Hunting private property in 7-20 A..

[300]

I have the opportunity to go up hunting on property by dawson creek late this october (7-20 A) and I was looking in the regs and see that cow elk, whitetails, black bear, and bull moose are open. The only hunting I have done up north is for elk by fort nelson, I mainly hunt within 7 hours of the lower mainland. So basically my question is for anyone who has hunted on private property in dawson creek, is it worth me going up there? or should i spend my time hunting closer to the lower mainland? or is it completely dependent on how good the property is? I would be happy to hunt for cow elk, bull moose, or whitetail, whichever i would have the best chance at.

[BRvalley]

7-20A is a large area with animals basically everywhere, look up the lot on a map, if it looks like good terrain I'd be packing the truck...talk to the owner and ask what he's been seeing

there is also some great crown land, so either way it's a good area to hunt up here

[Glassman]

If you have permission to hunt on land up there, I would ask the land owner to see whats wandering around on his property. I would be packed and in the the truck faster than you can say m-i-c-k-e-y m-o-u-s-e.

[Dirty Steve]

Uhhhhh yup!
I wouldn't think twice, a very good way to fill two freezers!

[pnbrock]

do you need a ride?

[bearhunter338-06]

We can go in my truck, I'll even pay the gas bill.

I have an LEH for antlerless elk in that area.

[brutus]

i am going in that area on the 18 oct to 29 if u need a partner to hunt on your private land let me no i would be happy to join u lol,i hunt crown land arround fsj with pretty good success usually.some private land can be good some not so good,talk to the owner best way to go about it,lots of animal up that way

[Brett]

you should have a back up plan as far as where to hunt. If there are no elk ( there will be deer) and you want one some times farmers are cursed with them for a week or 2 and then they are gone.
I would go up just to make the contact, so in the future you may be able to phone and ask whats available ? :)

[300]

Wow, well I am definitely going to look into it more. I also have a contact in Chetwynd with private property, I am assuming there is generally quite a bit of game there too? Thank you those of you who offered rides, but if I go I will drive with my friend as he knows the owners well.

[twr]

300, with all these private land contacts you are gonna make alot of friends.

[sneg]

had couple trips over the years.sometimes private property i had permission to had game on it sometimes not. the owners of other properties with tons of elk and white tails did not give permission. several told us they have deal with some outfitter.... if they have elk they call outfitter/...so bottom line it is good to have some properties with permission,but do not count on this property only..

[d6dan]

had couple trips over the years.sometimes private property i had permission to had game on it sometimes not. the owners of other properties with tons of elk and white tails did not give permission. several told us they have deal with some outfitter.... if they have elk they call outfitter/...so bottom line it is good to have some properties with permission,but do not count on this property only..

I think I know that outfitter. He's not too popular with alot of people up there.

To the OP. Its a no brainer to get up there and hunt. As everyone else has stated......you need a ride?..:confused:

[Angus]

Run...don't walk, to your truck and get up there. I just came back from a private land hunt north of FSJ in 7-20 A. Talk to the land owners, farmers and neighbours when you're up there. They are a great resource of where and what is going on in the area.

And don't forget to leave a nice glass turkey behind for the land owner. This way, you'll get invited back next year too.

[300]

Run...don't walk, to your truck and get up there. I just came back from a private land hunt north of FSJ in 7-20 A. Talk to the land owners, farmers and neighbours when you're up there. They are a great resource of where and what is going on in the area.

And don't forget to leave a nice glass turkey behind for the land owner. This way, you'll get invited back next year too.

Glass turkey?? How was the hunt, successful? I leave this Wednesday, come back 5 days later on Monday night.

[300]

had couple trips over the years.sometimes private property i had permission to had game on it sometimes not. the owners of other properties with tons of elk and white tails did not give permission. several told us they have deal with some outfitter.... if they have elk they call outfitter/...so bottom line it is good to have some properties with permission,but do not count on this property only..

Hmm.. I am getting hooked up with a guy who owns an outfitting store up there, my freind knows him and was going to get him to give us some tips on which property to hunt, we have a few available to us. I doubt it is the same guy though if he was willing to help us out.

[Angus]

Glass turkey?? How was the hunt, successful? I leave this Wednesday, come back 5 days later on Monday night.

