Spot and stalk farmland deer?

[Buckshot82]

Hey everyone, I’m looking for some tips and suggestions for archery hunting whitetail and mule deer in eastern Alberta, I have tons of land access and permission I just am looking for some tips to put it to use… the places I’ll be hunting are open canola and grain fields, I have hunted this area with my family since I was just little with a rifle and have been drawn to archery hunting the past couple years. I finally feel confident in my archery abilities and am hoping to take my first whitetail or mule deer with my bow. I’m currently 19 years old and will be back in school for my next year of mechanics for the majority of archery season and the first week of august so I am working as much as I can and haven’t had any time to do any scouting. I only have one trail camera that is sitting in my garage currently collecting dust… I will have time for one trip out before archery season starts and I hope to set up the cellular camera and possibly a blind out as my plan A.even though I’ve hunted this land year after year you would think I know where to set up a stand, but being my luck I will be out to lunch haha.
So back to my point I apologize, is spot and stalk a viable option? I will leave the quarter with my blind alone and not pressure it obviously. I’m just trying to gather as much information as possible to a successful spot and stalk hunt in our Open farmland geography. I’ve tried different forums and YouTube videos but all the spot and stalk hunting I find is in the rolling hills or mountains where you can approach the animal without being spotted and I’m getting a bit down on my hopes of this being possible.
I know this post was dragged out much longer then it needed to be so I likely missed info I should have said. If you have any information that may help me it would be greatly appreciated!

[58thecat]

It can be done, had success but you gotta have patience.
My best success in spot and stock more open areas was to sit at first light and watch them come off their feeding areas and make their way to their bedding area. Then I would see if a stock was worth it and what I mean was to not take on a stock that didn’t have a hope of succeeding, I would look at terrain to them, wind direction etc. My best stocks were on really windy days and terrain favourable to get within bow range 30 or under yards then wait them out to stand and stretch. Had success to if a deer would bed on the side of a coulee with the wind coming up out of the coulee and then I could slowly approach from above but again terrain and wind dictates an attempt.
Glass lots and be patient on stalks that gives you more of an advantage don’t just go pushing them all over the place as they will disappear due to the pressure. After a stock to writhing bow range especially after crawling check your bow for stuff that could, can, will get stuck in your bow hindering its performance.
Good luck it’s addictive style to get into.

[waterhaulerhunter]

Wait for windy days and take a chance and try to stalk everything. Don’t expect to get a monster. You’re young and just starting. You’ll learn a lot more from failed attempts at stalking deer than you will from any of us. It’s my favourite way of hunting! You have the biggest thing covered, the land access. Enjoy and play the wind!

[thumper]

Plan to spot from a long, long distance, and carefully plan your stalk using markers, counting fenceposts, odd shaped trees - whatever you'll be able to recognize from your approach from a different perspective. It might be ab hour or more on your final approach (from downwind), and the temptation is rush to the exact location you last saw your deer - but now's the time to pause and carefully scan all directions, as your deer probably moved slightly during your long stalk.

I don't know how many times I've kicked myself for rushing the final approach, and then busting the deer!

[starvin]

Hope for a late harvest. A high percentage of big mule bucks are shot in standing crop.

[Buckshot82]

Perfect, thank you everyone! Another question, my zone says that it is open for archery for “antlered and antlerless mule deer” when I go in to buy my tag that’s just just my general mule deer license? Don’t want to be sold the wrong tag by the person at Canadian tire and run into issues with fish and game haha. When I was a youth I was told by multiple cabelas employees that my youth mule deer license was good for any zone because I was a youth…. purchased the license and called fish and game to verify and found out that they were very wrong. Youth license was only 9$ or soemthing crazy so i wasn’t super upset but now that I’m no longer a youth and have to pay that higher premium for tags I’d prefer not to have to throw it out haha

[Stinky Buffalo]

Originally Posted by Buckshot82

Another question, my zone says that it is open for archery for “antlered and antlerless mule deer” when I go in to buy my tag that’s just just my general mule deer license?

