Hunting White Tail in Canada!
 

Hey guys and gals.

I have been wanting to go to Canada for a Deer hunt, and was woundering.
[ul][*]What are the prices for the tags[*]Is there public land per say to hunt[*]Is it all of what the TV shows say it is[*]Do I need a guide[*]What cal. rifle, and is there a Restriction on cal. size[*]And last but not least! Are the Deer really that damn big?[/ul]
Thanks for your replies in advance.
hunter338

RE: Hunting White Tail in Canada!
 

$15 I believe for residents to buy a whitetail tag.
95% of land in BC is public. Problem is alot of it is heavily treed and mountainous.
Lots of game, but to tag a big whitetail you have to be patient and not shoot the first that walks by. I would hit up Alberta, Sask, or Manitoba before BC as IMHO you will see more action.
No restriction I do not think, but at minimum I would bring a .243, and maximum a .300 Mag.
and YES the deer up here are massive. but they arent all. Patience and work is all it takes!

RE: Hunting White Tail in Canada!
 

In Saskatchewan you must hunt with a licensed outfitter if your not a canadian resident. Costs range from $3500 up for 6 days hunt. Non-resident tag is 250 cdn plus a 11 habitat certificate. The area you'll hunt is designated to that outfitter, most of the outfitters operate in the provincial forest. In Saskatchewan Baiting is legal and the most common used techinque of outfitters.

It can be all they make it we have loads of deer, good buck to doeratioand the potential of connecting on a big bucks is always their. Numerous B&C bucks are taken each fall by guided hunters but they aren't tied up behind every tree! If your expactations are book only then you may not get the opportunity but few places hold the possibilty of such an animal as the prairie provinces of Alberta, Sask and Manitoba. In either of these places you can expect the opportunity to harvest 150+ class bucks to be verygood with a good outfitter/area. So do your research and check references. Yes the deer are big bodied. Shooting 250lbs bucks is common and they can tip 300lbs on the hoof as well. Swallon necks are also what many marvel at, some talk about a 5 gallon pail neck but herea sask mature buck carry a 8 gal...they often look likeonly ahead on their shoulders. As my Uke friends say TICK!

Most outfitters here suggest a 270 win range as min but the saskatchewan min legal is .23 cal CF for big game. Most common chambering I saw as a guide was the 300 mag varieties.

RE: Hunting White Tail in Canada!
 

Hey thanks guys. Now all I have to do is figure out where to start looking.

Once again

Thank you
hunter338

RE: Hunting White Tail in Canada!
 

Try this site for Manitoba.....

Travel Manitoba
1-800-665-0040(ext. AM5)
www.travelmanitoba.com

Ron:D

RE: Hunting White Tail in Canada!
 

I have a family member I forgot the town, 2 hours north of Detroit and they have a large farm. They are overrun with deer and said we can come up and hunt whenever we wnat during the season. What are the rules concerning hunting licenses, guides, on hunting private land for a non resident. I have always heard that you had to havea guide to hunt Canadaa if you are nonresident, but on private land I wouldnt think so. Any help would be great!!! Thanks

RE: Hunting White Tail in Canada!
 

I don't know about detroit, but i know in Saskatchewan you have to have an outfitter, some run operations on their private land, but you still need one if you are not a resident of Canada

RE: Hunting White Tail in Canada!
 

Some areas non-res are required too have guides,, rainy river area,, nw ontario.

Most if not all of southern ontario is closed too non-res deer hunting during any of the seasons.. Most areas down here have draws for permits too hunt counties.. muzzleloader and shotgun only..You'dhave to go a couplehours or so north of toronto too the rifle zone to be legal too hunt. Let me know what town and ill check the reg's for you,, but i wouldnt hold out much hope in it..

if'n its over run with deer and they want some deer taken out,, get ahold of me,, i'd be more than willing too help out!:D

RE: Hunting White Tail in Canada!
 

OK so let me see if I understand this correctly. Yo hunt private land, I have to get a guide to come to the private land and guide me? And as a non res I wouldnt be able to hunt there anyway in that specific area? NOw come on what kind of sense does that make? lol Seems kind of ridiculous lol but I will find out what town or county it is in and let you know,. Maybe you can help me get mroe detailed information :) thanks

RE: Hunting White Tail in Canada!
 

For deer(moose is a different story),, a guide is only required in the rainy river area for non-res,, basicly all crown land in the area,, its big and nasty and people tend too get lost up there..the area you are looking at is southern ontario farm country,, no where near rainy river.

For this area,,there are draws in august for permits too allow deer hunting with shotguns and muzzleloaders..There are3 seperate weeklong seasons.. you apply for the week you want,, and hope too get drawn. typically there are 400 hundred permits per county, per week. its usually 100% gaurantee of drawing a permit.

There isNO non-res hunting of deer allowed in these areas(southern ontario farm country),, with either gun or bow! you'd have too drive about5-6 hours from detroit to be in a legal area for non-res deer hunters.basicly you'd have to be in the rifle zone(parry sound area and north(georgian bay) too legally hunt whitetails,, this area you would not need a guide,, manitoulin island you do not need a guide.

Do I think its crazy,, nope! we can get permission for deer hunting fairly easily in southern ontario.. If hunters numbers went up(and it would if non-res were allowed),, people would start leasing properties too hunt, right now it doesnt happen at all.. acase of beerand a handshake can get you on most properties.

Weve sat in the local diner after the openning morning hunt and havehad multiple farmers ask us too come hunt theyre properties. Alot of them know who we are already. every year the night before the openner we have a big fish fry at the main farm that we hunt at.. the farmer invites all his friends and relatives over for a big feast of yellow perch, walleye and rainbow trout that myself and 2 others supply and cook.More than once weve had"guests" say hop in the truck,,, I want too show you something you might be intrested in...

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.

RE: Hunting White Tail in Canada!
 

Yes Saskabush, that would be cool. You'r right that ratio would differ a bit from area to area. Iam mainly intrested in WMU 248 (Bow Zone). I would also be curious to know the deer per sq. mile in that area.

RE: Hunting White Tail in Canada!
 

early in, I'll see what I can find for you. I'm not sure what i'll have access too or how recent the info will be. I seem to recall the most recent reports i've seen are from 2000-01. Also, not all areas are surveyed each year. If I have to I'll just ask one of the Bio's at work.

I was just snooping around The Alberta Sustainable Resources Development website and found a PDF of their longterm whitetail managemnent plan from 1995. Itincludes the 1991 estimates for whitetail populations. WMZ 248 had a estimated density of 8.8 deer/10km square (one of the highest in the province). It didn't say much about buck:doe. Not that any of that means much nowadays but interesting none the less.

RE: Hunting White Tail in Canada!
 

Saskabush,

Do you guys sit travel corridors? Nice bucks, seems whatever you do is productive!

RE: Hunting White Tail in Canada!
 

I when on a Elk / Whitetail hunt in September of this year & took the below whitetail just outside of Hinton Alberta, my Dad took a nice 5x6 Elk & we saw tons of game. To hunt in Alberta for a non resident you have to have a guide. My Whitetail tag cost $212.13

RE: Hunting White Tail in Canada!
 

Thanks Saskabush, that's intresting.