What part of the province were you hunting in? Down in the Lougheed/Hardisty area the populations are pathetic. Numbers are way down. Nice to here that there are some deer left somewhere. Congrats on a great hunt.

What part of the province were you hunting in? Down in the Lougheed/Hardisty area the populations are pathetic. Numbers are way down. Nice to here that there are some deer left somewhere. Congrats on a great hunt.

Southern Alberta, landowner permission is tough due to acreage/ anti-hunter densities but the deer are crazy in pockets. Biggest herds had over 100 deer already.

Southern Alberta, landowner permission is tough due to acreage/ anti-hunter densities but the deer are crazy in pockets. Biggest herds had over 100 deer already.

Sounds to me like the deer are over populated in that area.  Around Rocky there are "enough" deer and maybe too many.

Sounds to me like the deer are over populated in that area.  Around Rocky there are "enough" deer and maybe too many.

Its really bad in a few areas, couple road kills a day. Unfortunately the high tag numbers in the zone decimate populations in areas where getting permission is easier, it really limits the potential of some pretty good habitat. Trophy potential sucks down here but at least the deer are abundant. I'll be down there again tomorrow with a first time hunter who has the day off of school, hoping to find him a little buck or doe, he will be thrilled with a chance at either. Maybe the "big boy" (about 140'') will show up too, just never know. Built up a grass blind after I filled my tag the other day, should give him a nice close shot if the deer are still on the move.   

Good on you SouthernGuy, how did your young hunter make out?

Well, he didn't get one yet but he had a great time. Had a big herd (30+) of whitetails within 100 yards but they were tight together and didn't stop (feeding/ constantly moving to safe ground). Ended up having a doe come up to 20 yards away a little while later but she never gave him a comfortable angle so she walked. He also had a chance at a small buck but a truck stopped on the adjacent road so he couldn't shoot (not a safe backdrop). He wasn't really disappointed, just really excited to keep trying. I was really happy with his decision making process/ concern about making a good shot. I'm hopefully taking him again Friday afternoon and Saturday so hopefully he can get another chance. I really wish I could take him tomorrow instead, I think the area will be awful busy this weekend as lots of guys are coming home from trips north with an empty freezer.

Well, no first deer for him this year. He came down sick for closing weekend which was really too bad. Still made good use of the deer field though, took my brother and a hunter I started mentoring last year (they both had success last year) on Wednesday morning and they managed a doe each. Spent the rest of the week down at Suffield as a helper for the elk hunt. Great experience this year, over 80% success but we found hunting skills were necessary to get clean shots and the elk were hard to find some days.  Lots of the rumors flying around about the base are way off, fish and wildlife and the DND did an amazing job while the vast majority of hunters were respectful and worked together. The subsistence harvesters that were out did their best to help us find some cows too, great group of guys.