5 moose, 37 deer and one trespasser

[Titan 08]

November 1st, opening day for our local rifle season near Smoky lake, Alberta. My son and I went out onto a property my wife
and I bought from two of her brothers. The land has been in her family for over 90 years. During the course of the day we had
5 moose (we had no draw tags) and 37 whitetail deer in front of us. We do not shoot does and neither do we shoot smaller bucks.
We take anything in the 150 class or better, in the last few years our biggest has been 184" and the smaller ones in the 150" to
160" range. The property is 160 acres of raw land, some open and some good cover located near to a small local lake, it is
surrounded by various forms of crop land. We could have taken 6 smaller bucks but would prefer to see them grow into something
bigger. We only take one buck a year each and will be trying to develop the property into a deer haven for ourselves and a couple of
select friends (no more friends required). Sorry no photo's, too much gear as it was. In regards to the trespasser, a third cousin whose
father has been spoken to in the past. Funny part is they have sections of their own land that they do not allow others onto. We asked
many years ago, were refused and respected that. The nice part about the property we just bought is we have been hunting it for
over 35 years, it is landlocked (160 acres), we have access on a road allowance, just a glorified trail or across my uncles land. Just
had a great first day, at the stage where getting out is more important than filling the freezer. Taking a camera my next day out.

 

[nw mb]

...nice

 

[45ACPKING]

sounds good to me.
working on the same thing here with me and a long time friend, just waiting for his house to sell and we are gonna snap up a property another friend of ours mom owns and just listed. Also 160 acres , hay fields, mixed forest and large natural spring on the property. We are gonna level the old outbuildings and the main house which is in disrepair and just build two nice cabins and develop it into our own deer hunting property.

 

[Titan 08]

My son and I are planning to start a cabin in the spring, nothing large, 20 x 20 or so, just to save commuting every morning. It is a 75 minute
drive one way. We got the property at about half the appraised value as my wifes two brothers wanted to keep it in the family if possible. they
haven't been on it for 10 years, they have other properties. Even the young lad trespassing was polite when my son explained to him that this
was our only hunting property and we wanted to keep it strictly for immediate family and a couple of good friends. We have noted that the deer population in the area is growing quickly in the area, with some real trophies.

 

[Dogleg]

That's a lot of game on a quarter.

 

[45ACPKING]

Be nice to find some cheap hunting land and i do find some deals here n there in the more remote parts of the province. Out here in BC ther's not a lot left and with the foreign buyers snapping up all the ranches around here.... prices are never going down. Figured we should get in while we can and have something to leave to our families. We offered her 450grand and she hummed and hawed. I bought my house and 2 months later she called me to accept my offer LOL So I asked her to give us a year before she officially lists it. Saving like a squirrel over here hahaha
Building some cool ol fashion log cabins is what i'm most looking forward too..... and getting a horse or 2..... wanted one forever!!!

 

[Chuckbuster]

Hunting in north central Ontario, I don't think I've even seen that many deer, in season, in all my years afield.

 

[Titan 08]

The quarter we bought is surrounded by crop land and basically is the local bedding / shelter area for a lot of the local deer. However the
deer population in the area seems to be expanding rapidly. We had some bad winters for a number of years which knocked the populations
down. However, and this is going to sound like bs, but about 12 years ago on my brother in laws crop quarter, which borders crown land I
shot my two deer on the second day of season, numbers 103 ands 104 that I saw those first two days. The next year I didn't see 15 deer
all season, the population just tanked and is now starting to rebuild dramatically. Many of the deer I saw would likely have been repeats
from day one. For what it is worth, I only take one deer a year now, as opposed to years past when my sons were still at home. But in this area
I can take my general whitetail, two archery does, and a buck and two does during the shotgun /muzzleloader season. In addition to
a moose (archery) and a general elk, all OTC tags.

