Smokey lake whitetail hunting

[sask dreamer]

Hi guys,
I have the opportunity to deer hunt the smokey lake area this fall and was wondering what the der herd is like in that area. Is there much potential for shooting a mature buck or is there a better area not to far off.
I looked on Google maps and there doesn't seem to be a lot of woods in the area, Are you better to head north of there or which direction.
Any information would be great and thanks in advance.

[GotMopar]

Hi there, I hunted moose this last fall every weekend in November in the northern part of smoky lake county. We also had whitetail tags with us in case we saw the right one. Over that whole period we saw maybe 10 does in the fields driving to/from our hunting spots and i spotted 1 smaller buck while walking through the bush. There was deer tracks here and there but never really spotted much for high traffic areas. We were pretty surprised that we didnt see more. We were hunting closer to the muskeg areas though for the swamp donkeys, i would imagine there is probably a decent population in the southern part of the county if you can get permission from the farmers.

[Opa]

You may want to start getting around the county early, getting to know the farmers and garnering permission. The old Ukrainian farmers are pretty protective of their land!!!! They have been known to chase trespassers and unknowns with more than a slingshot. The guys from the Buffalo Lake Settlement are dam hard on the moose and elk on the crown land at all times of the year.

[sask dreamer]

Thanks for all the info. Would it be better deer hunting up around lac la biche and is there much crown land up in that area. I also plan on going up to smokey lake area in the spring for a shed hunt and scouting mission. I was kinda hoping that maybe the deer yard up there somewhere for the winter.
Maybe around the edmonton area would be best. I'm from ontario ( I hate to say it) and I've been dreaming of hunting alberta for whitestails since I was a young kid and now I have someone that will host me and I just want to go to a great area.

[NBFK]

Does your host not have some experience for where to chase whitetails? Personally if I was hosting someone out of province id take them to some big bush that fringed farm land and sit all day peak rut ooking for a great buck to represent Alberta.

[sask dreamer]

Originally Posted by NBFK

Does your host not have some experience for where to chase whitetails? Personally if I was hosting someone out of province id take them to some big bush that fringed farm land and sit all day peak rut ooking for a great buck to represent Alberta.

No my host is my father and he has never hunted before. I've been bugging him to get his licence for years then he moved to alberta and he finally got it. When you hunt the forest fringe to where it meets farmland is most of that area crown land.
That's kinda what I was hoping to do.. I've hunted the forest in northern saskatchewan quite a few times and was kinda hoping alberta would be the same way.
Sorry for all the questions lol

[dodgeboy1979]

there are some community pastures up in that area, check with them to see when they allow hunters in.