Wainwright for Sharp tails

[densa44]

How many of you people are coming? This is a great place for you and your dogs. In fact there is no place that I know like it. It has been an Army camp for over 100 years, and a park before that. The Forces have kept like a part, and it is about the size of Prince Edward Island. It is free. There are Sharp tails and you and the dogs will have miles and miles of prairie to hunt with no one bothering you.

It is a bucket list upland hunt, all wild birds.

Bring water for your dogs, and non toxic shot. The birds are hard to get, when the dog points, she is probable NOT pointing the closest bird, stay alert and tell her whoa, the first one you flush will not be the only bird in the flock.

Lots of fun and great practice for dog and owner.

[tikka250]

man i sure wish i could but i am minus a dog and hunting sharpies without one can be tricky. although if you ever want some company and an extra gun im not far away haha

[elkhunter11]

With all the crap that is going on , and all of the weapons being discharged on the base, I was surprised to see the non toxic shot stipulation. I am not even going to guess at their reasoning. I won't be making it this year, perhaps I will locate some sub gauge Bismuth shot for next year.

[Dog_River]

I would come but don't know anything about it ???

Dog_River

Originally Posted by densa44

How many of you people are coming? This is a great place for you and your dogs. In fact there is no place that I know like it. It has been an Army camp for over 100 years, and a park before that. The Forces have kept like a part, and it is about the size of Prince Edward Island. It is free. There are Sharp tails and you and the dogs will have miles and miles of prairie to hunt with no one bothering you.

It is a bucket list upland hunt, all wild birds.

Bring water for your dogs, and non toxic shot. The birds are hard to get, when the dog points, she is probable NOT pointing the closest bird, stay alert and tell her whoa, the first one you flush will not be the only bird in the flock.

Lots of fun and great practice for dog and owner.

[densa44]

It does seem strange that they would have a rule about non toxic shot but when you see the place it looks like the prairie must have looked when Colonel McLeod arrived. The Army has not let soldiers just run around and fire weapons. They rent parts of the land to farmers who graze their cattle, this makes use of some of the grass and makes it a bit easier to hunt.

They only allow sharp tail hunting one weekend per year. That is not very much pressure. They count and identify each bird shot as sex and age, so they have excellent data on how many birds are being produced.

You won't need a lot of shells, the birds are as wild as they were 100 years ago and they are sharp tails so you'll only get one chance at a pointed bird.

There is a small camp ground on the Edmonton side of Camp Wainwright and it will have lots of trailers and dogs.

If you want to try your dog on wild birds this is the hunt for you. It is very physically demanding.

[WingmanGSP]

When does this take place? Long drive for just a few days of hunting but if it can tie in with another hunt it might work.

Grant

[densa44]

The September long weekend.

[shedcrazy]

The Camp Wainwright Grouse hunt is always labour day weekend. Runs Sat-Mon (3-5th of Sept) as outlined in the regs. Sharps and ruffies are the only birds open inside the base with the same limits as outlined in the regs.
Enter at main gate and follow signs to the check station. The gate is manned and ID might be checked at the gate, possible Veh and/or weapon check (last year limited Vehs were checked). So have easy access to all ID, licences, weapons, etc or possibily expect delays. This occurs daily now for everyone entering the base so it's not special or different for the hunt. It also might or might not occur. Just a heads up is all.
The first safety brief will be at 0700 Sat but will be given throughout the day if needed (coffee and treats help ). Next day's first brief will be announced at the check station for the following day.
Yes, it's non-toxic shot on the base. It's a federal requirement. BTW can't really compare military use and hunting when discussing the pros or cons of non-toxic and toxic shot and lead poisoning. Not many sharps flying around with a 105 round in them.
Spring counts were similar to last year so I expect similar bird numbers. The key and really unknown variable will be how all the rain this summer affected the hatch.
Hope to see some of the usual hunters there and some new ones. Hope the weather is nicer than last year.
S

[2 Tollers]

This is a good time to get out with the dogs and also if you have a big game draw on the base get familiar with some of the areas. Not a lot of hunting pressure and lot's of areas to walk about.

