We recently wrapped up our 24th hunting season here in the Yukon. Almost one quarter of a century! We are very proud of the service provided to over 650 hunters during this period. Fall is an intense and demanding time in the outfitting profession. It is a relief when the last hunters fly safely home to various countries, the horses are back munching hay at the farm for the winter, and our guides are finally with their families after months in the mountains. The most common question I get asked after the season is “what do you do from October to June?” Well…..when one season ends the next begins with marketing future hunts. We do all of our own marketing from home here in Yukon, without using booking agents or attending hunting shows. Our marketing philosophy starts with having many happy clients from past seasons and ends with being booked full a year or more in advance. This scenario requires a lot of work; magazine advertising, regularly refreshing the web site, new brochure, annual newsletter, mailing list, promptly responding to email & calls, etc. There is also some time left over for relaxation! So, we are heading to the Napa Valley in late October to run a marathon (Joanne runs the full and I run the half) and visit some of the better Napa Valley wineries. 2009 hunters were treated to a warm and wet fall. Smoke from distant forest fires impacted the first sheep hunt. Rain & fog often presented challenges later in August and September. We had higher than normal temperatures throughout the season and this seemed to delay the moose rut. |
Despite the weather, harvest levels were decent; 11 dall sheep, 17 caribou, 12 moose, 1 wolf and one wolverine. All 27 fall hunters harvested at least one animal. Steve Reisner was back for another trip along with his son Ben. They harvested a nice 36 ½” broomed ram and two dandy caribou in smoky conditions. Argentinean hunter, Guillermo Bolleta had a terrific hunt while taking a heavy 63” moose and a nice caribou. He also reported seeing a trophy grizzly near his camp but did not have a tag. John Avanzato wasted no time on his hunt, taking a flaring, 38 ¾” ram on the second day of the season. Magnus Karlson had an interesting trip taking a 59” moose and a double shovel, record book caribou. A grizzly later stole his caribou antlers!? Hopefully they can be recovered next spring from the thick willow brush and shipped to Germany. First time sheep hunter Bob LaNeve experienced a rigorous hunt. He climbed many rugged mountains before harvesting a heavy 35” ram that fell thousands of feet. On reaching the ram he discovered that it was missing a horn. Fortunately we have a very good taxidermist in Whitehorse who can reconstruct a horn! Husband and wife team, John and Bradie Simons harvested the largest moose last fall, with graceful antlers of 68”. Veteran sheep hunter & guide Jim Bernardin took a nice, broomed 37” ram as well as a caribou, despite fighting a bad cold for most of the trip. Lucky hunter, Jeff Muratore, harvested a 60” moose with 29 points on the first day of his hunt, |
while trailing to spike camp. A few days later he took a record book caribou that will score over 432 B & C, one of the largest taken in our concession. Ricky Allen was successful on two trophy animals, taking a 35 ½” ram and a nice caribou. He also spotted a large grizzly that had killed a bull caribou of its own within a short distance of camp. Dave Pagniano collected a fine moose with 62 ½” antlers. He was shooting a lever action Marlin 450. Returning hunter Bruce Todd covered a lot of ground, hunting both the headwaters of the Bonnet Plume and Snake Rivers before collecting a nice 35 ½” ram. Al Weinert harvested an elderly 57 ½” moose and a very old caribou on the last hunt of the season. His caribou had a broken jaw and had lost an eye fighting during the rut. Guides for the season were; Chris Widrig- 24th season, Peter Jules- 4th season, Adam Van Bibber-3rd season, David Vey-2nd season, Darrell Peters-2nd season and Brady Lough-1st season. August horse wranglers were Ryan Widrig and Thorin Loeks. Base camp cooking was adeptly handled by my wife, Joanne Van Bibber-Widrig and later Randy Grantham. Joanne and Jan Klippert did a great job of meeting and taking care of the hunters in Whitehorse. We are now enthusiastically planning the 2010 through 2012 hunts. Our beautiful wilderness area has changed little since 1986. If you are interested in a classic, horseback type hunt, give us a call or look us up on the web www.widrigoutfitters.com
GOOD HUNTING ! |