Winter camping elk hunt - Alberta, Canada - Porcupine Hills

[scout]

Just came back from 4 days of hunting elk in the porcupine hills region of Alberta. Night time temps were low and winds were, well, quite crazy at our summit campsite on skyline road...you can see why below!!   :-S

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Camp on summit of Skyline Road


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Views of the historic Waldron Ranch Grazing Reserve

[admin]

Crazy usually translates to a good story
I hope despite the camping/weather being crazy, the hunting was still good at least.

[scout]

The hunting was pretty good, tried to use the weather to our advantage. Had success tracking and scouting a lot of animals, however the distance on the prairies sometimes negates the chances of a successful shot, especially during gusting winds. So after a footsore couple of days, we have narrowed down the herd's sheltering spaces, and will likely return next week to fill the freezer. This is the first time for the January elk tag and we've had a few lessons learned re: towing in drifting snow, campsite placement (next time I will place the side of the trailer with no openings toward the wind)  and the limits of recovering an animal in -15 C weather on foot (distance wise, the logistics would suggest setting up an "after the shot" camp for +5km recovery in deep snow before dark). I think I will also set up one of my rifles as a designated "long shot" sighted in at 400 yds. Also currently researching using a fat bike/ice sled in the snow to get game out. I have a mountain bike set up right now that is good for <3" of snow but the next step might be a new fat bike (yay!). (incidentally, for those of you who are looking for bicycle transport - a front receiver, hitch mounted rack, works well on the truck and doesn't require any mods to the trailer).

Also was reminded that the road out may not be in the same condition as it was on the way in. The drifting snow and melting conditions could make the return trip a bit difficult back to the highway. On this go around, I stripped my front hub and lost 4x4 which made a few hills towing the CL barely passable (have a 12,000 pound Warn winch as a back-up). Was happy to have the new Goodyear Duratracs on the truck which made all the difference. We also travel in pairs so I also had a 1 ton diesel in front of me on the way out (to "straighten me out" if the back end spun loose on the uphills of the forestry road). So good hunt, that was eventful, but not quite the ending any hunter desires...my tales of woe may garner some pity from the "home admiral" who may grant me hunting leave next week.
 

[scout]

A cool trick with the I-phone through the "big eyes" (Binoculars).

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The little grey specks behind the black angus cattle are the elk... Distance wise it's about 5 miles or 8 km away ~ give or take...

[canuck]

Great spot!

We regularly camp along the Forestry Trunk road and towards Beehive Natural Area.

Enjoy!