526 Cow Elk - Update Sucess!

[Positrac]

Wow. For some reason I thought getting landowner permission would be the hard part and it would be Elk a plenty from the amount of tags given out. Well, not so.

Permissions have been relatively easy to get. But after 2 solid days of hunting we’ve yet to see a elk track, let alone an animal. A few Whitetails and Muleys but not a pile. Most landowners we’ve talked to haven’t spotted a elk this year.

So why hand out so many tags if the population is not there? Is it just a money grab?

We still have a lot of the zone to cover so we aren’t giving up yet by any means. The good side is we have yet to run into another hunter and tomorrow’s a new day in another yet to discover area.

[norma]

what area of 526 are u? Have elk at my land?

[CodyCousins]

Same in all these northern zones, hundreds of tags handed out, season that runs into January! It’s crazy

[Positrac]

Originally Posted by norma

what area of 526 are u? Have elk at my land?

We’ve been top to bottom in Hines Creek and Bear Canyon.

[Munchymoo]

That does sound discouraging.
I’ll be in 522 next week.
Hopefully things pick up out there.
Keep us in the loop if things change.

[Positrac]

Day 4 down. Neither one of us have spotted a elk track yet. Ran into another group of hunters from the Edmonton area today who have also been at it for 3 days without a track spotted.

We’ve probably talked to 40 landowners in the last 4 days and no one has seen an elk since mid-September.

Everyone says they are in the river/creek bottoms. So we’ve quaffed down in5 desperate area and hiked the hell out of it tonot find a track. I’m stumped.

There are a few deer around though so the hunts not a bust in that regard.

[Z7Extreme]

Lol. Yep the tag numbers must be a money grab. The elk in 526 are hard to find, there isnt really a whole lot around. Probly have more luck down south where you can scout year round and learn to understand how and where and when the herds move around. Also their migration routes, cause they mostly dont winter or rut or summer in the same areas. The tracks Ive seen are real fresh every morning but they never use the same route to the bedding area twice and they are always off the field 1-2 hrs before legal light. Making them very hard to pattern. These elk arent anywheres near the river either. They are on the fringe land between 525 and 526. Try to find standing crops is all I can tell you.

[wbshunt]

Well good luck on the rest of your trip. We are heading up to that area today so I am hoping things turn around.

[Positrac]

Well, I’ve got to say I was having my doubts there were any Elk in 526. In total we went 5 days without seeing a track.

After making the initial post I was luck enough to receive some good intel. One AO member put us onto some land he owns that usually holds Elk but we combed the whole area for two days and they just weren’t there. A couple other members let us in on another area that has Elk and while we did see some sign it was a few days old. The area was mostly privately owned and try as we might we couldn’t get any permission. One farmer flat out told us he has a deal worked out with a local outfitter and wasn’t letting anyone else on.

So we were feeling a bit dejected starting out day 6 this morning. We decided to head back to the area that the original AO member told us about and on our way in just after legal shooting time we spotted a herd of about 20 cows and a few small bulls. They were on private land but heading across a large field into Crown land. We went around the field to the start of the Crown land and chased them around for the next 6 hours. They were in the bottom of a deep coulee heading deeper when we finally decided to call it quits. It would have taken days to get them out if we did shoot one.

Back at the truck we decided to head in to our original spot. On the way there we spotted a lone cow standing on a spur road in lease land we had permission for. She was gone before you could blink. I got out to take chase and had my partner drive down to the end of the 1/4 where the road turned and went in behind where the cow went. About a hundred yards into the timber I spotted a cow and after a quick shot followed by about 80 yards of tracking the blood trail we had cow#1 down. I no sooner caught up to her and I heard a shot from the road a short distance through the timber. That was cow#2 down for the count. My partner made a beautiful 200 yard shot on that cow as half a dozen of them came out and stood 20 yards off the road.

So, 5 days of seeing not a track and then a couple different herds today. We’ve been getting snow every day and then today was crisp and sunny. Maybe it was the change in weather that finally got them going. Maybe it was just being in the right place at the right time. Who knows?

