Suffield Elk Hunt

[Texican]

Originally Posted by elkhunter11

This is a cull, not a wilderness hunt.. and the truth is, many of the people that were on the base when we were there, just wanted an opportunity with the highest possible odds of killing an elk. Most of these people have likely never experienced a wilderness elk hunt, and to be honest, many of them probably never will. Sitting along the out of bounds area, waiting for elk to enter the legal hunt area, isn't much different than sitting outside of the base boundary waiting for an elk to leave the base, or sitting on the mine boundary at Cadomin waiting for a ram to leave the mine. It may not be the kind of hunt that you or I prefer, but it is a legal hunt, and it is a way to reduce the elk population somewhat. I traveled to the base in the hopes that my newer hunter who isn't physically up to a wilderness hunt might have the opportunity to kill an elk, but once we experienced what was going on first hand, we decided that we weren't comfortable with the situation, so we left early. The bottom line is, that if this type of cull is not something that you might enjoy, then don't participate.

Was there this past week and noticed a lot of older gentlemen who may not be up to a tougher more physical hunt - the traditional miles of steep up and down terrain.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by elkhunter1234

There are still some tank Bulls held up in the NWA and the northwest corner in the oil & Gas area, don't give up hope on finding one, Just not sure if you want to pass up many 300" Bulls looking for him though.
Good luck and enjoy the meat. It is awesome.

Jim..

Be aware that the barriers where the roads lead to the oil and gas area are located before the boundary road in that area. Do not go past the barriers to reach the boundary road , as the boundary road is out of bounds at that location. Some people went past the barriers, and were caught by range patrol.

[rosh]

Originally Posted by elkhunter1234

There are still some tank Bulls held up in the NWA and the northwest corner in the oil & Gas area, don't give up hope on finding one, Just not sure if you want to pass up many 300" Bulls looking for him though.
Good luck and enjoy the meat. It is awesome.

Jim..

Nice to know!! Was 200yrd for a beaut 7x7, of course it works that way.

[elk396]

Does anyone know the approx. turn around time for cwd testing on these elk heads from this hunt?

[Lefty-Canuck]

Originally Posted by elk396

Does anyone know the approx. turn around time for cwd testing on these elk heads from this hunt?

6-8 weeks I have heard. In September my two heads were back in 3-4 weeks.

LC

[elk396]

ok, thank you

[Pathfinder76]

Originally Posted by elkhunter1234

We get it Chuck, your not a fan of this type of a cull/hunt. But I've got to ask you, what's the difference between this and hunting the Waterton park line like I know you have? Over the years I've had a WMU 300 tag a bunch of times and have been screwed a few times by guys shooting as soon as the first small bull jumps the park fence. The only difference I can see is, if you are not a local you don't have to beg the Suffield guys to let you on to shot a bull like Waterton, and you don't have to pay said landowner X amount of dollars per point on the bull you shoot like SOME landowners around the Waterton park line do.

Jim...

Get out of your truck and walk Jim. I have never shot an Elk that I watched cross the park line nor paid any landowner a dime. Just where in the world have you hunted elk in 300?

[double gun]

Originally Posted by elk396

Does anyone know the approx. turn around time for cwd testing on these elk heads from this hunt?

I had mine back in 2weeks.

[newguy]

There seems to be no perfect hunting/cull scenarios for some people.

I'm super stoked to have a friend offer me one of his tags for late Jan. I'm going to keep an open mind and will no doubt enjoy the experience.

Seriously, for anyone who wants to bash this amazing opportunity, stop. Especially the ones who haven't even stepped foot on the base.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by newguy

There seems to be no perfect hunting/cull scenarios for some people.

I'm super stoked to have a friend offer me one of his tags for late Jan. I'm going to keep an open mind and will no doubt enjoy the experience.

Seriously, for anyone who wants to bash this amazing opportunity, stop. Especially the ones who haven't even stepped foot on the base.

How can your friend offer you a tag? They aren't transferable, and there is no elk partner tag for an adult.

[Lefty-Canuck]

Originally Posted by elkhunter11

How can your friend offer you a tag? They aren't transferable, and there is no elk partner tag for an adult.