Glass Turkey a.k.a. a 40 ouncer. Its from my old man back in 1970s. When his group of Scottish, Irish and English friends was having a raffle where booze was the prize, it was referred to as a glass turkey.

The trip to FSJ was my first big game hunt and although we didn't bag anything, I considered it a success in that I have a better understanding of what I need to do next time to be successful. Learned a ton about bugling with elk, and now know what you're supposed to do once you get them bugling back (head towards them, dammit!).

Observed 8 moose, though none were shooters. They either had three or more total tines, or less than a total of 10 tines. It should be "any bull" up there and not so restrictive.

Next year we've been invited back. Can't wait

[300]

Glass Turkey a.k.a. a 40 ouncer. Its from my old man back in 1970s. When his group of Scottish, Irish and English friends was having a raffle where booze was the prize, it was referred to as a glass turkey.

The trip to FSJ was my first big game hunt and although we didn't bag anything, I considered it a success in that I have a better understanding of what I need to do next time to be successful. Learned a ton about bugling with elk, and now know what you're supposed to do once you get them bugling back (head towards them, dammit!).

Observed 8 moose, though none were shooters. They either had three or more total tines, or less than a total of 10 tines. It should be "any bull" up there and not so restrictive.

Next year we've been invited back. Can't wait

Ohh haha. Wow, 8 moose, that's pretty good! How many cow elk did you see? And whitetails?
Haha yeah elk are pretty wild once you get them bugling. We've had the odd one come steam-rolling in looking to fight, but like you said most of the time you have to go pursue them.

[keithb7]

You really don't need private property. I brought home a cow elk just last month from the area on crown land Actually I am typing this while the filet mignon steaks cook on the BBQ. Yummy!

[Swamp mule]

Snowing lightly up here as we speak. about a couple inches now and a few more soon. Roads are wet and the snow is somwhat crunchy when temps drop. -3 right now. There are a few deer around.

[Duidery]

Observed 8 moose, though none were shooters. They either had three or more total tines, or less than a total of 10 tines. It should be "any bull" up there and not so restrictive.



Why do you say it should be "any bull" and "not so restrictive"? There is already a 15 day any bull season. How much more time do you need? There are plenty of hunters so I dont think that an "any bull" season for more than the two weeks there already is would be a very good idea. Find a good spot, invest in some good optics and you should be able to get a bull even with those restrictions. Just curious, you know that you can also shoot bulls with three brow tines? Heres a pic of the bull we got during the restricted antler season.
http://i1325.photobucket.com/albums/u633/Duidery/DSC03009_zps517dffa3.jpg

[squeege]

I have the opportunity to go up hunting on property by dawson creek late this october (7-20 A) and I was looking in the regs and see that cow elk, whitetails, black bear, and bull moose are open. The only hunting I have done up north is for elk by fort nelson, I mainly hunt within 7 hours of the lower mainland. So basically my question is for anyone who has hunted on private property in dawson creek, is it worth me going up there? or should i spend my time hunting closer to the lower mainland? or is it completely dependent on how good the property is? I would be happy to hunt for cow elk, bull moose, or whitetail, whichever i would have the best chance at.

Does the tin man have a metal Di*k. (Gaul, 2012).

[Angus]

Yeah, thanks, well aware of the three brow tines (tri-palm). What we did see were some immature bulls with three total tines as opposed to the legal spike-forks when we were there. And we were also checking the older bulls for three brow tines or ten total on one side.

Unfortunately, our trip did not coincide with the any bull period, but based on what we saw on those sections of land we had access to, we may recalibrate our timing for the any bull window next season.

Nice bull by the way!




Why do you say it should be "any bull" and "not so restrictive"? There is already a 15 day any bull season. How much more time do you need? There are plenty of hunters so I dont think that an "any bull" season for more than the two weeks there already is would be a very good idea. Find a good spot, invest in some good optics and you should be able to get a bull even with those restrictions. Just curious, you know that you can also shoot bulls with three brow tines? Heres a pic of the bull we got during the restricted antler seasonhttp://i1325.photobucket.com/albums/u633/Duidery/DSC03009_zps517dffa3.jpg