Elk

[Outdoorfanatic]

Curious to know how many out there would like to see some changes made that would give different/better harvest opportunities on elk and what your suggested changes might be? Biologist top to bottom in this province have told me that they want more elk harvested. However year after year very few of us actually take an elk. These biologist seem to only have the one tool for more harvest and that's issue more tags. With the elk hunts I've typically done the more tags has made my hunt harder not easier. Animals just go nocturnal or leave the area completely. What is your experience and what would you suggest these bios do?

[oldgutpile]

For all of the problems around the Suffield base, I dont understand why they haven't issued a general tag for the surrounding zones.
So many landowner complaints, between crop damage and fencing issues. I understand that most people who apply for cow tags outside of the base have a high rate of success for drawing the tag, but they could still create more opportunities. How about an either sex tag, or spiker tags?
Priority issues are what holds me back on some areas. I always enjoy the early rut season in the eastern slope zones, where I can buy a general tag. The success rate is low, but the experience of mountain hunting, and playing tag with the grizzly bears has it's own excitement. A general tag is all that is required for the option of hunting three months of the year. I dont like the restriction of specific WMU on the draw system.
More people would apply for around the base if it was held as a seperate hunt that didn't effect their status on other draws.

[Pekan]

I would think the only way would be to make antlerless tags more available.

Lots of people want to get a cow elk for the freezer, but right now if you draw a cow tag you can't hunt antlered elk that same year.


Unless I'm wrong, that's the way I understand the system to work.

Since harvest rates for bulls is so low in most wmu's anyway, why not let a guy have both antlered and antlerless tags in the same year?

Having said all that, I personally want to see the elk population go up in the mountain zones near me.

[Slicktricker]

I'd like to see the elk numbers go up in most zones, one reason why very low success rate is most hunters are not up for the hard work it will take to get a bull elk, not many bull elk will be shot from the road not saying it hasn't happened. I'd like to see them get rid of the 3 point system as well maybe then we would see some decent bull elk

[Big Grey Wolf]

The 3 point rule was brought in years ago to give the spiker a chance to get smart before the lead starts to fly. Also spike tends to hang around with the cows and calf herds whereas the 3 point and up hang out with the big dogs and tend to go nocturnal.

[yamfan]

I agree with Pekan. At the beginning of a hunt bulls are the goal but as days tick by I may loosen up and possibly fill my tag with a cow.

But I won't draw a cow tag because that eliminates me from hunting bulls.

[coyotekiller]

Originally Posted by yamfan

I agree with Pekan. At the beginning of a hunt bulls are the goal but as days tick by I may loosen up and possibly fill my tag with a cow.

But I won't draw a cow tag because that eliminates me from hunting bulls.

x2 I want to get a bull if I can but I would take a cow to

[Hooter]

Personally I don't think more tags or a general season is the solution to increasing elk harvest numbers in the prairie WMUs. I find that the more tags that are issued equates to more hunters in the field and therefore a tougher hunt and lower success rates. I'd like to see a draw system that separates antlered and antlerless elk hunts with different season dates where drawing a cow elk tag doesn't affect your bull tag. I find all the cow elk hunters, bull elk hunters (P5+ draw) and deer hunters are all hunting in a very limited area where I hunt. I think there should be an extended season for the cow elk hunters (Nov 1 - Feb 15th) so that there aren't so many general season hunters thereby reducing pressure and increasing harvest numbers. The elk season used to be that way but was changed a while back but I'm not sure why. Doesn't make sense to me.

If I was able to purchase a separate cow elk tag for the bow season that didn't affect my ability to shoot a bull then that might work as well.

[LKILR]

So want want it to be easier to hunt elk successfully? There is plenty of elk in Alberta. Should not be too hard to harvest an anterless elk IMO. Those who choose to hunt Bulls only are only cheating themselves. Elk taste the same with or with out antlers. Elk are challenging to hunt and it takes skill. Some hunters don't have the skills to be successful. More elk could be harvested if more hunters exited te vehicle or got off the ATV.

[Pekan]

Originally Posted by LKILR

So want want it to be easier to hunt elk successfully? There is plenty of elk in Alberta. Should not be too hard to harvest an anterless elk IMO. Those who choose to hunt Bulls only are only cheating themselves. Elk taste the same with or with out antlers. Elk are challenging to hunt and it takes skill. Some hunters don't have the skills to be successful. More elk could be harvested if more hunters exited te vehicle or got off the ATV.

