Walking Hunts

[wscott]

Hello,

I am from Calgary and I have been hunting the surrounding areas for years and with great success. As it turns out with COVID a lot of people have the same idea for hunting season; research and use the available tools to their advantage and plan for hunting trips, unfortunately this is causing a lot of pressure. What I am also encountering is increased frustration on land owners because with certain apps or tools everyone has the contact information at their finger tips. I am not saying this is a bad thing, it is just another challenge to the hunt but I do empathize with the landowners.

I am kindly asking for some recommendations to WMU's, I do not need specific directions, GPS coordinates to your honey holes, just good ol fashioned guidance, from there I will do the rest. Preferably foot access only and I do not care about the terrain, as long as there is big game I am super happy.

Overall I am just looking for the ability to safely take my son out and experience the outdoors without the hassle of running into droves of people. I love the outdoors as much as everyone on here but it is getting really discouraging running into people all the time. I did have an epic scare one time that involved someone discharging a firearm, then sitting in the Turner Valley RCMP, being interviewed, filing a police report and not returning to the area for years.... I tend to shy away from high traffic areas.

Thank you for your consideration and please feel free to DM me.

[buckman]

I find that once you are 3 or 4 KM back from the main trails there are very few hunters in foot access areas.

[obsessed1]

Your only real good option is getting further away from the city. Most guys will hunt convenient wmu based on where they live/ easy access. Your looking for the inconvenient wmu with difficult access. Go further than your contemporaries and you should find the solitude your looking for. Sometimes this is simple as the nasty thick steep spots no one else wants to hunt. In pressured areas critters hole up in these spots quite well and only the hard cores are willing to go after them. Where I live ( the " famous saddle hills") it's usually a gong show with hunters all over the place.....where it's easy walking/ driving..ECT. I NEVER have run into other hunters in the areas I hunt cause it's in thick nasty bush thats extremely hard to access, let alone get game out of. No one else seems to think it's worth the work...allows me to hunt in peace

[slough shark]

There really is not much of a secret if you want to get away from people, you do one of 2 things, if you’re in the West Country or the crown land up north get off the road a couple hundred yards and you’ll likely see few people. The other option is get permission on private property, depending on where you still need to get off the road a little but it being private limits the number of people around hunting. Going to a specific wmu means very little as it’s generally the same everywhere you go (outside of almost driving to nwt) follow that guidance and you should be fine.

[MyAlberta]

Originally Posted by wscott

Hello,

I am from Calgary and I have been hunting the surrounding areas for years and with great success. As it turns out with COVID a lot of people have the same idea for hunting season; research and use the available tools to their advantage and plan for hunting trips, unfortunately this is causing a lot of pressure. What I am also encountering is increased frustration on land owners because with certain apps or tools everyone has the contact information at their finger tips. I am not saying this is a bad thing, it is just another challenge to the hunt but I do empathize with the landowners.

I am kindly asking for some recommendations to WMU's, I do not need specific directions, GPS coordinates to your honey holes, just good ol fashioned guidance, from there I will do the rest. Preferably foot access only and I do not care about the terrain, as long as there is big game I am super happy.

Overall I am just looking for the ability to safely take my son out and experience the outdoors without the hassle of running into droves of people. I love the outdoors as much as everyone on here but it is getting really discouraging running into people all the time. I did have an epic scare one time that involved someone discharging a firearm, then sitting in the Turner Valley RCMP, being interviewed, filing a police report and not returning to the area for years.... I tend to shy away from high traffic areas.

Thank you for your consideration and please feel free to DM me.

My experience has been that I like to go out and spot terrain and the animals that inhabit those areas. That is also the time to introduce yourself to landowners, and seek thier permission to access thier lands. Landowner maps are a requirement. This process is as much about hunting, and something you absolutely want an up and coming hunter to learn early in thier pursuits. Permission gives you he right, although maybe not exclusive, to actively hunt those lands, without objection from other hunters. It’s a position of privilege, bestowed upon you.

We spent the last month waterfowl hunting in Saskatchewan. We repeatedly had the best hunts, even over the guides, because we spotted, obtained permission, setup early, and politely told the guides to take a hike when hey encroached on our sets. Permission is a thing of beauty, and best of all, opens up some of the best hunting opportunities in the province.

[sns2]

I understand where you are at. My suggestion is to look at harvest reports. Find areas where hunters experience success. Then look in those WMUs to see if there is much crown land. Head there and go for drives. Now. Where you see game, get out and go for a nice walk down a cutline to get away from the roads. Find game trails. Set up downwind. Unfold a portable chair. Have a cup of coffee or tea. Enjoy the peace. Wait for deer to come out at the witching hour. Rattling and doe bleating add to the fun. It really is not that hard. Best of luck.

[wscott]

I really appreciate the feedback.

