“Everyone who comes here feels the power of this primeval landscape. Here, man suddenly be-comes part of nature.”
Call of the Wild
Who hasn’t felt the longing for a vast and pristine nature? What is so often missing in our own homelands can be found in Northern Canada. For many hunters it is a paradise and for others an avocation, as it is in the case of Carlo Wiese from Germany’s Odenwald.
Carlo Wiese machte während seines Studiums ein Praktikum bei Blaser. Heute ist er Jagdführer im Norden Kanadas und erfüllte sich damit einen Jugendtraum.
Beginning at the age of nine, Carlo was allowed to accompany his father on Canadian hunts. And ever since, he could not let go of his dream of living and hunting in the fascinating wilderness of north-ern British Columbia. In the years that followed, Carlo returned on a regular basis to the idyllically situated gold rush town of Atlin, the starting point of his first adventures as a hunting companion. He started out by making the long journey in the company of his father, but by the time a few years had passed, he was traveling alone. Every penny he could save from his school holiday jobs would go sole-ly toward these adventures. For the married outfitter couple who took him in, it’s as if he became part of the family.
Von Europa aus gibt es täglich Direktflüge nach Vancouver, dem Drehkreuz für eine Vielzahl von Linienflügen in die kleineren Städte Britisch Kolumbiens (BC). Im Sommer und Herbst kann Whitehorse von Frankfurt oder Zürich aus direkt angeflogen werden. Ideal, wenn im Norden BC‘s gejagt werden soll.
Back home in the Odenwald, working his parents’ hunting leasehold came second only to school and his studies. After Carlo completed his Master’s degree in business administration and marketing at Glasgow – more because of pressure from his parents than any motivation of his own – people no longer believed that he would continue to pursue his goal of becoming a Canadian Guide Outfitter. Yet Carlo stubbornly persisted, and he passed his examination to become an Assistant Guide Outfitter in British Columbia in 2014. He had reached one of the most important first milestones of his career.
Today, Carlo Wiese is working to finally make his lifelong dream come true. At any rate, his current Outfitter Guide employer does not rule out the possibility that, when the time is right, Carlo might one day succeed him. In which case Carlo’s professional development would truly have been influenced by the call of the wild! We met Carlo this past spring, and he explained what it is like to be a hunting guide in British Columbia.
Häufig ist man während der Jagd mit dem Boot oder Kanu unterwegs. Da ständig mit Anblick gerechnet werden kann, sollte die Büchse nach dem Anlanden schnell griffbereit sein.
Carlo, it has been almost five years to the day since you first guided hunting clients here in BC. As a very young man from Germany at the time, was that not an immense challenge for you?
Yes, of course. What helped was the lucky coincidence that I grew up in a big game hunting leasehold and later was able to tag along on many Canadian hunts. I was thus able to gain plenty of valuable experience. I was also able to further develop the hunting instincts that are absolutely necessary for this line of work.
How did your first hunt as a guide go?
I was pretty excited. Luckily, my first client was an American with quite a lot of hunting experience. He had absolutely no problem with my premiere as a guide and was pretty mellow about the whole thing. Maybe the reason we were successful early on was because he was able to dampen my beginner’s enthusiasm and did not pressure me.
Is there a difference between hunting clients from German-speaking countries and those from the USA?
American hunters are already used to unbelievably wide spaces like the ones we find here, and understand that every hunt is like a small expedition. German hunters who are here for the first time need to get used to the idea that we have to search for the game and that, as a rule, sitting in a blind waiting for game makes no sense. For example, if I tell a German hunter that this is my first time in the region we are hunting, he just about has a stroke. An American thinks nothing of it.
But isn’t it understandable that the client, who has paid a lot of money for this hunt, would rather have a guide who is intimately familiar with the area?
I understand that from a German point of view. But here in the Canadian north, the Guiding Territories are gigantic, often as large as several million hectares. It is impossible for a guide to have been in every corner of his assigned territory.
What are the most important qualifications for being a successful guide?
Obviously, good physical conditioning, skill with tools, technical knowledge and a strong sense of direction. It is especially important, of course, to have the best possible knowledge of game animal behavior. One must always, no matter what, be in the position to predict everywhere the game might be, which is very much dependent on the type of vegetation in the vicinity of the hunt. Without a doubt, it is ideal for one to have the talent of relating to people and judging them correctly. When there is harmony between the guide and the client, it makes the hunt double the fun!
Unverhoffter Anblick: Eine Elchkuh hat ihre Kälber vor dem angreifenden Schwarzbären in Sicherheit gebracht. Im Wasser hätte der Bär gegen die Elchkuh keine Chance.
Die legendäre de Havilland Beaver, der Unimog unter den Buschflugzeugen. Sie ist unverzichtbar bei vielen Jagden.
“To me, the best feeling is when I can both guide my clients on a successful hunt and share the won-derful works of nature with them.”