Hunting in whitecourt or swan hills?

[Peterandall21]

I am pretty new to hunting and have been doing a lot of research this last year online and learning from friends and excited to fill my first tag. I have a bear and whitetail tag and I curious if it were to be better to go to swan hills or whitecourt to fill my first tag? I’m not looking for a trophy, I’d really like to shoot a bear, but would be thrilled with a white tail as well. I understand I will need to get my boots on the ground a scout, ect. - Any suggestions which area to start?
Appreciate any help! Thanks!

[obsessed1]

Both areas will have game. Hunt as close to home as possible. It makes getting out easier and hopfully more frequently. Pic an area and spend time in it. Avoid hopping areas too much as you never really get the learn an area well.. obviously if there is no sign of the species your hunting move on to areas that do have sign. Go out every time with the intention of learning something new about the game you are persuing. Make mental or even physical notes. Good luck out there!

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by obsessed1

Both areas will have game. Hunt as close to home as possible. It makes getting out easier and hopfully more frequently. Pic an area and spend time in it. Avoid hopping areas too much as you never really get the learn an area well.. obviously if there is no sign of the species your hunting move on to areas that do have sign. Go out every time with the intention of learning something new about the game you are persuing. Make mental or even physical notes. Good luck out there!

What he said

[Drewski Canuck]

As for Swan Hills vs. Whitecourt, the bigger question is what type of equipment do you have?

Many many years ago we drove in on the Shell Meekwap Gasplant Road which accesses the south side of Goose Tower.

The going in was easy with dry conditions. We had an Argo back then and were invincible, and naive. Truck was a 2 wheel drive, with no tire chains.

We drove in, set up a brand new wall tent, and started hunting a huge area, only to break down with the Argo about 4 kilometres back. Back then Argos had a Tecumseh 16 overhead valve engine, and the valve seats were press fit into an aluminium cylinder head. Valve seat popped out, engine stopped. A TRUELY STUPID DESIGN.

We pulled off the head and drove to Whitecourt for help. Got a bush mechanic fix done at a chainsaw shop and walked back in and fixed the Argo.

Over the next few days the drizzle turned to sleet turned to snow, and we had to pull out.

Jim Hill was frozen like a sheet of glass, we did not make it up and jack knifed into the ditch on a blind hill. LOTS of Oilfield and logging activity made this a near death experience.

Lesson #1: TIRE CHAINS and know how to use them.

Lesson #2: A proper 4 x 4.

Lesson #3: That country has some of the sloppiest gumbo on Earth and the best tires will ball up.

lesson #4: Shovels, tow chains, and rubber gloves and boots. A winch is only marginally helpful as the trees are not on the road bed you are trying to get back onto.

Game is running all over that country. Get a good GPS, get a map as backup, be prepared and go explore.

Drewski

[Stinky Buffalo]

Drewski speaks the truth.

In the Swan Hills area, we've been seeing more bears than we ever have in decades of hunting there. However, this fall, these were always sows with cubs. It's extremely important to determine that the bear has no cubs (from this year's batch) before you shoot.

Spring of 2021, we came across two orphaned cubs in separate locations. I know we have plenty of bears (maybe too many) but it still breaks my heart.

[Big Grey Wolf]

Drewski, a nice account of hunting in Alberta! However good advice to newbie to get good equipment and be prepared for bad weather etc.

[bezzola]

Im in the windfall area now camped with the family and there is 3 major hunting camps set up.
Driving around at night shooting all hours
Between the 3 vamps i have seen there is 37 trucks and that doesn’t include atvs

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by Drewski Canuck

As for Swan Hills vs. Whitecourt, the bigger question is what type of equipment do you have?

Many many years ago we drove in on the Shell Meekwap Gasplant Road which accesses the south side of Goose Tower.

The going in was easy with dry conditions. We had an Argo back then and were invincible, and naive. Truck was a 2 wheel drive, with no tire chains.

We drove in, set up a brand new wall tent, and started hunting a huge area, only to break down with the Argo about 4 kilometres back. Back then Argos had a Tecumseh 16 overhead valve engine, and the valve seats were press fit into an aluminium cylinder head. Valve seat popped out, engine stopped. A TRUELY STUPID DESIGN.

We pulled off the head and drove to Whitecourt for help. Got a bush mechanic fix done at a chainsaw shop and walked back in and fixed the Argo.

Over the next few days the drizzle turned to sleet turned to snow, and we had to pull out.

Jim Hill was frozen like a sheet of glass, we did not make it up and jack knifed into the ditch on a blind hill. LOTS of Oilfield and logging activity made this a near death experience.

Lesson #1: TIRE CHAINS and know how to use them.

Lesson #2: A proper 4 x 4.

Lesson #3: That country has some of the sloppiest gumbo on Earth and the best tires will ball up.

lesson #4: Shovels, tow chains, and rubber gloves and boots. A winch is only marginally helpful as the trees are not on the road bed you are trying to get back onto.

Game is running all over that country. Get a good GPS, get a map as backup, be prepared and go explore.

Drewski

While this is sound advice, I hunt the Swan Hills area allot. I rarely use an ATV, and often use my Corolla rather than my 4x4 to save on fuel. If you know what your looking for terrain-wise, and your not afraid to burn some boot leather, and pick your battles wisely it is entirely possible access good hunting without much equipment.

[Drewski Canuck]

Bushleague,

You most certainly are correct that you can hunt out of a Toyota Corolla.

The trouble is knowing before you are in too deep, which for anyone can be tough. That country is very unpredictable in the fall.

I have seen people shooting grouse out of a mini van on a freshly plowed logging road 28 kilometres back when the country was bone dry. I have had to chain up the front end of my truck on that same road, and we were back there all by ourselves as no one would dare follow. It was suddenly very wet.