Yes, a general tag is usable through archery season through general (rifle) season. Just ensure that special licenses (draws) are not applicable for that combination of species/gender/time frame for the species that you are hunting. Study the regulations carefully!

There's a zone I hunt with a general tag, where the season transitions from archery cow elk only, to archery either sex, to bull elk only, then bull elk rifle, all depending on the date that I am hunting.

[pikergolf]

Originally Posted by waterhaulerhunter

Wait for windy days and take a chance and try to stalk everything. Don’t expect to get a monster. You’re young and just starting. You’ll learn a lot more from failed attempts at stalking deer than you will from any of us. It’s my favourite way of hunting! You have the biggest thing covered, the land access. Enjoy and play the wind!

Some great advice here, no substitute for experience. Hunting is always learning.

[Buckshot82]

Originally Posted by Stinky Buffalo

Yes, a general tag is usable through archery season through general (rifle) season. Just ensure that special licenses (draws) are not applicable for that combination of species/gender/time frame for the species that you are hunting. Study the regulations carefully!

There's a zone I hunt with a general tag, where the season transitions from archery cow elk only, to archery either sex, to bull elk only, then bull elk rifle, all depending on the date that I am hunting.

Here’s a picture of the regs I am looking at, I’m in the 230’s, it appears to be that archery is open for both antlered and antlerless until November. Just figured I’d get a second opinion haha

[Buckshot82]

Originally Posted by waterhaulerhunter

Wait for windy days and take a chance and try to stalk everything. Don’t expect to get a monster. You’re young and just starting. You’ll learn a lot more from failed attempts at stalking deer than you will from any of us. It’s my favourite way of hunting! You have the biggest thing covered, the land access. Enjoy and play the wind!

I think that will be one of the most challenging part about this haha, I’ve had the priveledge of taking some and being apart of the harvest of some very nice whitetails and mules in the past with my rifle, it will be hard to squeeze on a smaller buck but I think the satisfaction of taking any animal with a bow for the first time will over rule that

[jcrayford]

Originally Posted by Buckshot82

I think that will be one of the most challenging part about this haha, I’ve had the priveledge of taking some and being apart of the harvest of some very nice whitetails and mules in the past with my rifle, it will be hard to squeeze on a smaller buck but I think the satisfaction of taking any animal with a bow for the first time will over rule that

^ yep....

ANY animal taken with a bow is a trophy because of this close-in quarters of the hunt itself. If you outsmart an animal (buck/doe/bull/cow - doesn't matter) and get within bow range while stalking, it's a challenge and should be viewed as a trophy.

J.

[Stinky Buffalo]

Originally Posted by jcrayford

^ yep....

ANY animal taken with a bow is a trophy because of this close-in quarters of the hunt itself. If you outsmart an animal (buck/doe/bull/cow - doesn't matter) and get within bow range while stalking, it's a challenge and should be viewed as a trophy.

J.

Absolutely!

Originally Posted by Buckshot82

Here’s a picture of the regs I am looking at, I’m in the 230’s, it appears to be that archery is open for both antlered and antlerless until November. Just figured I’d get a second opinion haha

Right, what you are looking for are the seasons without the black square dot. Just make sure you double-check the 2022 regs when they come out... Should be soon.

[calgarychef]

I’ve killed the majority of my deer off the ground. Windy and rainy days are kind of magical if you know the bedding areas but they’ll be under a willow or some kind of cover. So you kind of need to know in advance.

I remember watching my cousin in Sask. stalking a group of big mulies the wind was at their backs and they were under a little “cut bank” on the edge of a small hill. He didn’t stand a chance, the only way he could approach without being seen was from upwind. If you have coulees they often paw out little ledges and One of the biggest mulies I ever saw actually turned around and backed into one of those “caves” there was short grass in front of him and he was invisible even though I knew exactly where he was. He had a Cliff at his back and could see anything coming up the hill. So if you have big coulees, sit below the rim on one side and spend a long time watching the other side, you’ll learn a lot.

