A new solo Hunter

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MissNoone

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Hello and good day, everyone.

I haven’t been hunting in a long time—since my grandfather passed away over 30 years ago, when I was only 15 years old. Back then, all the planning was done for me, so I didn't learn the ins and outs of going on a hunt. Now that I have the time and desire to pursue it myself, I'm looking forward to enjoying the outdoors, even though my husband isn't very interested in hunting or the outdoors. This will be a solo endeavour for me.

So, where do I start? Should I choose a location and just go for it, or should I plan it out more thoroughly? Are there hunter groups that meet up? I would love to find a group to join for a few outings to learn and possibly take a hands-on course. Who knows, I might make some connections along the way.

I'm not participating in any draws this year since I want to gain a better understanding of how the system works. I do have my WIN card, as it was required for new hunters, as well as my PAL, and I own my own rifle.

I've looked at some maps, but I'm unsure which areas are crown land and which are private, as I am still learning.
 
Welcome. List your location and what you want to hunt, you’ll get better answers. In Ontario I use the crown land atlas. There are apps like iHunter that with a subscription will show you crown land. IHunter has way points, tracks ect that are useful even if you’re using the free version that doesn’t show crown land. Plenty of podcasts that will cover way more information than anyone else will be willing to type out. I like southern outdoor podcast for deer hunting, specifically the gps studies, biologist that cover scent and eyesight. I put them on when I’m tinkering away, but at the end of the day don’t overthink, or over complicate it.
 
Find a mentor. Hopefully a person who has tradiltional hunting skills, follows the laws, good values, respects wildlife and who is passionate about hunting.............Best of luck!
 
I'm in the Alberta Capital region. I prefer White-tailed Deer, Mule Deer are my first pick from what iv read to hunt Pronghorn, elk or sheep, i will need to do the draw. I am also thinking about heading south to the Lethbridge area with all the wild pigs down there, but that is a whole other ball game.
 
MissNoone said:
I'm in the Alberta Capital region. I prefer White-tailed Deer, Mule Deer are my first pick from what iv read to hunt Pronghorn, elk or sheep, i will need to do the draw. I am also thinking about heading south to the Lethbridge area with all the wild pigs down there, but that is a whole other ball game.
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As track pointed out get in touch with a couple of local game clubs. And learn the regulations inside and out before you begin to hunt. Most people are happy to help anyone out with the regulations if they have shown some initiative in trying to learn them before they ask.

As for Mule deer, unless your bow hunting there are only 9 zones out of some 232 that have a non draw rifle season.
Elk is mainly general, sheep are manly general. Meaning you dont need a draw in a lot of places.

Dont get too hung up on ever hunting wild pigs.
 
We have some friends and same thing, husband has no interest in fishing and hunting but his wife has a fire lit in her and was trying for a long time to find a fishing and hunting mentor. As we got to know them better, my wife announced one day that i was to teach this gal how to ice fish as despite her dedication and many failed solo trips to local lakes, her success was low. So I obliged and did as the wife asked LOL
Her husband was grateful for the sudden success his wife was having after fishing with me this past winter. He said she was so happy all the time and he was loving the fresh fish that were rapidly building up in the freezer. He loves food so it was a win win for him LOL
I find out over our fishing adventures that she is very keen on becoming a hunter and has her hunter # and pal as well as a few inherited hunting rifles. We have our first trip planned for the last week of this month. I aim to see her harvest her first blacktail deer ;)
My wife is really oly a casual hunter and used to hunt locally with an experienced friend of hers that moved to the maritimes a couple years ago. Since that gal moved away my wife has lamented that she has no girlfriends to hunt with so hopefully this mentoring arrangement will be beneficial for both ladies ;)

Sometimes hunting/fishing companions are found in unlikely places and when you are least expecting it so don't be afraid to identify as a would be hunter in your social life.
That said, looking for and attending events at area fish and game clubs is a good way to meet like minded people and make connections and hopefully lasting friendships.
I've mentored 5 hunters over the years and Tracy will be my 6th. All of them keep in touch and share thier adventures year after year and it's been very rewarding for me personally.
I hope the OP finds some good people to assist her in achieving her goals. I started out as new hunter with no mentors as well and by sheer persistence I prevailled but it was a tough learning curve.... a rewarding one ever since ;)
 
My advice, buy an annual membership to I hunter, pick a county and buy the map. use google maps I hunter and street view to get an idea what an area is like. Go hunt it this fall. Sit morning and night walk during the day around exploring and doing doe bleats. If you don’t like the area try another.

