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MP,

Thanks for the details on 520/525. I have some experience with the 400 m. sanctuary procedures on some roads in the forested region in Sask. I had to be in my white suit too!

I will pass this to my Alberta friend as well.

jim

I forgot the Grazing Lease. Saw lots of deer there in particular but they certainly were not the only deer in the bush. In retrospect, it must be nice to be as cocky as we were to not hunt some deer lol. Worked out ok as I filled a tag later.

We talked with a guy out servicing some well heads, told us that there was going to be some significant logging starting in 07 three or four miles north of the intersection of the haul road and Silver Creek Rd. We were there just before the heavy snows. Had heard it took quite a toll.

Jim, I haven't hunted 340 or 339. Most of my hunting in the Hinton area was 438. Mostly draws in there. It is getting into sheep country, think Cadomin. IIRC, bull elk are OTC but minimum 6 points. Mulies are draw.
Have seen 340 only via driving through it to get into 438. Lots of bush with some agricultural lands from what I have seen. Wish I could offer more info.
Jeff

HJ, the date by which your buddy in Alberta must apply for the hunter host permit for you as a "alien" is earlier than if it were for a non resident Canadian, so make sure he gets in there early. i know this from personal experience two years ago. You can get a bull elk tag over the counter for that area. Did it last year after we got the dates sorted.

WT

WT,

Thanks, and I passed that on to my HH. He was just in the act of visiting the "fish cop" to get the ball rolling.

jim

Don't count on that anymore-after the killer winter we had a year ago the numbers are down and starting this year the avaialble tags will be down as well

338fan & Albertans,

My HH and I are still cogitating on what area to hunt. He has mostly hunted mule deer areas in the Foothills 3XXs, no Northern Boreal 5XXs.

These are the areas we can get a general tag, at least from the 2007 Regulations -- I am assuming the 2008 Regulations will be the same.

Foothills 316, 339, 340, 342, 344, 347, 349, 350, 351, 353, 354, 355, 356

Boreal 511, 512, 514, 515, 516, 517, 518, 519, 520, 524, 525, 528, 529, 530, 531, 532, 534, 535, 536, 539, 540, 541, 542 544

I got our first batch of WMUs to look at from the SED 2006 statistics for 2006 on estimated hunters and harvest. I filtered out those with lots of hunting pressure, as well as those with small estimated take. That got me to look at 520 & 525 and 339 and 340 as candidates.

I am looking for an Alberta mule deer hunting experience hopefully without paying an outfitter $8K!. Any suggestions welcome and thank you...jim

I hunt Canada every year as I used to be married to a Canadain. Getting Your PAL is worth the effort. It makes border crossings with guns a breeze.

Wow, that is a strategy I have not considered!

I agree that having the PAL to hand to the Customs guys and gals is mo' bettah. I am glad my renewal license got here this year.

jim

OK, my Hunter Host got the WIN, so progress is progressing.

Also the AlbertaRELM website now allows you to apply for a WIN online; apparently this started on May 5th.

jim

Jim,
I've hunted 350 up till a couple years ago, lots of deer in the southern part of it, also pretty crowded with other hunters. It is only a couple hours from my hunting partners place so he was there regularly but has abandoned it due to too many hunters. It is day-trip close to Edmonton.....
We never saw anything in the way of trophy potential is that is what you want. Lots of meat deer plus hunters. Not exactly a wilderness experience. We would goe in early Oct, usually on the round-about way to 438, a week or two in each WMU.

Jeff,

Thanks for the details on WMU 350; I had tentatively crossed it off because the SRD data show 559 hunters taking 70 buck mule deer. Too many people, and too little take at that.

I am looking for an Alberta mule deer experience. Trophy buck would definitely be a plus, but not what I usually expect on a do it yourself hunt.

