 Elk
Hunting in Alberta, Canada with Mike's Outfitting
Rifle
Elk Hunting FAQ
- Do I have to put in for a draw to get my license?
- Do you hunt public or private land? How much land do you have to hunt? Is there much hunting pressure?
- What's the country/terrain like? What elevation? Do I need to be in good shape?
- How do you hunt them?
- What size of elk do you shoot?
- What's your success rate?
- How do you handle 2 hunters with one guide?
- If we kill one how do we get it out?
- What caliber of gun do you prefer, bullets?
- How do you deal with the meat, antlers and cape?
- What temperatures and weather can I expect? What clothes are best? Do I need blaze orange? Gear list?
1. Do I have to put in for a draw
to get my license?
No, all of our licenses are guaranteed.
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2. Do you hunt public or private land? How much land do you
have to hunt? Is there much hunting pressure?
We hunt a mix of private and public land but we don't have exclusive
permission on any of the private land and most of the public land that we
hunt has very few hunters. We have access to hundreds of thousands of acres
and we hunt where we have seen the elk earlier in the season and where they
have been pushed into because of hunting pressure in other areas
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3. What's the country/terrain like? What elevation? Do I need
to be in good shape?
The hunting area is a mix of farmland and thick woods with some fairly
deep river valleys. It is at low elevation, 3000 ft. You don't have to be
in high elevation, mountain elk hunting shape but you still need to have
some decent physical fitness, able to walk several miles each day if you
want a good chance for success. The better shape you are in the more likely
you are to get your elk because you will be able to chase after any bugling
bull no matter how deep a river valley he goes into. You also won't be afraid
to help pack it out of some deep hole too.
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4. How do you hunt them?
We spend most of our hunting time in the woods or walking creek bottoms
trying to bugle in the bulls. Sometimes we can also catch them out in the
open fields at first or last light.
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5. What size of elk do you shoot?
You have an excellent chance to shoot a mature, heavy 5 or 6 point bull
scoring up to about 300. There are some big 300+ score bulls in our area
but even if you are willing to hold out for one and you can hike good it
is still an unlikely goal to complete. Legally you can shoot any bull elk
with at least 3 points on one side.
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6 What's your success rate?
It has varied quite a bit since 2006 depending on the skill and fitness
level of the hunters and how the weather has been. If you are in decent
shape and the weather is anywhere near normal there is no reason you would
not kill an elk.
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7. How do you handle 2 hunters with one guide?
It isn't tough to give a good hunt with 2 hunters to the one guide on
a rut elk hunt. When calling for elk you can be set up 100 yds. apart or
one hunter could be in ambush watching a field edge. We also usually have
several hunters and guides in camp at that time hunting elk and mule deer
and the elk hunt often quickly becomes a one on one guided hunt as soon
as one elk or even a mule deer gets killed.
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8. If we kill one how do we get it out?
Most of the country we hunt is fairly accessible to four wheelers and we
can use a chain saw to help us get close so we have had good luck getting
our elk out whole or just cut in two. It would be best though if you were
willing and able to pack an animal out of a fairly deep river valley. With
2 fit hunters and a guide you could pack an elk out of almost anywhere in
a ½ day. There are usually 4 hunters and 2 guides in camp so it can
become a big team effort to take the animal out in one trip too. Just don't
count on skipping out on the packing part.
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9. What caliber of gun do you prefer, bullets?
An elk is the toughest animal we hunt so we do prefer a larger caliber
gun but most of all you need to be accurate. A 30-06 with 180 grain bullets
is big enough though. The only bullets we won't allow are ballistic tip
bullets, especially the smaller grain weight ones. In our experience
they will blow up in impact and not even enter the chest cavity on an elk.
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10. How do you deal with the meat, antlers and cape?
If you don't want the meat it can be donated, at no cost to you, to
landowners who let us hunt their land or to needy families. We really appreciate
anybody who does this but you certainly don't have to. If you drove up the
cheapest way to deal with it is to take the elk home in your vehicle but
we have heard of some hunters having trouble getting through the border
with spine or brain matter, others have had no trouble at all. Removing
the spine would be possible with a saw but that would be up to you to do,
we have the saws to do it. Even better though is that we have an excellent
butcher who can cut, wrap in paper and freeze your meat. Cost is about $1
a lb. hanging meat. The average elk is 300 lbs. You could get a whole or
half elk done in about 36 hours. You could then load up one or more coolers
for your trip home. We have coolers here for a cost of $30 each. If you
are flying the airlines will usually charge for each cooler, about $100
for a 50 lb. cooler. We take no responsibility though if airlines policy
changes or they charge much more than that. It is up to you to figure out
before your hunt how much it will cost and what is allowed.
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11. What temperatures and weather can I expect? What clothes
are best? Do I need blaze orange? Gear list?
The normal temperature range for the September elk hunt is about 35
to 70 F. It can be hot and dry or cool and rainy, possibly snowy. Be prepared
for both. No blaze orange required, you can wear full camo.
Gear, clothing list:
- Quiet rain gear, pants and jacket with a hood
- Leather, waterproof, ankle high boots.
- Light gloves
- Extra sweaters, long underwear
- Binoculars, range finder, no spotting scope needed.
- Gun & 2 boxes of bullets
- Camera, if digital, extra battery, charger & memory cards. We will not email pictures to you.
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Call Mike to book your next Alberta
elk hunting adventure
1-780-864-3770
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