Hunting in area around FortMac

[Daka]

Hello there,

I am planning to move to Fort Mac. pretty soon and would like to know what and how is hunting in that general area.
To all of those skeptical hunters that are afraid someone will come and kill all of their trophies, pls refrain from any comments. I am not looking for anyone's hunting or sweet spots if those exist. Not looking for a moose you tied to a tree and waiting to get a draw to go shoot him. Looking for general information and to know what game is mostly hunted and what game in general inhabit those areas. I never been north of Edmonton in the East side of the province and thus in Fort Mac either.

Is there a lots of lease roads and accessible points to hunting grounds, is there a deer and grouse that can be found. I can see that no draw system is needed for mulies. Is there any mulies that north in the province at all. Stuff like that I am interested. Also are there lots of black bear and wolfs as I use to hunt in northern Ontario and moose, bears and wolfs are all over the place. Is geese hunting any good around there.

[catnthehat]

Lots of good hunting up here but it can get crowded.
shoot me a PM when you get up here, and I'll show you around
Cat

[elkhunter11]

Having lived in Fort Murray for 35 years, I hunted bears near the city, and the odd grouse, but I traveled to hunt all other game, after the first couple of years. Yes there are some roads and cutlines, but most people have atvs or argos, so wherever access is easy, you can expect fairly heavy hunting pressure. Moose numbers are quite low , there are some whitetails, and some pockets of mule deer, but not great numbers other than bears. You can find some animals just not in the numbers found in other parts of the province.

[sns2]

Not being a downer at all. Just being honest. It’s kind of a perfect storm in that it’s bush and a river. City has a high population of Newfoundlanders who grew up hunting. You also have a higher amount of disposable income because of the high wages many earn. This allows them to buy the gear to get where they wanna go. You have cut lines and a river. Lots of competition. The good news is that it is mostly Crown land, so you have as much right as the next guy.

Take Catnthehat up on his offer if you are serious about getting to know the lay of the land.

I have family and friends up there. To go hunting, they get out of Dodge for the most part.

Good luck!

[LarryG]

I can tell you that several years ago, there were plenty of wolves that chased down any and all deer. After that, I only saw does inside the city feeding on the roadside.
I can also tell you that 50 miles north of ft mac and beyond, you'll see a fair amount of black bear. In that same area, I spent a good day with a buddy riding the trails on a side by side quad, and we didn't see one single track. We must have covered 50 miles that day.
Regarding type of deer, I've only seen white tails in that area.
Of course, my info is a year out of date, as I no longer live there.

[catnthehat]

I've been killing animals up here for over 45 years - every year, mule deer and white tails. I have hunted with patched round ball, single shots with irons and long range rifles as well as long bow .
I firmly believe that tougher hunting conditions make you a better hunter.
No, there are not the numbers or the sizes of moose and deer up here as down south , but they are up here .
There are still some big racked animals killed every year however , just not as many as down south.
Cat

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by Daka

. Is geese hunting any good around there.

As far as waterfowl go, it's tough for geese because they generally roost on the river for a night then continue south to Wandering River which has bigger water, wild rice and farm fields.
Ducks, well you can find ducks and geese at times in sloughs and jump shoot them, but you need to know how to do it.
Cat

[Daka]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

Lots of good hunting up here but it can get crowded.
shoot me a PM when you get up here, and I'll show you around
Cat

Will do, thanks a lot man.

[Positrac]

Take Cat up on his offer. That’s what I did when I first moved to Fort McMurray. He helped point me in the right direction and I’ve seen Whitetails and bull moose each hunting season since.

Tons of bears and I get a wolf or two every year.

It’s tough hunting but if you put your time in you’ll get animals.

[Daka]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

As far as waterfowl go, it's tough for geese because they generally roost on the river for a night then continue south to Wandering River which has bigger water, wild rice and farm fields.
Ducks, well you can find ducks and geese at times in sloughs and jump shoot them, but you need to know how to do it.
Cat

Thanks man. Would never guess that. I always imagine that far north is a heaven for hunters including waterfowlers. There is always something new to learn.

