Wapiti Hunters

[RackStar]

Hello my fellow elk addicts. You have 2 weeks to hunt for bull elk this year , what 2 weeks would you choose? These 2 weeks do not have to be back to back.

this will be my first elk season in Alberta but plenty of experience on the B.C. side of the peace and the low elk density thick bush country of Prince George.

archery is August 25- sept 17, I’m thinking of doing sept 9-17 as one of the weeks because historically I’ve had amazing action during this period and any bull moose is also open for sharp stick.

I hear opener of rifle here is a gong show so I’m thinking of heading back out for the first week of October if I was not successful by then. I’m not into battling crowds.

anyone have any input for the first week of October for calling elk? This is not spot and stalk country and I’m not hunting farms.

curious on what dates you fellow elk hunters would pick.

thanks

[ACB]

The first thing that you have to do to rid yourself of this affliction is go to a meeting and standup and state your name and admit you're an ELKOHOLIC. Just kidding. LOL Sept. 10 then the following 2 weeks.

[jac]

I like around sept 21

i have had good calling first week of October

[Ferenc]

Weather plays an important role in the timing ... cold Sept first week frosty mornings be out there ... find them before they get cows .... Hot weather will definitely slow things down.

[Bugle M In]

Ask the Butcher!!
Sounds to me, where o hunt, the bow season is the best time and I think if you have a week of rifle right afterwards, and were not successful with bow, you have lots of intel going into rifle.
I would have normally said the last week of September, but firstly, that where I go.
But with the low #’s, it’s more of a crap shoot now.
And you may see me with bow if I ever get back into the game.

[RackStar]

Thanks for the replies fellas , nice to hear others opinions and experiences. Nothing like a good frost or first snowfall.

[HarryToolips]

Sept 9th and that week has been the hottest action for myself... and the last week of September has been good as well...latest I've heard a bull bugle is Oct 7th, but I know they go later...but will it be different (earlier in the year probably?) in Alberta, especially if you're a little more North than the interior of BC?

[RackStar]

I’ve had great action from as early as sept 2 but the long hot days make it a morning or evening hunt. Makes for long days. I’m about halfway between Dawson creek and grande prairie , plan on hunting areas from grande cache to the BC border near Dawson. Sounds like sept 9 - 24 would be a logical time to hunt. I know some guys who do really well in the first week of October in PG but you have to switch your tactics when they’re herded up with 20 cows. Latest bugle I’ve had was sept 26 in that region. Not nearly as many elk there as here though.

[landphil]

Sept 9th and that week has been the hottest action for myself... and the last week of September has been good as well...latest I've heard a bull bugle is Oct 7th, but I know they go later...but will it be different (earlier in the year probably?) in Alberta, especially if you're a little more North than the interior of BC?

I’ve been among bugling bulls in late October in region 7B, including on the 31st. The weather was a bit milder than a week before when it was -15, and the 12” of snow from earlier was melted off the south slopes.

I called a bigger bull a good part of the way in up there last fall too, on Oct 7th with weather in the 20’s during the day and rarely frosty in the mornings. Was a heck of a lot of fun for an hour and a half, until he ambled back to where he came from, bugling all the way.

But back to timing, I tend to think they might have a later rut up there, and here’s why. Since the spring comes later, so does ideal calving season. And since gestation periods will be unchanged, a later rut than the southern regions just makes sense. No proof, no elk meat in my freezer to even try to back that theory up. Just my conclusion from a bunch of time pondering my observations up there.

[358mag]

2nd phase of the rut