SHHHH.... Never mind, stay on the roads, you'll get one one day.

[Hooter]

Originally Posted by LKILR

So want want it to be easier to hunt elk successfully? There is plenty of elk in Alberta. Should not be too hard to harvest an anterless elk IMO. Those who choose to hunt Bulls only are only cheating themselves. Elk taste the same with or with out antlers. Elk are challenging to hunt and it takes skill. Some hunters don't have the skills to be successful. More elk could be harvested if more hunters exited te vehicle or got off the ATV.

Yes, there's lots of elk in Alberta, however lots of people (me included) like to hunt big prairie bulls, but if we shoot a cow then we lose the opportunity to get a bull. Yes, it's my choice to hold out for a big bull and potentially end up with nothing, but if the goal is to reduce herd numbers, then issuing a separate cow elk tag would entice more hunters to shoot a cow because they'd still have the opportunity to shoot a bull, thereby reducing herd numbers.

Edit: I should mention I've shot bull elk in the last 3 consecutive years with my bow, but I'd also shoot a cow if given the opportunity.

[LKILR]

Originally Posted by Hooter

Yes, there's lots of elk in Alberta, however lots of people (me included) like to hunt big prairie bulls, but if we shoot a cow then we lose the opportunity to get a bull. Yes, it's my choice to hold out for a big bull and potentially end up with nothing, but if the goal is to reduce herd numbers, then issuing a separate cow elk tag would entice more hunters to shoot a cow because they'd still have the opportunity to shoot a bull, thereby reducing herd numbers.

Edit: I should mention I've shot bull elk in the last 3 consecutive years with my bow, but I'd also shoot a cow if given the opportunity.

Lots of anterless tags given out annually but success % is not great. Where I hunt a person can take a cow with general tag during archery season And there are two anterless seasons both are five weeks long so no need for more tags IMO.

[Outdoorfanatic]

Originally Posted by LKILR

Lots of anterless tags given out annually but success % is not great. Where I hunt a person can take a cow with general tag during archery season And there are two anterless seasons both are five weeks long so no need for more tags IMO.

The irony is if you ask the Biologist of your area I'm willing to bet that if not now then soon they will increase the cow tags for the late rifle hunts. Their goal is too reduce elk numbers. And the only tool they are willing to consider is too put more hunters on the landscape via more tags. That's the message I've got. And yes not enough get out of the truck. But many do myself included. Bottom line is when elk go nocturnal or leave the area you have permission to and access to than no amount of skill or effort will result in success. So we can get cow tags in the late seasons on low to no priority pts but have to compete with one another for the same elk same land. What I'd like is to see a little more quality put back into these hunts so that those of us who do put in the effort with skill etc could duplicate success year after year, as opposed to hoping we just fluke out.

[LKILR]

pretty simple solution. Give out two tags per anterless application. Should increase success and reduce pressure.

[ram crazy]

Originally Posted by LKILR

pretty simple solution. Give out two tags per anterless application. Should increase success and reduce pressure.

That just being greedy!! No one needs two Elk tags, there is lots of meat on one Elk. I've said all along, give the youth more tags. They could give every youth a cow Elk tag when they purchase their wildlife certificate. And have hunter hosts signed up on the government web site that would be willing to take a youth out. The hosts would have all the info of what WMU they are willing to host a youth in and the youth can then chose a zone, but then again there are those that it's all about the me factor. If we want to promote hunting to those of the future this would be a great teach tool for the hunters of the future.

[LKILR]

Originally Posted by ram crazy

That just being greedy!! No one needs two Elk tags, there is lots of meat on one Elk. I've said all along, give the youth more tags. They could give every youth a cow Elk tag when they purchase their wildlife certificate. And have hunter hosts signed up on the government web site that would be willing to take a youth out. The hosts would have all the info of what WMU they are willing to host a youth in and the youth can then chose a zone, but then again there are those that it's all about the me factor. If we want to promote hunting to those of the future this would be a great teach tool for the hunters of the future.

I couldn't agree more there ram lazy. Every youth should be able to have an anterless tag. BTW I'm not greedy. I only need one elk a year. I've never applied for anterless elk before.

