How things looking for Sask this fall

Most of the city hunters I know are planning to head for community pastures- I fear that the PFRA's are going to be an absolute warzone. I suspect most farmers are going to get sick of being asked, and either post their land with "just hunt and don't bother me" signs, or else shut down hunting altogether.

Sadly I'm too close to the city already, even in previous years it's been like a shooting gallery on opening day. I can't imagine it being better now.

Why I ditched the rifle and moved to a bow last year, don't see a soul on public land during archery season. To keep on topic, I have seen a pile of deer on my camera this summer, so am hopeful to get something. On some public land a short jaunt from my place.
 
Thanks guys for replying, yes I was hunting in zone 50 last year and the snow was brutal in some of farmlands we've been hunting at.
I got permission this year with a new land owner, and his quarters border 62 so I will be setting up baits on the border of his lands and 62. As far as outfitters (theres 4 in that area) that's what I explained to the land owner , that I didn't want to get into headaches with them lol.
Im staying in whitefox so its only a 20 min drive which is great for us.
And I can't wait to get there again this year as it's my 3rd year in a row I've been picked, been really lucky with the canadian resident draw, hope it continues this way.
Anyways good luck guys with your hunts this year!

Elmer

Good luck out there. Sometimes it's so busy out there it's hard not to step on someone's toes. I grew in Nipawin, hunted thay area a fair bit back then. We eventually gave up because there was too many people. Hopefully you'll do a little better if you've got some connections out there.

From what I gather, animal populations are still pretty good out there this year.
 
Hey Elmer it sounds like you’ve got It figured out. I’d go so far as to have my rifle encased while walking on the farmland. There is still a lot of sour grapes and animosity around from the free for all it was before the draw. A big group got busted lately who were drawing in the forest (62) and hunting the bordering farmlands (50)).
Your strategy of crossing private to set up bait is sound. I think if will be so polluted with baits along The roads you won’t find a place to park lol.
Truth is that bad conditions out here are still pretty darn good hunting! Good luck!
 
I was up the highway #4 yesterday 50 miles and I see 3 deer ( I think) splattered on the highway, strange to see that many, but the combines are out in force here now, so that may have a bearing.
There was someone's cat on the road as well.
 
Hey Elmer it sounds like you’ve got It figured out. I’d go so far as to have my rifle encased while walking on the farmland. There is still a lot of sour grapes and animosity around from the free for all it was before the draw. A big group got busted lately who were drawing in the forest (62) and hunting the bordering farmlands (50)).
Your strategy of crossing private to set up bait is sound. I think if will be so polluted with baits along The roads you won’t find a place to park lol.
Truth is that bad conditions out here are still pretty darn good hunting! Good luck!

Lol, I was up there bordering 62 last year and aside from a few road hunters driving round we didn't see any major craziness, but I'm always in sask after the 20th till the end of season in Dec.
Saw some good deer populations in those areas.
Anyways I just want a few baits that are working and hopefully we see some good bucks over 160 class , we're not there to take any deer we would rather come back empty handed rather than just shoot anything.
Also all the meat we get we give to locals that we've met over the years if we do shoot anything.
As for the locals everyone we've met in Sask are some of nicest people anywhere and we've become great friends over the years.
Again I can't wait lol.
 
Bumping this to see what others are finding in SK? I hiked a million miles this spring in the areas I hunt and found very few winter killed deer so I assumed they had managed to survive for the most part. It's now almost November and according to what I'm seeing and what the trail cams are showing, it isn't looking good. I'm not seeing rubs or scrapes where I normally am and there is just nothing on the cams. Trails look unused.

Anyone else seeing a lack of sign and animals?
 
I bagged my Antelope opening day, just north of Maple Creek. One the best hunts I've had, & just a beautiful animal.
 
ive got cow elk tag
seen 15 friday on a stubble field.not seen them since.
not seen one elk since opening day.

cant believe the moose ive seen when out for elk.12 moose in 2 days.

my deer bait in the forestry is crazy for bucks this year,not seen this many at my bait
for 5yrs or more.

fckn elk drivin me mad
 
ive got cow elk tag
seen 15 friday on a stubble field.not seen them since.
not seen one elk since opening day.

cant believe the moose ive seen when out for elk.12 moose in 2 days.

my deer bait in the forestry is crazy for bucks this year,not seen this many at my bait
for 5yrs or more.

fckn elk drivin me mad

Good to hear you're seeing a lot of bucks in the forest. Maybe once the temps drop and we get some snow they'll start showing up at mine.
 
