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Alberta bowhunting outfitter offers whitetail deer, mule deer, western Canada moose and Rocky Mountain elk |
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This Canadian outfitter, a bowhunter himself, specializes in archery hunts for whitetail deer, mule deer, moose and elk. He controls most of the non-resident bow tags in three zones 100 to 150 miles east of Edmonton, Alberta. He usually kills a 35 to 50-inch moose yearly on or near land owned by his father, and he has bow-killed some big whitetails over the years. He has permission to guide and hunt on some prime land, and he also guides on crown land. Here's what he has to say about his hunts: "Whitetail deer: My forte is bowhunting whitetails, and I’ve had some pretty big name bowhunters up here. I could use every single one of them as a reference. I pre-scout the hunting areas a lot and usually have tree stands exactly where I want them. We have some tremendous whitetails in my zones. Most years we have some great bucks. Almost everybody gets shooting at pretty big bucks, and you never know whether the next buck that comes out will be a massive giant with a rack that scores 180 or 190 or even more. We've found sheds as big as 205 typical. You'll mostly be hunting from tree stands in October before the hunt for deer that we have patterned. If you're patient and don't move too much, you should get a good shot. Please come ready to shoot from 20 to 50 yards. I've had hunters who couldn't shoot at all, and then I have to put them where the only shot is a close-range shot, and their chances for a big buck go down. In 2003 I had one guy who didn't shoot well, and yet he still got a 35-inch bull moose, a 155-class muley and a 125 Pope and Young whitetail in six days. "Mule deer: I have some excellent mule deer hunting and am super-confident on producing shots at bucks in the 160s and 170s. I usually see bucks in the 180s every year, and I've seen bucks in the 190s or even bigger. I had a rifle hunter kill a buck over 190. Some of my mule deer hunting is on private land that borders large tracts where no hunting is allowed. The bucks move back and forth during archery season. I haven't used my mule deer allocation much. Hunting is usually in September or October. Hunter success is usually about 50 percent but should be higher except a lot of guys miss or make poor hits. "Moose: I hunt in areas with a lot of moose. The bigger bulls usually are 50-inchers, and there are lots of them in the 35- to 45-inch category. I've seen as many as 40 moose in one day. I've videotaped probably Boone and Crockett bulls over 50 inches wide. A guy needs to come ready to shoot out to 50 yards. I've had bulls hit and lost only 30 yards away. I would say we don't have as big moose as some areas but we usually have enough moose that you'll get some shooting at ranges where you should score. I would say your odds of seeing a 50-incher would be about 50:50. One year the hunter I was guiding missed a bull I guessed at 52 inches because he had his rangefinder set wrong. He saw 10 bulls in six days. It's definitely hunting, not shooting, but most guys who can hunt hard should get a shot they should make.
Elk: I wouldn't say this is a true trophy hunt, but there are a few big bulls. My main guide I've hired is an excellent elk bowhunter. He kills a big bull almost every year. Most of his bulls have scored 270 to 320, and I think his biggest is about 330. Most of the bulls you'll see will score 230 to 300 Pope and Young. There are lots of 5x5s and a few 6x6s and 6x7s. We can hunt during the rut in September, and as long as the weather isn't unusually hot, you should have action pretty well every day. One of my hunters in 2004 had bull elk within range on 10 of the 12 hunting periods during his six-day hunt. Not only can we call in bulls, but you can hunt elk from tree stands over some licks. We can eliminate some scent that way and get a bit of an advantage. We have a wall tent camp in the hunting area about 10 minutes from where we hunt. There’s a place where the elk come in during the rut for a month a year. They come up off the river and the muskeg and rut, and then they go back down in the really tough stuff.
40 inches wide, 2004 |
Dates for '05:
135 gross, 2004
Dennis Ballweg of Kansas shot this buck with double drop tines in 2002. He saw bigger bucks, including one that would have scored in the 160s.
38 inches wide, 2004 |
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