Moose in WMU 518

gunner022 · #1 11-01-2012, 11:21 AM

I have a Bull Moose tag for 1-30 Nov for 518. I've been unable to scout the area and wondering if anyone can offer any info on moose numbers in the area or any helpful tips for that matter. I'm not looking to sneak into anyones honey hole or anything, but whatever might help. I'm from the Military Base in Edmonton and dont know that area well. Likely looking at entering through the South in the Wabiskaw area. Feel free to shoot me a pm if possible.

Thanks in advance,

Al

labo441 · #2 11-03-2012, 12:38 PM

Got an undersubscribed tag as well. Some info on hunting in the wabasca area would help out.

Sparx · #3 11-03-2012, 07:07 PM

I hunt that area around Fort McMurray. Do yourself a favour, if it's anything like around McMurray right now stay out for a couple more weeks. I'm born and raised here and never seen it so bad for the ground being unfrozen with almost a foot of snow over top. You can't see the holes till you break through them, and then the edges are frozen and you have a hard time getting out. Just retrieved a sled from the bush and it wasn't pretty. Creeks are deep and edges frozen with about 2" of ice and centers open. Going across is like trying to use my UTV like an ice breaker and it's broken some plastic already. Unless you run into a moose next to a road or in a gravel pit I wouldn't bother. Not many areas in this territory you'll go with a pickup off road since it's really soft. Even so, the roads are super busy with industrial traffic like I never seen in this area so it's pretty essential to get off the beaten path as well.

Really bad time of year, was hoping to get the sleds out but unfrozen water crossings 2+ feet deep are holding that thought off let alone stalling in 2ft of muskeg on the sled. Everywhere I got stuck I was pulling trees down shackelling my 4000lb winch, just brutal. Wanted to go deep in after some big bulls, might not happen now...

gunner022 · #4 11-08-2012, 08:28 AM

Any more tips before I get deep into planning? I did a detailed map recce based some info from a gentleman that hunts the area regularly. But I'll take any info I can get. The recent snow and temp drop should help, but we are leaving near the end of the month, so you never know.
Thanks
Al

Scottie · #5 11-08-2012, 08:48 AM

Check out Cal's post on 542
http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=154949

518 is pretty much the exact same, spent many years up there pulled out a few really good bulls but nothing in the last 4 years.

Sparx · #6 11-12-2012, 12:03 PM

Was just out on the following friday and saturday. Big changes in the one day alone! Friday was -18C and we were still breaking through sections of muskeg and most of that changed for Saturday. I bought my late season tag friday morning at 10am and could have tagged out on a nice young bull by 1pm once we got into our area. I decided to pass since we have plenty of moose in the freezer and was looking for a +50" bull.

By saturday we couldn't break through sections the day before over top of our tracks no matter how hard we landed our machines on the ice/skeg sections we broke open the day before. It was hard to get in our heads that we were safest to stay on our tracks the day before??? We still did break through and get really stuck in a couple bad spots covered in snow, still really deceiving. I held off going to a new area on saturday because of not knowing the territory I would be driving over. Funny part was anything high in water content like creeks, and deep puddles over 1ft deep weren't an issue and frozen solid enough to hold 1,500llb utv's without even cracking...

The moose are out feeding, the bull we seen still was tending a cow. But feeding and not looking too worried. I managed to stalk up to within 50yds and could have done a head shot before I decided against shooting him. I still wouldn't try taking any trucks off road, I never recommend that anywhere up in the Fort McMurray area until December at least. Only place I'd worry about now is the tall grassy areas that look swampy with the snow covering them. Anywhere someone has been is pretty safe. Seen quite a few tracks in different sections of moose feeding hard in open cutblocks and wide open cutlines. Alot of signs that they are bulls too, only one cow and calf track otherwise.

gunner022 · #7 11-17-2012, 12:04 AM

Thanks for the update, I'm getting excited to get out there next week.

Sparx · #8 11-30-2012, 08:05 AM

How did you make out?

KevGuy · #9 08-15-2013, 08:26 PM

I think I got an november undersubscribed license for 518 this year (2013 year). The only ways I know in are McKay River Road at the top of supertest and tower road. Any other options people wish to tell? I'd like to do a hunt camp there this year.