Shane's hint on treats is valid -- he likes his latte with a low fat non-milk product and a double shot of some type of caramel flavouring.

Hopefully we are not rained out this year.

[johnnyringo]

We saw tons of Sharpies when we were up there a few years ago. At least 50-100/day, thing is that was in Dec. and there was A LOT of snow! So you could easily see them in the tops of the bushes, but we would scare up coveys of 20-30 at a time.

[elkhunter11]

Seeing that Wainwright is only 90 minutes drive, I may try and fit a couple of days into my schedule. It would be good for the pup to get him on some sharptails. Then I just have to locate some non tox shot.

[PalHunter]

I am also planning to go for Sharptail hunting at Wainwright CFB .
I have never been to Wainwright area so i dont know much about this area.

Where is the main entrance located for Wainwright CFB?

Thanks,
Pal

[Bigwoodsman]

I won't be going this year, possibly next. Those of you who are going please post up pictures of this event.

Thank you,

BW

[shedcrazy]

There will be a sign on Hwy#14 on the west end of town that says Camp Wainwright. Turn south go over the overpass and you will see the gate. Once there and thru the gate follow the orange hunt signs to the check station. It will open at 0630 and the first brief is at 0700.

[shedcrazy]

We had a great opening morning.

[IMG][/IMG]

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by shedcrazy

We had a great opening morning.

[IMG][/IMG]

Excellent! Hoping there are good numbers on the base, myself and several other people plan on being there in the morning.

[elkhunter11]

We had a good morning flushing five coveys in about two hours. Three coveys flushed at long distance before Butch could point them, but he pointed three birds at 15-20 yards, and I got two of them. He has never marked more than one bird, so he had to search for the second, but he found both birds. Then my friend had a chance on a covey of eight birds at about the same distance, but he got excited and had his safety on, and never realized it until the birds were out of range. Then Butch started to run out of energy, and my friend's supposedly waterproof boots leaked, and his feet became tender, so we called it a day and came home. We heard many shots nearby, sometimes as many as four or five at a time, so other people were also having luck finding the birds. It was a fun morning, and I am very happy with how my pup performed.

[2 Tollers]

Got out with the old dogs (12 & 13) for the weekend. Saw a few people at the briefing and staying in the campground that we had not seen for a while. With my dogs now being fully deaf we had to change the type of cover we hunted so I could keep track of them. We managed a few birds and had a great time walking around.



A big thanks to the base and F&W staff for putting this on.

[densa44]

I didn't see a bird, but we put up 4 mule deer does and a very nice young Bull moose. The moose was in range for my 20 ga.

It helps a lot if you have an idea where to look when you start and by the time I found it it was time to go home.

We knew all the PP owners and they did fine.

I do think that being old and fat is a liability for this kind of hunting. I walked miles and the dogs way more. The girls are both pregnant so their season will end soon.

[2 Tollers]

Densa sorry to hear on your low success. Next year we can talk about some locations that are a little more forgiving to get around that also hold birds. Being more forgiving to get around also will mean that they attract more hunters as well.

Normally on the three days I hunt for 4 to 6 birds (2 meals) and then start exploring looking for new or different areas. My exploring this year found a couple of spots that I will not go back to and one new sweet spot.

All the best for success in your pheasant hunts

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by densa44

I didn't see a bird, but we put up 4 mule deer does and a very nice young Bull moose. The moose was in range for my 20 ga.

It helps a lot if you have an idea where to look when you start and by the time I found it it was time to go home.

We knew all the PP owners and they did fine.

I do think that being old and fat is a liability for this kind of hunting. I walked miles and the dogs way more. The girls are both pregnant so their season will end soon.

We were quite fortunate in choosing a location to hunt, and I will gladly provide you with the location next year when we go again. I saw Sharptails in the area while hunting deer and moose, and they are still hanging around in that location.The area is large enough for a couple of groups, with plenty of birds. You have met my friend, he isn't old, but he is a large person, and he was easily able to get around , as the terrain was quite forgiving where we hunted. We also saw a young bull moose, and several mule deer. I intend to draw antlered moose on the base for 2017, so we will use next years hunt as a scouting trip for moose, as well as for a bird hunt.

[barry1362]

Boom


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