Anybody else have any thoughts on areas?

thanks...jim

Progress is progressing; with some help from Tessa of SRD and Deborah at IBM I got the online system to register my WIN. Of course the system now also allows you to get a WIN in the first place (or at least it claims to do so).

https://www.albertarelm.com/

We are still looking for a likely WMU.

jim

This week's report concerns the Hunter Host application; my Host got the form and sent it South to me. I took it to a local Notary Public to have my signature sworn as the form directed. The Notary was not able to get her mind around a form that two people would put their information on, and two signatures would be sworn (Notary here and Commissioner of Oaths in Canada). She wanted to mark all the other blanks on the page N/A. I told her she was jerking me around because the form was smarter than she was and left.

After that I hunted up a Notary that I know from some real estate transactions, and she handled my portion of the form with no problem. Well, one problem was what exactly did the Canadian language mean in one section. I had to hit the Internet to decode some language about Commissioners of Oaths and such. I mailed the form with my details sworn off to Alberta.

A new wrinkle surfaced on WMUs. It turns out my Host was offered a tag in one of the Mountain areas (he is also qualified as a guide in Alberta and we could be guide and hunter if we go that route. It will cost more of course.

Still looking for any area recommendation Campfire members might have. PM is great if you don't want to post.

thanks...jim

Jim,
Is your friend a guide or outfitter with allocations? If he has allocations, that opens up some interesting possibilities to explore. I'm not going to swear to it but, if he holds allocations in a specific WMU then he could guide you in that WMU and charge you for the tag. If he donates his "time" as a guide then you are just paying what the tag is worth. I assume it would the non-resident alien price anyway. Of course, you would be hunting with a guide/client relationship and the legal baggage that goes with it instead of as buddies.

I would look at the WMU's south and east of the Willmore that have OTC tags such as 344. I haven't been in there in a number of years but it was a pretty good area. Decent access via logging roads, a great lake to camp by with some good trout fishing.

Jeff,

Thanks for the details on 344. I left it out after the initial screen because the numbers did not look that great, it goes to show that statistics aren't everything...thanks again...jim

Hi Jim,
It's an interesting unit with a fair bit of logging. We usually hunted moose in there but always saw deer, usually mule deer, but some white tails in the mix. It has been a few years since I was in there, we started hunting a WMU closer to Hinton for a change of pace. I would go back there with no qualms.

I'd skip 339. I've hunted it a fair bit over the last 5 years and never seen a mulie. Good spot for doe whitetails though if you feel like filling a tag.

Jeff & AT,

Thanks for the additional data.

My HH also reminded me that I left out the Mountain WMUs that are also general, I must have read right over that box in the regulations. So 412, 414, 432, 440, 441 442, 444, 445 & 446 are also all open for me. My buddy has hunted 412 a bit for sheep, so we are looking at that WMU (Ghost). We are both filling in our hunt calendars, and it looks like the last two weeks of November work for both of us. Anybody have any insight on the weather then?

thanks...jim

Hi Jim,
Sounds like things are progressing well. WRT weather in Nov and looking at the mountain WMU's you would quite likely be looking at fairly cold temps and deep snow. Your main access road to those units is the Forestry Trunk Road. It is a combo dirt/gravel road with some paved sections (mainly close to civilization) which runs north/south between the foothills and the mountains. There are numerous resource roads branching off it. When it is snow covered it is a 4X4 with chains road. Parts of it are closed in the winter though I believe they are mainly south of where you are looking. A few years ago I drew a mulie tag very unexpectedly in WMU 429 on my first try. I had never been there and had actually planned to collect points for a couple or so years while spending summers fishing there. We promptly drove into a blizzard that was chasing the outfitters out of the area so, what did we do? Drove on in and spent three days trying to get the heck back out. Deep snow, incredibly steep hills and darn it where are my tire chains but back home forgotten. This was the second week of Sept! Had a great time though.
Jeff

Jeff,

Isn't weather great?

My postal chick just brought my actual Wildlife Identification Number card!

It is certainly pretty, the best looking hunting thing I have ever seen. It did come in a plain brown envelope though.

My Hunter Host has submitted our application, so now we are waiting to hear how that comes out.

jim