 

[flyr]

Be nice to find some cheap hunting land and i do find some deals here n there in the more remote parts of the province. Out here in BC ther's not a lot left and with the foreign buyers snapping up all the ranches around here.... prices are never going down. Figured we should get in while we can and have something to leave to our families. We offered her 450grand and she hummed and hawed. I bought my house and 2 months later she called me to accept my offer LOL So I asked her to give us a year before she officially lists it. Saving like a squirrel over here hahaha
Building some cool ol fashion log cabins is what i'm most looking forward too..... and getting a horse or 2..... wanted one forever!!!

Don't want to be a soggy blanket but....
Be careful what you wish for as far as the horses go, they are a money pit.(owned a few in the past)
Vet bills can be brutal, and you can't just park the horse till it's convenient to fix it.
Oh, and don't forget the farrier.( unless you plan to trim and shoe yourself)
Feed and bedding.(and someone you trust to take care of the animal if you are called away unexpectedly or for vacation)
Maybe you will be lucky.
Hope so.
As for the land, I hope your saving plan works out and you can pick up the property for a price that is reasonable.(to you)

 

[45ACPKING]

Don't want to be a soggy blanket but....
Be careful what you wish for as far as the horses go, they are a money pit.(owned a few in the past)
Vet bills can be brutal, and you can't just park the horse till it's convenient to fix it.
Oh, and don't forget the farrier.( unless you plan to trim and shoe yourself)
Feed and bedding.(and someone you trust to take care of the animal if you are called away unexpectedly or for vacation)
Maybe you will be lucky.
Hope so.
As for the land, I hope your saving plan works out and you can pick up the property for a price that is reasonable.(to you)

hmmm.....thanx for the advice i guess but at my age, I've long ago considered all those things and decided I would wait until I could address them properly in my life. None of my friends seem to have any issues keeping and maintaining happy healthy horses around these parts..... don't see why I'd be any different. Goes without saying for keeping any animals in your care and i been good at that my whole adult life.
mortgages aren't hard to get these days if you are qualified. I'm just waiting till my closest friend in this world retires and gets his ass out of the grind in vancouver. He put his house up for sale the minute i told him she would give us a year..... at least that's a start haha

 

[horseman2]

Time to post a sign: TRESPASSERS WILL BE SHOT! SURVIVORS WILL BE SHOT AGAIN!

Funny how relatives seem to think they have a god given right and when you say anything you become the bad guy.

 

[rral22]

Time to post a sign: TRESPASSERS WILL BE SHOT! SURVIVORS WILL BE SHOT AGAIN!

Funny how relatives seem to think they have a god given right and when you say anything you become the bad guy.

That says more about your relatives than it does about the real issue here. From the story I doubt the "trespasser" will be back, but .........

I think you will get less trespassing by being reasonable with those you encounter (specially if they are "locals" or relatives) than by making ridiculous threats. Signs, of course, are a good idea, but there is no need to threaten people. And, should any incident get to the point of needing legal action, you will be far better off if you have been reasonable all along.

 

[conor_90]

45ACP you ever look at land in the Bulkley Valley? I know you have a place planned out already but I see low prices there when I'm having real estate fantasies. Lots of game in the area in my experience too.

 

[45ACPKING]

45ACP you ever look at land in the Bulkley Valley? I know you have a place planned out already but I see low prices there when I'm having real estate fantasies. Lots of game in the area in my experience too.

I have and I really do love that country. Not only is the hunting decent, the fishing has drawn me up that way off n on my entire adult life.
I'm heading out the door tomorrow for that area to hunt the remainder of my bull moose draw in fact
I'm already where I'm going to retire..... unless the wife will finally agree to move to peru or ecuador or some cool place like that...... haha The Cariboo Chilcotin is my home and it's just about perfect for me. I do very little hunting to fill my tags here though i do take friends out. The property we are after is one I've been hunting since I moved up here and the family who owns it, the daughter is a good friend of ours. So we would be kinda keeping it "in the family" if we bought it as she loves hunting there too.

buy it while you can as it's all getting bought up faster than folks imagine. The realestate market here went nuts about 18months ago and everything is selling faster than i've ever seen it up here. From land to lots , ranches and family homes..... somethings going on so we are gonna buy while we still can.