[slopeshunter]

Originally Posted by ram crazy

That just being greedy!! No one needs two Elk tags, there is lots of meat on one Elk. I've said all along, give the youth more tags. They could give every youth a cow Elk tag when they purchase their wildlife certificate. And have hunter hosts signed up on the government web site that would be willing to take a youth out. The hosts would have all the info of what WMU they are willing to host a youth in and the youth can then chose a zone, but then again there are those that it's all about the me factor. If we want to promote hunting to those of the future this would be a great teach tool for the hunters of the future.

Like!

[Outdoorfanatic]

Originally Posted by ram crazy

That just being greedy!! No one needs two Elk tags, there is lots of meat on one Elk. I've said all along, give the youth more tags. They could give every youth a cow Elk tag when they purchase their wildlife certificate. And have hunter hosts signed up on the government web site that would be willing to take a youth out. The hosts would have all the info of what WMU they are willing to host a youth in and the youth can then chose a zone, but then again there are those that it's all about the me factor. If we want to promote hunting to those of the future this would be a great teach tool for the hunters of the future.

Defining what others need and don't need is cool until they return the favour of defining what you need. Remember the antis say we don't need to hunt at all. Some including myself donate a lot of meat to charity, some have bigger families than others. And of course there's always the years that we go skunked. So a bumper year occasionally is nice. As far as youth go, it sounds great but how many youth or more like their parents would allow their kid to link up with a stranger to hunt in January in -35C in 4 feet of snow on an multiple night away from home hunt during school time?

[alpineguy]

This is an interesting topic as what I see in my home zone (216-320) is that there has been a reduction in cow tags. Also in the zone I hunt (can't remember the WMU lol) there has been major reductions in cow tags issued.

[ram crazy]

Originally Posted by Outdoorfanatic

Defining what others need and don't need is cool until they return the favour of defining what you need. Remember the antis say we don't need to hunt at all. Some including myself donate a lot of meat to charity, some have bigger families than others. And of course there's always the years that we go skunked. So a bumper year occasionally is nice. As far as youth go, it sounds great but how many youth or more like their parents would allow their kid to link up with a stranger to hunt in January in -35C in 4 feet of snow on an multiple night away from home hunt during school time?

Whole Smokes!!!! why wouldn't the parent come along for the hunt with they"re kids, I mean really. I would be there with my kids, this is what adventures are made of man. And "WHY ON GODS GREEN EARTH" would you have to hunt just in the winter months for Elk. Any kid I've ever taken out to hunt Elk has the parent with them and it's not -35C out, we usually only need one day to kill a cow Elk.

[Outdoorfanatic]

Originally Posted by ram crazy

Whole Smokes!!!! why wouldn't the parent come along for the hunt with they"re kids, I mean really. I would be there with my kids, this is what adventures are made of man. And "WHY ON GODS GREEN EARTH" would you have to hunt just in the winter months for Elk. Any kid I've ever taken out to hunt Elk has the parent with them and it's not -35C out, we usually only need one day to kill a cow Elk.

Truth is you and I would be there with our kids cause we appreciate the hunt and the adventure with our kids. However a lot of non hunter/angler parents don't appreciate the adventure and can't afford time away from home. But yes I'm all for including some youth when and where possible. As far as late seasons go; well like I mentioned the sediment I've gotten is too increase tags particularly late season cow tags. Reason for late season is too reduce the pressure on the landscape since cow elk hunting is the only thing left open. Also early season are typically much higher priority pt so if a youth automatically gets a tag given to them and you can't get one due too the priority pt would you forfeit elk hunting days on your animal else where to help someone else's kid get theirs?

[ram crazy]

Originally Posted by Outdoorfanatic

Truth is you and I would be there with our kids cause we appreciate the hunt and the adventure with our kids. However a lot of non hunter/angler parents don't appreciate the adventure and can't afford time away from home. But yes I'm all for including some youth when and where possible. As far as late seasons go; well like I mentioned the sediment I've gotten is too increase tags particularly late season cow tags. Reason for late season is too reduce the pressure on the landscape since cow elk hunting is the only thing left open. Also early season are typically much higher priority pt so if a youth automatically gets a tag given to them and you can't get one due too the priority pt would you forfeit elk hunting days on your animal else where to help someone else's kid get theirs?

You bet I would give up my time in a heartbeat to help a youth get a cow Elk. I'm way past having to kill something, I would get a way more enjoyment out of helping a youth get an Elk. It wouldn't have to effect the draw system as, and I'm going out on a limb here and say most zones have a way to many cow Elk anyways. How many youth are there in this province that hunt where they're parents don't hunt. I'm sure there are a lot of draw tags that don't get filled every year and I'm sure there would be a lot of youth tags that wouldn't get filled as well.

