Author Topic: Province announces two elk hunts in February at CFB Suffield (Read 7028 times)

Weste · « **Reply #20 on:** January 15, 2015, 10:02:38 AM »

Quote from: schputz on January 14, 2015, 08:22:59 PM

Maybe I can shed some light on the suffield hunt. You are allowed as many helpers as you can fit in your truck. February hunt should be the same. Each tag is good for two elk. Yes it's a very big area, but you will be surprised at how many trucks show up when a herd is spotted. I've personally seen a thousand elk being chased by nine trucks and only 1 elk taken. Some have referred to it as a fire fight, others flock shooting. U must wear orange.
Ok hears the kicker boys. First Nations are shooting the piss out of the Bulls. While the rest of us can only hunt cows. The First Nations are shooting the monster Bulls we all hope to hunt one day. Jan. 12-13 they shot 73 Bulls. Today one truck had 3 Bulls in it. 2 would easily have scored 425.

Awesome!

SouthernGuy · « **Reply #21 on:** January 15, 2015, 11:08:40 AM »

They shot more than that last Monday/Tuesday, I was told they took that many Monday alone. They had trailers full of elk heading back to Saskatchewan, the greediest guy took 12 bulls. They ignored the cows and small bulls for the most part, few trucks with nothing under 350'' heading home, most trucks had at least 3 bulls, as many as 5 which makes for a full 1/2 ton. Some small bulls were shot Tuesday, not all on purpose. Not sure how many were in the trailers but there were piles of elk leaving the base. There were more aboriginal hunters than licensed hunters last week, complete zoo. This is a first hand account by the way. The good news is cows are generally in smaller groups than in past years, we didn't see any white hunters after the briefing (went one day) and pretty much had the cows to ourselves which allowed for a few stalks eventually ending in a filled tag. We have a few tags for next week too, shouldn't be hard to fill but it's sure hard watching the herds of bulls getting mowed down. If i was a guy with 10 years priority i wouldn't have my hopes up for big bulls on the base next year, going to be more and more competition for big bulls with the subsistence harvesters and they still have lots of hunting left to do this year.

BruceW · « **Reply #22 on:** January 15, 2015, 05:41:19 PM »

Here I was thinking I'd burn up my bull priority next year 40 minutes from my house. So much for that.

My tag starts the 26th. Glad to to hear the cows are in smaller groups, maybe we'll be able to top up the freezer.

BruceW · « **Reply #23 on:** January 15, 2015, 06:20:23 PM »

Quote from: SouthernGuy on January 15, 2015, 11:08:40 AM

They shot more than that last Monday/Tuesday, I was told they took that many Monday alone. They had trailers full of elk heading back to Saskatchewan, the greediest guy took 12 bulls. They ignored the cows and small bulls for the most part, few trucks with nothing under 350'' heading home, most trucks had at least 3 bulls, as many as 5 which makes for a full 1/2 ton. Some small bulls were shot Tuesday, not all on purpose. Not sure how many were in the trailers but there were piles of elk leaving the base. There were more aboriginal hunters than licensed hunters last week, complete zoo.they still have lots of hunting left to do this year.

The more I think about that the more it pisses me off. This bullshit's gotta stop!

Edit: I guess it takes a lot of backstraps and tenderloin to fill a freezer.

SouthernGuy · « **Reply #24 on:** January 15, 2015, 10:16:59 PM »

Quote from: BruceW on January 15, 2015, 05:41:19 PM

Here I was thinking I'd burn up my bull priority next year 40 minutes from my house. So much for that.

My tag starts the 26th. Glad to to hear the cows are in smaller groups, maybe we'll be able to top up the freezer.

You should be able to find one pretty easy, we saw lots of cows around. The proposal next year is to have the cow hunt earlier in the week on base with the bull guys starting a few days later. This will mean the subsistence harvesters get first crack at the bulls again. I'd be drawing off base if I had the points, there could be 200 bull hunters sharing the base next year (close to 100 subsistance harvesters have showed up at times). There's going to be some very disappointed hunters next year, could get kind of ugly me thinks.

schputz · « **Reply #25 on:** January 16, 2015, 07:50:36 AM »

There is still 4 weeks of hunting to go on the base. If the First Nations keep increasing their number of hunters they will eliminate any chance of a record book bull. They have left the smaller racks laying on the check point floor. The province and the base have to come together and change this hunt. If Bulls are going to be hunted they have to start the draw with the highest priority on the outside of the block, and let them hunt inside. If the subsistence harvesters are hunting for food they should be hunting antler less like the rest of us. We need to be heard by the province.
There is a herd of about 500 cows and smaller Bulls on the outside of the base just west of Hiway 884. It would be nice if they stayed on the outside for the hunters drawn in the other wmu's.

catnthehat · « **Reply #26 on:** January 19, 2015, 09:30:22 PM »

Well, the draws are out and I didn't get one- anybody get drawn?
Cat

OL_JR · « **Reply #27 on:** January 19, 2015, 11:13:16 PM »

No go here as well. Dang had a feeling this time...

bigbore444 · « **Reply #28 on:** January 20, 2015, 05:27:23 AM »

Nope nothing for me or my 2 buddys.

Oh well, life goes on.

