Porcupine Hills Ridge Trail WMU’s 304 / Routes

[Mauser]

Hi guys
Someone knows how are the routes in porkipain hills. It’s open, snow , etc
Thanks in advance

[WinefredCommander]

Lots of snow!

[Dubious]

Bring a shovel and chains. Good luck on the rifle opener it should be pounded down by all the people on Sunday.

[jwelds191]

Originally Posted by Dubious

Bring a shovel and chains. Good luck on the rifle opener it should be pounded down by all the people on Sunday.

Do you know if Tim Hortons is setting up their kiosk at the gate again this year?

[cochlan]

I did confirm that Tim's will be setting up their mobile unit, but this year with the snow they will be set up at the bottom of the hill this year not by the tower!!

[capper]

Is this Tim hortons thing a joke? I don’t know anything about porcupine hills but it seems odd? Lol. Can’t imagine hunting where there is mobile food trucks to accommodate hunters. I’ve googled it, wmu 305 looks like a mix of crown and private land. Does everyone access the crown land from the same staging area? I have 0 intention of hunting the area, I’m just really curious. Must be some great hunting, or a complete gong show with elk watching the hunters trip over themselves lol.

[jwelds191]

Originally Posted by cochlan

I did confirm that Tim's will be setting up their mobile unit, but this year with the snow they will be set up at the bottom of the hill this year not by the tower!!

Ahhh good! Glad they're still coming out to this years' opener. I was worried I'd be drinking instant coffee instead of a nice DD

[KazIce]

Originally Posted by capper

Is this Tim hortons thing a joke? I don’t know anything about porcupine hills but it seems odd? Lol. Can’t imagine hunting where there is mobile food trucks to accommodate hunters. I’ve googled it, wmu 305 looks like a mix of crown and private land. Does everyone access the crown land from the same staging area? I have 0 intention of hunting the area, I’m just really curious. Must be some great hunting, or a complete gong show with elk watching the hunters trip over themselves lol.

When I was a kid I would go with my dad to 304 to hunt. It was awesome. I had not hunted there in over 12 years so last year I decided to go on the opener for 2019 general season.

What a gong show. I hiked up to the top of the first ridge as dawn was breaking. All I could see were headlights coming in. It looked MacLeod trail traffic. I saw a spiker bull and a couple of cows. But eventually no matter how far I hiked and where I looked I could see other hunters.

Walking back to the truck I saw 3 whitetail does. They ran west and over the ridge. 5 minutes later, gun shots from where they ran towards. As we make our way down to where our truck is I can see the road hunting contingent is aggressively working the roads already. Then I can see that every couple hundred yards there is a truck pulled over. When I saw all this hunting pressure I said f this I don’t want an elk that bad and we had lunch and then went home.

As we were leaving I saw a CO on the side of the road. Remember those does I pushed? Yeah a wise guy thought it would be cool to shoot two of them. He was dragging them back to his camp when the CO saw him. No supplement tag in that zone. Hahahaha I was so glad to leave that place behind.

I have friends who still hunt there religiously and do very well. But man, it’s an experience imo. You look at the harvest reports and it’s great out there. But be prepared for the crowd.

[upongrassy]

A great group has actually organized a few local vendors to supplement Tim’s generosity. Hunters can enjoy sandwiches, baked goods and even a few independent breweries will be amongst the trucks. Should be a blast!

[CaberTosser]

Wow, I’ve never heard of a mobile Tim’s at a hunting staging area, it sounds like something I’d rather avoid in terms of crowds but would be interested in witnessing the spectacle of. I hunt that zone, but not that area.

[artie]

There used to be or maybe still is someone on this forum who used to say

"pictures or it never happened"

[heybert]

Checking in with the guys that live around Claresholm to Pekisko to see how much snow you got. Any word on road conditions on the Nanton Road and Hwy 22 South of Chain lakes?

[daveyn]

Currently in Pekisko, I'm going to say about 4 inches of snow on the ground, very dry and easy to walk in, roads are pretty much bare on the 540 and 22.

We used to hunt 304 and 305 a lot back in the 90's with lots of success on elk and mulies. Had some time to kill late in the season last year so took a drive north on the Ridgeline. I swear to god there was literally no place where you could pull off the road and go for a walk, every little pull out had somebody parked. I did manage to squeeze my truck in lengthwise behind another vehicle in one of my old spots, went for a walk and just sat down leaning against a tree. In the space of about 1.5 hours I heard at least 15 - 20 gunshots. I packed up and went home.

[KazIce]

Originally Posted by daveyn

Currently in Pekisko, I'm going to say about 4 inches of snow on the ground, very dry and easy to walk in, roads are pretty much bare on the 540 and 22.

We used to hunt 304 and 305 a lot back in the 90's with lots of success on elk and mulies. Had some time to kill late in the season last year so took a drive north on the Ridgeline. I swear to god there was literally no place where you could pull off the road and go for a walk, every little pull out had somebody parked. I did manage to squeeze my truck in lengthwise behind another vehicle in one of my old spots, went for a walk and just sat down leaning against a tree. In the space of about 1.5 hours I heard at least 15 - 20 gunshots. I packed up and went home.

