Beautiful North NWA
My son and I were at Suffield last week for the first of the three seasons this year. We hunted the base 4 years ago when no hunting was allowed in the NWA. The greater Elk population at that time combined with earlier (and warmer) seasons in November allowed for success in many areas of the base as the Elk were not in such concentrated herds. Fast forward to this season.
There are three things at play that made the hunt challenging this year: Firstly, the extreme cold a week before the season opened on Jan 20th. caused the Elk to close up into massive herds. Secondly, it is my opinion that the habitat is much better in the NWA. Thirdly, for as long as this hunt has been offered, the Elk have very much learned that the NWA is the safest place to be.
With all this said, over the three day season I would say it was one of the most unbelievable, gruelling, and satisfying hunts I've ever experienced. And we didn't even kill anything.
We did not get drawn for the North NWA the first day so easily qualified for the south portion. I'm sure there was the odd animal in the south, but not enough to flush out. However, it was the first time in there and it was a really interesting place that I'm sure would hold Elk at other times of the year.
We were fortunate to get drawn the second day for the north NWA and after some quick consultation with the Biologist (who by the way was extremely helpful and knowledgeable) we were off.
After walking in for about 1.5 km, we came across a sight I will never forget. Hundreds of Elk in various sized herds were present. My son will say I'm exaggerating at about 2000 in total, but I'll compromise at 1500 (sorry GrayHunter) We proceeded to execute stalks on the herds that took another 4 hours and about another 3 km of boot time. The closest we got to a shot was 420 metres. I'm proficient out to 300 metres at the moment, so no shot was fired. Sneaking around hills, crawling on our knees, attempted flanking took us to a point where we ran out of cover and sadly, had to salute the herd for their survival instincts.
We did not get drawn for the third day so hunted the rest of the base. Mostly the area directly west of the North NWA. Even with almost all of the Elk in the NWA, over the course of the day we still observed a herd of 10 bulls (with one lone calf in the middle, which was curious) and had a chance at a group of 4 cows.
I wanted to keep this shorter than I did, but also wanted to convey to anyone that is considering this hunt, that with access to the NWA now, it is a very cool hunt. Over 3 days we logged 30 km. of boot time, saw uncountable herds of Pronghorn, plenty of monster Mulies, and a bunch of Whitetail.
Much thanks to the Base Personnel, Fish and Wildlife Officer, and the local Biologist. They were all extremely organized and helpful.
I would do this hunt again in a heartbeat. And for you Bull guys?, we walked right past a 6 point at 70 metres, and could have taken numerous other smaller ones, so still possible. I'm guessing that maybe a hundred or so Elk might be taken over the course of all the seasons this year so sadly the herd reduction goal will not scratch the surface. Rather, the population could easily be up to 3600 plus next year. Sorry farmers, we tried our best. The Base Commander is going to have to open up those early seasons again if they want to achieve the goal (1200 I think?)
In conclusion, I'm grateful for the opportunity. Elk meat is super tasty and worth the effort. Some seriously fun Father/Son time was had.
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