No access to private land? Crown land has plenty of opportunities for hunters willing to do the work

FINDING GAME

As for finding game once you’ve identified a promising hot spot, it all depends on your target species. White-tailed deer are creatures of the edges, for example, and they adapt well to easily accessed habitats, such as along roads, trails, cutlines and fencelines. If it’s elk or moose you’re hunting, on the other hand, you’re likely going to have to get off the beaten path a little.

Moose love the browse often associated with the edges of roads and other openings, where they’re easily spotted and often reluctant to move. As a result, many moose in close proximity to roadways are taken early in the season, or sometimes by Indigenous hunters before the season even begins.

As for elk, they’ve learned to avoid roads and human disturbances, opting instead for thick forested cover, especially during the fall hunting months. According to 175 elk-years of telemetry data in Alberta, elk tend to avoid roads at all times of the day. This is particularly the case with bull elk. If you’re hoping to tag out on an elk, then, the telemetry data suggests your odds of success go up significantly if you hunt more than 500 metres from the nearest road.

A half-kilometre may seem a short distance, but for some hunters, hiking that far from a known landmark takes them out of their comfort zone, especially in the dark before dawn or after dusk. There’s no shame in that, so if you find yourself in that situation there is a solution. Namely, carrying a GPS and knowing how to use it brings the comfort and security many hunters need to confidently get farther back in the woods where game is more plentiful.