Positrac · #10 08-19-2013, 07:31 PM

There's lots of bulls in 518 north of Ft. McMurray, but it's a tough hunt to do from the truck.

KevGuy · #11 08-24-2013, 12:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Positrac

There's lots of bulls in 518 north of Ft. McMurray, but it's a tough hunt to do from the truck.

Anybody interested in helping me harvest a bull from 518 in November? There is half a moose in it for you.

Positrac · #12 09-09-2013, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevGuy

Anybody interested in helping me harvest a bull from 518 in November? There is half a moose in it for you.

I've got a Bull draw for Nov 1-30 in 518 also. Tuning the Argo up right now! Good luck KevGuy.

KevGuy · #13 11-02-2013, 07:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Positrac

I've got a Bull draw for Nov 1-30 in 518 also. Tuning the Argo up right now! Good luck KevGuy.

Did you get out yet?

Dan Boone · #14 11-02-2013, 01:33 PM

I was lucky with moose in 518 4 years in a row a few years back.
All of them were taken within a km of Syncrudes sand placement dyke .

I concentrated my efforts there for 1 reason !
If a moose wants to travel from east to west or vice versa, they most likely trim the edge of the mine.

Havent been in there in a few years, but if industry hasnt flattened all the trees around the dyke , you might want to try there .

It worked good for me til i stopped hunting there .

Positrac · #15 11-02-2013, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevGuy

Did you get out yet?

Tuesday will be my first day out since the opener.

I wouldn't say that I've got one tied up but I know where a couple small bulls have been hanging out.

I'm kind of hoping the ground either completely thaws out or freezes up. I'm getting real tired of running the winch line out of the Argo.

Positrac · #16 11-14-2013, 07:06 PM

I've been hitting it pretty hard in 518 looking for a bull. I seen half a dozen cows since Nov 1 opener but no bulls yet. I decided to take the day off looking for a moose and went down to 512 looking for some deer. First spot I walked into there was a small bull with a cow. Boy did that hurt. At least I know what they still look like.

Spent the whole day down 881 with no deer spotted. Hunters everywhere. I parked on a dead end road at one point with a skidder trail off of the end that goes into a few small connecting cut blocks. I figured it would be a great place to walk as no one in their right mind would drive down it. Wrong. A guy on a quad drove past my truck and down the skidder trail. Half inch of fresh snow and buddy drives for a mile on top of my tracks. I don't expect to have the whole area to myself but I did find that a little ignorant.

Where did all the deer go? Not seeing them is one thing but in half an inch of fresh snow it would be hard for them to hide their tracks

bowhunter12 · #17 11-14-2013, 08:24 PM

DO some walking you'll see them. I seen 30-40 last week. Just gotta try and get away from all the quadders

hunterkurt · #18 07-11-2016, 02:12 PM

how is 518 for hunting in September?

Sparx · #19 07-11-2016, 03:10 PM

Busy on the roads, hard to find a private spot in accessible bush. Bugs are vicious and can be a pain until second week of October.

Positrac · #20 07-11-2016, 04:16 PM

I would second what Sparx had to say.

I know quite a few Aboriginal people who hit what roads there are pretty hard the couple weeks before opening. So finding one near a road is pretty tough the first few weeks of September. By the end of the month guys start to come out of the woodwork and it gets pretty busy.

518 is a tough zone to hunt and the only guys that I know that regularly get a bull have put in a lot of time to learn the area. If most guys knew how hard it was to get a bull out of there they wouldn't put in there. Between myself and a hunting partner we have had a bull draw each of the last 4 years. We haven't got one yet although we have been close.

If you have a jet boat your odds go up a bit. But this year with the fire happening between town and Suncor the a lot of cover has been burnt and the area may not hold the numbers that it did in the past. I've ran the river 4 times in the last month north of town and I've seen squat. Plus, invariably if you have a 518 draw the bull is always on the 530 side of the river.

If you have an Argo it opens up a few other areas that are hard for the quad or sxs guys to get to until things freeze up. I say hard, because the year before last we traveled in for 3 hours by Argo through muskeg and over swamps just to find three guys on quads camped there. I have no idea how they got there but they did.