X2....not a partner eligible tag.

LC

[acrtech]

I am going to go out on a limb here and assume that NEWGUY was referring to his friend getting 2 Cow tags and will give him an elk if he helps?

[acrtech]

earlier today about 2 or 3pm My son reported 3 separate large herds of Elk between Suffield and the Radio tower to the East. one herd was basically right next to the fence line along the trans Canada. a mix of bulls and cow/calves.

[Saul Goode]

A friend of mine's co-worker is going next week ( I think). He asked if he could borrow my rifle ( he did something to his ). I heard thst there is a caliber restriction, the one he be will using is a 340 wby. Does it fall into the allowable caliber/cartridge limits? Thanks

[Marty S]

According to the ultimate range patrol soldier/elk hunt supervisor, there was a herd of 3000 elk in one area, they got pushed out by one stupid, ignorant inconsiderate hunter and ran off, off-base and hadn't returned by Friday afternoon when we left. Apparently he drove up to the herd and started shooting immediately, spooking the elk off before anyone else was able to get in on it.

A herd of 3000, most are going to be standing while a truck or two or ten or even more pull up. Be kind, be considerate, try your best to allow as many in as possible on a shoot like that.

These elk need to be reduced. One for the health of the herd and also for the health of the land. This ground is already over grazed from a cattlemans perspective, already with a couple years of drought, I could see the elk being forced into the surrounding leases out of necessity. Got to be real good for the National Wildlife Refuge to harbour such vast numbers of elk in such a small area. They claimed they needed to rid the base of 800 horses 20 years ago because they were so hard on the land/grass... silly huh? If a serious reduction doesn't occur, Tuberculosis in the elk is a real possibility, not good for elk, for cattle nor for people.

Anyways, two styles of hunting going on over there. If you are paying attention, you see both styles being mentioned. One, go find the big herds and get in line, can get silly at times, dangerous at times due to stupid people, but very productive. Large herds, very predictable where they will be, get on top of them in the morning and start shooting. The other is stay away from where the mob goes and try to find the others. Some days they lay low and other days they seem like plenty scattered about.

Dang they are good eating!

[Marty S]

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

A friend of mine's co-worker is going next week ( I think). He asked if he could borrow my rifle ( he did something to his ). I heard thst there is a caliber restriction, the one he be will using is a 340 wby. Does it fall into the allowable caliber/cartridge limits? Thanks

They say .338 Lapua is the max allowed so ya, I think that one is out, the two cartridges are very similar. I would show up with a different gun. Is he wanting to shoot one at 1000 yards? I hope he doesn't want to join the mob with a cannon like that!

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by Marty S

They say .338 Lapua is the max allowed so ya, I think that one is out, the two cartridges are very similar. I would show up with a different gun. Is he wanting to shoot one at 1000 yards? I hope he doesn't want to join the mob with a cannon like that!

Ok, thanks. He has a 30-06 but he did something to his firing pin I guess and it's not reliable. My friend only bow hunts, and I'm the only one he knows that rifle hunts. I'll let him know tomorrow and see if I can line up another rifle for him.

[elkhunter11]

According to the ultimate range patrol soldier/elk hunt supervisor, there was a herd of 3000 elk in one area, they got pushed out by one stupid, ignorant inconsiderate hunter and ran off, off-base and hadn't returned by Friday afternoon when we left. Apparently he drove up to the herd and started shooting immediately, spooking the elk off before anyone else was able to get in on it.

That sounds like what we witnessed Thursday morning. The range patrol people that showed up when this happened , were not happy with the individual that drove at the herd and opened fire.

[Marty S]

You could phone range patrol and get a definite answer to your question.

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by Marty S

You could phone range patrol and get a definite answer to your question.

I'll see what happens in the next couple days. I think I can make a few calls and get him a more suitable rifle for him. A buddy has a 25-06 and A 7 mag that he said he could try. He's probably better off with one of those.

[Warrior]

I am gong as a helper on the first season Jan 13th. Hopefully the 4 week break the animals have over Chritsmas will get them back into the huntable areas... Who else is going for Cows that week? PM me