Manitoba muzzleloader deer hunt

S

shepodyguide

CGN Regular
Rating - 100%
8   0   0
Hi Guys,
I'm seriously considering organizing a muzzleloader hunt for WT deer this fall. I'm from NB so not real familiar with the area out there. I am considering the interlake (poplarfield, fisher branch, broad valley area). From what I have read this is a decent area which holds deer and has public land available for hunting. Is this area a good choice to look for big bodied, mature bucks? Are sleeve lake WMA and Broad Valley WMA good areas where hunting is permitted? Any other public land suggestions? What sort of hunting pressure do the deer get up there during mz season. Based on the licence sales, it seems pretty light. We will be hunting a minimum of 6 days. Is this sufficient time to give us a crack at good bucks (200 lb, 120-130"), or is this an unrealistic goal with a smokepole in this area:confused:?

Thanks for your feedback.:)
 
The interlake is a real decent place to start checking on hunting WT with the ML.Little hunting pressure and alot of crown,WMA land.I own a 1/4 and hunt 17 miles west of Poplarfield,although last year was a bust pretty much all over Manitoba for ML,and rifle.I hunted 6 days up there during rifle,only to see two deer a spiker and a doe both of which are in the freezer.
Can't really explain for what caused such a slow season,predatation,wet weather all summer and fall could of changed travel patterns.....
Will you guys be camping out or hoteling it.Hotels are a little scarce one being in Arborg the other up in Fisher Branch around the areas your talking.

Heres a couple off the trailcams last year and a couple we have taken.
Picture659.jpg

Picture847-1.jpg

Picture020.jpg

Picture084-1.jpg
 
Those are good areas. Traditionally I would say the last week of muzzle season is the most productive. Last day is Nov.7 this year. It can be a bit colder, but it's closest to the rut.
As 7mm-08 pointed out, last year sucked, but that's not the norm.
Have you thought about rifle season? Starts on the 9th.
 
Those are nice bucks!

I have thought about the rifle season, and to be honest, it would be my preference. But I am younger and can tolerate the brutal cold that the west can dish out better than some of my older hunting partners. This is a factor for them, hence the muzzleloader idea. The other factor was hunting pressure. Here in NB during rifle season it is insane on most public land anywhere near a road. As outsiders we are going to have enough to cope with...hunting pressure need not be another worry! The other factor is accomodations. One of my crew owns a late model motor home, which we will be driving to MB with a small suv in tow. We can be real flexible and stay pretty well anywhere in there for next to nothing, but we won't be very warm inside if the temps drop much below -10C...I spent 11 days in an RV in the Crowsnest pass elk hunting and just about froze my butt off:eek: Driving from NB to MB in late november is also likely to be hair-raising through snow storms, etc.

In a typical year in MB the temps are usually cool but tolerable during mz season, and if the hunting pressure isn't high, the bucks should be moving about in daylight. I have read that they will come to the horns in mb, something they don't do readily here in NB due to the poor buck/doe ratio here. My idea was to do some still hunting/scouting on public land early on, and depending on the sign, hang a portable stand with my name on it, and sit it out from there. I'm sure it isn't easy to tag a buck out there, but then again, it isn't easy here either:p Our success rate for rifle is about 12%, and I understand that your success rate it considerably higher.

Thanks for the feedback!:cool:
 
Another place would be NW Ontario. They're killing some really big deer in the Dryden area in the last few years.
Not trying to keep you out of Manitoba, just a thought.
I've seen the temps touch -30 during the last few days of muzzleloader in the past. Not fun, but thankfully not common.
 
Not to take anything away from the interlake area because it produces some good bucks, but you just won't find the deer numbers there like in some other parts of the province. 7mm-08 can probably tell you that a lot of the Crown land in that country is swamp and scrub brush. If you're looking for public land that holds better deer densities then the Whiteshell or Duck Mountain areas might be a better bet. The weather has been decent for the past few years for opening week of rifle but if you're coming for the ML season,last week will be your best bet.
 
I live 10 miles north of the Duck Mtns and I echo what has been said above me. I have also hunted around poplarfield. The weather can be either too warm or brutal cold.Have you considered both season's, mabey last week of muzzle and first week of rifle.
 
Duck Mountain and Whiteshell were other areas I was looking at. If there are better deer numbers there, it might be a good option. We are likely going to be a foursome, so we are going to either need decent deer densities, or a big area which provides habitat for a number of big bucks. Bucks don't live behind every tree, and we are going to have an honest chance at them, we need to start in the right spot.

Many of the comments seem to be suggesting that the early muzzleloading season may not be all that hot. Is that because the bucks aren't moving? Again, I have no reference point for manitoba, but here in NB, rifle season creates a lot of hunting pressure and deer get pretty nocturnal, pretty quick. Am I reading right that hunting pressure isn't much of a factor in MB on public land, even during rifle season? As I stated earlier, my personal preference would be to hunt late, as our rifle season in NB ends Nov. 21, which would give us an additional 9 days to hunt. I would rather put up with the cold and kill a big one than waste my time and money hunting at a time and in a place when it just ain't gonna happen.
 
There is quite a bit of pressure during the rifle season, but little during muzzleloader. Last week of rifle,as in after Nov.21 when you were thinking of hunting, is generally the worst. It can get real cold(mid -30's at times) and deer movement seems to shut down.

I would think the Whiteshell has more hunting pressure than the Ducks,since it's much closer to Winnipeg.

Early muzzleloader is often slow due to warmer temps,abundant food since there may not have been a real killing frost, no snow, little rutting activity,etc.

Basically,IMO, if you want to hunt muzzleloader come during the last week of that season and for rifle come during the opening week.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom