Bison Hunting

As real life speeds up, I've fallen into a bit of a blog slump. Too much going on to want to sit in front of a computer, especially when I'm already writing a bi-weekly article for Whats Up Yukon newspaper. Nevertheless I feel guilty. I’ve also discovered that I get way more hits on my blog when I write about something other than skiing so here’s all about the Bison hunt I just came back from with Dave.

I rammed the 340 Arctic Cat onto the tilt deck trailer. It didn’t tilt and I slid back down. I took another run at it, same thing. I stacked firewood and a jerry can at the top of the trailer for extra weight and took one last run at it. Success. I swung by Dave’s house and we loaded up his 250 Bravo, much easier with two guys. The rig we’re driving costs us a dollar a mile in gas (literally) but luckily our starting point was not far out of town.

We arrived to find five or six other trucks and trailers at the trailhead. I thought, “this must be a good spot” but I also thought, “if there’s any bison out there, surely those guys have already beat us to them”.

We loaded up the sleighs and started putting along with our underpowered machines. We stopped along the way to make sure the rifle was still sighted in since I bumped, fell on, and dropped it while chasing rams behind Kusawa last fall. It was dead on. Dave popped a grilled cheese into his HotDogger before we continued down the trail. HotDogger? It’s a mini Dutch oven fixed to the exhaust. It’ll cook you a wiener in no time, or a grilled cheese for that matter.

It took about five K to get the cheese nice and gooey and we stopped for lunch. A couple bison-less hunters passed us going back to the vehicles. We were happy that they didn’t find our bison but worried there was no bison to find. We’ve never hunted bison and those guys looked like pros.

We were too cheap/didn’t have enough time to buy a topo map so I drew one on a sheet of lined paper from looking at google earth. According to the map, we were just entering bison territory. We finally spotted what we thought were bison tracks. We strapped on our snowshoes and followed them until we realized they were moose tracks. I saw some more tracks up on a side hill across the lake. We trekked over to where the tracks were but they were old and we couldn’t even tell if they were bison tracks. “Ahh they’re just old tracks”, Dave said. I like to think it was our stone-age ancestors who were looking down on us that guided us overtop of the next hill to another lake. “HHOO FUCK!” we whispered loudly, simultaneously. “We found em Dave!” I said in the voice of a giddy little schoolgirl.

We quickly thought out a route best suited to get within shooting range. Trying to tip toe through a foot of crusty snow we were being anything but sneaky. It soon became apparent that the bison knew we were there. Now it was a game to see how comfortable they would be with us. We inched forward to try and get a clear line of sight. There were three monster bison on top of the hill, two calves just below them, and another medium sized one lower down. The big ones were too big, the little ones too little, and the medium one just right. We each had a rifle at the ready. If I missed him, Dave was going to blast a second shot.

“Ready Dave?” “Yup… Oh wait, there’s a twig in my crosshairs.” Of course it was then that the bison started to gallop over the hill, out of sight. “Come on, turn you big bastard”, I said under my breath. Sure enough as he crested the hill his curiosity got the best of him. He just had to see what that was on the opposite side of the hill. Boom! His hind legs crumpled and he stood still for a second before bolting into the bush. I worked the action frantically and squeezed off another shot as he was disappearing. “Did I get em”, I asked. “Looked like it”, said Dave.

We looked for blood. Nothing. And then, a drop, and another, and another; pretty soon we were following a steady blood trail along the ridge. A hundred meters further and Dave spotted him. “There he is… he’s dead!” We hi-fived.

As the excitement wore off we realized we had three hours of daylight left and a kilometer of dense bush between our skidoos and the bison. We hadn’t eaten dinner or set up camp. We rushed back to the skidoos. Aside from a kilometer of bush there was also a big daddy hill we had to climb right off the start. 45-degree slopes everywhere we looked.  A ways to the left we found one hill that was slightly less steep. Our little kitty cat snowmobiles screamed as we tore through the powder. First run we made it half way, then three quarters, and third time’s the charm as we made it to the top. With the sun setting it was apparent we would not get the snowmobiles to the bison that night. I’ve never had to skin a cold animal before but I know enough to know it would suck.

We left the skidoos on top of the hill and headed back to the bison with a daypack full of skinning knives, game bags, and trail mix. It didn’t take long before we realized our bison was in fact a female (Don’t worry, everything all good and legal). We skinned and skinned. We skinned into the night. With darkness upon us, and fiddling knives with numb fingers it wasn’t long before Dave cut himself. Hands already covered in bison blood it was hard to tell which was who’s. We got out the headlamps and kept at it knowing that it would be damn near impossible to field dress a frozen bison. Hindquarter after front quarter, rib cage after rib cage, we pieced apart the bison. Exhausted and hungry I would stick my bloody hand into the trail mix now and then and swallow a hand full of nuts and raisons.

