 Mule
Deer Hunting Alberta, Canada with Mike's Outfitting
Rifle Mule Deer Hunting
in Alberta - FAQ
- Do you hunt public or private land? How much land do you have to hunt?
Is there much hunting pressure?
- How do you hunt the mule deer?
- Do you guys do much scouting or patterning of the deer before the hunt?
- Which week is the best to hunt? Isn't the rut the best time?
- What is the average buck size, what is a top end buck?
- Do I have to put in for a draw to get my license?
- What's the country/terrain like? Is it hard to hunt? Do I need to be
in good shape?
- How do you handle 2 hunters with one guide?
- What caliber of gun do you prefer, bullets? How far a shot can I expect?
- What kind of weather can I expect? What clothes are best? Do I need blaze
orange? What temperatures can I expect? Gear list?
1. Do you hunt public or private land? How much land do you have
to hunt? Is there much hunting pressure?
We hunt mostly private farmland for the muleys but when we say private land
it doesn't mean that we have exclusive permission on any of it. That is
because it is actually illegal in Alberta to pay a landowner for hunting
access. We simply ask for permission to hunt and he says yes or no. 90%
say yes and we end up with hundreds of thousands of acres of land to hunt.
Since resident hunters are on a limited draw for mule deer there isn't a
lot of hunting pressure.
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2. How do you hunt the deer?
Our main hunting method is to drive around in a truck and spot the deer
from the road and put on a stalk. It's not that we are lazy it's simply
the most effective way to hunt the farmland. The next most used method is
sitting farm field edges waiting for the deer to enter the field. We will
do this frequently when we are after a specific buck. There are also some
areas where we can glass the somewhat open river banks or sneak through
the trees near fields, along the river valley but these are low percentage
methods that take some physical fitness to do.
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3. Do you guys do much scouting or patterning of the deer before the
hunt?
Yes we do extensive scouting and bowhunting before your hunt, both allow
us to keep track of certain big deer. We are often hunting a buck in November
that was first seen in August. It is one of the keys to successful trophy
mule deer hunting.
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4. Which week is the best to hunt? Isn't the rut the best time?
We can hunt mule deer anytime from Sept 17 to Nov 30 and we have chosen
the best dates, Sept 17 to 30 and Nov 15 to 30. Either hunt can be great
with weather probably being the biggest factor. In most places the rut really
is the best time to hunt but in our area the September hunts can be just
as good, surprisingly some years it is better than the rut. The problem
is that we can never tell you beforehand which week will be best.
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5. What is the average buck size, what is a top end buck?
In a poor year you still have an excellent chance to get a 170+ gross score
deer and in a great year we are mainly killing 180+ bucks with the chance
for a 200+. A poor or great year is usually determined by several factors
such as how severe the past winter was, how much spring moisture we get,
what the weather is like on your hunt, how many resident hunter tags there
are etc. There are many things that we just can't control. What we can control
is how much effort we put in and we always put in 100% effort to get you
the biggest deer we can find for that year.
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6. Do I have to put in for a draw to get my license?
No, all of our licenses are guaranteed.
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7. What's the country/terrain like? Is it hard to hunt? Do I
need to be in good shape?
The terrain is unlike most mule deer areas. It is mostly flat farm fields
surrounded by heavy woods, more like whitetail country than mule deer habitat.
You don't need to be in good shape to have a great chance for success but
it does help to have the fitness to try all sorts of tactics, it just gives
that extra 10% edge in killing a big deer.
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8. How do you handle 2 hunters with one guide?
The 2 on 1 guided hunts usually work just fine with enough opportunities
for both hunters to get their animals. We can usually split up the 2 hunters
with for example one hunter sitting a field edge and the other with the
guide. The main reason we do most of our hunts 2 hunters to 1 guide is because
it is difficult to find great guides who have the private land access that
we need. We have found that one excellent guide can do a better job than
just getting a somewhat unqualified one to take one hunter. With several
hunters and guides in camp often hunts quickly become one on one anyway.
If it is a big concern for you, you can get a separate guide for $2000 a
hunt.
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9. What caliber of gun do you prefer, bullets? How far a shot
can I expect?
We prefer that you shoot the gun that you are the most accurate with. Our
deer can have huge 300+ lb. bodies but it still doesn't mean you need to
shoot a big caliber gun. A 30-06, 270, 7 mm are all perfectly adequate.
Most of our deer are shot well under 300 yds. but a 300+ yd shot is definitely
a possibility. As for bullets the only kind we don't like are ballistic
tip bullets, we have seen them blow up on a shoulder blade and not even
enter a deer's chest cavity.
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10. What temperatures and weather can I expect? What clothes
are best? Do I need blaze orange? Gear list?
The normal temperature for September is highs of 60 to 70 F and lows of
35 to 50 F. It can be hot and dry or cool and rainy. Be prepared for both.
In November it can be very cold, with lots of snow and temps in the -30F
range or mild with highs of 60 F. Most of the time you will be in the truck
checking fields so some decent warm clothes and boots you can walk in that
have a good amount of insulation are fine. Sometimes you may be sitting
a field edge for an hour or two so you do want some good warm clothes for
that though. No blaze orange needed, you can wear full camo.
Gear, clothing list:
- Quiet rain gear, pants and jacket with a hood
- Leather, waterproof, ankle high boots you can walk in, more insulation
for Nov.
- Light and warm gloves
- Extra sweaters, long underwear
- Binoculars, range finder, no spotting scope needed.
- Dayback
- Gun and 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
mule deer hunting adventure
1-780-864-3770
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