[Daka]

Does anyone hunt yotes and wolves over a call or a decoy?

How is the terrain and the roads as far as access after the rains or only when frozen?

Thank you all for the responses and the offers. I really appreciate it.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by sns2

Not being a downer at all. Just being honest. It’s kind of a perfect storm in that it’s bush and a river. City has a high population of Newfoundlanders who grew up hunting. You also have a higher amount of disposable income because of the high wages many earn. This allows them to buy the gear to get where they wanna go. You have cut lines and a river. Lots of competition. The good news is that it is mostly Crown land, so you have as much right as the next guy.

Take Catnthehat up on his offer if you are serious about getting to know the lay of the land.

I have family and friends up there. To go hunting, they get out of Dodge for the most part.

Good luck!

To add to the perfect storm, there are many out of town/province workers that get an Alberta address, and buy resident tags, and stick around to hunt their days off.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by Daka

Does anyone hunt yotes and wolves over a call or a decoy?

How is the terrain and the roads as far as access after the rains or only when frozen?

Thank you all for the responses and the offers. I really appreciate it.

If you don't know what muskeg is, you will soon find out. It's not bad to get around on when frozen, but can be miserable , when it's not frozen.

[Positrac]

Originally Posted by elkhunter11

To add to the perfect storm, there are many out of town/province workers that get an Alberta address, and buy resident tags, and stick around to hunt their days off.

Come on…that never happens..lol.

If the province was serious about game management they would crack down on out of province people hunting here as residents for sure.

[Positrac]

Originally Posted by sns2

Not being a downer at all. Just being honest. It’s kind of a perfect storm in that it’s bush and a river. City has a high population of Newfoundlanders who grew up hunting. You also have a higher amount of disposable income because of the high wages many earn. This allows them to buy the gear to get where they wanna go. You have cut lines and a river. Lots of competition. The good news is that it is mostly Crown land, so you have as much right as the next guy.

Take Catnthehat up on his offer if you are serious about getting to know the lay of the land.

I have family and friends up there. To go hunting, they get out of Dodge for the most part.

Good luck!

Might as well talk about the elephant in the room. There is only so much easy access and with multiple bands living within the region the area gets picked over pretty good by the time hunting season rolls around.

You can still get some game but half the battle is figuring out where they go when pressured, which is anytime after mid-July….

[Daka]

Originally Posted by Positrac

Might as well talk about the elephant in the room. There is only so much easy access and with multiple bands living within the region the area gets picked over pretty good by the time hunting season rolls around.

You can still get some game but half the battle is figuring out where they go when pressured, which is anytime after mid-July….

Good stuff to know, thanks.

[FortMac]

Originally Posted by Daka

Hello there,

I am planning to move to Fort Mac. pretty soon and would like to know what and how is hunting in that general area.
To all of those skeptical hunters that are afraid someone will come and kill all of their trophies, pls refrain from any comments. I am not looking for anyone's hunting or sweet spots if those exist. Not looking for a moose you tied to a tree and waiting to get a draw to go shoot him. Looking for general information and to know what game is mostly hunted and what game in general inhabit those areas. I never been north of Edmonton in the East side of the province and thus in Fort Mac either.

Is there a lots of lease roads and accessible points to hunting grounds, is there a deer and grouse that can be found. I can see that no draw system is needed for mulies. Is there any mulies that north in the province at all. Stuff like that I am interested. Also are there lots of black bear and wolfs as I use to hunt in northern Ontario and moose, bears and wolfs are all over the place. Is geese hunting any good around there.

Lots of Bears south of Town, within 45 minutes of Abasand I am bear hunting. Seen minimal to zero deer sign between Marianna lakes and Fort Mac tho.

[Chief27]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

Lots of good hunting up here but it can get crowded.
shoot me a PM when you get up here, and I'll show you around
Cat

Cat you're a class act! Finally a little positivity when a thread such as this comes up! Good on ya for offering to help a person out!