I’d like to again thank the members who took the time to give us some advise and to relay that there were in fact some Elk in the zone.

[Hawkhills]

Originally Posted by Positrac

Well, I’ve got to say I was having my doubts there were any Elk in 526. In total we went 5 days without seeing a track.

After making the initial post I was luck enough to receive some good intel. One AO member put us onto some land he owns that usually holds Elk but we combed the whole area for two days and they just weren’t there. A couple other members let us in on another area that has Elk and while we did see some sign it was a few days old. The area was mostly privately owned and try as we might we couldn’t get any permission. One farmer flat out told us he has a deal worked out with a local outfitter and wasn’t letting anyone else on.

So we were feeling a bit dejected starting out day 6 this morning. We decided to head back to the area that the original AO member told us about and on our way in just after legal shooting time we spotted a herd of about 20 cows and a few small bulls. They were on private land but heading across a large field into Crown land. We went around the field to the start of the Crown land and chased them around for the next 6 hours. They were in the bottom of a deep coulee heading deeper when we finally decided to call it quits. It would have taken days to get them out if we did shoot one.

Back at the truck we decided to head in to our original spot. On the way there we spotted a lone cow standing on a spur road in lease land we had permission for. She was gone before you could blink. I got out to take chase and had my partner drive down to the end of the 1/4 where the road turned and went in behind where the cow went. About a hundred yards into the timber I spotted a cow and after a quick shot followed by about 80 yards of tracking the blood trail we had cow#1 down. I no sooner caught up to her and I heard a shot from the road a short distance through the timber. That was cow#2 down for the count. My partner made a beautiful 200 yard shot on that cow as half a dozen of them came out and stood 20 yards off the road.

So, 5 days of seeing not a track and then a couple different herds today. We’ve been getting snow every day and then today was crisp and sunny. Maybe it was the change in weather that finally got them going. Maybe it was just being in the right place at the right time. Who knows?

I’d like to again thank the members who took the time to give us some advise and to relay that there were in fact some Elk in the zone.

Nice when a plan comes together. Well done

Sent from my SM-N915W8 using Tapatalk

[sns2]

I love reading stories like this about perseverance finally paying off. Great job. Sounds like you fellas earned it!!!!

[play.soccer]

Wow AO members didn't crap all over someone for asking for elk help. Is this real life?

Good job OP!

[The Fisherman Guy]

Nice work Positrac! Congratulations on a delicious Elk!

We've hunted that area for the last few years, and it has never been easy hunting like we've heard.

[Munchymoo]

Congrats! Good job sticking it out and kudos to those who helped out.

[Stinky Buffalo]

Originally Posted by Munchymoo

Congrats! Good job sticking it out and kudos to those who helped out.

X2! Great to have AOers pulling together like that.

[mightybuck]

Good job on the elk. Report that farmer and outfitter the outfitters first name probably starts with the letter L. And has been charged up there before.

[Bub]

Good job indeed. There is plenty of elk in 526, but by no means it is an easy hunt, unless you have permission to that perfect quarter. Like positrac said, there are plenty of areas where if you shoot one, it would take days to get it out from, but that's where elk is. Sometimes they are everywhere though.

[astepanuk]

Great work good to hear you guys managed to tag out!!!

[Smokinyotes]

Congrats one of the best stories this year.

[Sooner]

Awesome thread to read. Congrats on your elk. I was in the same boat for my Suffield elk a couple years back. If it were not for some top notch AO guys, I would not have got one. Looks like some good eats on that cow.

[wildwoods]

So awesome. Wow good job boys!

[Freerider]

Took me 11days to get my bull there this year and I grew up there and still have all my family there. It’s not easy if you can’t get the right permission. Frankly I am surprised you didn’t have more trouble getting permissions. People get pretty protective about the elk locations (I am talking won’t even tell family protective). Unfortunately a lot people who make the drive up there have burned a lot of bridges with landowners by not treating their property with respect. I heard this from multiple family members and family friends who are not allowing hunting at all anymore because of it. Congrats on your success those are two well earned elk there.