It took what seemed like all night but was probably about 4 to 5 hours. We were cold, soaking wet, covered in bison blood, and hungry. Dave set up the tent and I lit a big bonfire to warm up. I changed clothes and propped up my soaking wet, now frozen, bloody clothes on sticks next to the fire in a hopeless attempt to dry them. We boiled water to heat up our army rations: premade meals packed in MSG and sealed in a foil package. At around midnight we crawled into our sleeping bags.

Morning. I looked over at Dave who had apparently put on every piece of clothing he could find during the night and was still shivering. We made a pot of oats over the fire and didn’t waste time getting to work. First thing to do was find the best route to get the skidoos to the bison. Either that or pack 600 lbs of meat from the bison to the skidoos. I noticed an old trap set yesterday which led me to think there might be an old trap line trail somewhere close by. I returned to the trap set and it didn’t take long before I started to spot some old blazes on the spruce trees. They didn’t lead exactly in the right direction but I was able to get a good deal closer. A half hour’s work with the axe and I was through.

We loaded up the toboggans and broke trail through the bush to the old trapping trail which led us to the bison. I took a hindquarter, both front quarters, the ribs and a bag with the loins, backstrap, neck meat and heart. Dave took the hide, head and the remaining hindquarter. Our little machines worked hard to crawl at walking speed. I was glad we shot one of the smaller bison.

It was a bumpy 60km trail back to the truck. We stopped a few times on the way back to throw a sandwich in the HotDogger and to let the machines cool down. They were working pretty hard.

We were back in good time. To be honest I could hardly believe how well it worked out. I was kind of expecting to take the wrong trail, have our snow machines to break down or to run out of gas. We were back a day early with a bison. Makes up for the numerous unsuccessful hunting trips this fall. I’ll be eating steaks for breakfast, burgers for lunch, and roasts for dinner from now on.

Out East

Right from the get-go I've been feeling pretty tip top this year. Summer training, fall time trials, there was never time I've felt so good to be a skier. I think I did get a bit excited right at the start of the season however. My races in December weren't quite matching up to my november time trials. First distance race of the year: 15km Classic, I killed myself. I really pushed myself too hard and I blew up. A month later I think I'm finally recovered. 

Over Christmas break I played it safe. I didn't go out to all of those Christmas parties, I didn't play a lot of hockey or interval workouts in -30. Even so, I did manage to get sick. Only for a week though and I was healthy just in time for trials in T Bay.

Being sick just prior, I didn't have a whole lot of time to prepare but I was pretty confident none the less. I didn't have to have stellar races to qualify… and I didn't. I had three decent races, unfortunately for me a lot of other guys seemed to pull the race of their life that weekend. So here's how it went…

The first race was a 30km Pursuit. In a pursuit race you change equipment (poles and skis) half way through the race; starting in classic and finishing in skate. These are always fun because we usually only get to do one or two of these a year if we're lucky. It was a mass start and the pace was slow of the start. It was more of a ski 15km and then do a 15km skate race. A big group of skiers came into the exchange at the same time. All of a sudden the race started in the skate portion and I got dropped pretty hard. Not a bad race but far from what it could have been.

Sprint day was similar. I qualified seventh (first U23). I made it through the quarterfinal and had the option of using David's skis for the semi. They were lightening fast but when I came to the big hill half way through the race course I was slipping all over the place. I finished the day in second U23. If I'd won i'd be going to Czech. So close…

                                      My quarterfinal        photo by John Sims

I still had a chance. All I had to do was have a good race in the 15km skate. I had an good race, but it turns out some other guys had great races and I ended up just short. They took five junior skiers to Czech and four U23. If they took 5 of both I'd probably be going. Everyone going is a year or two older than me though so I have a couple more years. My teammate Colin Abbott pulled off some really good races last weekend and made the team so I'm happy for him. 

I'd sort of expected, even planned on being in Czech Republic this coming week but instead I'll be racing some Super Tours in Minnesota. I'm actually really excited because I haven't done many of these and you can often get better points here than racing overseas. 

The weather is dismal and skiing is hard to come by but I have no doubt the races will go on. After a good rest during Christmas I think it just took a weekend of racing to get me back in shape and I'm expecting to see some Yukon Elite squad on the podium in the Tour de Twin cities in Minneapolis.

