Senior Western Correspondent Lance Stapleton has reported previously on the deer and elk hunting offered by Tracks BC (250-788-2115; http://www.hpoutfitters.com/), operated by Gary Drinkall and Blaine Trenholm in the Peace River region of British Columbia. With exclusive guiding access to about 4,000 square miles of land, they have regularly produced whitetails measuring from the 160s to the 180s and even in the 190s for a number of years. Well, Stapleton says the operation recently added another huge contiguous area to their outfitting operation.
He writes, “This new area lies north and northwest of Chetwynd and is a part of the outfitting area held formerly by Horst Mindermann. I hunted with Mindermann over 15 years ago for mule deer and whitetail and reported in this column on his area’s potential for huge deer. Drinkall says the new area adds another 1,100 square miles – so, now their area covers nearly 5,000 square miles roughly from the Peace River, south to Chetwynd and east to the Alberta border. That’s larger than some US states!
“Primarily a whitetail outfit, Tracks BC also hunts bear, elk, moose and goat, and they only take a handful of hunters each year. Last season they hosted less than three dozen whitetail hunters. Drinkall expects to find big bucks in his new area because it hasn’t been commercially hunted recently. More importantly, it has never been hunted using the methods perfected by Tracks BC for killing those huge bucks. Although last season was not as good as recent years - due to mild weather, high winds and a full moon during the critical hunts - they still killed several large bucks. One grossed well over 200 points, and a friend of mine killed a buck scoring over 195 points. Trenholm says one hunter missed on a buck that would have scored much higher. In fact, that hunter passed on several other bucks that would have “booked” because he was holding out for this huge buck. Many Tracks BC clients are repeat clients, who pass on 150- to 160-class bucks, which is what this outfit wants. Tracks BC feeds deer all year long to help prevent the major winter losses experienced elsewhere in this area. It’s expensive, but after half a dozen years or so, it’s beginning to pay off in huge trophies.
“Tracks BC charges $7,000 for a 10-day whitetail hunt, plus about $500 for licenses, taxes and fees. Hunting is done from stands, and you can expect sub-zero temperatures and snow sometime during the three hunts they offer in November. As you would expect, this outfit is nearly booked for this year with repeat clients, so you should contact them soon if you have any desire to experience one of the best free-range whitetail hunts in North America. They may also conduct a limited number of exploratory mule deer hunts in their new area, and I expect some fine deer to hit the ground.....
