A conservation officer once told me while we were doing compliance checks on moose hunters near Mica (Revelstoke region), one thing he missed was the camaraderie he felt checking hunting camps while stationed in the Caribou. Most were great guys.
Hunting camps consist of a couple campers, a light plant, hanging poles, to a fire pit. Other camps can be a bit more fancy.
Every one has a job to do with chores. Water to haul, wood to be chopped, fires tended, coffee to be brewed.
Conversation is all about big buck stories. Shooting ranges, practical jokes, laughter, relaxation. No matter what your job is or your status in society, doctor, lawyer, mill worker, guys have known each other for years and respected that.
There’s one exception and that’s when ol Ole Hanson comes to camp. Ole hates water and soap. Seems he hasn’t bathed in months. His old dog Sceeter even avoids riding in the front of Ole’s beat up Chev.
Most guys in camp have hinted many times about his smell. In a tree stand, the deer even take offence as his b.o. drifts through the forest canopy.
Finally the guys threw him in the nearby creek with a bar of soap. He finally took a small two-point deer.
A deer’s sense of smell is legendary, with 60 times as many olfactory receptors (hair-like projections) to receive scent as humans.
Related: Column - Elk moving up into Shuswap
To deer, the air is full of information by smell, including communication, odours, discerning sex and dominance of nearby deer. When it came to ol’ Ole, the deer became bewildered, trying to figure out grease and oil from fixing his truck, smelly coveralls, dog hair and cigar stink.
(He preferred White Owl) But alas, to save Ole’s reputation of smell, all the guys in camp got him some soap, a towel, some Dead down Wind, Evolve 3D field spray, a kit of Scent Away Odourless bar soap and Max field spray, which kills body odours.
The boys even bought Ole a home kit from Scent Away, which includes: body wash, shampoo and a 15-pack of dryer sheets. Then, in order for Ole to try and catch up with a deer, they pooled their meagre bucks, and bought him a Buck Bomb Ultimate Ru Box kit.
This consisted of the most potent intoxicating release scents known to man or beast, (so they say), synthetic Doe in Estrus Bomb, scrape generator bomb, a four-ounce scent wick and a four-pack Quadgrunter XT. Ole now has a chance.
Hunting facts: This chart goes to 2015, with an increase in hunter numbers to 2017. Whitetail deer are the most hunted species in Region # 3. Hunters – 7,733; days afield – 56,972; resident harvest – 1,246; Ratios - bucks 773 and does 449. Hunter success 35.4 per cent.
Speaking to local hunters, few deer have been taken or seen. It’s early in the season. Any buck is open.
Hunt hard, tell family where you’re going and your time of return. Be safe, be seen and enjoy our great outdoors.
@SalmonArm
newsroom@saobserver.net
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