2022 satisfying northern Alberta season

[Husky7mm]

This season started out like most, not nearly enough time to scout, and barely enough time to hunt. I had been out one time for all of bow season and barely had enough time to check all my cams prior to that. Not good….The wolves were back and they brought their litter, not good either.
I did not have any big animals on my cameras this year, so with the price of fuel and beef I decided it would be more about the freezer this year.

Finally rifle season was here and I had 5 days off! Been working 13-14 hrs a day for weeks on end, so was so glad to be off but energy to do it right was going to be a challenge.

Opening day was wet, man was it wet. It poured buckets and buckets of rain. The entire forest was flowing, it was so loud no chance of calling in anything as they wouldn't hear us. We started the day and rain gear but were soaked through everything within a few hours. We checked all the cams we could and yes It was confirmed. No BIG bull elk this year and the whitetail bucks were at best 3-4 year olds. We packed in it early in the afternoon for the first time ever for an opening day. I knew everything would be hunkered down but with the recently graduated son having the weekend off we had to try. Sunday the fog was so thick you could not see 40m, the wind picked up and it started to pour again. We had one bull bugle once but he would not engage. Another early day for us, home by mid afternoon to dry everything out, again.

Monday morning, the 3 day I had off I woke to the house groaning to the wind, SOB. I looked at the forecast and rain was not on it but there was an extreme wind warning. I thought about going back to sleep as I was tired and pretty miffed about the weather that seemed to plague any rare day I had off. **** it, I wont get an elk from home and I have done great in the wind as they can’t hear very well.

As luck would have it a walked right into a bull on an over grown seismic line on the way in, it was maybe 10mins into legal light. He was a mere 40 m from me and stared curiously at me, I don’t think he new what I was in the early grey light and like I said the line was overgrown so we were partly hidden from each other. I could make out a small branch antlered rack with at least 3 points to a side, It was hard to pull the trigger so early in the season and know that my solo time hunting elk would be over for the year but I said I was going to fill the freezer every chance I had and it had been years since I hunted with that intent. A quick frontal shot to the neck put him down on the spot, right on the trail. Turned out he was a 5x6 rag horn so I still havent ended my 6 point only streak. Lol
He had a nice fat 2-3 year old body and very little smell to him. With my lack of energy I was happy he was on lighter side. I did the gutless on him and then took him out on the atv in two trips as I had the time for two trips and I felt bad for the atv last time I did the trip in 1 shot. I took the liver, heart and suit as I had learned they are super healthy for ones diet.

More to follow when time.


https://i.postimg.cc/hQbRjPXG/2-EF1-B425-E143-4-A60-AB9-A-AFCC0-EF247-B6.jpg (https://postimg.cc/hQbRjPXG)

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No sooner did I have the elk at the truck and I get a text from work, if you get an animal early please, please, please come back to work asap. :(

[HarryToolips]

Satisfying indeed, looks like a fat tasty bull, congrats!

[RiverOtter]

Nicely done, Husky! Congrats on the winter food supply.

[RackStar]

Nice bull! Thanks for posting

[markt308]

Right on! Nice bull

[Keta1969]

Nice getting it done with limited time. Used to hate it when work interfered with hunting. Well done

[kennyj]

Nice bull! Great for the freezer.
kenny

[Spy]

Good job bud thanks for sharing:-)

[Husky7mm]

The days off were only 9 days away for the annual moose trip, but first I had to go to Saskatchewan and work for 8 days. They kept me overly busy till the last day so I had no choice but to drive back after work, incognito. That gave me the day to get my gear in a row. Moose camp consists of hauling about a weeks worth of gear via atv and tub trailer into the middle of nowhere, just the way we like it, and who doesnt want to sit beside a fire every night and sleep in a wood stove heated wall tent? The 12 hr day followed by 850km drive was worth it.

