RE: Hunting White Tail in Canada!
 

Hunter338,

First of all, Skeeter was bang on with the info he posted for Saskatchewan so I won't bother repeating it.

Alberta is a little bit different. The main thing being that baiting is not allowed in Alberta. Alberta is also less restrictive in regards to the species and areas a non-resident can hunt. The whole province is open to guided non-res hunts.

Non-residents (not canadian) must hunt with a licensed outfitter or guide. The only exception to this is if the non-residenthas a friendor relative in Alberta. If so, they can apply to be hunter hosted by the Alberta resident. It is my understanding that this can only happen once every three years and no money or payment can be accepted for the hosted hunt.

A substantial part of Alberta (50% or more) is crown (public) land. Outfitters can also hunt on private land with permission. Where you hunt matters little for you since you must be guided anyway. If I was pressed to recommend an area I would suggest the Borealand/or parklandzones north and west of Edmonton. From Lac La Biche clear across to Edson are all good zones, among others (personnal opinion only)

Since the whole province is open to non-residents, the style of hunts outfitters offer will vary. Typically hunts are 6 days with Sunday being a travel day. Most outfitters in the Forest and Parkland areas rely on stand hunting. The hunter is dropped off before legal light and remains on a stand all day while the guide scouts new areas and prepares alternate stands. Most stands are located near natural or manmade funnels and or feeding areas. The stereotypical northern alberta hunt involves sitting on a pipeline or seismic line and waiting for a buck to cross. While boring, this style works very well as the amount of cover eliminates most other methods. Most lines are not more than 10 yards across so a good rifle that you can get up and ready in a second or two is important because that may be all you have. Skeeter's recommendation on calible was pretty close.

Yes the deer are that damn big, one common problem that non-res hunters have is field judging northern deer. A 130inch rack looks a lot more impressiveon aTexas whitetail than a canadian one. The hunting here is as good or better than on TV. Just be sure to find a good outfitter, and check references. Most will advertise close to 100% opportunity, which is usually outfitter talk for (he saw at least one decent deer in 6 days). In reality, don't expect much higher that 50% success on 130 or better, at least in Alberta.

Themain thing you must prepare yourself for before coming to Alberta or Sask is the relatively low densities of deer. The climate traditionally keeps deer numbers low, but recent mild winters have resulted in skyrocketing populations in a lot of areas. While densities are still relatively low, the proportion of bucks that reach maturity is very high compared to most places. Still, don't expect to see 20-30 deer a day, 5-10(with one or two being bucks)is usually considered pretty good.

Prices for a guided alberta hunt would be similar to a Sask hunt. However, I know that with thestrong canadian dollar and higher fuel costs a lot of outfitters have raised their rates. Still $3500-4000 should be in the ball park. That does not include airfare, gratuity for the guide, any hotel time before or after the hunt, and I don't think tags are included either. In alberta a non-res whitetail tag will run you $184cdn(plus a service fee)or thereabouts, plus $8 for a WIN card.

Hope this helps. Sorry to be so long winded, It's a slow day at work;)

Saskabush.

RE: Hunting White Tail in Canada!
 

Yaaa...what Saskabush said :D:D:D

JDinAB

RE: Hunting White Tail in Canada!
 

It's a really slow day:D

RE: Hunting White Tail in Canada!
 

Sask...I love the truck pic!

RE: Hunting White Tail in Canada!
 

Nice work JD :D. Two bucks in the truck is always a good day!!

RE: Hunting White Tail in Canada!
 

In Alberta a general tag costs 33.25 for a antlered whitetail deer special license its also 33.25 but in alberta pretty much everywhere its general whitetail. There is public land to hunt on but there is mostly privately owned land and big bucks. Most of the farmers and ranchers are reasonable and will let u hunt.Yes it is what the T.V shows make it out to be in alberta especially for Mule deer the world record mule was shot in alberta and there are some HUGE muley's is the area of Drumhellar. The calibur i would recommend is a 7mm with a low grain shell and same with the 30.06 just use a low grain bullet if your after the meat. Oh and yes the deer are that damn big. For example her is a picture of a small muley taken in alberta and it scored about 152

RE: Hunting White Tail in Canada!
 

Hunter338 here are some tag prices for BC and If I was you I would get a guide- I have a great BC guide with pretty good prices. email me and ill give you more info [email protected]

Non-Resident Hunting License information

License Fees are in Canadian Dollars plus 7% GST tax.





LICENSES & TAGS:
PRICE
+7% GST

Hunting License:
$180.00
$192.60

Moose:
$250.00
$267.50

Mule Deer:
$125.00
$133.75

W-tail Deer:
$125.00
$133.75

Black Bear:
$180.00
$192.60

Cougar:
$230.00
$246.10

Lynx:
$40.00
$42.80

Bobcat:
$40.00
$42.80

Wolf:
$50.00
$53.50

Mountain Sheep:
$620.00
$663.40

RE: Hunting White Tail in Canada!
 

I duno, maybe I am wrong, or lucky, but where I have hunted in Alberta and Sask. I often see 50-100 deer per day, with about 20 being bucks. This is mule and whitetails though, keep in mind, and not all are shootable.

RE: Hunting White Tail in Canada!
 

Hey Sask, I thought the buck to doe ratio in Alberta was about 2 to 1 and seeing 5 to 10 deer a day is good. I can't understand how out of 10 deer' there would be only 1 or 2 bucks?

RE: Hunting White Tail in Canada!
 

agaucher: I too have had days where I've spotted 100+ deer, but not from a stand overlooking a pipeline.;)

early in: I was simply making a generalization. Of course there will be days when a hunter will see more (or less) than 5-10 deer. There will also be days when he/she will see more bucks than does. My point was not to expect to see boatloads of deer (unless it's from the cab of a truck).

As for the buck:doe ratio in Alberta, I couldn't giveyou an accurate number off-hand. Also, there is no magic number that applies universally throughout the province. However, I could look up some past numbers for different areas based onannualaerial ungulate surveys once I'm back at work.