If you just want to shoot a moose, this is probably not the hunt for you. If you want the full wilderness experience, and are serious about a 55″ class bull, then give us a call. We provide remote wilderness hunting adventures for big BC bull moose.
Some of our Moose hunts can be combined with mountain goat, caribou, wolf, stone sheep and/or bear. Wolf and black bear tags are offered to all moose hunters.
We run our BC moose hunts from late August through mid-October. Our British Columbia moose hunts are wilderness hunts, requiring float plane to access remote camps where we hunt with a small boat/canoe, on foot (sometimes with ATV support), and/or horses.
Most of our hunts are done with 1 hunter per camp. We have a couple camps where we can handle 2-3 hunters at a time – used when we of hunters who would like to hunt out of the same camp. Most of our camps are used for just one hunt a year (or less). Facilities are rustic – we have some small cabins, but often hunt from tents.
Each moose hunt has its own challenges and opportunities, but all provide a unique wilderness hunting experience in a place where you have a good chance at harvesting an excellent bull moose. We talk to all our hunters before they book, to ensure that we get everyone into the ‘right’ camp and type of hunt, for them.
Our goat hunts, like most goat hunts, require a hunter who is in excellent shape, and who is not scared of heights. It’s pretty simple. You need to be able to climb to where the goats are, or you will not get one.
Most of our goat hunts are straight backpack hunts – you fly (float plane) into a remote lake, and hike from there. The distance you need to hike to ‘goat country’ varies with the hunt you book. We can arrange to provide a ‘horseback assisted’ goat hunt, which will help you get to the bottom of the goat mountains; however, you still need to be able to climb up the rocks when you get there. Our goats are not (usually) found in horse friendly terrain.
Our Caribou hunt is a fun, mountain horseback, spot & stalk adventure. Lots of riding, lots of glassing, and sometimes some pretty serious hiking. We have good luck on our late August / early September hunts. It’s a beautiful time to be in the mountains, weather is usually good, and there is lots of game to be seen.
Our Mountain Caribou are often combined with moose, however we find that the most successful Caribou hunters are the ones who go caribou hunting. Take a wolf and a black bear tag along, and have a great Caribou hunt!
Mountain Goats and Mountain Caribou… while they both live in the mountains; they don’t usually live on the same mountain – and so they don’t make a great combination. We have moose pretty much everywhere – near our goats, and near our caribou – so we run moose/goat and moose/caribou hunts.
However, to get both a goat and a caribou on the same hunt, you need to be lucky and/or to book a longer hunt – you will need time to move between the caribou and the goat hunting areas.
Gunson Guiding & Outfitting offers just a limited number of Stone Sheep hunts a year. We have excellent genetics (big dark rams) and a stable population of Stone Sheep, in a relatively small area – we know where the sheep are.
We take a maximum of one (1) Stone Sheep hunter at a time. This insures that every Sheep hunter we take has our full attention – access to the best hunting areas – and is hunting with our best guides.
The ‘support crew’ on our Stone Sheep hunts includes an experienced guide (often Jake – the outfitter), a second ‘guide’ who is there to help with the scouting during your hunt, and a string reliable mountain horses, who will help you (and your camp) get as close to the Stone Sheep as they can. But it is not an easy hunt – the mature rams are hard to find, and we require hunters who are, in sheep shape – able to put in the vertical feet, miles of hiking, and hours of glassing that it takes to get the job done.
Our Stone Sheep hunters typically fly into one of our mountain camps, where they are met by their guide with their ‘crew’ and the horses. In August, our family is usually in camp … it’s very much family operation… so there will likely be kids running around and causing trouble.
Once in camp, we pack up the horses & trail to where we think the big rams are. We use the horses as much as is practical, and leave them behind when necessary. Sometimes we do a lot of riding, sometimes more hiking, and sometimes we backpack to get and stay up in country that isn’t very horse friendly… but most of the time we’re not camped too far from the horses. It is not a hunt where we would need to backpack 2-3 days just to get to sheep country… a combination of float planes and horses will take most of that ‘grunt work’ out of the hunt.
Every hunter will see Stone Sheep – ewes and lambs, and lots of ‘young’ – 4,5,6- year old rams. But the mature rams are smart and hard to find. The young rams, and family groups, are where you would expect to find them – up above the trees in the higher mountains. But the mature rams like to go down into the rocks and have been known to live in the willow at the tree line – coming ‘up’ to feed in the afternoons and evenings, and they move often. They are there, somewhere, but can be hard to find. For better or worse, a Stone Sheep hunt is simply one of the most difficult hunts in North America – there is no way around that.
This is the ‘hunt of a lifetime’ – for this hunt you want an experience and capable outfitter – give Jake a call, and we’ll see if we can put a hunt together.
Our ~2000 square mile Guide Territory is in the far north of British Columbia, bordering on the Yukon Territory. We hunt Stone Sheep, Mountain Caribou, Mountain Goat, Black Bear, Wolf & ‘Canadian’ Moose. Our moose are among the best ‘Canadian’ moose out there.