Canmore Norams

December first marked the start of the race calendar this year but I was heading out a week early. Changes in environment, particularly altitude can take a while to adjust to. I hopped on Air North, bags tipping the scales at just overweight enough not to get charged. I arrived in Calgary with my four teammates and some thirty or forty skis between us. Renting a car when you’re under twenty-five isn’t simple. It usually involves a hefty under age fee. Other times it involves cool Dave sweet-talking the rental agent. Just like we smoothed things over with that friendly lady at the Air North counter. After the rental van was stuffed with five dudes, five ski bags, five duffel bags, and four hundred dollars of Costco groceries, we hit the road to Canmore, Alberta.

The trails in Canmore were designed for the 88 Olympics and are extremely hard. The races last weekend (Dec. 1, 2) were also used to qualify athletes for the Canadian World Cups this December.

The first race was a skate sprint. A short course and fast conditions made for fast times. The race ended up being just over two and a half minutes. I had an OK qualifier and finished as fifteenth open man. My quarterfinal was very close. Everyone finished the two and a half minute race within one second. I finished fifth. I was a little disappointed because with everyone finishing so close, it could have been anyone’s race. Because a few athletes decided not to take their spot in the World Cup I actually got offered a spot in Quebec. This was a nice surprise but I decided that spending two grand to fly to Quebec to do a three-minute race and get my ass kicked is not worth it. I’ll focus on World U23s.

start of my quarterfinal

finish of my quarterfinal

Sunday was the 15km Classic. I almost always do well in this discipline, but this time the Canmore hills got the best of me. I started out at a good pace, maybe a little too good. But in order to glide up the hills and not run you’ve got to go pretty hard. I was getting sixth place splits and caught the guy who started thirty seconds ahead of me. I lasted to about kilometer twelve of the fifteen-kilometer race. Then I hit the wall and I hit it hard. All of a sudden I couldn’t kick my skis, my muscles were chalked full of lactic acid, and I was gasping for air. I knew if I could just hang on for another couple minutes I would have a start on the World Cup. I flopped down on the finish line and had to be dragged into the first aid room. My throbbing headache finally went away and after sipping on apple juice I could finally stand up. I don’t think I’ve ever been that out of it after a race.

I ended up losing nearly a minute in those last couple kilometers and went from sixth to thirteenth, missing out on a world cup spot by fifteen seconds. I know I’m faster than how I raced that day but I was feeling great for most of the race and I even when I was “hitting the wall” I gave it all I had so I’m happy. I’m also happy for my teammate David Greer who will be representing our team in the Canmore World Cup.

This past week I’ve been enjoying perfect skiing conditions in Silver Star. The next races won’t qualify me for a world cup but I’ll be racing against the guys that are qualified and this time I’ll be sure to avoid hitting the wall.

Rabbiting

The first races are only a week away and it feels like I should be half way through the season. I guess we have been skiing for 5 weeks… still I'm feeling fresh and can't wait to start racing. Most of the big hours and hard strength workouts are already over and now its the easy part.

On Yukon Elite Squad we really help each other out and bring as much to the training as possible because our strength is in our team. We don't have a coach at every interval session so its upon ourselves to encourage each other to push harder. It feels like a real team rather than a bunch of dudes skiing under the same name. I have 3 sisters but no brothers, so these guys kind of fill in the gaps.

Team spirit is at an all time high right now. Could be to do with our new custom race suits or it could be that we're all stoked that we made it through the training season and now we get to prove ourselves. I'm not sure if any photos got leaked of our new suit but for now I'll keep it a surprise. Here's JP looking sharp in our new warm ups, courtesy of Swix. You'll be happy to know he no longer has that moustache.

photo by David Greer

I'll be flying down to Calgary on Sunday to have a week to acclimatize before the first races. But don't expect to see me lounging around the Rocky Mountain Ski Lodge anymore. I'll be shooting pool or maybe having a hot tub in the Yukon Elite Squad mansion. Ok, it actually belongs to Colin's uncle but its ours for the week! I sure hope Canmore isn't 7 degrees on Tuesday as forecasted. I was going to complain a little bit of having to race on man made snow but for now i'll just pretend I'm one of those Quebecers thats all giddy to just put on their skis for the first time this year. 

There is lots to be done before leaving to Canmore but Colin and I managed to squeak in a day of what i like to call "rabbiting". We set out some snares to catch a few snowshoe hare and exceeded our expectations.

photo by Malkolm Boothroyd

Ten snowshoe hare in one day! Just think what we could do if we weren't skiing all the time. We kept all the meat and plan to make rabbit sausage. Once I learn how to tan the rabbit hides we will be making, hats, mittens, or perhaps a quilt. I've also heard the First Nation cut it into strips and weave it to make clothing. Fur of a snowshoe hare is softer than the softest kitten imaginable and i can't wait to find creative ways to use it. 

