horses later, we were all in camp awaiting Tom Trask and Jim Hens. Tom and Jim were our first Sheep hunters of the Season. Tom flew into camp with his Wife Sheila and Daughter Tomalyn. They were going to accompany Tom on his sheep hunt. Jim, Jim’s Cameraman Tyler and I loaded up or backpacks and set off on a weeklong adventure to find some rams in country I had not hunted before. We backpacked for seven days and ended up at the camp where the rest of the outfit was hunting off horseback. We spotted some young rams and missed a good caribou but came up empty handed. Jim harvested a great archery ram with us last year and we were trying to repeat the feat on this hunt. When we arrived in camp Tom had a great 8 year old ram hanging on the meat pole. He tagged out opening day and spent the rest of the hunt fishing and riding with his family. Jim and I hunted another two days with horses and found a couple more bands of rams but Jim had to leave a couple days early and we were unsuccessful in finding the right one. I was disappointed to start the season with 50% success on the first hunt. But it only got better from there.

On the second hunt we welcomed George Lawrence and Charles Hunt to camp. George brought his muzzle loader and along with wrangler Jessica Dyer we took off fly camping for a week. Jamie and Charles stayed in the main camp and hunted. After 3 days George and I had spotted over 30 rams. The weather was clear and hot, some would argue not the best weather for hunting rams but if you can get to the top of a mountain every day you see a lot. Although we spotted several legal rams we passed them by and kept hunting because it was early in the hunt and sheep seemed to be all around.The next morning we spotted 4 rams on a distant ridge. It was a long way off but I saw just enough to want a closer look. It was early in the morning when we went after them and by 3am the following day when we got back to camp! We didn’t arrive back empty handed. One of the rams was too great for us (or anyone!) to pass up. After some hard earned sleep we packed up and headed back to base camp with a heavy ram just under the 40’’ mark!

Jamie and Charles hadn’t had any luck so I pointed them to the area we had come from. They left the next day and arrived back in camp two days later. Jamie’s packhorse had a set of sheep horns on its back and Charles had a big smile on his face. Charles also tagged a great Grizzly bear the day before he left camp.

Dustin Roe arrived the first week of August from Stan Stevens in the NWT. Dustin was going to be backpacking for 4 Sheep Hunts with Shawn MacDonald. Dustin’s wife Heather came up with us in July and helped me with expediting during sheep season.

Sara Brandenburg was Dustin’s first client. Sara, with her Father along, was looking to finish her Grand Slam. Sara turned 16 during her hunt with us and it turned out to be a very sweet 16th Birthday. Sara harvested a beautiful 41 inch ram. One of our best Rams this season. I believe this gave Sara the honour of the youngest woman ever to finish her grand Slam, or North American 4 depending on who’s listening and who is talking. A great accomplishment.

Dustin had great success on his second hunt harvesting a ram on the second day for Wayne Brown. The third hunt brought Raymond Rodgers and his son Jeremy. A week later both father and son had great rams tagged. Raymond’s ram was exceptionally heavy making it the highest scoring ram this season at Yukon stone and one of the heaviest rams ever harvested in the Yukon Territory.

Joe Oganda, Jason Clemett and J.J. Graham arrived on the 25th of August in Whitehorse. They had to suffer through some poor weather for the first half of their hunt. They spotted quite a few young rams early but halfway through the hunt they were still searching. With only a few days left they found a great band of rams and for the first time at Yukon Stone we took 3 rams from one band! Jason also bagged a great boar Grizzly Bear. It was our best bear of the season.

September brought Mike Kinney and David Hass to sheep camp for the last sheep hunt of the season. Byron Vonhagen also arrived at the start of September to guide for the rest of the season. I was happy to have Byron back at Yukon Stone after a year without his help. It was a long hunt for Mike and Jamie but on the second last day Mike connected with a great 9 year old ram. David started off the Moose season with a 65 incher! That Moose would finish the season in 1st place for our annual competition between the guides. David also took home a great mountain Caribou but did not connect with a ram.

Tyler Olson, Jody Peck and Jeff Flock came up on the 7th of September with the last of our horses for Moose and Caribou season. Luke arrived a couple days later and they set up camp and welcomed Victor Avila, Sergio Avila and Peter Shea into camp. The weather was perfect for the whole hunt and everyone had a lot of fun. They each got a great Caribou and Victor Tagged a great Bull Moose as well.

Tyler Murry along with his father in-law Aubrey Petzold, hunted with Byron from the 12th to the 20th of September. Tyler got a great 60 inch moose after a few days of hard hunting. Aubrey is no stranger to the Pelly Mountains, harvesting the best ram last year after almost 3 weeks of hunting! Terry Van Dorn and Craig Hodson both arrived on the 20th. Terry shot a bull on the first day of the hunt with Jamie Connors. Craig and Byron were hunting with archery equipment and a week into the hunt Craig arrowed a great 55 inch bull. The weather was ugly for a few days on this hunt so I got to come and pack out Craig’s bull with the crew. I spent a few days in camp until the weather improved enough to fly. This was our only real bad weather of the year! Craig and Byron hunted caribou for another week and despite seeing quite a few Craig did not find the calibre of bull he was looking for.

Dale Jenkins and Weston Terry flew into camp on the 22nd of September. Luke and Ty helped them to harvest 2 moose. Weston and Dale also would get the award for the most fish ever caught in a hunt I think! Jody’s world famous (or at least Pelly Mountain famous) fish tacos increased the amount of fishing done this fall that’s for sure! Myself and the crew would like to thank Victor and Sergio for tutoring her in the creation of this dish.

Dale Shope, Jack and Dwight Pirtle arrived at the end of September for the last moose and caribou hunt. Jack and Dwight both harvested good moose and a caribou as well. Dale was looking for caribou and on the 5th day of the hunt found his bull up in the snow. The weather was great right to the end of the hunt but with winter closing in fast we made our escape. We had a little snow and some wind but the temperature was manageable. We trailed horses out to the road on October 6th and it was homeward bound. We had a smooth trip home with a stop at Liard hot springs to soak after a long fall in the mountains.

We pulled shoes off the ponies and kicked them out to pasture for another 9 months off. Thanks to all the crew for working hard and making this year a great success. I have never had a more enjoyable season in the mountains. I would also like to thank our clients for the opportunity to guide and outfit them on their Yukon adventures and for their hard effort that keeps our success rate the highest in the business. Happy Holidays and I hope to catch up with everyone at some of the shows this winter.

Mac Watson & Crew
Yukon Stone Outfitters.

Click Here to View 2009 Newsletter