We access most of our hunting area by float plane, and then once there, we hunt with horses, boats, canoes and/or ATV’s – depending on the hunt that you book. Facilities are generally rustic to spartan. And our hunts can be extremely demanding. Dates can be customised if booked far enough in advance.
1) Stone Sheep: One hunt available for each of 2019 and 2020. Call for details.
2) Backpack Hunts: Mountain Caribou or Mountain Goat, Bear, Wolf (Aug.24-Sept.02 ; Sept.02-11)
• Spot & stalk backpack hunts – if you can’t climb the mountain (off trail) with a significant pack, then it’s not the hunt for you. Goat hunts are in extremely difficult/dangerous terrain.
3) Pre-rut mountain horseback Moose and/or Caribou, Bear, Wolf: (Aug.24-Sept.02; Sept.02-11)
• Spot & Stalk
• These are demanding hunts, but we have high success rates with hunters who are tough enough. Difficult horseback riding and difficult mountain hiking.
4) Horseback Rut Hunts Moose and/or Caribou/Black Bear/Wolf: Sept. 15-24, Sept.24-Oct.03
• Fly-in and/or ride-in. Level of effort required varies significantly with the hunt you book.
• Every year do at least one hunt where push further back into un-hunted areas. Some of these hunts are true exploration hunts. We have no idea what we will find.
5) Late Season Horseback Hunt: Moose, Wolf: Oct.03-12
• This is high success hunt with hunters who have significant mountain horseback experience. Expect extremely cold and/or wet snow and lots of difficult riding. Fly-in, and ride out. You must be able ride 8 hours per day – there is no other way to get ‘out’.
6) Lake Hunts: Moose, Black Bear, Wolf: These hunts are during the peak of the rut (Sept. 15-24 or Sept.24-Oct.03) at small lakes where we typically harvest one moose every year or two. The lakes are accessible only by float plane, and receive essentially no hunting pressure. Hunting is done with small boats, canoes, and/or ATV support, with as much (or as little) walking as you want. Black bear & wolf are included on all lake hunts.
• On these hunts you need to be able to get in and out of small boats on rough shorelines (no docks) and you need to be able to get around on shore, through deadfall and brush. There is generally no need to walk long distances – but you need to be able to ‘get around’ in the bush.
• Make sure we know if you are comfortable in a canoe (or not), as we have several lakes where we only use canoes.
7) River Hunt: Moose, Black Bear, Wolf: (Sept. 24-Oct.03 or Oct.03-12).
• This is a float trip (by canoe) down one of our rivers. We have had great luck on this hunt, however you must have some experience in a canoe.
SASKATCHEWAN: We have a small wilderness camp in Saskatchewan where we offer:
1) Canadian Moose: Oct.01-14
2) Saskatchewan Whitetail: November
3) Spring Black Bear: May-June
Call or e-mail for more information on any of our hunts.
Moose and/or Caribou, Wolf, Black Bear
These are physically demanding spot and stalk hunts. We have high success rates with hunters who are tough enough for the challenge. Difficult horseback riding and difficult mountain hiking.
Moose and/or Caribou, Wolf, Black Bear
These are fly-in or ride-in hunts where the level of effort required may vary significantly with the hunt you book. Every year we do at least one hunt where push further back into un-hunted areas. Some of these hunts are true exploration hunts. We have no idea what we will find.
Moose and/or Wolf
This is high success hunt for hunters who have mountain horseback experience. Expect tough weather – cold and/or wet, often lots of snow – combined with some very challenging riding. These are fly-in, and ride out hunts. Hunters must be able to comfortably put in a full day in the saddle, in difficult terrain – there is no other way to get ‘out’, you need to be able to ride! At this time of year the moose seem to go back up the mountains, so we know where to find them. The rut is still on, and we can ‘spot & stalk’ as well. But it’s tough.
Moose and/or Wolf, Black Bear
These hunts are during the peak of the rut at small lakes where we typically harvest one moose every year or two. The lakes are accessible only by float plane, and receive essentially no hunting pressure. Hunting is done with small boats, canoes, and/or ATV support, with as much (or as little) walking as you want. Black bear & wolf are included on all lake hunts. On these hunts you need to be able to get in and out of small boats on rough shorelines (no docks) and you need to be able to get around on shore, through deadfall and brush. There is generally no need to walk long distances – but you need to be able to ‘get around’ in the bush. Make sure we know if you are comfortable in a canoe (or not), as we have several lakes where we only have canoes..
MOOSE AND/OR WOLF, BLACK BEAR
This is a float trip (by canoe) down one of our smaller rivers. We have had great luck on this hunt, however, you must have some experience in a canoe.
We also offer a moose hunts in Saskatchewan. These are wilderness hunts, in areas accessed by boat, canoe and/or ATV. We offer canoe hunts (floating a river) and some camp-based hunts were we use ATV/s and/or boats to get around. More information on our Saskatchewan Moose Hunting Page.