archery elk in Porcupine hills

Hunted Elk in '06 (skyline road and Bob's Creek?) in September Archery season and didn't have much action. One or two responses to bugles. Do these areas only have good elk numbers later in the season? Hunted with a friend from Calgary and it was our first time for elk. Plan on another hunt for '07 and would like to here some opinions on these areas for elk. We liked the area but with the lack of sightings were considering Grand Prairie for '07. Any insight/advice would be helpful.

Bernie

There are a few herds of elk that stay in the porks year round. I think your best luck would come later in the season after the weather turns cold and we get some snow up in the high country. I have only hunted the rut once when I was into bow hunting (some years back) but never had any luck.

OMO, but you don't have to go all the way up to GP for bull elk. Try zone 400 or 402 up in the Livingston.

Are you from Nova Scotia?

Yes I am from Nova Scotia, Cape Breton originally. I now live in Dartmouth. Thanks for the response. Admittedly, we didn't get any scouting time in...bud in Calgary wanted to, but work didn't cooperate. He talked about those areas/WMU's last year but with no scout time....well maybe he'll have more time this year.

Spent 3 years in Calgary (79-82) . Can't recall what that particular part of the province looks like(400/402). Didn't recognized Calgary. Lots of growth in 24 years.

Can't wait to go again.

Still a diedhard whitetail hunter in NS but nothing can compare to hunting Alberta......

nshunter

I used to hunt on the Trout creek road area west of Clareshome years back. We hunted mainly cows and usually were succesful.. We did see some bulls but I would say there are way better areas to hunt. Threre is a lot of pressure there.

Hey NSHunter. I'm originally from Antigonish. Been in Calgary since '95 and even I don't recognize it now. Great city though (for a city).

I've heard mixed reviews about 408 in Kananaskis, but the most consistant one is that the griz and cats are everywhere and if you are bowhunting it is recommended to carry some backup. Can anyone else confirm/deny?

NShunter,
Welcome to the board! I too am from N.S. and have been out here in Alberta since 89.

I was also a diehard WT hunter back home but after hunting moose and elk out here I seldom hunt WT anymore. I usually fill my WT tag while hunting for the other and the deer are usually ground up for sausage.

No, you probably wouldn't reconize Calgary today. The growth in that city is phenominal. One Million plus now.

I'm assuming you get out this way in the fall for a hunt with some of your buddies? If they get too busy that time of the year, look me up, I usually take the whole month of November off for hunting and set up a camp in the Porkies.
TTYL!

I would say most areas in the mountains have a pretty good population of grizz/cats.......408 would definatly be included....

I will warn you 400 and 402 can be very busy during early September. Lots of guys out looking for rifle animals (bear, sheep) and atv traffic can be a bit stupid. I would think the wildland parks are the best bets. Just an idea but i have not had any success hunting elk or finding many in those areas early September.

How come you guys don't have accents when you type eh....lol

Kiddin:b

We set up a wall tent down near the washout at the end of Skyline TUC. There were several other groups camped along the skyline in various openings along the Skyline. We saw a little elk sign and had one bull repond all week . Loved the hunt. We did see several spikes(Bobs Creek) and a couple of 3 pts in a six point area. (Kananaskis?)

My guess is we'll likely be chasing the rut for awhile...when you hear that bull respond it's pretty exciting....

I suppose if you want to hunt the rut on public land it's inevitable that your going to have company..sometimes a lot.

I will harvest a bull elk. It only takes a few seconds...gotta keep your line in the water.

nsh





I likely will be elk hunting in early September. I've got the fever.

ns, I know exactly where you were. There were 2 or 3 wall tents in there last nov, along with a few trailers. I often wondered how they were going to get them trailers up over those steep hills after that snow.

If you go back out the Skyline road, head west at the Claresholm junction until you reach HGW 22. Go north on 22 until you pass the Chain Lakes, take your next left (west) into Indian Graves and keep going until your up over the hump. When you reach the T intersection, turn left and you are now in WMU 402.
G'luck on your hunt next season!

Thanks for the infoTuc.

nsh

Hey
Do you have a brother named Ronnie? Did you used to hunt with guy named big Jim everone loved his home made knives. He had a jeep called bones

No HIBACKPACKER. You have me mixed up with someone else. Actually their was another group from NS hunting in the porcs while I was there. Never did meet them though. Not a great deal of time spent socializing on a week long elk trip.

Keep em sharp.

Bernie