The forecast was poor but the dates were book so that was that. The first morning and the coldest and calmest of the trip the first moose we saw was a dandy Jim Schockey moose. Without a doubt a shooter. Unfortunately he was way out there and would not commit to coming our way. There must be a real cow in heat down there.
We tried an interception as the wind picked up and the temperature rose but it was to no avail. After that it got really hot and really windy, like real relentlessly windy. My hunting partner with the draw passed on a few small bulls and after seeing that giant I don’t blame him as it would be hard to not try for the giant till the end. Experience taught us that anything could happen here.
There were at least 3-4 grizzly spotted everyday which was not the usual for the area, one had a permanent residence about 700m from the camp. Lucky for him he never bothered us is all I have to say.
We pulled out a day early as the forecast had a rainfall warning effect and gumbo hell takes the fun out of an already challenging week.


Back to work but a few random days allowed me to hunt for whitetail, wolves and check the cams.

The cams said the game was not up to their usual business and the wolves were pounding my honeyhole to death. Unfortunately, so far it seems I was either a day too early or late everytime out. I have 10 cams in the area so I have pretty good tabs on whats going on over about about a 10k area that has served us well.

There was a lot of blown over trees from the recent storms and with the lack of game sign I wondered if the productivity was coming to an end. I had just walked a 9 km loop and was a bit miffed. ****ing wolves.
I road the atv to were I had a commanding view to have a late lunch. No sooner did I pull up and I see a big mature buck staring at me. He didnt hear me approaching via atv because of the strong wind. A quick off hand shot at about 200m felt promising. There was good blood within about 10 m of the crime scene so I was getting pretty excited. Note to self, and I already learned this a bunch, anything can happen……

The buck was bleeding all over the place for the first 100m and I really expected a dead buck any second but then the blood dried up. I slowed down and saw his rack upright sticking out of the underbrush in a forest of big aspen. He was still alive. I tried to slowly circle right to get an better angle on him but in 1 smooth motion he was up and gone. :(

I gave him around 15 mins and took up the trail, but this time at a snails crawl. It took a bit to figure out the tracking as the blood was very spars. Again I see the tips of the rack sticking out of the underbrush. His head is wobbling and he keeps putting it down. I feel bad for the beautiful animal, but hate shooting them bedded as it can easily destroy shoulders, loins and such. Everything is all bunched up. I had no clear shot to the neck either. Again I tried to circle right to get a good angle on his neck. He seemed like he was just about gone but in the blink of an eye he was up and gone. ****. I tried to get him in the scope and let one go but it was a miss. I quickly reloaded and just swung the rifle like a shot gun and sent another as he ran behind a spruce. He piled right up. Hard to out run a bullet to the back of the head.

I admired him and took some pictures. He was the biggest bodied WT I have ever shot. Right around 300 lbs I figured, not a bad rack, but what a body, and so fat. Too bad its all tallow. I cut a trail in and wrestled the atv in. I gutted him and kept the heart and liver again. It was all I could do to get him on the back rack, he was obese but In great shape with no stink. Its was oct 31.

https://i.postimg.cc/XBJ3kbTx/2-EDADEC5-76-C9-4-AB4-ABCC-64229-CF1558-F.jpg (https://postimg.cc/XBJ3kbTx)


https://i.postimg.cc/CdPwLRq2/136328-DC-F92-D-413-C-9-DF3-237-C0-E996-EB1.jpg (https://postimg.cc/CdPwLRq2)

https://i.postimg.cc/02BgjR4h/2-FA166-FB-4-DC7-49-E0-9-C33-45192419-D391.jpg (https://postimg.cc/ppzcc7RB)

[Husky7mm]

More to come when I have time. :)

[Husky7mm]

Pretty much the same size heart and nuts as the 5X6 bull elk from earlier. Huge body. I wear 2-3XL gloves BTW for reference. I was quite stunned by his size, and did not have this buck on Cam, ever.


https://i.postimg.cc/R60phZrS/473-F82-E8-B6-F7-473-A-BF2-A-BEEAA2-A255-C0.jpg (https://postimg.cc/R60phZrS)

[RackStar]

Great buck, awesome season. My whitetail this year definitely changed my view on the size of these deer. Mine was just as big as any muley I’ve shot in the past. Good job

[Husky7mm]

I have been in northern Alberta for 9 years now and most of the bodies although fat in the neck have not been much bigger than the south eastern BC mature whitetail. He had about 60lbs on my best mulie, which is coming next………:)

[Husky7mm]

In late Oct I was offered a job that would pay me similar money working 5 days a week, with a schedule. It was still a job in the bush, seeing lots of new country everyday and generally the weekend off. It was a no brainer. And that ended almost 10 years of working often up to 90hrs a week.

