Peace Country Elk

[la river]

Just starting my research on Elk hunting in the Peace! Any info would be muchly appreaciated. Havent hunted Elk in 15+ yrs and plan on heading up for a Dec draw. Is it mostly private land? Are they all herded up by Dec? I believe there is lots of tags for this draw, so wondering what the pressure is like? Mulies and whiteys in the same areas? I know its alot but figured I'd try !
Thx in advance!!!!!

[hunter1947]

Have not hunted that much for elk up that way ,but I do know that the cows and calf's are gathered up in herds by that time of the year.

As for land to hunt if you know any one that knows of land owners in that area it would be a big help for you.

If I where you I would find out where you can get maps showing where crown land is and where it is not.

[bridger]

deer season closes nov 30 in the peace

[elkdom]

rarely are they herded up early in winter, prior to late January as the zone 7-20a LEH antler less season is mostly farmland, with some attached Crown lands, mostly farm able land, with some river valleys and drainage's, there are not herds of elk coming down from high elevations in 7-20 as in other parts of BC, like the EK's or the Muskwa, where elk migrate for long distances,
rather here in 7-20 the elk are "resident" and learn evasive tactics much like white tail deer, disturbed or pressured they go nocturnal,,,
the first couple of LEH antler less seasons in 7-20 were pretty much a "given" due to very deep snow conditions driving elk into farm hays storage ares, making them easy targets, the last couple of years snow hasn't been so deep, and the elk were not desperate as for other years, add to that they learned to evade danger zones, the late LEH in 7-20 hasn't been like shooting fish in a barrel, as in earlier years,
also temperatures can be as severe as minus -50 when hunters arrive from warmer climates in Jan/Feb, many vehicles and hunters are not functioning in those temps,
farmers on the famous MOE elk hunt lists have been hounded and harassed and at this time ,many of them have "elk proof" fencing around hay supplies and many of the former hosted farm LEH elk hunts are now without elk in the winter, a lot has changed the last couple of years, it is NOW a HUNT, not a CULL as it really was the first LEH couple of years,

start planning now, install your block heater, gather extreme cold weather hunting clothing, and expect a tough hunt, if it works out to be nice weather and you arrive, then the elk are not feeding as aggressively, the temp goes to minus -05 and the elk are not as hungry as at minus -45 , up here we have many "Chinooks" it can be 10 degrees Celsius at 9;am,,, by 3 in the afternoon it can be minus-45 Celsius , or vice versa ,,,

start preparing now, good luck this season