Author: Vanessa Harrop

We all have nemesis. Mine are mountain goats and cougars. Elk, on the other hand, are not. I’ve had my fair share of good luck hunting elk and while it’s not like I haven’t worked hard for them, lady luck sure has smiled upon me as well. And this season was to be no different while I was Elk Hunting. There’s a week overlap with archery deer and rifle elk hunting season in the zone we hunt, so it’s often a big dilemma of what to do that week. This year was easy, however. TJ had taken an elk on opening…

I recall a day not too long ago when I was clinging to the side of a mountain, completely immobilized with fear. Earlier that week I decided I was in good enough shape to attempt sheep hunting. In Alberta, we are blessed to be able to hunt bighorn sheep on an over-the-counter tag. TJ raised an eyebrow when I brought the topic up and shot me a look that said. “You’re wasting money on the tag.” But that weekend, we set out in search of a bighorn ram. We headed up the mountain in the dark with only the glow…

Many people believe that good shooters are good shooters regardless of the discipline, but that’s simply not the case. Some of the best target shooters I know are the worst shots in a hunting situation. It’s not that they can’t shoot, because the scores on their targets prove they can. It’s just that they haven’t practiced enough under hunting conditions. Having all the time in the world to find the X-ring on a piece of paper is much less stressful than having a big buck walk out on a cutline to offer a momentary opportunity. Most hunters spend way too…

As the beautiful white ram disappeared over the edge of the high plateau, I sat with my head in my hands, utterly devastated. I’d missed. I’d missed my opportunity at fulfilling a lifelong dream of taking a trophy Dall ram in the wilds of the Yukon. I couldn’t help but reflect on the events that brought me to this moment. It all began about 10 months earlier when I arrived home from a hard day at the office and was feeling totally frazzled. TJ greeted me at the front door with a giant grin on his face and asked, “How’d…

I began my hunting career 17 years ago, getting on a plane in Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It was a hunt for central barren ground caribou, which ended up being the first big game animal I ever killed! Actually, it was the first animal I ever hunted in my life. I was a late starter, but there sure has been a lot of big game hunts since then. This time I was boarding a float plane destined for Aylmer Lake Lodge, where I was going to be hunting barren ground muskox, less than 100 kms from where it…

As my feet slip out from beneath me on the steep grass slope, I put my arm down to break my fall. I hear a snap. And then another. I look down and realize that I’m lying on the ground with my full weight, including a 60-pound pack, on top of my left arm. TJ (Schwanky) rushes to my side and says, “Get up!” I look at him and reply, “I think I just broke my arm.” This happened on my second attempt for mountain goat. My first try had been earlier that year when a friend invited us on…

Sitting in the Dueling Stone Outfitters booth at the SCI Convention, I was telling Jarrett Dueling about my dream to one day take a big old mountain grizzly bear. As it turned out, Jarrett had an opening and suggested that I come to the Yukon that fall to check out an old burn in a remote corner of his outfitting concession. Since my partner, TJ (Schwanky), had guided for Jarrett in the past, Jarrett suggested that TJ be my guide on this hunt. Seven months later, we were on the road. It took two long days to get from Calgary…