To celebrate my first weekend being off I had to go hunting. The plan was to try for my hunting partners moose tag. We had a few really long days and close call on a nice bull elk but no bull moose to be found. Late in the day on one of the last kick at the can we saw a pretty good mulie buck and it was a no brainer to shoot. At first glance against the fresh snow back drop and with his super tall horns I had though he was a young bull elk. ( he was a fair ways out)

A few too many shots later and some run and gunning and he was down. I guess I was excited, it had been 11 years since I shot a mulie as generally most of Alberta is draw.

This guy is the narrowest and tallest mulie I have seen with my own eyes.

https://i.postimg.cc/bd0btvbb/3-A6-E1-C44-E42-A-4-C33-BE6-E-A931445-B11-FF.jpg (https://postimg.cc/bd0btvbb)

https://i.postimg.cc/dZJKZDY4/F3-DDB53-B-982-B-4-E65-A1-B6-EB8-E4-B1184-FE.jpg (https://postimg.cc/dZJKZDY4)

[Husky7mm]

The sad part is he is just a young buck, he had potential to be some kinda freak.

https://i.postimg.cc/BtfHbF84/FDCF2304-A54-A-4-ADC-B493-2495588-E9-B92.jpg (https://postimg.cc/BtfHbF84)

By his teeth, hoof and body size I would guess he is only 3. He is a 5 x 4 , but its hard to tell in the pictures.

The meat was tender and barely had a hint of mulie musk so pretty happy.

The rest of the winter will be spend chasing those dame wolves.

https://i.postimg.cc/SjDg0VsJ/9-B7-A0-A5-B-A6-C2-41-CF-8991-01-F444-B0-FD3-D.jpg (https://postimg.cc/SjDg0VsJ)

This is the alpha, he has been in the area for at least 3 year now. Very special for color. About half the pack is black as the female is black. They cant seem to stay away this year so they will get my free time throughout the winter. There is a bounty where I live.

https://i.postimg.cc/jCsMkBRp/CDFBC29-F-99-FF-4-F93-A589-BEF5-F8-A94-FE0.jpg (https://postimg.cc/jCsMkBRp)

[Harvest the Land]

Way to put on a clinic Richie. Awesome work. You had a hell of a season. And congrats on the new job - sounds like you're pretty into it. That neck on the whitetail is friggin thick. And that;s a dandy mulie; and great shooting on that rag horn - pretty sweet when things work out that way eh? Well done man

[Husky7mm]

https://i.postimg.cc/6qCPPdnv/A8-CD13-F2-00-B6-497-F-8354-492-A4-B02762-B.jpg (https://postimg.cc/dZtnkZWs)img host (https://postimages.org/)

I don’t run video mode on any cams as reviewing content takes too long. Each cam has a few 1000 photos to review every few months so there is only so much time for that.

I have about 30 pictures of this pack howling in front of one of my cams, I can hear their howls without video mode in my mind, the picture says it all. I have had wolves howl at me in distain at less than 200m after I shot 1 of their pack members. Its simply amazing how loud they can howl. Its a love hate relationship.

[Husky7mm]

Way to put on a clinic Richie. Awesome work. You had a hell of a season. And congrats on the new job - sounds like you're pretty into it. That neck on the whitetail is friggin thick. And that;s a dandy mulie; and great shooting on that rag horn - pretty sweet when things work out that way eh? Well done man


Thank you Jason. Dirty berta‘s been good. Tick tock buddy!!!

[Husky7mm]

https://i.postimg.cc/6qCPPdnv/A8-CD13-F2-00-B6-497-F-8354-492-A4-B02762-B.jpg (https://postimg.cc/dZtnkZWs)img host (https://postimages.org/)

I don’t run video mode on any cams as reviewing content takes too long. Each cam has a few 1000 photos to review every few months so there is only so much time for that.

