Looking to hunt elk for the first time

[5k8ta]

Looking to hunt elk for the first time up in the grand prairie region.
i don't have land permission so ill be on crown the whole time up there.
Any tips with this area or on hunting elk!
Thanks

[Norwest Alta]

Haven't seen a elk up here in years. Good luck though.

[Nyksta]

If you can find the herd, they are easy to take... getting them out after obviously requires some lifting, more if they fall in a deep ravine or something.

[5k8ta]

Originally Posted by Norwest Alta

Haven't seen a elk up here in years. Good luck though.

i was told WMU 358 is a good place for elk just a lot of people.

[Nyksta]

so you've never hunted elk before and it sounds like you've never been to the area before.

Hard to plan and prepare for when it is completely alien to you, advice from forums is not enough. Check out the area in person and you will be able to see where the elk are, and what the area is like so you know what you will need. You should have some connections in the area so that if an unexpected event happens you can have someone to throw you a lifeline.

[Norwest Alta]

Originally Posted by 5k8ta

i was told WMU 358 is a good place for elk just a lot of people.

I can't say they're not there because I've seen tracks. Just haven't seen elk. Steered a fella from here to 355. He had good luck seeing some nice bulls but couldn't get the drop on them.

[CritterCommander]

Saddle hills is where you want to go!

[elkdump]

There is some excellent elk hunting 30 minutes south of GP on Hwy 40 , just get off the Hwy a couple Kms , drive some O&G roads in that vicinity , find tracks, hunt the gullies and heavy growth slopes facing the NE where it is wet cool for bulls to wallow and hide thier harems,
Best have a ATV to recover your meat , and get bact to the Hwy

[reddeerhunter]

Wear orange. Even in archery.

[elkonthemind]

Elk take years to learn for just a specific area. Sure every year guys get lucky but to continually take a elk ever year takes alot of leg work and scouting learning the heards routines and where they go in rut u could spend 10 days up in that area and not even see a single elk. my advice to u is if u want to elk hunt take up bowhunting u get alot more understanding of elk that way.

[albertadeer]

Hahaha!

Saddle hills! The elk wonderland!

Pretty much half of Newfoundland comes to hunt it too... Don't worry, they just shoot cows and spikers... And don't worry about the locals who have hunted there for 20-50years. They don't care if you push them out of they're areas and claim them as your own....

[elkdump]

Originally Posted by elkonthemind

Elk take years to learn for just a specific area. Sure every year guys get lucky but to continually take a elk ever year takes alot of leg work and scouting learning the heards routines and where they go in rut u could spend 10 days up in that area and not even see a single elk. my advice to u is if u want to elk hunt take up bowhunting u get alot more understanding of elk that way.

So true, I got lucky and scored an elk almost every year for about 35 seasons,
All were 6 point bulls or better,
with the exception of just 2 , 1 being a 5x5 bull and the other being a cow

Most of them killed within 50 yards in thick jungle/willow ,several killed within 15 yards, 1 shot at 9 paces ( a 6x7 bull), and all shot with a rifle of variable calibers, almost as many different and varying calibers as elk I've killed ,

A couple of not so exciting kills at 275 - 400 yards

[Bergerboy]

You guys are forgetting about the most important part of planning an elk hunt. We need to discuss the cartridge, bullet and zero range of the rifle to be used.

[elkdump]

Originally Posted by Bergerboy

You guys are forgetting about the most important part of planning an elk hunt. We need to discuss the cartridge, bullet and zero range of the rifle to be used.

Yup

[elkonthemind]

Originally Posted by Bergerboy

You guys are forgetting about the most important part of planning an elk hunt. We need to discuss the cartridge, bullet and zero range of the rifle to be used.

Sorry but that is one of the least important things about elk hunting. most calibers will do the job practice and place round good no problem. the most important thing about elk hunting is knowing there patterns if u dont know that u will only harvest elk by luck and chance. know where they move as the heard is usually always on the move know when they go out to feed when they bed down how to call in a bull these are all more important then picking rifle.