Time trial tomorrow and then off to Canmore Sunday morning! First races are on December first and second. Look for a Knute Johnsgaard publication in upcoming issues of Whats Up Yukon!

ON SNOW!

Skiing is underway in Yukon. Take a look at the ski chalet and you wouldn’t believe it, but drive 15 minutes up the Descent trail (Mt McIntyre) and you’re in the North Pole. Temperatures hover around minus 15 degrees Celsius with close to a foot of cold dry snow.

October 11^th was the day this year. 2 days before Canmore laid out their seventy thousand dollar sheet of ice. Kidding! Not about the 2 days before, but I’m sure the groomers do a good job… on their 1.8 km loop. To be fair I did hear they have some real snow now. But there must be some reason this guy drove all the way up to the Yukon.

Enough about Canmore… did you hear Yukon is the 4^th best place to visit in the ENTIRE WORLD? According to Lonely Planet anyway. Maybe Its because I was born here; I mean everyone loves their hometown. I do believe it’s something more than that. 14 sq km of wilderness per person and a 2-1 ratio of moose to human, what more could you ask for? Saying that it seems impossible that I would be unable to find a bull moose this year. I’ll have to go looking for bison now. Or ask @davidgreer99 to share some of his. There’s no recovery drink like a moose steak.

Training wise, we’re still meeting at least seven times a week, in the gym trying to build those explosive sprinting muscles, and on the trails working our heart and lungs. Its great to be home, but I’m getting antsy to start hopping from hotel to hotel. Or motel to couch, all the same. 

Heres a little video of John doing his warm up routine in the gym. Don't let his size fool you. 

September in Yukon

September in Yukon: people have to get up an extra five minutes earlier to scrape off their car windshield. Come October they’ll be shoving a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator. I would be too... if I had a car. Instead I’m wearing a buff under my Rudy helmet.

The days are getting shorter. If you sleep in you can practically miss one. Everything gets jammed into that small window of daylight. I find myself eating dinner an hour after lunch and being ready for bed until I see its only 8pm.

A couple weeks and we’ll be back on snow I hope. There’s a new ski trail cut from the Fish Lake road to the Frazer loop on Mt Mac. Having helped cut that trail myself, It will be that much more satisfying to ski. The trails close to the chalet have decent skiing from early November. Fish Lake however, only fifteen minutes away, has snow 2-3 weeks earlier because of its higher altitude. We’re looking forward to showing off our new trail and early snow to CVTC who will be coming up for a training camp in early November.

For now we’re still pounding out intervals on pavement. The more you make it hurt the better it feels to stop. A feeling I’m starting to get addicted too.

Outside of skiing, I just got back from an awesome (although unsuccessful) moose hunt with Colin and Fabian. I still hope to find a moose yet as my freezer has a lot more rhubarb in it than it does meat right now. 

Canoeing, fishing, and just being out in the wilderness is very relaxing. Not physically, because portaging your canoe around rapids and countless beaver dams is no walk in the park; but mentally, because you’re not thinking about everything else you should be doing like finding sponsors and filling out your training log. Doing more outside of skiing, makes me all that more motivated during training, so I seem to be able to push myself harder. 

Glacier to Glacier

The Denver

The Denver Glacier had a lot of miles put on it this past July. We’d wake up from our damp wall tent, take two steps out the door and snap on the zeros. For five days we skied through a mix of foggy, snowing, and bluebird conditions. Typical Glacier weather I guess: never knowing what to expect. Training was phenomenal. 

Higher intensity training and speed work was difficult because our baskets punched though the snow’s crust, especially later in the afternoon. There are no trails on the glacier and we had a loop specially groomed only the day before we arrived (making punchy conditions inevitable). I could only imagine what it would be like to have a pisten bully up there. Still the skiing was amazing; the last day especially. Not a cloud in the sky and a smooth crust to explore the whole glacier.

 It was hard to stop skiing that day, but we had to make the hike down to Skagway and drive home. Only a three hour hike and two hour drive later, I was back in Whitehorse for a much needed shower. First glacier camp in the bag.

                                                             The whole glacier crew

Now we’re In Anchorage about to hop up on the Eagle Glacier. I don’t know where the rest of July went. A lot of it was spent fishing. Caught my biggest lake trout ever. A little over 15 pounds.