[tex92]

I lived there for 5 years only ever killed one deer and hunted hard. Now bears thats a differnt story, I still make a trip back there every fall to kill a bear. And you can always find a few grouse and jump shoot ducks. Hunting for me has definitely improved since I moved away from there. My success has gone up. how much game I'm seeing has gone up, and the different kinda game I am seeing has gone up.
But I feel like I should warn people. The areas I hunted were being logged when I lived there so roads were kept up, my last visit up there I noticed a huge difference in the roads and accessibility. Also there is no where in a 200km radius from that town I would leave anything, truck, boat, or atv etc parked in the bush over night. After my last experience I won't even camp in the bush around there when hunting. Theft and property damage is really bad.

[Mistagin]

I lived there for 8 years.
Lots of pretty good hunting, but ya gotta work for it.
Just get off the beaten tracks (a lot of people don't seem to want to get off of the trails and cutlines!). Lots and lots of land to explore, much of it pretty hard to get to without legwork.
Took my biggest WT buck ever literally in sight of town, no more than 1 1/2 km from my house in Abasand (as the raven flies).

[Daka]

Originally Posted by Chief27

Cat you're a class act! Finally a little positivity when a thread such as this comes up! Good on ya for offering to help a person out!

Stuff like that is what make this forum great. At first I was hesitant a bit to post a thread as usually there are negative replies.
All comments were pleasantly positive and informative for that matter.

Thank you all and especially those that offered help. Will defenetly have a beer or two once up there.

All the best.

[sns2]

Originally Posted by Daka

Stuff like that is what make this forum great. At first I was hesitant a bit to post a thread as usually there are negative replies.
All comments were pleasantly positive and informative for that matter.

Thank you all and especially those that offered help. Will defenetly have a beer or two once up there.

All the best.

You made this thread what it is because you made it very clear that you were not looking for anyone's spots and your request was a very reasonable one.

People get reamed a new one when they come on as newcomers and ask for people's spots. The world just doesn't work like that if you know what I mean.

Us old salty farts appreciate your thread, whereas there was a guy on last week asking if anyone had a pig problem that he and his buddies could come out and fix. LOL.

[Flight01]

If your hunting up here I would list a quad as high on the list of gear required. Not always required but gets you places.

Taken decent whitetail deer , taken moose and helped get out some decent bulls for other people.
Grouse hunting is year to year but decent
Ducks are ok, sloughs and small ponds or beaver ponds work for me.
Geese not so much but you can find them if you know where to look
Bear hunting is great, almost too easy.
Deer hunting is typical bush deer. South of town better than north in my opinion
Moose is hit and miss. Spend your time scouting with a deer tag in your pocket for the first couple years , you’ll find the moose and where to apply.

Spend time in the country you’ll be rewarded.

[Daka]

Originally Posted by Flight01

If your hunting up here I would list a quad as high on the list of gear required. Not always required but gets you places.

I will defenetly look into it especially if new place allows it for storage.

Spend your time scouting with a deer tag in your pocket for the first couple years , you’ll find the moose and where to apply.

Spend time in the country you’ll be rewarded.

I agree 100% and always have that mentality with hunting.

[Daka]

Originally Posted by sns2

You made this thread what it is because you made it very clear that you were not looking for anyone's spots and your request was a very reasonable one.

People get reamed a new one when they come on as newcomers and ask for people's spots. The world just doesn't work like that if you know what I mean.

Us old salty farts appreciate your thread, whereas there was a guy on last week asking if anyone had a pig problem that he and his buddies could come out and fix. LOL.

I asked before general information and then people would get offensive about it. I personally think if someone's points you like few here did " try south of town instead of north" or something like that is not really giving up any detailed information. More a pointer than anything else. Few people PM and I appreciate that a ton. I really appreciate everyone and thank you all for not throwing out those negative comments. They are the ones that kill every discussion on the forum.

