Hunting in 353

[neilnn]

Well I got drawn for zone 353 by fox creek for an anterless moose and i noticed there is sourt of an buffer zone where you cant hunt any body have any advice or information on this area or alternate acess points. Thanks

[Iskra]

I did hunt that zone last sezon and i am going there this sezon. For access from the South use hwy 40 or from the North Simonette road from Little Smoky. If you come from Fox Creek there is a lot of driving thru bush roads to get west of RR 23.Be careful because driving this roads you can get you back, east of RR 23. I use GPS to mark RR 23 coordinates in an area I am hunting - this is not straight line across zone 353. On some roads there are signs where you are allowed to hunt antlerless moose.

[neilnn]

Thanks for responding so there is acess from the south and the acess from the north is just north of fox creek at little smokie how was the zone for hunting any more info you or any one has would be greatly appricated this is my first year hunting moose and elk what were you hunting.

[neilnn]

any body else got anything

[neilnn]

Btt

[hb hunter]

i will be hunting 353 from september 21 thru 27 this year. a member of our group has a cow moose tag. we will be going in on the big stone road and
setting up camp, we will quad in to the cow zone. if the roads are dry our
camp should be 3-4 km's from the boundry. we will also be hunting elk and
deer. 2 years ago our group was sucessfull in harvesting a cow and bull
moose.

[silverado7]

We're headding down the big stone tomorrow looking for elk. I'll let you know how the big stone and ANC are.

[hb hunter]

thanks, that would be great. im going to drag in a 26' travel trailer
to stay in. i had to lift it 5" in preporation for this trip. have you
taken an elk in that area?

[whiskybaron]

You can access 353 by going down the trunk road (this is the north boundry of the zone) off of hwy 40 that is in the cow zone I alays hunt in the tornado road and back in the 4000 road area will be easier this year with all day quad access, I shot my cow last year in the valley off the end of the tornado road only hunted for about 3 hours to fill that tag.

[neilnn]

what side is considered best to enter the zone on fox creek or hwy 40 side I have a anterless cow and elk tag i have a quad and a 4x4 AS WELL ANY ADVICE.THANKS

[hb hunter]

the best elk hunting is accessed by hwy 40 and the tornado road. But 2/3 down the tornado road the forestry has set up a steel gate and unless you have the key or a big pair of bolt cutters you will be on foot because no access is allowed by hunters. Depending on your departure location either way is good access. The bigstone road you are dealing with bad roads but you are required to quad into the cow moose zone unless you have a real good 4x4 truck.

[johnk]

I am new to the board and fairly new to Alberta(5 months). I spent ten years running a fishing/hunting camp south of Kamloops BC and now reside in Fox Creek. Was out Friday morning putting the stalk on a 40" Moose but couldn't get closer than 100 yds. The elk are rutting right now down near the Little Smoky River off the Bigstone and Friday morning was the only time in the past four days that bugling was heard and they were going NUTS! Not a sniff since then...

[KingBogger]

I plan on going to 353 for the first time looking for a cow in early October. Are these roads that are metioned marked (bigstone/tornado), how can I find them? I plan on going in from the South via Hiway 40. I couldn't see anything on any of the maps that I have.

[Alberta Redneck]

Drive the forestry trunk road from muskeg corner, turn east on the 4000 road and as soon as you cross the Simonette River you are in 353. If you don't have a good map i suggest you get a backroads mapbook.

[whiskybaron]

Just to clarify alberta rednecks directions as you turn east on the forestry trunk road from hwt 40 the right hand side or south side of the road is 353all the way down to the 4000 road. If you go this way make sure you know were the road corridor wildlife sanctuaries are they are marked but hwy 40 from the berland river to the muskeg and the start of the trunk road heading east till you hit the smoky mainline is all sanctuary and well monitored for such. It is also sanctuary if you turn south onto the smoky main and simmonette road, but they are all marked for this purpose, and to get past the steel gate refered to on the 4000 road you go down the smoky to the ghost main and follow it to the end that is where the tornado road startsand will bring to the back side of the gate talk to the oil guys in the area you can usually get the combination to the gate if it is not already open. All the main roads are marked and if I knew how to post I have some oil hand drawn maps of the roads and names in the area I could send you.

[KingBogger]

Great Information, thanks....

[outlander]

will be heading over to 352 for cow moose on thanksgiving weekend.me and my brother had good huinting there last year. my question is it worth while to pick up a general elk tag? and if so, where to go look for one in that general area. will be camping south of the little smokey about half way down the WMU.
my thanks for any info.
chris

[Supermag]

Hey! This thread popped up when I was googling for some info on this. I have the backcountry map books, and was thinking of runing around the SW portion of this WMU to look at filling our cow elk and cow moose draws.

Any info that anybody is willing to share would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Dave

[Supermag]

I also have a bunch of ETopo Maps on CD that I would be willing to trade for good tips in 353

[Supermag]

A tip for anyone using the Backroads Mapbooks in 353... The data must be quite old. We wasted a lot of time trying to get to places only to find that a lot of the roads in the book have been abandoned for 20 years. Some we explored by quad, but they wer not suitable for trucks at all.

We spent most of the weekend down in the Deep Valley and various spots along the Simonette Mainline.

Lots of bear sign, including some Grizzly sign, elk tracks here and there, but no replies to any bugling. Didn't see a moose either, so we are still undecided on what part of this WMU to head to for the rifle opener to try and fill cow moose and cow elk tags.

We ran into a local guy along the Little Smoky with one of those Japanese Mini-Trucks. Pretty slick rig. Nice guy. We chatted for quite a while. It sounds like the elk are bugling all over the place. We just didn't hear anything.

Next time we go, we'll be out for a week, so hopefully it will go better.

[moosemad]

Pretty sure a good chunk of that zone is reserved for calf moose only draw. Was posted at one time.

[kidd]

Justto clarify the west portion of the zone is the area where you can draw an Antlerless tag. Used to be calf only but that was changed two years ago.
Bull moose are on a draw anywhere in the zone. Never seen elk, just tracks.
kidd

[whiskybaron]

If you are loo0king for elk in that zone stick to the the area near the old airport at smoky tower or around the 4000 road that is were they will be the few that are in the far west around the simmonette mainline and ghost area are few and hard topin point. just be careful of the zone boundries they can be little tricky.

[gramps73]

what part of the wmu is the old airport in. I have hunted around fox creek.
thanks for the help
g

[Paule]

Hey gramps, not carrying a tire iron for your trailer and backpeddling through the grass cause you think a human bear is gonna charge you doesn't constitute hunting in the fox creek area!!lol 1 month and the fun begins!!

[whiskybaron]

Hey Gramps

The old airport is south of the smoky forestry tower, as you are coming to the tower from the west you turn south, it is the first road west of the entrance to the forestry tower, it does not look mech like a runway any more the last time I was there there was a fuel cache and a stock pile of mill logs. (keep in mind that if you turn north off the trunk road at this point you would be in 356 not 353), but south is good. If you need further claification PM me I do have some rough drawn maps of the roads in the are if you are interested that were given to me from the oil guys that work in thet area.

[Helix]

Drawn for antlerless moose in 353,will be parties 5th consecutive year,I have detailed surveyors map showing every road- cutline -stream-landmark -terrain-gps coordinated includes moose and bear sightings from over 3 years of hands on work within area, a case of beer would get ya a copy.

[Jamie Black R/T]

this thread is nearly 4 years old.