 

[Titan 08]

Heading out to the property in an hour, hopefully we see as much as on opening day. My eldest son is strictly a meat hunter as well as my best friend,
they are coming this morning. I have no doubt they will fill their tags, my youngest son and myself want large antlers as well as the meat, so we will
hold out for the bigger ones, and it is too early in the season to take a dinker. Minus 17 this morning, dead calm, at the least we will have a good time.

 

[rkr]

Heading out to the property in an hour, hopefully we see as much as on opening day. My eldest son is strictly a meat hunter as well as my best friend,
they are coming this morning. I have no doubt they will fill their tags, my youngest son and myself want large antlers as well as the meat, so we will
hold out for the bigger ones, and it is too early in the season to take a dinker. Minus 17 this morning, dead calm, at the least we will have a good time.

do you have WCD in AB? just curious as we have some places close to the AB border with lots of sick mulies

 

[Titan 08]

do you have WCD in AB? just curious as we have some places close to the AB border with lots of sick mulies

Yes, it has been identified along the Saskatchewan border, in some WMU (Wildlife Management units) We haven't seen any evidence to
suggest it in our area as of yet. Yesterday we had one moose and forty three deer. My buddy took a small buck, he is strictly a meat
hunter with limited time to hunt. However it was one of the most fun days afield we have ever had apart from my eldest son having to
leave early because his boots did not measure up to the -24 we had in the morning. Surprise pair of boots coming for him before we
go out again. My buddy made the comment that it was an unreal experience seeing one group of 16 in the field all at once. My youngest son
and I turned down the biggest one we saw, only a 120 class. Bigger ones become more visible in the latter part of November when the rut
kicks in. Happy hunting everyone.

 

[Dogleg]

Everyone should have their own little piece of paradise. Mine is 800 acres of bush bordering a river and national park. Boxed in hard by geography and fiercely protective friends and neighbours. Deer, elk, moose, bison, bear, wolves, cougar, lynx, marten, fisher,otter and such. There's always something to do.

 

[Titan 08]

Everyone should have their own little piece of paradise. Mine is 800 acres of bush bordering a river and national park. Boxed in hard by geography and fiercely protective friends and neighbours. Deer, elk, moose, bison, bear, wolves, cougar, lynx, marten, fisher,otter and such. There's always something to do.

The quarter we bought was homesteaded by my Wife's grandfather over 90 years ago, passed on to her father, then her two younger brothers and
now sold to us for about half it's appraised value. The money goes into our nephew's education funds. It will be passed on to my two sons, then
our grandchildren. You sound like you have a great property, we are already planning to build an 8x8 high blind, 8' above the ground, walled, roofed,
insulated with windows, along with a small cabin on the property. We have moose, WT tail, mulies, black bears, lynx, a few elk and supposedly cougar.
You sound like you may also have a family heritage property. Enjoy.

 

[Dogleg]

The quarter we bought was homesteaded by my Wife's grandfather over 90 years ago, passed on to her father, then her two younger brothers and
now sold to us for about half it's appraised value. The money goes into our nephew's education funds. It will be passed on to my two sons, then
our grandchildren. You sound like you have a great property, we are already planning to build an 8x8 high blind, 8' above the ground, walled, roofed,
insulated with windows, along with a small cabin on the property. We have moose, WT tail, mulies, black bears, lynx, a few elk and supposedly cougar.
You sound like you may also have a family heritage property. Enjoy.

I hope it developes into a family heritage property, and not something that gets listed before my body even gets cold. I've still got the old family homestead but that's a completely different location. This one was bought for hunting.