Deer bait in the forestry has been destroyed
Tracks and trails all over
Buck scrapes all along the trail in
My dam camera been playing up and only 39 pics.
There is more action there than what the camera is showing.
Swapped cam out

Cow elk are being obtuse. 9 solid days and a few quick evening hunts
And I haven’t seen one fckn cow elk. I’m not alone with this.
I found hard travelled trails,fresh tracks, scat but not seen a cow.

Moose, I’ve never ever seen this many moose.
 
Things are picking up in my area with a couple bucks from last year showing up on camera finally. Went out on a big hike yesterday doing some scouting for my daughter and found quite a few fresh scrapes and rubs. I'm still thinking there has been a pretty severe winter kill here because the cams just aren't showing the numbers of deer they did last year. The weather has been so warm though it might really be limiting movement. Hopefully it cools off soon and we get a light snow or something.
 
Elk and moose in the NE seem to be doing pretty well. Geese and ducks also had good numbers. Both Mule and WT deer seem to have taken a beating in the farmland as well as on the forest fringe over the winter. I have not seen any good bucks this year live or on camera. Ruffed grouse are plentiful and spruce grouse in numbers like I have never seen before.
 
Elk and moose in the NE seem to be doing pretty well. Geese and ducks also had good numbers. Both Mule and WT deer seem to have taken a beating in the farmland as well as on the forest fringe over the winter. I have not seen any good bucks this year live or on camera. Ruffed grouse are plentiful and spruce grouse in numbers like I have never seen before.

Yeah the ruffed and spruce grouse numbers are amazing.
 
Well it’s taken a turn for the worse now
Tried to get back into fort la corne last night
Didn’t get anywhere near my deer bait and had to turn around.

Just tried to get on my mates pasture to bait deer there and buried my truck.
Snow was upto my knees.
Finally dug my truck out.

Did a quick tour and seen two herds of elk, problem is
1.getting to them as they were 2 quarter sections off the road
2. If I get to them how the Fck am I getting it out

I hate fckn snow
 
The snow here is up to my knees where it hasn't settled and is sitting on top of the grass. Makes covering ground pretty hard. My bait is all done on foot with everything packed in on a frame pack so I can still access it easily. Deer activity is starting to pick up finally and I have 2 bucks from last year that have shown up. Still no shooters but hopefully a couple of the ones from last year survived and will show up yet.

I hope this doesn't turn into another winter from hell like last year. Between my friends and I we have several bucks from last year showing up so some definitely survived but in several cases antler growth actually declined when it should have increased as they hit or approached their prime this year. I suspect the strain of the winter left them depleted so badly in the spring that it affected antler growth. I could be wrong on that but it sure seems that way.
 
Heading to sask this Wednesday, I'll start the scouting and baiting on Thursday and see how thing go. Been talking to my friends in the areas I will be hunting and they told me 1.5ft of snow on the ground , no crops on the fields and about 40% less deer due to last year's winter? How are you guys seeing this year so far? I will be in the fringe this year baiting. Just wondering if I should drive 10-15 miles in the forest and bait or stay bordering the farmlands as I have access to the zone I got picked in?
What do you guys think?
Elmer
 
Heading to sask this Wednesday, I'll start the scouting and baiting on Thursday and see how thing go. Been talking to my friends in the areas I will be hunting and they told me 1.5ft of snow on the ground , no crops on the fields and about 40% less deer due to last year's winter? How are you guys seeing this year so far? I will be in the fringe this year baiting. Just wondering if I should drive 10-15 miles in the forest and bait or stay bordering the farmlands as I have access to the zone I got picked in?
What do you guys think?
Elmer

I’m seeing loads of deer on the farmlands
Seen some really nice bucks also.
We can’t get in fort la corne for the snow.

Best of luck
If you see a deer shoot it,opportunities could be limited
 
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