Good luck, you're going to need it. Not trying to discourage you but it is a tough zone. There is a reason why so many Fort McMurray hunters go to Spirit River each year to get their moose.

Positrac · #21 09-18-2016, 08:46 PM

4 days down so far this season without seeing so much as a cow. Sign in the way of tracks is non-existent and I haven't seen so much as one old poop.

300K and not one other boater on the Athabasca yesterday. Not so much as a deer. We left the river and walked into several good spots that have held moose before but at each one we came up dry.

ArgoHDI · #22 09-20-2016, 10:26 PM

We have a trip planned for next Monday to do some scouting in 518. Visited the are we hunt in July after the fire to see how the area faired out and there were a few cows and at least one bull still in the area. Will post after the trip with what's moving in the area we hunt.

snowman93 · #23 09-20-2016, 11:02 PM

One morning out so far and seen one cow , lots of fresh tracks .

Positrac · #24 09-21-2016, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snowman93

One morning out so far and seen one cow , lots of fresh tracks .

Now you're just pi$$ing me off. Lol.

We'll be back at it this weekend. If anyone sees some sign in 518 or 530, doesn't have a tag and wants to pass on some information, I'll gladly take it in the way of a PM. I'd promise a bottle of your choosing in return if we happened to get lucky but someone would just come on here and say that it would be illegal so I guess I better not do that.

Sparx · #25 09-22-2016, 12:13 AM

POSI, I'll help you guys out in 530. Sorry but keeping my honey hole in 518 to myself. I passed on 2 young meat bulls within 3 days out there. Argo not needed either for the country I seen them in.

This world sucks, I would take a new guy out every year but my honey hole would be ruined. I can't even trust family and the closest of friends in there anymore...

Anyone else from the Mac need a hand I may be able to help out, just cover my expenses of using my machine and bring me some treats after the meat has been processed as well as the scraps and bones for my trapline buddy.
I even have a butcher lined up that can come to your house or can arrange a local butcher to take in the meat in their cooler as well and process it anyway you want. I had they make a bunch of sausage and peperoni before the wildfire and it was amazing before it got double smoked too long in my garage.

Positrac · #26 09-25-2016, 08:55 PM

Two more days down in 518/530 with not an animal spotted except a half dozen bears. That's six days in total for me this season without seeing a deer or moose.

With the water in the Athabasca down a foot or so from last weekend we ended up high and dry first thing in the morning on a large sand bar that we skipped easily over last weekend. So much for following a gps trail before it was fully light. A quick spin of the boat and a tug with the winch and we were soon on our way again.

We did end up finding some moose sign on a couple of the walks we did but not a call went answered.

hartsky · #27 09-26-2016, 10:04 AM

i was back in 518 on the weekend, lots of moose sign everywhere we walked. went to check out my moose spot and it was thrashed with tree rubs ended up seeing a small bull and then stumbled across a cow and calf. lots of bears as well. have a tag for november so hopefully theres some left

Positrac · #28 09-26-2016, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hartsky

i was back in 518 on the weekend, lots of moose sign everywhere we walked. went to check out my moose spot and it was thrashed with tree rubs ended up seeing a small bull and then stumbled across a cow and calf. lots of bears as well. have a tag for november so hopefully theres some left

Sounds like you have some good spots...I'd keep them to yourself or they won't be good for long. Everywhere I went I ran into people. I swear that everyone who had a moose draw was hunting this weekend. Ran into 4 other groups of people on the Firebag River alone.

Positrac · #29 09-30-2016, 05:57 PM

This is going to be the weekend!

HuntnVet · #30 06-18-2019, 11:40 AM

Hey reading thru this from a few years back. I've scored a nice bull once in 527 but looking to try either 537 or 518 for moose with my priority.
Any thoughts on which place is least crowded with people and fun to try the first time? ATV's ok or need an Argo in one or both? Week of Sept 24-30. i know 527 would be limited if no Argo. Any whitetail or black bears in either. 527 seemed all Grizzlies. Thanks a bunch.