ID to AB

ARNZ

FNG
Joined
Feb 12, 2017
Messages
13
Location
Stony Plain, AB
As an Idaho Native, I was relocated to Alberta for work. I am leaving behind a lot of good country, but my wife and I are grateful for the ability to buy (maybe draw) an OTC archery sheep tag. If anyone has any advice on areas to scout PM me. Thanks for any and all assistance.
 

Iron pig

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Mar 9, 2017
Messages
117
Location
Pennsylvania
what part of Alberta? I grew up there, now live in PA. Could give you some ideas if I know where you are looking to go.

Jim
 

TexanSam

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Nov 28, 2016
Messages
186
My brother is a resident of Calgary, and idk if this counts for the hinting aspect, but he claims it takes 2 years of living there before you gain residency.

Sent from my KYOCERA-C6742A using Tapatalk
 

tuffcity

WKR
Joined
Nov 2, 2013
Messages
557
Location
YT
In Alberta you become a "resident" for hunting purposes about the day after you move there. Northwest Territories used to be a 2 year wait (not sure if that is applicable any more) but that would have been the only Canadian province/territory with that long of a wait.

RC

ARNZ: join the Alberta chapter of the WSF, some good guys there.
 

nazca

FNG
Joined
Feb 6, 2015
Messages
27
Posting this rather than PM'ing since I'm not pointing to specific spots or otherwise spot burning.

I grew up in AB, but now live in the US. I took sheep hunting for granted when I was there... I had no idea that tags were basically impossible to draw in the lower 48. The thing about AB sheep is that they're managed for opportunity, outside of a few units that are hard to draw. But, if you keep your expectations for success modest, you can go out and have a truly wonderful experience regardless of if you actually kill anything. Spending time in AB's sheep country was nothing short of life altering for me.

A few thoughts, in no particular order:
- It has been over a decade since I sheep hunted in AB, so take this all with a grain of salt.
- In most OTC units any legal ram is a shooter for many/most hunters. They can be hard to come by.
- If there is a truly big ram in an OTC area, expect it to be a gong show on opening day, even if it is 10 miles in the backcountry.
- Lots of sheep (especially some of the bigger rams that are shot) spend time in the parks (Banff & Jasper) and wonder out occasionally.
- Pretty much every string of proper mountains in the province can hold sheep. If I were starting from scratch, I would start at the mountains the closest drive from my house, and spend the summer hiking & fly fishing outside of, and on the margin of the parks. Get to know the area and work your way out.
- A lot of the sheep hunting is via outfitters & horses. Most of those guys blitz ten miles back without taking their bino's off their chest. That leaves a lot of country near the road system with less pressure than some of the super 'remote' areas. There are a lot of good areas that you can day hunt or weekend hunt via backpack.
- When you're researching areas, check the OHV regs... the last thing you want is to bust your ass for 8 hours getting into a place, then have someone rip past on a quad.
- Triple check that the area you want to hunt is open... there are mountains inside of OTC units that are closed to hunting, and you might not notice this with a quick glance at the season summary tables.


Outside of sheep hunting, the other thing that I miss the most about Alberta is the OTC archery moose hunting... I did well in farm country. It isn't your typical remote wilderness moose hunt, and there aren't as many giants, but it is a pretty unique hunt. And you can drive your truck / tractor / quad to the moose.
 

Laker

FNG
Joined
Aug 24, 2016
Messages
59
Location
Alberta
Posting this rather than PM'ing since I'm not pointing to specific spots or otherwise spot burning.

I grew up in AB, but now live in the US. I took sheep hunting for granted when I was there... I had no idea that tags were basically impossible to draw in the lower 48. The thing about AB sheep is that they're managed for opportunity, outside of a few units that are hard to draw. But, if you keep your expectations for success modest, you can go out and have a truly wonderful experience regardless of if you actually kill anything. Spending time in AB's sheep country was nothing short of life altering for me.

A few thoughts, in no particular order:
- It has been over a decade since I sheep hunted in AB, so take this all with a grain of salt.
- In most OTC units any legal ram is a shooter for many/most hunters. They can be hard to come by.
- If there is a truly big ram in an OTC area, expect it to be a gong show on opening day, even if it is 10 miles in the backcountry.
- Lots of sheep (especially some of the bigger rams that are shot) spend time in the parks (Banff & Jasper) and wonder out occasionally.
- Pretty much every string of proper mountains in the province can hold sheep. If I were starting from scratch, I would start at the mountains the closest drive from my house, and spend the summer hiking & fly fishing outside of, and on the margin of the parks. Get to know the area and work your way out.
- A lot of the sheep hunting is via outfitters & horses. Most of those guys blitz ten miles back without taking their bino's off their chest. That leaves a lot of country near the road system with less pressure than some of the super 'remote' areas. There are a lot of good areas that you can day hunt or weekend hunt via backpack.
- When you're researching areas, check the OHV regs... the last thing you want is to bust your ass for 8 hours getting into a place, then have someone rip past on a quad.
- Triple check that the area you want to hunt is open... there are mountains inside of OTC units that are closed to hunting, and you might not notice this with a quick glance at the season summary tables.


Outside of sheep hunting, the other thing that I miss the most about Alberta is the OTC archery moose hunting... I did well in farm country. It isn't your typical remote wilderness moose hunt, and there aren't as many giants, but it is a pretty unique hunt. And you can drive your truck / tractor / quad to the moose.

Very well said.
 

rem338win

FNG
Joined
Jun 7, 2017
Messages
2
In Alberta you become a "resident" for hunting purposes about the day after you move there. Northwest Territories used to be a 2 year wait (not sure if that is applicable any more) but that would have been the only Canadian province/territory with that long of a wait.

RC

ARNZ: join the Alberta chapter of the WSF, some good guys there.

You have to be a resident of Alberta for 6 months before purchasing tags as a resident.

If you prefer archery tackle the WMU 410 is great because its limited and OTC (until Nov.).

Welcome to AB.
 
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