I had permission a couple years ago near Cochran and that ranch had tons of mulies, they would filter through every evening to hit the alfalfa. I got somewhere between where they were and where they wanted to go and waited.
Didn’t get a shot at the big one I was pining after but it was sure fun watching 70 or so mulies filter into the field. I used a decoy a few evenings and it was a lot of fun. You’d have fun with a decoy too but don’t forget that they come in at full alert with decoys.

Sounds like you’ve got a good hunting spot and if you or your buddies can watch the fields and figure out what the deer are doing and when and where they’ll be you’ll have and exciting season.

[MyAlberta]

Whitetails love water and in the heat of the early season will often seek a drink after their daytime snooze. Quiet observation around watering holes has lead to some exciting g moments.

[Buckshot82]

Originally Posted by MyAlberta

Whitetails love water and in the heat of the early season will often seek a drink after their daytime snooze. Quiet observation around watering holes has lead to some exciting g moments.

The best watering hole in my opinion is in a large treed portion of pasture with cattle in it at this time of year. I know the deer love it come November when the cattle are moved into the fields closer to the farm, do you think it’s still a viable spot to sit? Will cattle being in the same area deter the whitetails?

[MyAlberta]

Originally Posted by Buckshot82

The best watering hole in my opinion is in a large treed portion of pasture with cattle in it at this time of year. I know the deer love it come November when the cattle are moved into the fields closer to the farm, do you think it’s still a viable spot to sit? Will cattle being in the same area deter the whitetails?

My experience is the deer don’t like cattle trampled holes. But if that’s all that’s available they should frequent there. For me, archery is a season rather than any given day. I’ll hike the area looking for trails and rough in draw cover at strategic locations.

[Buckshot82]

Originally Posted by MyAlberta

My experience is the deer don’t like cattle trampled holes. But if that’s all that’s available they should frequent there. For me, archery is a season rather than any given day. I’ll hike the area looking for trails and rough in draw cover at strategic locations.

Of course, I will get out for a scouting day and see if I can find any deer sign, if not I will likely just avoid it and find another area. There’s a good sized creek/river that runs through the property’s as well, I’d assume some kind of crossing would be a good vantage point being that it won’t be frozen over in September

[tikka250]

Originally Posted by Buckshot82

Of course, I will get out for a scouting day and see if I can find any deer sign, if not I will likely just avoid it and find another area. There’s a good sized creek/river that runs through the property’s as well, I’d assume some kind of crossing would be a good vantage point being that it won’t be frozen over in September

Not sure about the exact 230 zone your in but the area has had a decent amount of rain this year so hunting water may be tricky. Watching em move from feed to bedding is probably your better bet unless you already know of a good water hole.

[muzzy]

Walk the creek bank before season looking for a deer crossing or watering hole A cut in bank and lots of tracks will give away Ambush spot can be set up down wind That dusty trail cam could be set up for a week to check activity

[Mooseknuckled]

Spent a ton of time in this zone working oilfield. If you already hunt it you know the terrain changes completely from wainwright to provost. Best open area are more towards provost for spot and stalk. As mentioned here previously, get high at first light and watch where they go to bed. Make stalks for practice when you don’t have a target animal. The toughest part can be getting used to using landmarks and being able to move into kill zone using only landmarks to get there from a 1/2 mile away. The best part about open land hunting, you can hunt all day with good bingos and a spotting scope. Stay away from watering holes, they are very low percentage as most everything except antelope water at night. The easiest is still ambush from a treestand, which is very doable in parts of this zone, however open land hunting is a whole different world and the challenges are what adds to the enjoyment. Ive been lucky enough to get a couple in the 180’s. One day many moons ago, 6 Julie’s crossed the highway in front of me, 4 of them were the kind that will visit your dreams for a lifetime. Deer always live in the same areas year after year. Start where you know, venture from there.

[Mooseknuckled]

p.s. if your serious about open land spot and stalk, hunt the much more open 100 zones. When you learn to kill there, you can do it anywhere.