Most Recent Hunting Articles
by Paul Mitchell - Peaks and Valleys - Spring/Summer 2023
It's Addicting!
"Just have to warn you Paul, this stuff can be addicting." George said as we sat around the kitchen table talking about a guided hunt on Kodiak Island over twenty years ago. He was right! In the blink of an eye, when work and finances allowed, I was booking a bighorn sheep hunt after an unsuccessful one four years earlier.
By Paul Taylor - Wild Sheep Magazine - Summer 2022
On Hope & Promises
A soft thump against my door followed by a scratch and then a low whine by first one, then my other Wirehaired Griffon, made the alarm about to go off at 4:15 am unnecessary. Flipping the switch on the clock,...
By André van Hilten - Peaks and Valleys - Spring/Summer 2022
Jeremy's Bighorn Sheep
In 2019 I took in my first ECWSF convention as an exhibitor and donor and was pleasantly surprised. The welcome I got from the members I met was amazing and I felt like I had been a part of this group for a lot longer than one weekend!
By Doug Hartzler - Hunting' Fool - Oct. 2020
Alberta Slam Ram
In March of 2019, Steve Lewellen, a patient and good friend, casually inquired during an office visit, " Do you know anyone who might want a Rocky sheep tag? The winning bidder at the Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep banquet could not legally hunt in Alberta and the backup bidder is already booked in 2021 with the same outfitter, André van Hilten of Willow Creek Outfitters."
By André van Hilten - Wild Sheep - Spring 2020
Persistence & Patience
Mountain hunting isn't all roses and those of us that partake in it on a regular basis usually have to earn our stripes just like in the military. Yes there are easy ones for sure, but it is not the norm. Most sheep country can be very humbling...
By Brent McNamee - Wild Sheep - Winter 2018/19
A Flatlander Canuck's Quest For FNAWS!
In 2016 I went on an exploratory plan, argo, jet boat, backpack, filmed hunt with Ryan Leef in the Yukon in Shockey's territory. We got a ram on day one, but when he fell off the cliff his horn popped off...
By Ron Spomer - Sports Afield - Nov/Dec. 2019
Doubling Down On Deer
The high plains beneath the snowy rampart of Alberta's Rockies were dusted white. The landscape was cold, but not lifeless. Sharp-tailed grouse sparkled atop naked cottonwoods, wings flickering as they plucked fat buds...
By Ron Spomer - Sporting Classics - Autumn 2014
North America's Serengeti
I was sitting on frozen buffalo grass scuffed free of snow, my back against a granite boulder. So was Andre' van Hilten. I'd come willingly to suffer this, but had to pay Andre' to join me. He's an Alberta hunting guide, a modern-day John Colter, living off the wild fat of the land...
By André van Hilten - Safari Magazine, Nov/Dec 2014
Priceless!
Glassing and stalking black bears in the foothills of southwestern Alberta is more than just a hunt. It's an experience that leaves a hunter with many vivid memories aside from a successful harvest of a bruin...
By Curt Wells - Bowhunter Magazine - Oct. 2011
A Recluse In The Thistles
Feathery seeds of Canada thistle shimmered in the sunlight, looking like swatches of silvery shag carpet strewn randomly across the Alberta prairie. In the middle of one of those swatches was a glint of another sort..
By Bob Robb - Safari Magazine - Sept/Oct. 2006
Big Muleys in Alberta
For decades Alberta has been a haven for serious whitetail hunters. Today, it's reputation as a mecca for high-quality mule deer is growing by leaps and bounds. When my friend Wade Derby told me he had a sleeper spot for good bucks in Alberta I was ready to hear more. It was when he said it was for mule deer, not whitetail's, that I became all ears...
By Todd Lawson - Safari Magazine - Nov/Dec. 2009
Big Muleys Confirmed
"Don't get excited, guys, but that buck is here." Being the pro that he is, Kelly was trying to keep me calm, but it was evident the sight had given him an adrenaline rush. Staying low, I aligned my binocular to where Kelly was looking and saw the magnificent mule deer through blowing grasses. Working hard to stay calm, I worked to raise my rifle slowly and get him in my scope...
By Gordy krahn - North American Hunter - June/July 2009
Marathon Muleys
The pockmarked foothills of the southwestern Alberta landscape provided those hidey-holes mature mule deer crave and sneak-and-peck hunters drool over. The rugged snow-capped Rockies provided a breathtaking backdrop... A beast of a buck was pestering an uncooperative doe, and all of them were oblivious to the fact they were being watched...
By Gordy Krahn - North American Hunter - Dec/Jan. 2008
Chinook Country Coyotes
Andre laid into the rabbit distress call with the guttural growl of a chain-smoking blues singer, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand and applaud. I literally watched the hills come to life as coyotes began crawling out of the woodwork- nine in all!...
