Grande Prairie Whitetail HELP

[T23Outdoors]

Hello all,
I am pretty new to the Grande Prairie, and I am struggling immensely to try and find somewhere to hunt whitetail. I am a meat hunter and not looking for trophy. I just want to fill my Doe and Buck tag to have meat in the deepfreeze!

I have been hunting in 526 chasing elk around as a family member had a cow tag, and I also have my mule deer doe for that zone.
I have only seen 2 whitetail doe's and one basket buck but I could not gain permission to hunt them...

Can anyone point me in a direction?

Greatly appreciated!

[st99]

get the ihunter app, crown land starts 20 minutes drive in any direction and whitetails can be found everywhere (in low density compare to pre-2010)

[Z7Extreme]

Head down the 2 lakes hwy.. take a lease rd that heads into the bush/fringe land. But first confirm it is crown land before you hunt.

[obsessed1]

X2 get the I hunter app. And the county maps so you know who owns what. Drive to the end of a RR any where from teepee creek to Valhalla and start hunting. Thick bush quarters just off of any crop or hay fields often hold wt deer. Get on the cut lines early and late. The deer are there.

[Chuck_Wagon]

county maps
https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...1pMRC1OTjZVTmc

[HELL]

I know some good places if you give me a call 4033545158

[Torkdiesel]

Originally Posted by T23Outdoors

Hello all,
I am pretty new to the Grande Prairie, and I am struggling immensely to try and find somewhere to hunt whitetail. I am a meat hunter and not looking for trophy. I just want to fill my Doe and Buck tag to have meat in the deepfreeze!

I have been hunting in 526 chasing elk around as a family member had a cow tag, and I also have my mule deer doe for that zone.
I have only seen 2 whitetail doe's and one basket buck but I could not gain permission to hunt them...

Can anyone point me in a direction?

Greatly appreciated!

So you only saw two whitetails while you were out hunting?

Better hurry up and fill both tags before there’s none left to shoot !

[buckbrush]

Originally Posted by Torkdiesel

So you only saw two whitetails while you were out hunting?

Better hurry up and fill both tags before there’s none left to shoot !

He said he couldn't gain permission. Some of us civilians can't just hunt where
ever we please...

[Torkdiesel]

Originally Posted by buckbrush

He said he couldn't gain permission. Some of us civilians can't just hunt where
ever we please...

I was talking about the other ones he hasn’t seen yet 😉 lol

[husky7mm]

Your not seeing much on crown land in the bush because there aren't many, they have been overharvested. Why not focus on the leh you have and help the friend with the elk and split it? Save some whitetail for stock.

[Torkdiesel]

Originally Posted by husky7mm

Your not seeing much on crown land in the bush because there aren't many, they have been overharvested. Why not focus on the leh you have and help the friend with the elk and split it? Save some whitetail for stock.

Bingo !

[270person]

Originally Posted by husky7mm

Your not seeing much on crown land in the bush because there aren't many, they have been overharvested. Why not focus on the leh you have and help the friend with the elk and split it? Save some whitetail for stock.

Great suggestion. He should save deer got others. Like you I suppose.

Why don't you not hunt....and save some for everyone else.

[buckbrush]

Originally Posted by Torkdiesel

I was talking about the other ones he hasn’t seen yet 😉 lol

10-4. Makes sense now.

[husky7mm]

Originally Posted by 270person

Great suggestion. He should save deer got others. Like you I suppose.

Why don't you not hunt....and save some for everyone else.

Your right, its a shared resource, exploit it. Get yours or someone else will. Treat it like a rental.

[bucksman]

T23Outdoors T23Outdoors is offline Join Date: Oct 2019
Location: Grande Prairie
Posts: 3

Default WMU526 Whitetail

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey friends.
Can anyone point me in a direction where I can find out what the whitetail population is like in WMU526?

I see that tags are general in this zone but in the 2 years I've been hunting it I have only seen 3 Doe's and 1 Buck ( Basket 3pt )

There is definitely a HIGH population of Mule Deer, seems I can find at least 30 Doe's a day and anywhere from 6-10 Bucks ( nothing huge so far )

Im getting the feeling that if I shoot my 2 whitetail tags in this zone I may not see any next season...


what have you tried since your last post where you saw 4 whitetails

[270person]

Originally Posted by husky7mm

Your right, its a shared resource, exploit it. Get yours or someone else will. Treat it like a rental.

While you go non hunter for the next few years?

[husky7mm]

Originally Posted by 270person

While you go non hunter for the next few years?

The perspective I have shared is educated, qualified and solid. If you had any firsthand knowledge of the area and problem you would agree, but instead your just a guy on the net chirping. Some people need to do that to feel good about themselves, you do you.