I have about 30 pictures of this pack howling in front of one of my cams, I can hear their howls without video mode in my mind, the picture says it all. I have had wolves howl at me in distain at less than 200m after I shot 1 of their pack members. Its simply amazing how loud they can howl. Its a love hate relationship.


I do not get why some photos on postimage are big and clear and others are small and blurry and have to be clicked on to see a large clear image. I am using the same procedure everytime, and posting with an iPhone?

[RackStar]

Wow that’s a great mule deer, super tall. Did you harvest him in a general open season? Or did you cash out your points. Well done. So far I love the hunting in Alberta. If your a deer / moose / elk hunter it has B.C. beat.

[Harvest the Land]

Thank you Jason. Dirty berta‘s been good. Tick tock buddy!!!

Working on it pal! I missed those wolf shots - just awesome. Hopefully you get a few chances the cull some of the pack this winter

[Husky7mm]

Wow that’s a great mule deer, super tall. Did you harvest him in a general open season? Or did you cash out your points. Well done. So far I love the hunting in Alberta. If your a deer / moose / elk hunter it has B.C. beat.

General. There are a handful of zones that have general archery or and general rifle. Its still a long shot for a half decent buck in general.

[RackStar]

Awesome good to know. I saw one decent 4x4 someone got down south a bit towards cache in the general. I’ve been seeing some of the biggest mule deer of my life around 357 the last couple weeks. Truly impressive genetics. Wicked season you had thanks again for sharing ! Take care, enjoy the new job!

[Walking Buffalo]

Doin' Alberta proud.
Thanks for the share.

[Norwestalta]

Nicely done. We managed to get a late 5x5 bull elk and the wife said she seen 15 or so cows in my hayfield yesterday. Yes that wind can certainly piss off. It's been bad this fall with the up and down temperature. The whitetail around the ponderosa seem like unicorns. 6 days of hunting and might of only seen 20 does and 4 or 5 small bucks. At the end I figured I'd donate my general and supplemental tag to the burn barrel. Nice mule by the way. Used to see some gooders down the two lakes rd around Chinook ridge. Good luck with the new employment. It was quite a change for me when I tried the mon-Fri 50 hr work week. I hated it but good luck and hope it fits.
What is this wolf bounty? MD of Greenview? First I've heard of it.

[Husky7mm]

Nicely done. We managed to get a late 5x5 bull elk and the wife said she seen 15 or so cows in my hayfield yesterday. Yes that wind can certainly piss off. It's been bad this fall with the up and down temperature. The whitetail around the ponderosa seem like unicorns. 6 days of hunting and might of only seen 20 does and 4 or 5 small bucks. At the end I figured I'd donate my general and supplemental tag to the burn barrel. Nice mule by the way. Used to see some gooders down the two lakes rd around Chinook ridge. Good luck with the new employment. It was quite a change for me when I tried the mon-Fri 50 hr work week. I hated it but good luck and hope it fits.
What is this wolf bounty? MD of Greenview? First I've heard of it.

I found the rut to be crazy this year, punch drunk bucks out everywhere I went, and anytime of day. Lots of road kill bucks in the ditch too which is a sad sight, but indicative of high activity.

The wolf bounty is $300 for greenview and $500 for the saddle hills last time I checked.


I will miss the random week days off but I will book them. I will hunt after work too. It will be great, I will make it great, as I will make the most of it.

[Husky7mm]

I should of mentioned that a few more wt bucks died this year in our group. My hunting partner took a nice fat 4x4 while out with my son and hunting partner. And my son rattled a nice wt buck in a spot I gave him while out with a school buddy, so freezers are doing well. IMO whitetail are pretty good eating. We butchered most of what we could in the kitchen, my wife was so happy about it, lol. I wouldn't make any profit as a butter but man I have clean meat.

[Norwestalta]

Right on husky. We'll have to get together one day now that you've got free time I just need it to stop snowing so I can.

[Husky7mm]

Right on husky. We'll have to get together one day now that you've got free time I just need it to stop snowing so I can.

Thank you brother. Sooner than latter for sure. I will pm you my number.