hunting around alder flats
Hi Guys,
Looking at property around alder flats, and wondering if anyone that has recently hunted that area can give me their opinion of how good the hunting is, and what animals they are seeing? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks Mike |
Alder flats area is a nice piece of country right on the fringe of the crown forests to the west. Good hunting and a few fishing options close by. Fair chance for any of the big game and predators, including the occasional grizz in the area. River, stream or lake fishing too.
The only thing to know is if it rains for a week the roads can turn into soft sticky gumbo. The area can be hit hard by lease road hunters for grouse and game. Less than an hour to Rocky or Drayton Valley. Take a drive up and spend a day or two looking around... then you will know. Give the local F&W office a call and ask them about things too. They can help sometimes. |
well 5 years ago
Was lots of deer ,moose and elk now cougars and wolves.Other than private land too accessible.
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The mosquitoes are murder. :lol:
Grizz |
My two cents is that a decade ago, on the crown land nearby, the deer population was high. But it seemed high everywhere during that time. Roads can turn to the slickest clay muck you ever imagined, but that was part of the fun. Comments about cougars and wolves is unfortunately very true. Good luck on your quest.
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Mike |
Thanks everyone for the info! We’ll definitely spend some more time up there before we decide.
Mike |
the hunting was ok 6 years ago or so, heavily hunted by local folks ,closely nit community with very limited access on private land as most is posted, easy access to the west crown for sure though again heavily hunted by folks from rocky to drayton and Edmonton to red deer due to the early rifle season.
small elk herd roams the area though heavily guarded on private land :) I know this fact as i have land in alder flats. crime is high as everywhere and police response is a week away usually , i know ive been hit 3 times . Been here 12 years and the rains are heavy and the winds blow like pincher creek all summer . snow stays until may and as said before its a mosquito nest ! There are better areas for sure,though im here to stay . Oh yeah there are deer though nothing to hang on a wall now, elk are a 3 pt at best with 1 or 2 a year being taken, a few small moose and quite a few cougar roam around the place along with a medium pack of wolve. not may but a few grizz have frequented ,but hell of a lot of coyote ,but again all private access mostly. |
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I forgot to mention the sour gas wells in the area too. The Lodgepole blowout a few years back took a long time to get under control.
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Grizz |
The land owners are angry, and fed up, the crown land is ruined due to predation and every mothers son hunting it.
Take that for what it could or couldn’t be. |
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That is no reason not to stop and kindly ask for access. The root of anomosity from land owners is the lack of respect by accessing land without permission. |
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Grizz |
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I get along better with that type of people. |
Hunted that area this year. Saw a fair number small whitetail, no crankers, mostly does. Never got my Moose....saw a few cows/calves. Saw a lot of wolf and cougar tracks. Saw some Elk sign, but they move around a lot. Nice area but yes, when it is wet, its a damn muddy. Seems to be decent wildlife population.
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There are many issue there and is the purchase worth a huge investments . No there are far better areas , but if you have better information why not pump it out instead of your BS comments ???? And yes 2 sour wells went past my place constant pipeline activity if you want more !!!! Fracking has ruined the wells ,the water is useless in the area . |
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Grizz |
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Rains are heavy and winds like Pincher Creek, mosquito nest, all summer??? How about a decent amount of moisture so the forest doesn't close and a healthy ecosystem. The land in the area is an outstanding value considering you can still drive to several major centers before lunch. The land owners are still reasonably friendly but there is crown and lease land galore to hunt on a short drive away. There is awesome fishing in the river, Buck, Medicine and a few hidden spots I won't mention here. If you can't get a really decent Whitetail you just need to get out more and now that they have eliminated a lot of the ridiculous supplementary tags it will only get better as the road hunter traffic has decreased significantly. The area also suffered fiercely from severe winter kill about he same time you say it became over hunted. Yeah, people come from Drayton, Rocky and even as far as Red Deer because the hunting is decent and there is 1000s of acres of bush to hunt if one bothers to get off the road. Like most of the lease and crown country from Sundre to Drayton, one has to spend some time and find some spots but it is still a far cry better than competing with every Tom, Dick and Harry for the odd descent bush quarter to the east. There is several herds of Elk that range from across the river and right down in to the Leslieville area. Yes there are large predators as there is in any wild spot with game animals to hunt. There are Grizzlies west that wander right down into the Rimbey area and where ever there is lots of deer and bush there are cats. Lots of wolves too as one should expect nearly everywhere in the west country these days. The lease land is perhaps the best Ruffed Grouse hunting in the province and there is decent flights of ducks and geese coming off the larger water bodies and the river right up until freeze up. Nothing like the east but pretty easy to find a shoot with a little driving and we all have to do some driving unless we live east. There is an awesome sporting clays club and numerous places to shoot within a short drive. Apart from that it really sucks. I can't image why you don't sell your land and move if you hate it so much and know of all these better places to go. |
Just a pathetic attempt to try to keep hunters away from their zone.
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want to buy there give er all you got , wetaskawin county is the strictest on what you can and cant do on your own land .its considered buck lake water shed so its pretty strict. Why sell , Im not looking for prime hunting country, what i do there is my own business , I paid for what i have and enjoy it . Negatives and positives ,though this may not be the same for others . and no there arent many land owners in the area willing to allow hunting in or around alder flats , so if someone thinks because the land is cheaper they have access to great hunting ,they will be very disappointed. i will tell you alot of the residents head north to do their own hunting for trophy animals. |
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quadding in the back country is limited due to the lack of trails ,brazeau side is better for hunting and quadding. small stocked trout lakes around ,nothing great . very poor numbers of geese if your comparing i to anything even east of buck lake ! The lease land doesn't exist in alder flats ,you have to travel east ,what little piece of crown land in alder flats is surrounded by private and not accessible to anyone and its swamp land . Rain yep ! not much for crops for 3 years there now if any at all .all because the rains wrecked the fields and everything was a mud hole . |
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"Quadding in the back country is limited due to the lack of trails" This is a good thing. "very poor numbers of geese if your comparing i to anything even east of buck lake !" I am sure if the OP can afford recreational land, he will have a vehicle capable of getting him the 12 km to Buck Lake and beyond. Like I mentioned in my post, most all of us need to do some driving to find a shoot. "Im not looking for prime hunting country, what i do there is my own business , I paid for what i have and enjoy it" Maybe just leave it at that. I can also assure you that what you do there is indeed your own business and there is not a lot of places in the province where you can say that anymore. I am sure the OP is also looking for a place where he can mind his own business and maybe do a little hunting and stuff. |
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So i will leave it at that and wish the OP good luck on his land acquisition efforts. |
My family settled around Alder Flats in the 1930's and have been there ever since.
I was born and raise there. Spent all my younger years hunting west of the Flats and on the private land in the area. It's like any other place for getting permission, ask. Some will say yes, some will say no. If it were up to me I would move back to the area in a heart beat. But unless you work oil and gas there isn't really anything around. Hunting 10 years ago was amazing, unfortunately a couple bad winters really put a beating on the deer herds. Starting to come back now though. Not really sure what happened with the elk, over a 5 year period they all but disappeared it seems. Yes there is some lease land around, but not a lot. Great place in all, but I might be slightly bias haha |
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