Since I was a young boy living in a coal camp in West Virginia, I had dreamed of going on big game hunts like moose, elk, and caribou. McDowell County in West Virginia is whitetail archery only and has been since 1968. This is all I have known my whole life and wouldn’t trade it for anything. I love archery hunting for whitetails in the Appalachian Mountains. I finally made the decision to book this hunt and follow my dream. Since Covid had been a disaster, I decided to drive all the way to Canada. I didn’t want to risk getting caught up at the airports with Covid issues still going on, so I loaded my gear into my pickup, including two small deep freezers and a generator to hopefully bring meat back home. I put a cooler of drinks and snacks in the truck and took off.
I drove straight through without stopping. It was 41 hours total, including the ferry ride. I thought I would get tired and have to sleep, but I never did. I had plenty of coffee and excitement of my dream hunt.
As I arrived at Efford’s Hunting Adventures, I was immediately greeted and treated like family. We flew out the next day to a remote cabin on a lake. We unloaded my gear and met the best guides in the business. I met my personal guide, Tyler Benoit, and we immediately hit it off. I could tell he was a great guy and a smart guide. We had a great dinner and a few drinks. Then I got some much-needed rest.
The next morning, we got up to 20-degree Fahrenheit temps with 80 mph gusts. This was nothing to my guide, Tyler, but this must scare some hunters off. I started putting my long johns and flannel on, and he just looked at me. I could tell he got a little excited seeing that I was ready to go out. We took off hiking through the bog, zig zagging and crossing creeks until we made it to a lookout to do a little glassing.
At this point, we had walked about five miles, stopping every so often, hoping to spot a big bull. We sat for a little while and spotted several caribou but no shooter bulls. Tyler made the suggestion for us to walk over the next ridge to check out that area. We walked approximately one and a half miles and then crested the ridge where we saw some caribou. We immediately dropped to the ground and glassed, and I saw the most beautiful giant woodland caribou ever. We were approximately 500 yards away, and we crawled to 280 yards. I got my rifle set up on my pack and found him in the scope. He was with several cows and two other bulls. He was showing off, fighting the two bulls and chasing the cows. I was shaking so bad that the 80 mph gusts were nothing. I finally held my Browning .300 Win Mag steady and squeezed the trigger. At the crack of the gun, he ran about 15 yards and fell.
When we saw he was down, we ran over, and to our surprise, he was even bigger than we had thought. We took some photos and took in the moment of this magnificent animal. I couldn’t believe it. We took care of the meat, hide, and horns and headed back to camp. There was a big birch fire blazing in the woodstove and turkey dinner was on the table. The other hunters in camp were so happy for me. I will always cherish the time I had in camp with the guides and hunters. The best thing is the friendship I made with outfitter Bob Efford and his family, and especially with my guide and friend Tyler Benoit.
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