Had it happen twice...so far.
First was in northwest BC, we had shot three caribou and packed the meat to this small lake for pick up by the float plane. No trees around, so we stacked the bagged meat on brush and covered it with a blue tarp (air could circulate around the meat). Then we hiked 8 miles to another lake for some moose/goat/sheep hunting. The second day, we watch another float plane company fly over us then our meat lake, then do a loop and drop down to land. 40 minutes later, the plane took off. We didn't think much about it. When our pilot came to pick up the meat, he landed on our lake and asked where the meat was. WTF?? At the other lake. Nope, just the blue tarp nicely folded up on the beach.....
When we got out, we confronted the other pilot and he laughed and told us the grizzlies must have eaten it all. With very little recourse, other than getting the CO's involved, we spent as much time as we could bad mouthing the asshole and his company (no internet in those days..). But it being Dease lake and him being one of only two companies flying in north west BC, it probably didn't do much.
Second time was while guiding. Had two hunters from Montana up hunting moose. We left the cabin in the morning and after a very successful day of shooting two bulls 20 yards apart from each other, we arrived back at camp to find a strange dog running around. When we approached the main cabin, I noted that all of our coolers were gone and someone had taken an axe to the door and lock. Same as where the clients stayed. Inside was not really ransacked, just that you could see that someone had gone through our stuff. The clients wallets and passports were still there, but their booze, snacks, a pair of boots and some other nonessential items were missing. They left my shotgun, my extra binos, knives and all the other stuff I carry extra of in the totes, but took a pair of pants and some other food items. And the beer!! That pissed me off!! I did have another cooler with some basics but with two moose, fish in the river and chickens already shot and cleaned, plus boxes of KD, rice and some pasta noodles and sauce we survived the next couple days. The damn dog stuck around all night.
The next morning, I went down to the river to check on the boat and they took my outboard motor and gas tank!!
What we figure happened is that the thieves came in by jet boat and were going through the cabins when we returned. The scrambled and took off and left their dog. I can't see the river until I get to the cabins and since I wasn't expecting anything, never paid attention.
I did use the dog for bait to see if anyone would come back, but one of the clients wanted a bear, so eventually we left and when we came back, the dog was gone....and nothing else was touched.
Thieves piss me off the most and especially in the back country!
Cheers
SS