[Daka]

Us old salty farts appreciate your thread, whereas there was a guy on last week asking if anyone had a pig problem that he and his buddies could come out and fix. LOL.[/QUOTE]

Speaking of pigs, I have been around everything around Red Deer and south to Waterton. As far west you can go and hunted a lot around Castor. I never seen a single one. One time I was not sure whether it is a feral or someone's runaway from farm so did not want to shoot it.

Are they really around that much that bounty is up for them. Is there any that far north in boreal forest. I always figured that they would inhabit farmland as it is an easy food source.

[Positrac]

Originally Posted by Flight01

If your hunting up here I would list a quad as high on the list of gear required. Not always required but gets you places.

Most definitely get a quad.

There are very few places you can get a truck in so a quad opens up so much more area. The lightest quad like a old TRX350 Honda with big/wide tires will take you farther up here than the biggest high-horsepower machine out there. You won’t go far before running into Muskeg and the lighter machine will ride on top of it farther and will be easier to get unstuck when you eventually get stopped.

There are pockets of Whitetails north of town so when things freeze up (usually after hunting season in November) I get out on the quad and bomb around looking for tracks. You can cover a lot of ground and find where those pockets are. Those deer aren’t far a month or two prior when in hunting season. Whitetails are not like Muleys and tend to stay closer to their home quarter up here and if you can find where the does live the bucks will find them in November too.

I’ve found a lot more good deer spots south of town along 881 and 63. They are still in pockets but those pockets are much easier to find because there is way more of them. I use the same method to find sign after freeze up. It’s all about putting time in and some of that time should be after the season ends and the ground is frozen. Most people never get out after freeze up. I seldom ever see tracks from another quad or sxs after the hunting season ends. It’s cold and desolate at that time of year so be prepared because if you run into problems you are on your own. That’s again why I chose an older Honda. Very few things to go wrong with it in comparison to newer machines. They are not real fun to drive but they always get you home.

Doing the same will help you figure out where the moose go too although they seem to cover a lot of ground. After the rut ends in October the bulls tend to be where you find them. I spend a lot of time from the bow opener Aug 25th until the end of October on the local rivers. Lots of jet boats in town and guys get moose every year from them but in a bigger boat it’s all pretty much running or sitting anchored up. I have a small inflatable Solar with a 25hp Merc jet. I run and sit too but I also run and then drift back down for hours at a time. Anchor at each corner and call. It’s hard to drift in a big boat and they draw way more water at rest so on the smaller rivers that twist and turn it doesn’t work well drifting in a big boat. I’ve been anchored up watching or fishing when a Moose has come out to wallow in the river. They haven’t been too bothered by me but then in the distance you hear a big jet boat coming and long before it rounds the corner that moose is gone. They know what boats are and while you’ll still see some the smart ones are gone and they all learn fast when the rivers get busy in late summer. As mentioned before, there are a lot of people up here with treaty rights that can shoot any moose at any time. Not saying I disagree with them being able to do so, I actually support them having that right, but it is a fact that a lot of the carcasses you’ll find along the river don’t have antlers so moose no matter whether they have antlers or not learn real fast what a boat is and the dumb ones end up in a freezer.

[aragor764]

Great info guys! Glad to see solid solid guys like Positrac and Catnthehat helping the guy out like they did for me so many times! I would add a sidenote, it is possible to hunt without any sxs or quad, i have been doing it for a few years, but a quad is definitely handy!

[Big Grey Wolf]

When I lived in Ft Mac, after few years of hunting decided most of country/muskeg rated quite poor for moose. We always went south and west to better areas. Lastly without a quad/boat you have very limited chance of success. In Alberta foothills,lots of forestry/oil roads so you can access good moose areas without a quad.
However Posi and Cat have lots of experience and good advice around Ft Mac.

[FortMac]

Went out last night and seen 5 bears, probably would have seen more if the Sun was out and it wasn't cloudy. No situations presented a shot. Pipeline on the West side of the highway is greening up pretty good.