WT population in WMU 353

[OWL]

Haven't been in 353 for at least 4 years.
How is WT population up there? Looking just for meat animals, nothing special.
Will appreciate any comments.
Thank you.

[Big Grey Wolf]

Very few whitetails as zone hit hard by large number of moose hunters, they clean out the wt,s as plan B.

[7magtime]

And the high population of predators take a good portion of what's left.....

[OWL]

Thanks guys. Not good. World changed in a last 4-5 years while I was fighting Arthritis. Fox Creek area was my favorite.

[kidd]

I spent 7 days in 353 last fall and saw more moose than deer. No joke. And I didn't come home with my moose.
kidd

[1bowhunter12]

Originally Posted by Big Grey Wolf

Very few whitetails as zone hit hard by large number of moose hunters, they clean out the wt,s as plan B.

I do t understand where you come up with this stuff...

[husky7mm]

Originally Posted by OWL

Thanks guys. Not good. World changed in a last 4-5 years while I was fighting Arthritis. Fox Creek area was my favorite.

I work out that way fairly often, Valleyview and whitecourt too. The deer population bottomed out a yr or too back and are in a slight upswing. Slight.
I never saw these areas during the golden yrs but sure wish I had. There are a lot of folks in Northern Alberta with big bucks on their wall that don’t have a clue how to “hunt” anything but the populations where strong and they lucked out.

If your familiar with the area return and give it a go. There are ups and downs. Whitetail populations are cyclical and unfortunately they are not really managed with any more consideration than coyotes.

Did you cure your arthritis? If so what did you do?

[husky7mm]

Originally Posted by OWL

Thanks guys. Not good. World changed in a last 4-5 years while I was fighting Arthritis. Fox Creek area was my favorite.

It also had the Chit developed out of it which also played a role. But like I said in my other post, if you had it dialed in its worth checking it out for your self again.

[zouzou123]

Pulled a cow moose and 2 white tail does in October 2017 from 353 (3 hunters 4 days)

[bdub]

They have thinned the whitetail population down to a fraction of what it was ten years ago in the zones N of Hwy 16 that I am familiar with. To many years of supplemental doe tags and a couple rough winters really did a number. Used to be nothing to go see 50 bush deer a day. Now you can drive that country for days without seeing a deer or hardly a track. From experience working in the country east of GC, upper ANC road and N of Hinton and driving thousands of km. There are still pockets, but nothing at all what it used to be for sure.

[Snap Shot]

Been about 3yrs myself in the area. But used to see a fair amount 20-30+ a day where the 947 meets the anc. That’s not actually trying to look for them. Still had potential on some solid bucks as well

[Sooner]

Originally Posted by 1bowhunter12

I do t understand where you come up with this stuff...

Same thing happened in my go to wmu(516) years back. When deer were on a general tag, 1 either sex, tons of WT. Enough that the local outfitter had stands back in the bush everywhere. Supplemental's came in, 2 doe tags. Seemed like everyone had an ant moose tag(tough zone to fill consistently) but lots of WT and the does were hammered hard. Every road side camp had deer hanging year after year. Didn't take long to notice the deer numbers dropping. Wolves and a few bad winters did the rest. Still hurting out that way. Don't see much for outfitter stands either anymore.

Not a stretch what Big Grey Wolf said.

[husky7mm]

Originally Posted by Big Grey Wolf

Very few whitetails as zone hit hard by large number of moose hunters, they clean out the wt,s as plan B.

Yes, a consolation prize. White are managed like coyotes, ie not at all.

[outdoorsman12b]

You should tag out for a deer. Lots of them in there. Had best success first and last light in the area. There is a big wolf/coyote population there as well that can ruin a few days of hunting for you. They are very sensitive to motorized vehicles in the area so best to get where you want and move around quiet.

[OWL]

Thank you everyone!
We will go to 353!