[HappyHunter]

Why is it that everyone wants an easy kill now a days.
There are elk to be had but you need to learn to hunt them, the key word is hunt.
I have killed a bull 3 out of the last 4 years. 2 with archery. The odd year was to get my dad his first bull, and yes he killed it. My group has killed 14 elk in those 4 years as well.
Learn to find and hunt them, and your success rate will increase. The age of the lazy hunter is now.

[Outdoorfanatic]

Originally Posted by HappyHunter

Why is it that everyone wants an easy kill now a days.
There are elk to be had but you need to learn to hunt them, the key word is hunt.
I have killed a bull 3 out of the last 4 years. 2 with archery. The odd year was to get my dad his first bull, and yes he killed it. My group has killed 14 elk in those 4 years as well.
Learn to find and hunt them, and your success rate will increase. The age of the lazy hunter is now.

The thread as nothing to do with anything being easy, instead of bragging about your skill/work ethic why not address the topic of the governments desire to put more hunters on the landscape and reduce elk numbers. According to your success rate that would support the gov's believe that elk numbers are too high. So knowing that I guess your ok with more hunting pressure in your honey hole?

[Hawkhills]

Surprised no one has mentioned the change in duration of cow elk tag.Split into 3 separate seasons in 527.In the past was 1 extended season.Have not applied for cow elk since the change.

Sent from my SM-N915W8 using Tapatalk

[Outdoorfanatic]

Originally Posted by ram crazy

You bet I would give up my time in a heartbeat to help a youth get a cow Elk. I'm way past having to kill something, I would get a way more enjoyment out of helping a youth get an Elk. It wouldn't have to effect the draw system as, and I'm going out on a limb here and say most zones have a way to many cow Elk anyways. How many youth are there in this province that hunt where they're parents don't hunt. I'm sure there are a lot of draw tags that don't get filled every year and I'm sure there would be a lot of youth tags that wouldn't get filled as well.

Glad your willing and able to help the youth. My charity focus is slightly different at least with elk. Question to ponder is if there's lots of elk and priority point is kept low due to gov increasing tags than how many hunters are too many before the elk are pressured out of area or out of day time hours. That could be a disappointing hunt for a anyone never might youth. Other thing to consider is that a youth can already purchase a partner licence on elk, they could even shoot someones priority 12 Bull without ever applying for a draw.

[shootermcgavin]

26000 ish Elk in Alberta with land area of 640,081 km2
163000 ish Elk in Montana with land area of 380,800 km2

Now can someone please enlighten me as to what biological reason the Alberta government thinks the Elk population is too high besides the fact that they are competition with our beloved ranchers?



http://www.huntalberta.ca/en/species/Elk
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberta
http://fwp.mt.gov/fishAndWildlife/management/elk/

[ram crazy]

Originally Posted by Outdoorfanatic

Glad your willing and able to help the youth. My charity focus is slightly different at least with elk. Question to ponder is if there's lots of elk and priority point is kept low due to gov increasing tags than how many hunters are too many before the elk are pressured out of area or out of day time hours. That could be a disappointing hunt for a anyone never might youth. Other thing to consider is that a youth can already purchase a partner licence on elk, they could even shoot someones priority 12 Bull without ever applying for a draw.

Ok you got me, you win!! I see what kind of individual you are. I agree with happyhunter. Learn where the Elk like to hangout and they are easy to kill.

[jrileyw]

. ALL Bulls need to be on draw across the province. No point restrictions. Plus if a person wishes to draw a cow tag and a bull tag fill your shorts. Right now the system where you can only apply for one or the other is absurd.
The competion to kill an elk is insane anywhere you go. Giving more cow tags will help to control the populations. But there needs to be better opportunity to harvest the cows. Not so many trigger happy people competing for the one legal bull in the 200 head herd of cows.

[stubblejumper01]

I'd like to see the cow season still be on a draw system to control the amount of tags per zone. But let them be valid from the opening in September until the end of what is now the late season ending in January. That would give hunters more opportunities to fill the tag. And also bring more cash flow to the area.
I had a draw last year but work got really busy and I was unable to get out hunting during the draw period. So the cash I normally spend in that zone stayed home. I would have been able to go later but couldn't so I stayed home and hunted deer instead.