Fort McMurray and area hunting

Silverado

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 98.6%
143   2   1
WOW. I feel as though dropping offline to get some work done over the summer was hardly worth it, what with all I've missed over here!

Anyway, I'll be moving to Fort McMurray in the latter part of October, probably for 12-18 months minimum.

I'd like to meet some Gunnutz in the area, and get the lowdown on shooting, hunting, fishing, camping etc. in the area. Maybe hook up with someone for some hunting too.

Any friendly CGN'ers up there willing to show a guy around?
 
Hello Silverado

I travell to Fort Mac every week for work, fly in and out. There is a very good range up here, I can put you in touch with a fella that can sell you a membership. I haven't done any hunting up here or fishing for that matter so I'm no good to you there.

Hope this helps!
 
Lived in Fort Mac for 33 years. The black bear hunting between Marriana Lake and House river on hwy 63 is like shooting fish in a barrel if you are experienced in the fine art of putting stale doughnuts in steel drums and waiting. :lol: The moose general tags are only in november. While the ground is frozen and you can cover more territory, i have had better luck during the calling season which is a draw proposition only. Lots of whitetail around 512 but size is lacking. Conklin and Janvier have some nice size bucks.

........overall i enjoyed my life growing up and hunting and fishing the area but the town has got to me. Lots of drugs and transients that don't give a ####. Check out the accomadation situation before you move as well. The housing situation is a mess. If you are single, give er. If you are bringing a family, keep a close eye and interest on what your kids are doing in their spare time. Fort McMurray is now a glorified Industrial Camp with parental supervision next to nill in alot of cases. My cousin is a social worker and quite surprisingly the majority of the drug/alcohol and abuse problems have turned full circle and are now very prevalent in families that make over 100k per year. Finding a good woman in the Fort is also like finding a B&C dall sheep. 1 chick to maybe 12 males now. And whooo boy do those woman have skeletons in the closet!! Lets just say they are well used. Rant off!! :lol:
 
Thanks for the pointers gang. I hear ya Win94, but I'm cruising under the radar of most of those problems: House is included in the contract, I'm single with no kids, and not looking to land a trophy wife while I'm there anyway. Also unlike so many in the construction industry, I have absolutly no propensity for drug use...

How's the backcountry access around there? Lot's of logging/wellsite/fire roads?

I'd really like to tag a moose (anything legal will do for starters) and a bear. (I've never hunted either...)
 
How's the backcountry access around there? Lot's of logging/wellsite/fire roads?


.........................Around the old burn at Marriana lake there is the odd moose kicking around with lots of bears though. About 150kms south on hwy 881 there is some logged out areas that produce some nice whitetails.
 
What about hunting and fishing stores/suppliers in town?

I don't reload (though I may take it up over the winter) so should I be stocking up before I go?

Also, any fave lakes for ice fishing?
 
I have lived in Fort Mcmurray for over 25 years,but except for black bear,I hunt several hours south or west of the city.The moose and deer populations are mediocre at best and hunting pressure is very high.There are some good bucks and bulls but they are far from common and unless you are willing to spend considerable effort by boat or atv or the money to fly by bush plane to access very remote areas, there is a lot of competition to find them.
 
Stubblejumper summed up the hunting situation to a tee.


Also there is no real hunting or fishing stores. You can't buy a firearm in town other than a 60.00 pellet gun at crappy tire. Gun stores in the past failed miserably due to locals not supporting the stores. Locals possibly had a reason for not supporting them but i am unsure as i was quite young when the last one pulled out years ago. you can buy fishing gear and factory ammo at wllamrt and canadian tire however.
 
Back
Top Bottom