[Xbolt7mm]

Originally Posted by play.soccer

Wow AO members didn't crap all over someone for asking for elk help. Is this real life?

Good job OP!

Unusual for sure but I’m glad it worked out for the op

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by play.soccer

Wow AO members didn't crap all over someone for asking for elk help. Is this real life?

Good job OP!

Like many things in life, the unpleasant people are the ones that get noticed, but for every one of them there are at least two who go about helping others without making a big show of it.

I know of a few AO members who have received help finding Elk from other AO members. I suspect they don't mention it here because that is not why they do it.

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by Positrac

So, 5 days of seeing not a track and then a couple different herds today. We’ve been getting snow every day and then today was crisp and sunny. Maybe it was the change in weather that finally got them going. Maybe it was just being in the right place at the right time. Who knows?

I’d like to again thank the members who took the time to give us some advise and to relay that there were in fact some Elk in the zone.

That's hunting for you, and part of the challenge. I'm happy for you.
Hope you have as much success in the future.

Now to see if I can do it too. I've never hunted Elk before so this is going to be a learning experience.

[outdoors forever]

Best thread in a long time on AO!

Congrats, I enjoyed the read

[protect]

happy u got elk. Hope now the hunter thanked the land owner personally for letting him hunt. that area can be hard to get permission

i gave hunters permission one time. they got game and not a thanks. so now permission hard to get.

Best thanks i got was from a hunter who shot nothing that year. he stills gets to hunt. first year he couldnt make it there but he still keeps in touch.

[DRE75]

Glad to see someone in the area saw and bagged elk, been skunked so far, might be the second year in a row. Way I see it, though is if it was easy, everyone would be doing it and it wouldn't be so special when it does happen.

(Way the wife sees it, shes starting to wonder if I'm actually going out hunting or if I have some mistress I keep going to see for days at a time )

[Positrac]

Thanks everyone. Much appreciated.

Being from Fort McMurray we are a good 8 hours away from 526 so due to time constraints and cost scouting was out of the question. My original intent for the thread was not to get someone to tell us exactly where to go but more to find out if there were Elk in the zone. Neither one of us has ever been or hunted it. I hunted once years ago in Fort St. John just over the border so I knew there would be deer in the area. I figured if the general consensus was that the Elk moved into the area late in the season then we would focus on Whitetails and make that our target. As it turns out the elk are there but in some of the hardest terrain to hunt and get them out of. For whatever reason this small group decided to leave their sanctuary and we happened to be in the right place at the right time. If day six had been our first day at it we would be thinking that it was a very easy hunt with lots of elk around. We know better and I’m thinking the vast majority of tags probably go unfilled.

I know there are people out there wondering why we would go to an area that we had no intel on or had never been to. I’m fairly new to Alberta having only lived here six years. Almost every zone in the province is new to me other than the area around Fort McMurray. Sometimes you just need to quit talking about something and just do it. I’ve been talking about going north of Grande Prarie for Elk for a few years but never did it because making that first trip is the hardest when you’ve never been there or aren’t going with someone who has previously been there. We were totally prepared for the first trip to be a bust while we learned the area.

As luck would have it we drove by the exact spot we ended up getting our Elk about 3 hours into the first morning of the hunt. Pure luck is all it was as we just picked an area on the map and started out. We may have never gone back to that area if it were not for some intel we got from a member on here who owns land close to that area and had an idea where the elk hung out once the season started and the pressure was on.

I did the same sort of thing last year when I decided to put in for a antlered Muley draw in 118. That turned out to be one of the best hunts I’ve had the pleasure to be on and I ended up with my best Muley to date.

So, my advise to everyone is quit thinking about it and just do it. Whatever your chosen target is you can’t get them sitting at home thinking about it.

[catnthehat]

Congratulations on the fine end to a tough hunt!
Cat