Another Hunting Season Past

(Originally published in the Merritt News - Othmar Vohringer The Outdoorsman)

© By Othmar Vohringer

Taking my brother on his first hunting trip.

As you read this the British Columbia 2011 fall and winter hunting season is closed with the exception of geese and coyotes. The reports I received from across North America suggest that this will be another of “those seasons”. It seems that the experiences of most hunters reflected my own observations, namely that deer movement was somewhat erratic and sporadic compared to previous years. While some hunters managed to shoot respectable mule and whitetail deer bucks, some of which were taken right here in our backyard, for the most part very few bucks of either species were seen during legal hunting hours.

That dilemma extended to other game species too like bears, waterfowl and small game animals. Nobody seems to know why this was one of those seasons where wildlife behaved “strangely” but of course we all have our opinions… some say it’s global climate change while others suggest that the La Niña weather system moving though the northern hemisphere was to blame. Despite it all I had a very successful and rewarding hunting season. As I wrote about in an earlier column my brother from Switzerland, whom I haven’t seen in over 20 years, came to stay for a month. Besides showing him the beauty of British Columbia I also took him hunting. On our very first hunting trip my brother saw the first real live black bear in his life. It was a young animal and we were quite close. I could feel the tension building up in my brother at the sight of the bear, but a week later as we encountered a big black bear for a brief few seconds my brother was much more relaxed and even suggested we go and see where the bear had run.

Roland on his first salmon fishing trip.

Besides bears we saw other wildlife such as mule deer and whitetail deer. We managed to stalk quite close to a big mule deer buck but unfortunately he never got in a position for a safe and ethical shot. We saw many other animals like coyotes, eagles and salmon among others that Europeans only know from books or TV. As my wife and I played willing tourist guides and witnessed my brother’s amazement of the vastness and breathtaking beauty of our seemingly untouched wilderness something began to dawn on me. It was the fact that we live in one of the most beautiful places on earth with more wildlife variety and numbers then anywhere else in the world, with the exception of Africa, and yet we take it for granted. My brother’s visit has reminded me again of this fact and how very fortunate we are to call this unique place on earth our home. At the end of the hunting season it didn’t matter to me that, apart from a coyote (read about it here), I had not taken any other animal. My biggest trophy of the season was spending time with my brother and being reminded by his amazement of what he saw here that we are a truly privileged people to be able to go hunting and enjoy the vastness and diversity of nature in all it’s wild untamed beauty.