On this National Hunting, Trapping, and Fishing Heritage Day, we’re featuring a couple who has bonded over their shared love of the outdoors and gotten deeper into the outdoor lifestyle, as volunteers and as enthusiasts of hunting, fishing, and trail cameras, as the years have passed:
Very early in their relationship, Chris and Donna Albrecht discovered a shared passion for the outdoors and hunting that still burns brightly decades into their marriage.
“When we were getting to know each other, we went hunting together,” recalled Chris. “Her dad had a cabin at the lake, so we went up there and it was great.”
They soon married and spent their honeymoon at the cabin.
“Well, we went hunting again in Burns Lake and guess who shot a moose,” he said nodding to his sharpshooting spouse. “We thought we would recreate that trip for our 25th anniversary, this time on horseback, and Donna got another moose.”
Donna is driven by her love of the outdoors and her husband.
“I have always loved spending time outside, and when I met Chris, he was into hunting,” she recalled. “So, very quickly, I got my hunting license, which gave me another reason to be outdoors. If we harvest anything, that’s just a bonus.”
Lately, their shared passion includes managing a network of six game cameras that have so far collected more than 35,000 images, nearly all of which feature local grizzly bears, elk, deer, and pretty much every other denizen of the woods. It’s a hobby rooted in their love for animals and outdoor life.
“Having Donna as a partner in all this is totally awesome,” said Chris, who serves as B.C. Wildlife Federation Region 2 Vice-President. “When we hunt, we don’t always take an animal, even when we have the chance. We just love seeing them.”
With expert advice from wildlife researcher Grant Hiebert, Chris and Donna have deployed their cameras near Grindrod, not far from Salmon Arm. Hiebert, a Director of the BCWF, is leading the Southern Interior Mule Deer Project for the B.C. Wildlife Federation.
“Grant had captured a picture of a bear on his property and I thought that was pretty cool,” Chris explained. “I put cameras out on some private property where I had been hunting, because I wanted to see what was going on.”
The cameras solved one mystery very quickly: the case of the missing deer. On a hunting trip with a couple of friends, his buddy shot a deer, but because they had travelled in a side-by-side, he had to drop one member of his party back at camp so they could transport the deer. By the time they returned, the deer had vanished.
A grizzly bear was among the first images captured after he placed his cameras.
“Years later, I am still getting pictures of that grizzly,” he said. “But about 90 per cent of the images we get are game species.”
“When I get a picture of him, I know he won’t be back for a while because he works his way around a pretty big territory, maybe 10 square miles,” he said. “But you know he’s there because if you field dress a deer and come back the next day, there’s no gut pile.”
On another trip, Chris and a friend had decided early in the day to skip hunting and stay in camp. At the end of the trip he collected SIM cards from his cameras and sure enough, five bucks had been through the game trail while they were sipping coffee at the fire.
“Sometimes those cameras are really annoying,” he laughed.
The cameras routinely capture images of grizzly and black bears, whitetail deer, elk, and coyotes, all apparently sharing the same space. The habits and movement patterns of the animals have become strikingly clear over time.
“The grizzly bear is pretty nocturnal in this area,” he said. “Other species we tend to see more in the afternoon, with not a lot of movement in the morning. We used to think if we slept in that we had missed the best time of day to hunt, but that is not the case.”
Despite spending a good deal of time in the area hunting, Chris and Donna had seldom seen much sign of elk, let alone spotting one in the flesh, partly due to the timing of their hunt.
“But I’ve learned that there are elk in the area,” said Chris. “I have captured pictures of as many as five elk and they are all bulls. I haven’t got a single picture of a cow.”
In one eye-popping image you can see the head of a black bear and in the background, three elk are looking back at him.
“That’s the best picture I’ve got so far and it’s incredible,” he said proudly.
Getting started with game cameras is as easy as mounting a device in your backyard. You might be surprised who is using your back lawn while you sleep.
“It’s very addictive,” Chris warned, jokingly. “Once you get started you want more and more capital. I started off with two cameras, then four, and now I run six.”
They set their cameras out to track game movements, but their discoveries have included insight into the animals’ diet and which ones share space with each other.
“Knowing that your prey won’t be around until the afternoon is useful information when you are out in camp. In that area, you can spend the morning fishing and relaxing without missing out on your hunting opportunities,” Chris said. “I love a combo hunting and fishing trip, and you don’t need to panic about getting out early.”
Donna and Chris are passionate outdoors people and make sure to help newcomers get their footing in the sport. Novices can learn a lot from resources such as B.C. Wildlife Federation’s Learn to Hunt series online, or on YouTube, but a mentor can be invaluable. Neither Chris nor Donna was raised in a hunting family, so having to learn everything themselves has inspired them to encourage that initiative in others.
“We love to give back and that’s why I got involved with the BCWF and things like Fishing Forever. No matter what I’m always going to be involved with that,” Chris said.
The B.C. Wildlife Federation is proud to count people who are passionate about the outdoors, like Chris and Donna Albrecht, amongst our members.
If you’d like to learn more, the B.C. Wildlife Federation has many opportunities for you to get started living an outdoors lifestyle. Click the below links for access to educational resources and opportunities to get involved:
- Get your CORE
- Become a BCWF Member to access our exclusive Learn to Hunt and Fish Series, including Director Grant Hiebert’s Learn to Hunt: Trail Cameras
- Fishing Forever
- Become A Volunteer
By Randy Shore, PR & Communications Specialist
Thank you to Chris and Donna Albrecht for sharing their story and their camera photos!