The trail to Dawson City during the Klondike Gold Rush was littered with dead well intentioned newbies.

The whole point of trying to help someone with advice who is new to the sport is so that they have a good experience, and are not turned off by the realities of what could happen.

A $600 tow bill with a smashed up car with some mud and perhaps frost bite thrown in will turn off most newcomers in a hurry. Being prepared gives the confidence to know you can still overcome a potentially bad situation.

Drewski

[LKILR]

Originally Posted by Bushleague

While this is sound advice, I hunt the Swan Hills area allot. I rarely use an ATV, and often use my Corolla rather than my 4x4 to save on fuel. If you know what your looking for terrain-wise, and your not afraid to burn some boot leather, and pick your battles wisely it is entirely possible access good hunting without much equipment.

Do you strap a moose across the hood or does it fit in the trunk?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by Drewski Canuck

Bushleague,

You most certainly are correct that you can hunt out of a Toyota Corolla.

The trouble is knowing before you are in too deep, which for anyone can be tough. That country is very unpredictable in the fall.

I have seen people shooting grouse out of a mini van on a freshly plowed logging road 28 kilometres back when the country was bone dry. I have had to chain up the front end of my truck on that same road, and we were back there all by ourselves as no one would dare follow. It was suddenly very wet.

The trail to Dawson City during the Klondike Gold Rush was littered with dead well intentioned newbies.

The whole point of trying to help someone with advice who is new to the sport is so that they have a good experience, and are not turned off by the realities of what could happen.

A $600 tow bill with a smashed up car with some mud and perhaps frost bite thrown in will turn off most newcomers in a hurry. Being prepared gives the confidence to know you can still overcome a potentially bad situation.

Drewski

Totally agree, and I wasnt trying to contradict you, just adding a different perspective is all.

There are plenty of good areas I can access by foot, right off the pavement or a very short drive on a high-grade road. There are other places that I COULD use my car to get to, but I dont for the reasons you've stated. On two occasions I've ended up strapping a jack-all and chainsaw to a pack frame, and hiked back in recover my 4x4, as I didnt feel right asking anyone to risk coming in to tow me out. Lesson learned and I dont take those types of risks anymore.

I hunt a few areas accessed by "roads" that I wont even bother to run an ATV down when conditions are bad... its not impossible but I'd rather be hunting that fighting with an ATV. So yes, as I mentioned in my first post... your advice is sound.

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by LKILR

Do you strap a moose across the hood or does it fit in the trunk?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

A tarp in the trunk, and a calf sled in the back seat will haul a quartered moose. Kinda hard on the suspension though, and there might be some surprising odors in the spring.

[Drewski Canuck]

Bushleague,

My parents were divorced before it became fashionable and my Father was not a hunter anyway.

My Mother was EXTREMELY patient of the things we did with her 1978 Plymouth Valare on our hunting exploits.

It is amazing what you can put into a car trunk back in the good old days.

Many times my Brother and I filled her car trunk with duck feathers, some deer blood along the way, and towed a trailer with a moose more times than I want to admit.

I have the greatest respect for the ingenuity of a young determined hunter. I was one once myself.

Best memory of the durability of a Toyota Corolla was bringing home a calf in the back seat from a dairy farm to replace a stillborn calf for a farmer named Jans Magnusen. My brother and I restraining the calf on the drive back to his farm! Calf Sh## everywhere.

Drewski

Drewski

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by Drewski Canuck

Bushleague,

My parents were divorced before it became fashionable and my Father was not a hunter anyway.

My Mother was EXTREMELY patient of the things we did with her 1978 Plymouth Valare on our hunting exploits.

It is amazing what you can put into a car trunk back in the good old days.

Many times my Brother and I filled her car trunk with duck feathers, some deer blood along the way, and towed a trailer with a moose more times than I want to admit.

I have the greatest respect for the ingenuity of a young determined hunter. I was one once myself.

Best memory of the durability of a Toyota Corolla was bringing home a calf in the back seat from a dairy farm to replace a stillborn calf for a farmer named Jans Magnusen. My brother and I restraining the calf on the drive back to his farm! Calf Sh## everywhere.

Drewski

Drewski

I once crammed a warm/ floppy deer carcass into the trunk of a small Mazda, by the time I got home it had set up and would not come out in one piece. From cutting it appart with a saw, the trunk got full of "meat sawdust" and that car never smelled right again.

[Grizzly Adams1]

Lesson #3: That country has some of the sloppiest gumbo on Earth and the best tires will ball up.

Even tough to just walk in.

Grizz

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams1

Lesson #3: That country has some of the sloppiest gumbo on Earth and the best tires will ball up.

Even tough to just walk in.

Grizz

Important tip if you get out and walk in the forest gumbo is not much of an issue

[KGB]

Originally Posted by Bushleague

I once crammed a warm/ floppy deer carcass into the trunk of a small Mazda, by the time I got home it had set up and would not come out in one piece. From cutting it appart with a saw, the trunk got full of "meat sawdust" and that car never smelled right again.

I once forgot a gallon milk in the trunk of the car, it was there for over a week. In July…The container popped open and milk spilled all over the trunk carpet…. I will never forget the smell! It took me two days of cleaning, shampooing and Fabreezing….

[Stinky Buffalo]

Originally Posted by KGB

I once forgot a gallon milk in the trunk of the car, it was there for over a week. In July…The container popped open and milk spilled all over the trunk carpet…. I will never forget the smell! It took me two days of cleaning, shampooing and Fabreezing….

LOL! I'm sure that's what happened to the previous owner of a car we bought. Never quite got that smell out, no matter how much cleaner I threw at it over the course of ten years...

This was in the pre-Febreeze days, so I'm sure it wasn't your car.