Still got lots of moose meat in the freezer.

blacktail · « **Reply #29 on:** January 20, 2015, 06:22:40 AM »

nope not here
wife and three buddies are no as well

honkerhitter · « **Reply #30 on:** January 20, 2015, 07:03:44 AM »

Nada here!
Just throwing this out there from info I got from a local that has 2 natives running truck for him.
Our wonderful Gov employees have been sending out emails and invites to every reserve in the province and any in sask that they figured was a reasonable drive from Sask.
for example these two from Onoin Lake will be going down on Jan 26 with about 15 others. According to them that is there bands day if they miss it there out and the next ones move in. At least to hear them speak it sounds like it. It would be real interesting to see of read one of these emails sent out especially if it has dates listed for each reserve. My guess is by march 2015 this elk problem will be dealt with and somewhere in the neighborhood of 4-5000 elk will be removed from the area this year. Just my thoughts but seems to me like typical Alberta fashion they do nothing for years then over react knee jerk style , wipe everything out then sit around contemplating conservation.. It's been the ESRD MO since the 90's .

schputz · « **Reply #31 on:** January 20, 2015, 07:32:44 AM »

I heard PETA (the animal rights activist group) mass applied and if any get drawn will not show up.

catnthehat · « **Reply #32 on:** January 20, 2015, 11:33:13 AM »

Quote from: schputz on January 20, 2015, 07:32:44 AM

I heard PETA (the animal rights activist group) mass applied and if any get drawn will not show up.

You realize of course that there were over 17,000 entries for this cull, I doubt very much that PETA applying would make a dent in the draw!
They also will have absolutely no effect on the native kills.
I have seen nor heard any hard evidence of any animals bei9ng killed before this or how many natives are going to be allowed on the base either , and until a person can show me anything in print , well, it's just so much gossip.
Cat

JIMMY 808 · « **Reply #33 on:** January 20, 2015, 12:52:28 PM »

Elk are a varmint and are very much treated as such.

SouthernGuy · « **Reply #34 on:** January 20, 2015, 01:22:23 PM »

I don't know of anybody that got drawn for the quota hunt yet. My brother and buddy have been out there the past couple days looking for a cow, a few taken but it was mostly bulls harvested yesterday. I'm not sure what kind of success the quota guys will have, the elk are getting more wary and there's not huge numbers hanging out in the hunt area anymore. Maybe it's the warm weather or the difficulty in getting around. Definitely sounds like there's getting to be some tension/ animosity out there between tag hunters and the first nation guys too, hopefully it doesn't come to fisticuffs.

Lots of stories/ pics are real but many stories are becoming more exaggerated and distorted. Remember it is legal, you don't have to like it but it's best if you leave it be while you're out there hunting. If we get more snow success for the quota guys won't come as easy as many thing, these elk will have been hunted for 6 weeks (3 seasons in nov, 3 seasons in jan) and drifts mean a lot of the cow elk are hard to access. Wondering how long its going to take for the bulls to figure out where the safe areas are. Will see.

BruceW · « **Reply #35 on:** January 20, 2015, 04:28:26 PM »

Good luck with your hunt Southernguy, hope you're able to close the deal. My tag starts next Monday, when I picked up the undersubscribed tag I was figuring pretty low odds of success, being the sixth season out of six (and had no idea it'd be a free for all from other sources). But, it's 40 minutes from my house and some elk meat would be nice..........

Wife didn't get drawn for the Feb. tags, from what I've been reading now I'm thinking just as well.

I'd been planning on putting in for a bull tag next year, I'm now thinking what I see on my hunt will determine if I want to use up my hard earned and paid for priority there or not.

schputz · « **Reply #36 on:** January 20, 2015, 07:09:58 PM »

Hey Cat if u didn't get drawn for the Feb. hunt it might be a PETA person got your tag. Just sayin. Hey southernguy and Bruce there has been a small herd of 100-150 cows and a couple raghorns hanging out about 2 Kms South of gate 9 for 2 days now. The only access to the range is now through the main base only. No one is going up the hiway 884 anymore. They were only 300-500 yards off the hiway, so no reason you can't walk in off the hiway and then go back through main base to retrieve your elk if u get lucky. If u don't want to follow the pack this might be where you can find some elk.

catnthehat · « **Reply #37 on:** January 20, 2015, 09:19:39 PM »

Quote from: schputz on January 20, 2015, 07:09:58 PM

Hey Cat if u didn't get drawn for the Feb. hunt it might be a PETA person got your tag. Just sayin. Hey southernguy and Bruce there has been a small herd of 100-150 cows and a couple raghorns hanging out about 2 Kms South of gate 9 for 2 days now. The only access to the range is now through the main base only. No one is going up the hiway 884 anymore. They were only 300-500 yards off the hiway, so no reason you can't walk in off the hiway and then go back through main base to retrieve your elk if u get lucky. If u don't want to follow the pack this might be where you can find some elk.

I doubt it very much, seeing how there are so many entrants anyway, but one can only hope that if it WAS a member of Peta, that they show up and try to disrupt the hunt.
I don't think that would go over too well, heck they may as well try and interfere with the natives hunting , now that would really make them famous!! LOL!!
Just as an afterthought, I am going to apply for the Suffield anterless draw next year, I tried for 510 this year and missed out.
I'm not from down there but have a few good friends that know the area, so it makes things a bit easier.
Cat

juansavio · « **Reply #38 on:** January 21, 2015, 02:26:05 PM »

I entered but no tags for me.

Livetohunt · « **Reply #39 on:** January 21, 2015, 02:29:56 PM »

Anyone know what is really going on down there? Who is controlling what? Do we have any Alberta resident representation?