Editor Note: This month Senior Western Correspondent Lance Stapleton revisits two operations that consistently produce a variety of big game trophies for clients, including deer, elk, moose, pronghorn, cougars and bears. One has expanded with a huge new area, and both of these operators had a handful of openings left for this season at press time. If you hurry, you might scoop up a great last-minute opportunity. I reported on Kobau Mountain Guides and Outfitters last year, but some exciting changes have developed very recently for this
British Columbia outfit. Outfitter Jay Ganzeveld says his proposed deal with an Indian Nation to purchase a new area did not materialize. So, he has leased the hunting rights directly from the licensed outfitter, Peter Groche, who has conducted only a handful of hunts over the last 15 years, and
none in the last three years. This area covers almost all of Management Unit 8-12, well over 4,000 square kilometers on the West Kettle River near the Okanagan Valley in southern BC. This area is famous for its cougar, mule deer and whitetail hunting, and there are healthy populations of moose, bear and elk, allowing Ganzeveld to offer some very attractive combo hunts. This area just adds to the prime area Ganzeveld already hunts nearby.
My first report on this outfitter dealt mainly with the fantastic cougar hunting he offers. (See
Article ID 2618 in our database.) Anyone who pays attention to cougars knows about the huge toms this area produces, including the world record killed near Ganzeveld's new lease. I took a very good tom there several years ago after my son killed an absolute monster. Ganzeveld is teamed up with Albin Hochsteiner (250-495-8182), arguably the most experienced cat and bear hunter in perhaps all of Canada. Hochsteiner is getting up in age, but still runs his dogs at every opportunity and rides his snowmobile almost daily in the winter looking for tracks. Together they own over two dozen dogs, including some of the best in Canada. Although his lone cat hunter this year killed an above-average tom on the first day, Ganzeveld told me that he was disappointed because he had seen the tracks of a giant. Wouldn't you know that the day after shooting, they cut the tracks of the huge cat. A six-day cougar hunt costs $7,000 (US) and a combo hunt, which can include a bobcat and lynx, is only $1,000 more and each permit is just $40 (CDN). The nonresident alien hunting license is $180 (CDN), and the cougar permit is $230 (CDN) more. Cougar season opens on November 15 and is open until mid-February; hunting is best later in the season when the snow is deeper.....