Traditionally I have hunted a lot of leases and walking 2, 3 or even 4kms to get to the better spots is not uncommon, it is the proximity to the city the ruins the hunts. I will need to start planning ahead next year, scout better areas and see how it goes.

Thank you again.

[DRhunter]

I agree with a lot of what has been said. If you plan on hunting crown land and want some solace, you are going to need to get quite a ways away from the city. Enough distance is that which would make day trips uncomfortable.

If you plan on hunting in that area close enough to the city for comfortable day trips and still want to get away from the crowds, this will likely take a lifetime of knocking on doors of private landowners. You will be turned down 95% of the time for access and initially the ones that do give access without knowing you probably let on most guys, so will not be entirely different from crown. Over time if you continue to approach landowners with respect, you will eventually get some good access. I politely asked a landowner (and thanked him for his time when he told me that he is full on access) 4 years in a row before he allowed me an opportunity. He now calls me when there are elk travelling through his place. A little mutual respect goes a long way, but takes years to build up.

Good luck!

DR

[Positrac]

Originally Posted by wscott

I really appreciate the feedback.

Traditionally I have hunted a lot of leases and walking 2, 3 or even 4kms to get to the better spots is not uncommon, it is the proximity to the city the ruins the hunts. I will need to start planning ahead next year, scout better areas and see how it goes.

Thank you again.

It may be hard to do day trips if you live in the city and you might have to do over nighters to get away from the crowds.

I’m driving 1,100 kms starting tomorrow morning just to go hunt where I know these’s a few Muley’s and low numbers of people on land I have permission to hunt on.

Is it economical hunting? No. But it’s going to be a great trip and I’m sure to see some animals. I just need to get close enough to seal the deal with a pointy stick.

[buckbrush]

I don’t hunt near the city’s but in my area it gets really busy during hunting season. I’m in an area with all private land. Mostly grain land and crop land with lots of brush that’s bee farmed around or used to graze cattle also some big coulees and a river valley.

The roads are just teaming with trucks driving slowly all rifle season but the way I have found my favourite areas is to look at a satellite map. I mark out any large tracks of land where grid roads were not put in. (Use sat map to ensure no “goat trail” roads on the road allowances.) Then once I have a few areas that are bigger than a couple miles each way I talk to the land owners. I straight up tell them I am trying to find foot access land and ask if they allow people to drive around their fields looking for animals. If they allow foot access but no driving around, it’s perfect. In my area that pretty much means I won’t be seeing anyone else. I go whole seasons without running into anyone else on foot in those areas.

In a farm community after a few years of hunting that area, you will get a reputation and be known. What that reputation says is completely based on how you hunt and act. Word travels very fast amongst neighbors. Your reputation, if its good will open up lots of doors. People who said no to me in the first years have given me permission, some of the land I hunt I have sole permission on.

Sorry I don’t have much advice for the crown land but just a few tips that have worked for me.

[wscott]

Thank you again for all the feedback and good luck to each of you.

[huntinstuff]

Originally Posted by wscott

I really appreciate the feedback.

Traditionally I have hunted a lot of leases and walking 2, 3 or even 4kms to get to the better spots is not uncommon, it is the proximity to the city the ruins the hunts. I will need to start planning ahead next year, scout better areas and see how it goes.

Thank you again.

This.

Keep doing that. I find most guys who claim to walk 10 miles a day are overestimating by about 5× what they claim. Mountain guys are probably spot on in their walking distance estimates. I find its probably more accurate if they measured distance in minutes rather than miles

In short, if you walked crown land for an hour Id say your chances of seeing another hunter are slim

A walk in 338 or 359 will produce. Just get away from the roads. You dont hafta walk far

[Positrac]

I just got back from 4 days of bow hunting in the south east corner of the province. It was a great hunt with many miles put on the boots each day and while I did see a lot of different game including 5 bull moose and a cougar I didn’t see a Buck I’d describe as “big”. Saw a good number of deer and quite a few 4x4’s but nothing bigger than 150-160 inchers. The biggest of the bunch might have got it but I couldn’t close the distance and light was fading with a long ways back to the truck and -13 temps.

I kept track of the distance walked each day with the odometer on my gps. A somewhat relaxed day was 9km walked with lots of sitting in various places above one wooded draw that ran for 5 kilometres, the last km or so I didn’t have permission on. My most ambitious day I decided to put some miles on and walked a total of 19km. The other two were in between. 55kms in total.

The best part was I never saw another person once I was off the road despite there being a few other bow hunters cruising around. The snow when I got there was 3-4” deep and days old. I never saw another boot track the time I was down there once I got a few hundred yards off the roads.

Rifle season down there is busier for sure but for the most part there are very few people who get more than a kilometre off the road from what I’ve seen in the past.