Moving West, Smithers BC

[Jimbob]

Back in November I started a thread about relocating my family to the West. I received a lot of great information and advice. Even talked to a few guys on the phone (thanks to those who helped). Now that dream has turned into reality as I accepted a teaching job at a school in Smithers BC starting this September. Also my house sold this week so its been quite the emotional high.

Unfortunately I have to wait 6 months for residence status so I will be sitting this hunting season out. Maybe not the worst thing as I will be able to focus on my new job. Here is a picture of the school I will teaching at. Can't wait to get in the mountains. Praise God!

 

[Grumman]

Congrats. I would have had a really hard time as a student with views like that out the window.


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[WCS]

Congrats, that is truly one of the most spectacular areas on Earth.

 

[Clarktar]

Back in November I started a thread about relocating my family to the West. I received a lot of great information and advice. Even talked to a few guys on the phone (thanks to those who helped). Now that dream has turned into reality as I accepted a teaching job at a school in Smithers BC starting this September. Also my house sold this week so its been quite the emotional high.

Unfortunately I have to wait 6 months for residence status so I will be sitting this hunting season out. Maybe not the worst thing as I will be able to focus on my new job. Here is a picture of the school I will teaching at. Can't wait to get in the mountains. Praise God!

Super jealous!! I have applied to a few consulting jobs up there. It's a life goal to move there....

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[Blockcaver]

Get someone local to take you out on a permit to accompany hunt. Check it out on the BC website. Good luck on your hunts! Great choice of
Location.

 

[Jimbob]

Get someone local to take you out on a permit to accompany hunt. Check it out on the BC website. Good luck on your hunts! Great choice of
Location.

Thanks Blockcaver, you offering? HA HA
I have went over the regs and have a fairly good idea how things run but there is still much to learn. I know you have to apply to do the accompany to hunt permit but how long does the take? Can you go in and get that approved same day? I will play that by year and see who I meet. Thanks

 

[Muttly]

Hot Damn!! Used to run through there doing a Seattle run coming out of Anchorage! Real pretty between Smithers and Houston, I thought..
Head north, out of Kitwanga out on the Cassiar when you,'ve got at least a weekend to take it in a little bit, get into some truly wild territory..

 

[sr80]

you lucky son of a gun!! That is some prime country youll be living in! What kind of hunting do you do??

 

[Jimbob]

I will hunt EVERYTHING, seriously where do you start though. Here in Ontario I hunt bear/moose/deer archery and rifle. I already have almost all of the needed mountain hunting gear. I hunted elk in CO once. I am wannabe mountain hunter so my gear and style of hunting does not fit here in Ontario. I need to purchase some better optics and a delorme inreach then I would feel comfortable headed out on a backpack mountain hunt tomorrow.

Main things that I will focus on to begin is goat and sheep. Mule deer and moose will also be of great interest. I would love to hunt elk but I think that is a little farther away from Smithers. I know sheep are more up north but I have summers off and sheep opens in August.

I will start applying for grizzly bear and bison right away as well.

I am excited to start learning more about the mountains. Here in Ontario I can go anywhere I want in the bush and I will shoot something anywhere as it is easy to get out. The mountains are a different story. My friend moved to Alberta last year and he went out on a scouting trip and got cliffed out and almost needed to be rescued, he was fearing for his life. That guy is one of the best woodsmen I know yet he was green in the mountains. I will be the same way, I have a lot to learn about the mountain.

 

[ljalberta]

I occasionally get the opportunity to head up that way with work. I don't know much about the town itself, but there is certainly some beautiful country up there. There's some incredible fishing opportunities within a few hours drive as well (probably closer). I personally haven't fished the region, but coworkers have shown me some gorgeous pictures of their catches.

 

[Beendare]

You won't have to wait to take advantage of some of the best steelhead fishing in the world

 

[Blockcaver]

JimBob, I already applied for a PTA someone this year as the host and you can only get one PTA in a calendar yr. The resident host applies online for the species and hunt areas. The regional bio approves or rejects the PTA. Find someone in Smithers to host you. No LEH PTA are available. For you a moose, blackbear, whitetail, muledeer and or goat might be options. The PTA is limited to 3 adjacent management units and 21 consecutive days.

As per applying for LEH hunts, I think you have to be BC resident at time
of application. 6 months if moving within Canada. All rules are different if not a Canadian resident.

Good luck!

 

[IanF.]

Great part of the province!

 

[Clarktar]

What are the OTC species and tags for BC residents up in smithers general area, and is a "thin horned mountain sheep" a dall sheep?

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[sr80]

What are the OTC species and tags for BC residents up in smithers general area, and is a "thin horned mountain sheep" a dall sheep?

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moose, caribou, goats, stone sheep, black bears, (grizz is limited entry) elk, mule deer, and whitetail deer. Bascially everything is OTC for us in BC except grizz. Big horns are further south than smithers. We're pretty lucky in BC when it comes to hunting. The government is trying to get rid of trophy hunting grizzlies though.

 

[Clarktar]

Awesome. I applied with a consulting firm out of smithers and had a long talk with the manager of that branch. Fingers crossed.

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[gbflyer]

Been through there many times. Beautiful country. Awesome steelhead fishing nearby too!

 

[Blockcaver]

Clarktar, Thinhorns are Stone's and Dall's sheep. Most Stone sheep management units are GOS but there are a handful of units that are LEH. Both of the units that have Dall's are LEH and have drawing odds that are about 1 in 8 to 1 in 12 the last time I checked. Good luck on your job quest!

 

[Jimbob]

What are the OTC species and tags for BC residents up in smithers general area, and is a "thin horned mountain sheep" a dall sheep?

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First off good luck with the possible job.

From my little bit of research this is what I know of the area for outdoors.

1. world class goat area. There are many OTC areas close by for goat then some limited entry hunt (LEH) (draw tag) areas as well
2. thin horn sheep are stone sheep - Need to head a little north of Smithers to get into good sheep hunting (~6 hours). Tags are OTC but need full curl, horn tip ABOVE bridge of nose or 8 years old
3. Elk not close by, need to drive for this
4. Bison, limited entry draw up north (a good drive)
5. Moose, mule and whitetail OTC near by with antler restrictions
6. Bears near by, black OTC, grizzlies LEH
7. Mountain caribou in the North and LEH I believe
8. AWESOME fishing near by
9. Big horns are a good ways south of Smithers (OTC and LEH areas)

 

[Clarktar]

First off good luck with the possible job.

From my little bit of research this is what I know of the area for outdoors.

1. world class goat area. There are many OTC areas close by for goat then some limited entry hunt (LEH) (draw tag) areas as well
2. thin horn sheep are stone sheep - Need to head a little north of Smithers to get into good sheep hunting (~6 hours). Tags are OTC but need full curl, horn tip ABOVE bridge of nose or 8 years old
3. Elk not close by, need to drive for this
4. Bison, limited entry draw up north (a good drive)
5. Moose, mule and whitetail OTC near by with antler restrictions
6. Bears near by, black OTC, grizzlies LEH
7. Mountain caribou in the North and LEH I believe
8. AWESOME fishing near by
9. Big horns are a good ways south of Smithers (OTC and LEH areas)

Thanks for all the info. Sounds pretty dreamy. The skiing and fishing has always made it a destination for us, but the hunting makes it an obsession to figure out how to move there!

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