To the OP, there are whitetail throughout the crown land outside of the private farmland in the GP area. They are just in low densities. The generous season and bag limit would lead you to believe they must be plentiful and you are just not finding them. The truth of the matter is they are managed with about as much care as coyotes or rabbits. They don’t want scads of them, especially anywhere near the caribou zones. Whitetail deer are very tenacious and can easily expand their range and explode in numbers. Management doesnt want that to happen for a number of good and bad reasons so hench the long season and generous bag limit. Your best bet is the farmland if you can secure permission. Showing up in camo during hunting season and asking if you can shoot the deer standing in the field is not the way to go about this. Start much earlier in the year.
Again you are not seeing many whitetail because away from the cropland there are not a ton of them.
Look for new cut blocks, recent built pipelines with clover and short green veg in the fall when all is brown. The bush deer move around based on the food quality so hot spots will change. Put in the time to find these spots. Go and make your own luck, it will feel and taste better that way. Hunt....

[270person]

Originally Posted by husky7mm

The perspective I have shared is educated, qualified and solid. If you had any firsthand knowledge of the area and problem you would agree, but instead your just a guy on the net chirping. Some people need to do that to feel good about themselves, you do you.

To the OP, there are whitetail throughout the crown land outside of the private farmland in the GP area. They are just in low densities. The generous season and bag limit would lead you to believe they must be plentiful and you are just not finding them. The truth of the matter is they are managed with about as much care as coyotes or rabbits. They don’t want scads of them, especially anywhere near the caribou zones. Whitetail deer are very tenacious and can easily expand their range and explode in numbers. Management doesnt want that to happen for a number of good and bad reasons so hench the long season and generous bag limit. Your best bet is the farmland if you can secure permission. Showing up in camo during hunting season and asking if you can shoot the deer standing in the field is not the way to go about this. Start much earlier in the year.
Again you are not seeing many whitetail because away from the cropland there are not a ton of them.
Look for new cut blocks, recent built pipelines with clover and short green veg in the fall when all is brown. The bush deer move around based on the food quality so hot spots will change. Put in the time to find these spots. Go and make your own luck, it will feel and taste better that way. Hunt....

Low density whitetail in the GP area? Do you hunt the area? I'm on my 10th day since Sept 17 hunting 521. Have probably seen 300 whitetails and 275 mulies

Are you a provincial wildlife biologist?

[husky7mm]

Originally Posted by 270person

Low density whitetail in the GP area? Do you hunt the area? I'm on my 10th day since Sept 17 hunting 521. Have probably seen 300 whitetails and 275 mulies

Are you a provincial wildlife biologist?

Wow man, exactly 300 whitetail and 275 mule deer......how accurate your records must be.... How many of these deer are in farm fields, how many are you counting again every time you see them. Further the OP is more direct to GP than 521.
PS, for what its worth, and its a-lot I have been in the bush all around Gp every day but 2 since the august long. I am an oil field surveyor and I hunt pretty much every day I have off, I am in the bush for months straight.

[bigwolf]

Originally Posted by husky7mm

Wow man, exactly 300 whitetail and 275 mule deer......how accurate your records must be.... How many of these deer are in farm fields, how many are you counting again every time you see them. Further the OP is more direct to GP than 521.
PS, for what its worth, and its a-lot I have been in the bush all around Gp every day but 2 since the august long. I am an oil field surveyor and I hunt pretty much every day I have off, I am in the bush for months straight.

If your not finding big deer numbers, your doing something wrong.. really wrong. They are everywhere on public land around GP

[husky7mm]

Originally Posted by bigwolf

If your not finding big deer numbers, your doing something wrong.. really wrong. They are everywhere on public land around GP

Hahahahaha

[Jays toyz]

Originally Posted by bigwolf

If your not finding big deer numbers, your doing something wrong.. really wrong. They are everywhere on public land around GP

Grande Prairie Alberta, or Texas?

[1899b]

Originally Posted by 270person

:sha_shakeshout:


While you go non hunter for the next few years?

lol!!

[270person]

Originally Posted by husky7mm

Wow man, exactly 300 whitetail and 275 mule deer......how accurate your records must be.... How many of these deer are in farm fields, how many are you counting again every time you see them. Further the OP is more direct to GP than 521.
PS, for what its worth, and its a-lot I have been in the bush all around Gp every day but 2 since the august long. I am an oil field surveyor and I hunt pretty much every day I have off, I am in the bush for months straight.

I don't really care how much you're in the bush. If you cant find whitetail in the GP area you might want to brush up on your technique. There's lots there but at least we know you'll be doing your part to keep it that way by leaving your gun in the ol gun safe. Good on ya.

[husky7mm]

Originally Posted by 270person

I don't really care how much you're in the bush. If you cant find whitetail in the GP area you might want to brush up on your technique. There's lots there but at least we know you'll be doing your part to keep it that way by leaving your gun in the ol gun safe. Good on ya.

Wow man your azz must get jealous of the chit that comes out of your mouth, when did I say I couldnt find whitetail?

Again, how many of the 57 deer you see on average everyday are bush deer away from the crops, farmland, fringe land? Crown land, no no permission required. I wouldnt be so quick to dismiss my observations, I spend about 25 days a month in the woods working, scouting, and traveling and I do this year round. I also converse with my other colleagues that put in similar hours. Nobody is seeing large numbers.