Alberta Hunting Styles
 

Hi All,

I’m looking to find out more about the hunting style of successful Alberta hunters.

A bit of backstory, I grew up hunting in SE BC. Given the landscape there, and road hunting aside, it’s always been a spot and stalk approach. After moving here and getting a better lay of the area that I hunt, this isn’t really possible – flat land, dense bush and few clearings.

With little knowledge of the area at the time, I was still able to manage a successful whitetail hunt last year. The areas that I go have lots of sign, and I see animals, but getting a chance at them is a different story.

What I’m wondering, is it best to get out and put some miles on trying to track, or do you set up a stand/blind where you know they’ve been moving and wait?

Again, this is all generally speaking. I know there are different techniques for different areas, different times of the year, etc.

A few details that I may help: rifle hunting, general season, crown land, Clearwater/Mountainview counties.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Cheers,

Jay

If you're just talking whitetails my favourite time to hunt whitetails is first couple weeks in November rattling and grunting getting into thickest s*** right with them

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

As with all my hunting I prefer to put the soles to work to get away from the road hunters

Hike until you a find high concentration of feeding sign, get down wind, sit still and be quiet. Same thing over and over and over. Takes about 3 days to kill a deer in a new area.

In some places you can track after a fresh snow, but if there’s too much thick stuff, which is where the deer will go once it knows it’s being followed, you won’t get a clean shot.

Same as this post, but when your hiking, slow down your pace and look behind yourself frequently.

Definitely always keep checking behind you. WT deer are very sneaky and more than once have caught them crossing my trail behind me.

Hunting styles
 

I'm a dedicated stump-sitter; my wife and son also. There's something about becoming part of the landscape that is really attractive to me. You get to see the darndest things. And a lot of really big unconcerned deer.

I am primarily a still hunter more than a spot and stalk guy except when I hunt the river, then it's spot and stalk.
However the field I took my white tail buck out of this year would be almost impossible too still hunt, simply because of the surrounding bush and big open field.
We formulated a plan, set up a blind in the middle of the day and waited for them to come in the evening.
Cat

Hunting
 

From what I have observed the majority of hunting is done by driving around in the truck. See deer in farmers field, drive into field shoot deer and you’re done.

Hey there is nothing wrong with the road hunters!!! At least I know where they are... 😉

I think the best answer is to hunt how the situation demands.
My go to options usually include:
I’m not going to sit in my favourite bear area. I’m gonna wear off my rhino tires spotting and stalking. On the flip side, I have patterned elk to where I’ll sit tight to intercept between food and bed. Moose (when not rutting)for me (varies by the time of year too) is more of a still hunt (i.e.- walking very slowly and glassing like crazy to catch them before they catch you). Sheep is a sit and glass game and trying to stay mentally sharp. Antelope is a glass and manoeuvre game. Whitetail I usually find myself calling from a tree or ground blind. Wind is a huge factor in most of these as well.


There is really no best way to hunt “Alberta”. You hunt the best way to find success. To find success you need to learn habitat and what the game is doing in that particular area. Those lessons learned from hunting one area can usually be applied to other areas. It’s a maturing, learning process. The very best part of hunting in my opinion- unlocking secrets as you go to add to your arsenal of approach/ methods.

Above is listed the ways I will usually approach it. But I would have to say nearly every species requires you to be proficient in all forms and methods. The guys on this forum who successfully kill not just what they’re after, but big animals consistently will most likely agree that you need to adapt to the situation and employ a big bag of tricks.

My $.02

Well put

And having a little luck!

Pretty much any style of hunting will work in AB, given half appropriate terrain. Personally I like to track or still hunt in big timber, simply because I rarely have to compete with other hunters, and because I enjoy it the most. I rarely spend a day wandering the game trails and looking at sign where I don't learn something interesting and useful, which I can not say of hunting a stand. Required gear is extremely minimal, and most of what you need to know can only be learned by covering ground and looking at tracks.

A very successful method for me, that I haven't seen mentioned yet is AMBUSH. In more open country, feeding animals often slowly 'drift' in a pretty consistent direction. Instead of trying to stalk them where they're at, be very still and wait until they're out of sight, and then stalk to where they're going to be.
I find that gives me lots of time to settle in, get comfortable and my breathing under control and then as the target comes into view I can take a good, clean, unhurried shot on an unsuspecting animal.

I guess I would lump this in with spot and stalk, but I agree with you. Getting ahead of a moving animal is often a more successful strategy than trying to stalk a stationary one, albeit less precise and depending a little more on guesswork. I'm generally pretty comfortable with a fair degree of guesswork though, and all the benefits you listed are entirely true.

This can work in fairly dense country too when the variables are right, of course getting the guesswork right becomes more critical.

Another successful strategy for me, is not to be afraid to HUNT SOLO. With no pressure on meeting a partner at a specific time back at the truck, or worrying about straying into their hunting zone and screwing up their hunt, or fiddling with 2-way radios, I find solo hunts much more relaxing. I'm able to follow my own intuitions/instincts, take my time and focus on the task at hand. When it's time for the shot, it's almost always a well placed shot, on a standing, relaxed animal - not a rushed shot at an animal being 'pushed' by others.

On the down-side, I now have health issues that I need to consider and so I miss out on hunting the late afternoon/early evening 'golden hour', because I don't want to be cleaning game and dragging it out well after dark by myself. After 2 or 3 in the afternoon, I usually quit actively hunting and poke around formulating a plan for the following day. With a partner, or a group, I might be more aggressive in hunting later in the day.

Also, there's the social aspect of hunting with others that I sometimes miss - sometimes not.

But on the whole, I'm much more effective in taking animals, while hunting solo.

Alberta hunting style
 

From what I’ve seen in my home area, the majority of guys hunt the same way. Drive around the roads and fields before daylight, and after dark with the gun on the seat, and when something is spotted, stick it out the window and blaze away.

That might be called Poaching......not hunting!!!

Alberta hunting style
 

Exactly, way too much of it going on. Deer killers, not deer hunters.

And if you have a quad in the back of the truck, you can ride on it in the back of the truck and shoot from it.

That way you keep all of those that Think everyone in a truck, or on a quad, is a poacher, happy.

One of the most common tactics in Alberta is to just drive the range roads, littering it with beer cans, shooting from the roads or your vehicles. If you’re not seeing anything you can always drive onto a farmers field, which you probably have no permission, driving the field edges while honking your horn every 15 seconds hoping to spook out the big one.

And on horses. Ride around all day and shoot off your horse. Make sure you give the horse a beer or two during the day.

To keep them hydrated I mean

Don’t forget to cut the lock to the gate and leave it open so all the other livestock get loose.

Wouldn't happen if you didn't out a wire gate there to begin with.

Show a little consideration. Install a Texas gate.

are you sure!
 

WOW is that how its done :thinking-006:Thanks for that.

Yes, you may have been doing it wrong to this point.

i am guessing the next step is buying a pool noodle that would be in order :thinking-006:

Hunting Alberta
 

Wildwoods, excellent post, you have described a "Real Alberta Hunter" Some of the other posts only describe ' Shooters". Well done! Each animal requires a specific technique to be successful.

i usually go to a spot i know holds deer from my trail cams (apparently thats another topic on here...) in the morning and get out and slowly walk cutlines and game trails. later in the morning if i havent got anything i start driving. Looking for deer and grouse. Afternoon rolls around and i go back to walking until last night. Last hour of hunting time i settle down on a cutline about 200yds from game trails and wait for something to cross.