Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada Alberta deer hunt questions.

A friend of a friend has invited me to come up and deer hunt with him. He said he has a class c guide license and can get 4 permits. His ranch/farm is located near Rimbey and I was wondering what I could expect from this area of Alberta? The cost would be for the tag and travel and it would be nice to go and visit this guy but like everyone else I have only so much time every year. I have hunted with ranchers before and they are not always on the same page as me whem it comes to trophy quantity and quality. Since I am in the US this would be a little bit out of my comfort zone as I would have to take care of all the logistics an outfitter might normally handle. Any input on what I could expect or look out for would be very helpful. This would be a rifle hunt in Nov.
Thanks
Lance

After you receive some worthy input, IMO, I'd go see your friend, do the deer hunt, and chalk it up as an experience not many other folks get to endure in their lives. Lots of us dream of visiting Alberta and her whitetails, and this sounds like a pretty good deal. Good luck!

Buffalorancher, couple things you should know about a class C guide licence:

A class C guide�s license can be issued to a resident of Alberta who wishes to take out hunting no more than two persons who reside outside Alberta. Before 1996, the guide�s license would only authorize the holder to take out residents of Canada. In 1996, for the first time, the class C guide�s license allowed the holder to take out as many as two non-resident aliens (persons who reside outside of Canada), every three years. Persons who guide hunters under the authority of a class C guide�s license are prohibited from accepting any compensation for their guiding services. So the large majority of cases the class C guide�s license is used only to take friends and/or relatives out hunting.

You should be good to go. Rimby is about an hour south of here. There is good hunting there and yea there are some big whitetails just like there are in most parts of Alberta. They turn up most anywhere and that area does produce them.

If I remember correctly the host/guide can not hunt during the guiding period. I don't have a copy of the new regulation but I think I saw that in the article. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

For whitetails around Grand Prairie, I've seen fields with more than 100 grazing like cattle in the evening. It really isn't much of a hunt if you ask me. It is like an infestation. Go toward Elmworth and take the old monkman pass road and I guarantee that you will see 200 deer easily before you hit the BC border.

Yes the host can hunt, wouldn't be much sense to bring your friends up for a hunt and not be able to yourself. The host has to accompany the visitor at all times, they don't have to hold hands <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> but they have to hunt the same area together.

I stand corrected, thanks for the info also for the hunters visiting this forum for information. That only applies to guided hunters who are paying for the service I take it then.

And if your friend wants to bring 2 prople up he can only host 2 people if one of them is a relative.
Also we don't have game ranches here in Alberta, Your friend owns some land, and has access to it, hunting on a high fence deer operation in Alberta is illegal.
Here's a link to the Hunter Host licencing system.
http://www.srd.gov.ab.ca/fw/hunting/hunterhost.html

Thanks for all the info. After checking everything out this sure seems to be quite an opportunity. My friend hasn't hosted anyone for 3 years so I am good to go.
Thanks
Lance

It would be an incredible trip. Those four tags he can get are supplementary doe tags in that area. 2006 regs page 24 states "A non-resident may obtain 4 different licenses from this list of 9, but not more than 1 license for any one species" Mule deer and elk are both draws depending upon the WMU you are in. Either 200 or 300 series. If you are after whitetail bucks, you can get one tag period or two doe tags. Find out which WMU you will be in as it can make a huge difference in what can be over the counter tags and what may take awhile to get. There are some nice WT bucks around there. The web link above in Portsider284's post will have links to the complete SRD regs. Come on up and have a great hunt.

One thing I'll suggest is make sure you have all your paperwork in order nice and early.....it helps when clearing Customs to show that you are coming up on a Hunter Hosted hunt. Customs may ask you for proof of the hunt, so thats something minor to consider...other than that it would be a fun trip and you'll enjoy it!

Actually a half hour west of Rimby in units 330, 328, 339 are open for general bull elk 3 point or better from sept 17 to nov 30th no draw required. Also Rimby is on the east boundary of unit 332 which also has the same over the counter tags no draw required for 3 point or better bull elk except the season is from Nov 1 -30th.

I am planning on going the 1st of Nov. but an elk would be quite an add on. We have very good whitetail here on the ranch with a 150 class deer not terribly hard ot get but not easy either. From 160 on up is where it gets tough so aside from having a nice hunting trip away from home I would like the chance at a good deer. A 233 was killed on my friends place last year but obviously this is not the norm nor would I ever expect to see such an animal but I like the odds up north a lot more than Nebraska. All this information has got me ready to go.
Thanks
Lance

For sure, if hunt is in any of those WMU's I would certainly get an elk tag. Was being pretty general as not sure of WMU he is going to.

A 150 deer is a nice deer, 160 deer are hard to get anywhere. I've lived here 10 years, I hunt lots and never got one. There are big deer here but they are not behind every tree. Your chances on private property with controlled hunter access down in the US are just as good as here, maybe better if its managed for trophy. Hunting up here you might get one the first morning you hunt or you might not see one all season for several seasons if ever. There are monsters out there, but they are not dumb and they are not often seen in daylight. You gotta be in the right place at the right time and have luck on your side, heck there might not even be a big one in the area you hunt, thats just how it goes. Does your rancher friend know what a big deer looks like? Lots of guys say they have big deer on their place but they rarely turn out as big as what they think they are.

I would have to say most of my rancher friends don't know what a big deer is. This was my concern initially with this guy but some mutual friends confirmed he has a good idea. He's got a 6x7 on the wall that grossed 185. There is a good chance I may be doing some bussiness with this guy by Nov. so a trip would be easily justified as we can import buffalo from Canada cheaper than we can raise them here. You just have to get them killed on time. My friend was also complaining about his neighbor having a big elk on his place this year but wouldn't let anyone hunt. He said that the gov't will pay for hay/crop loss to wildlife but one stipulation is that you must let people hunt. I guess they sent a letter to my friend and he replied that the guy wouldn't let him hunt so he wouldn't get any reimbursment. Moral of the story is there is some elk around his place.
Thanks
Lance