[elkdump]

Originally Posted by elkonthemind

Sorry but that is one of the least important things about elk hunting. most calibers will do the job practice and place round good no problem. the most important thing about elk hunting is knowing there patterns if u dont know that u will only harvest elk by luck and chance. know where they move as the heard is usually always on the move know when they go out to feed when they bed down how to call in a bull these are all more important then picking rifle.

And once you find a perennial elk rutting area , you can kill a bull there year after, year after year,

One particular area , over about 10 years , I have killed 7 or 8 bulls there and not farther than 6 or 7 hundred yards from where I killed the first bull ,

I have taken many people into that drainage, and none of them ever twigged on what it was, I never see hunters there, it is only 4 Kms from a major hwy,
On a cold clear morning you can hear traffic, lol
The elk don't care ! Either

[finner-duramax]

Originally Posted by CritterCommander

Saddle hills is where you want to go!

No it's not!

[finner-duramax]

Originally Posted by albertadeer

Hahaha!

Saddle hills! The elk wonderland!

Pretty much half of Newfoundland comes to hunt it too... Don't worry, they just shoot cows and spikers... And don't worry about the locals who have hunted there for 20-50years. They don't care if you push them out of they're areas and claim them as your own....

All the idiots I ran into over the past 10 years have been from Alberta, I always ask other hunters if they have permission. And if they do, who's the owner?! Simple at to tell if they do or not. Getting really sick of idiots ruining it for a majority of people who put time in.

To be honest I haven't even ran into a Newfie hunting up there. I have an acreage boarding the saddle hills.

[300magman]

Originally Posted by elkonthemind

Elk take years to learn for just a specific area. Sure every year guys get lucky but to continually take a elk ever year takes alot of leg work and scouting learning the heards routines and where they go in rut u could spend 10 days up in that area and not even see a single elk. my advice to u is if u want to elk hunt take up bowhunting u get alot more understanding of elk that way.

That right there is the truth.....took me several years of beating around the bush to finally find an area where I know that I can consistently find bulls every year.

[ManitobaSlim]

Your best bet for elk around GP is to probably go south. Do some weekend scouting trips between here and Grande Cache. Its busy in saddle hills and south of GP but I think you will have alot better chance south.

This year will be my first time hunting elk up here. I'm going for it with a bow.

[albertabighorn]

Originally Posted by elkdump

So true, I got lucky and scored an elk almost every year for about 35 seasons,
All were 6 point bulls or better,
with the exception of just 2 , 1 being a 5x5 bull and the other being a cow

Most of them killed within 50 yards in thick jungle/willow ,several killed within 15 yards, 1 shot at 9 paces ( a 6x7 bull), and all shot with a rifle of variable calibers, almost as many different and varying calibers as elk I've killed ,

A couple of not so exciting kills at 275 - 400 yards

Lets see some of those pictures

[reddeerhunter]

Originally Posted by albertabighorn

Lets see some of those pictures

Its nice to walk among legends ; )

[Surgeon]

Invest in the best binos you can afford.

[elkdump]

Originally Posted by reddeerhunter

Its nice to walk among legends ; )

When I started pursuing elk, there was no internet , and I knew of no one that hunted elk, so for about 8 or 9 years , I bought my elk tag faithfully/fruitlessly every season, those days there was ONLY general open season tags for 6x6 bull elk, no imies, 3 points or antlerless GOS season

So after walking hundreds of miles, hundreds and hundreds of days walking the bush and mountains, fighting mosquitoes, horse flies, bad weather, I figured out the patterns and habitual nature of RME ,

Once I had the method and hiding methods big bulls practice , It all became quite easy to kill 6 point bulls consistently year after year ,

I do not consider any of the hundred or so elk I guided hunters to kill a bull as partt of my bag record , and I only went guiding for about 20 seasons in the mountains of BC after I had killed a dozen or so bulls on my own tags,

And now when I go hunt elk, I walk alone