I always hunt by myself, recovering a whitetail on your own is doable.

I’m in Edmonton and after a few years of trial and error I now have a great spot, with lots of deer and that I know well.
 
And shooting Bambi is only a small part of hunting. You made a great shot and the deer only made it 30 yards down the ravine. You tracked it and found it. It's laying there with its tung out. Do you know what to do now
 
Hey guys thank you very much for your replies, Sorry for the late response, September has been a busy and trying time this year, as my yongest has join the Canadian Armed Forces and we just sent him on to basic, So it's a little bit of an emotional time and now it's all good and I'm getting back in the swing of things.
 
Shovel said:
And shooting Bambi is only a small part of hunting. You made a great shot and the deer only made it 30 yards down the ravine. You tracked it and found it. It's laying there with its tung out. Do you know what to do now
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Well the hunting course I took this year states to wait 30 minutes before even looking for the animal. so I guess I'd be doing that first And then once I found the blood trail if I did not know where it was I would approach cautiously. also this does kind of feel more of a commonsense strategy as well. the last thing I want is to get a hoof in the face or a horn in the gut.
 
MissNoone said:
Well the hunting course I took this year states to wait 30 minutes before even looking for the animal. so I guess I'd be doing that first And then once I found the blood trail if I did not know where it was I would approach cautiously. also this does kind of feel more of a commonsense strategy as well. the last thing I want is to get a hoof in the face or a horn in the gut.
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15 min is long enough to wait. If you can watch the animal run and drop, the you don't need to wait.

Helpful trick, have flagging ribbon. Once you have shot stop and just re-assess everything for a minute. Hang a ribbon where you were standing when you shot and another ribbon along the line where you shot. now you have something to line up on when you go looking for blood trail.

when you find blood trail (using yellow or orange lens glasses can help) tie another ribbon so you have an anchor point. Then sweep in the direction the animal ran looking for more blood trail. Tie ribbons at regular intervals and they will help you find the trail. A good lung shot you wont have a problem finding the blood trail, it will look like someone user a garden hose. Animals will often do a 'death spiral' when they finally pile up and die (turn 90 - 180 degrees)

approach a downed animal from their back (not hind) and if in doubt use the tip of your rifle barrel to tap the animals eye, if it blinks its still alive and give it another round to the back of the head.

Gutting..... well there are many different ways, none are really wrong as long as you get the guts out cleanly, its more of a preference thing, and I rarely gut 2 animals the exact same way.
 
MissNoone said:
I did not know this. Thanks for the heads up, I will definitely look into this.
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you will eventually have the fun of looking for blood spatters and droplets on dry grass. Skiff of snow is easy for tracking. But little red spots on dry golden brown grass grass can be a challenge. Some guys also carry a UV flashlight, but that works better in low light conditions.
 
MissNoone said:
Hello and good day, everyone.

I haven’t been hunting in a long time—since my grandfather passed away over 30 years ago, when I was only 15 years old. Back then, all the planning was done for me, so I didn't learn the ins and outs of going on a hunt. Now that I have the time and desire to pursue it myself, I'm looking forward to enjoying the outdoors, even though my husband isn't very interested in hunting or the outdoors. This will be a solo endeavour for me.

So, where do I start? Should I choose a location and just go for it, or should I plan it out more thoroughly? Are there hunter groups that meet up? I would love to find a group to join for a few outings to learn and possibly take a hands-on course. Who knows, I might make some connections along the way.

I'm not participating in any draws this year since I want to gain a better understanding of how the system works. I do have my WIN card, as it was required for new hunters, as well as my PAL, and I own my own rifle.

I've looked at some maps, but I'm unsure which areas are crown land and which are private, as I am still learning.
Click to expand...
First thing you should do is find a place to hunt. I'd suggest the location be no more than 1-2 hours away from your residence. I use an app called "iHunter AB". The ap is not free and you need to pay for and download the specific county map/s for the area you're interested in. It is a good resource for finding areas to hunt.

We hunt crown land and public lands in the Winfield /Alder Flats/ Buck Lake areas quite a bit because it's close for us and easy day hunting distance. If you're south Edmonton or south of Edmonton these would be within comfortable driving distance for you as well. You can also look at Drayton Valley for Crown land. If you PM me I can give you some more specific locations in the Winfield area.

A mentor to help you get started would be helpful but probably not necessary if you have any time spent hiking or camping, quadding, in the wilds.
 
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