Tough day for that one 3 point bull by the sounds of it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bessiedog]

Honestly.... it sounds like popcorn popping in 305 that morning.


I’ve had guys scope me there..... it’s nuts.

[heybert]

Originally Posted by daveyn

Currently in Pekisko, I'm going to say about 4 inches of snow on the ground, very dry and easy to walk in, roads are pretty much bare on the 540 and 22.

We used to hunt 304 and 305 a lot back in the 90's with lots of success on elk and mulies. Had some time to kill late in the season last year so took a drive north on the Ridgeline. I swear to god there was literally no place where you could pull off the road and go for a walk, every little pull out had somebody parked. I did manage to squeeze my truck in lengthwise behind another vehicle in one of my old spots, went for a walk and just sat down leaning against a tree. In the space of about 1.5 hours I heard at least 15 - 20 gunshots. I packed up and went home.

Thanks Dave!

[hunterngather]

Its gonna get pretty soupy come Tuesday and beyond this coming week.

[heybert]

Had a great opening day in 304. Drove around lots trying to find the Tim Hortons truck. Every time we come upon a parking lot of trucks, we get told that the truck just left! Nice to see people driving out to the Porkies to hang out and enjoy a coffee. Skyline Road was the scene of bumper to bumper traffic, but all drivers were courteous to let each other pass on narrow areas. We went for a walk and buddy managed to bag a nice young w/t buck. No stink yet, but nice and fat.

[JustBen]

It was definitely busy but I managed to see some game. Everything but the cow elk I came for.

[dalewig]

Not 304 , but right adjacent I counted eleven trucks at one pullout on hw 22 heading into Waldron , and tons of trucks all along

[MaxxiD]

I had a great time there yesterday! Came home empty handed, but that just seems to be my luck haha

To the guy I was chatting to who had the bull moose tag, you should've waited til last light. Around 6.20 he came down from the north ridge and just walked straight up the road haha. I watched him for about 30 mins before I packed up

Can anyone confirm that the grazing lease off of Riley Riad doesnt require permission to access? That's what I says on the iHunter app anyway

[Ncameron]

Originally Posted by MaxxiD

I had a great time there yesterday! Came home empty handed, but that just seems to be my luck haha

To the guy I was chatting to who had the bull moose tag, you should've waited til last light. Around 6.20 he came down from the north ridge and just walked straight up the road haha. I watched him for about 30 mins before I packed up

Can anyone confirm that the grazing lease off of Riley Riad doesnt require permission to access? That's what I says on the iHunter app anyway

Be aware that Riley Road doesn't connect directly with the GL that I assume you're looking at. There is private land between the road and GL. There were many people driving and parking on a gravel road on the opener and to the best of my knowledge that road is private land and not GL. Best buy the county map to be sure. Also all of the other GL operators DO require permission along Riley Road as far as I'm aware. Best of luck to you.

[dukla]

Just got back from a trip down Skyline Road. Went in about 2km off the road by foot to retrieve my game cameras from the Fall archery hunt. Lots of douchebags slob hunting the roads, Skyline itself has a lot of snow and is pretty greasy.
On the way up ranchers had the road blocked pretty good moving cattle. Took about 90 minutes before I could pass.
Pretty much done for the season there.

[Tooeasy]

Hi all,

I’m looking at bow hunting 304 and curious if anyone has some points that might be a good place to start scouting? Thanks in advance

[Dubious]

Originally Posted by Tooeasy

Hi all,

I’m looking at bow hunting 304 and curious if anyone has some points that might be a good place to start scouting? Thanks in advance

check out the trail map for quads access https://www.alberta.ca/porcupine-hills.aspx

I know a fellow for Calgary Fish And Game worked really hard to get some trails open for gamer recovery last year. its not listed on that map but you should find out what trails give that access. The porcupine is a really busy zone I would also recommend the land owners map on Hunter so you can see what is lease what is private and what is crown. when they closed a bunch of the 400 zones for elk general in the 400's close to Calgary a lot of the displaced hunters shifted to that zone305 and 308 so the road hunting there on the limited roads is super heavy with convoys of 6-8 pickups not uncommon. guys setting up their trailers and leaving them out there all season in the camping spots is also not uncommon. the whitetail population is low and the mule deer population is high. guys get elk out of there with some success if they get private land access, I am not one of those guys almost always seeing more hunters in the bush than elk or whitetails and have given up on that zone during rifle season. coming in from the north is usually packed same with walking down the pipeline on the west side. best advise is just get out there and grind it out. with all the guys the game can get pushed around a lot leaving opportunity's for longer shots if your set up and ready. if you do see some elk from the road expect a foot race to close the gap I have seen multiple groups using the "who's team is the fittest foot race" technique especially on east sharpies at first light. good luck dont forget to stop at the mobile Tim Hortans on the rifle opener best advise I can give would be to use a quad to get away from the roads and then walk walk walk to get away from the quad squad running the few trails that are open. there is also a lot of pressure from the treaty guys looking for moose exercising their treaty rights.