Looking for some help from you guys in Alberta. I am considering a backpack style hunt for mule deer Oct 16-21, which I understand is the beginning of the rut (EDIT - WRONG).

Not sure yet of the exact WMU (checking), but would be about 70 miles south and west of Calgary.

Any advice reg the hunting conditions, temperature, clothing, deer movement, etc?

Much appreciated!

Hi Bill,
Whoever told you that rut begins in October just isnt telling the truth. The peak of breeding is somewhere between Nov.18-22. As the greatest number of fawns are dropped around the May long weekend (24 of May) just count backwards using the gestation period.
Certainly the bucks have long since removed the velvet and I guess you could say that that is the start of rut but serious doe chasing doesnt begin in earnest until usually the second week of November.
The past few years have been hot and dry that time of year. Deer will be moving early morning and late evening barring a freak storm.
Be prepared for anything weatherwise but my bet is shorts and suntan block.

Thanks bwest. My mistake reg Oct, misread something I saw on a website (said "pre-rut"). This did not come from the guide.

Spoke to the guide, said to be in the mountains and accessible only via foot or horse.

WMU Map: http://www.albertaoutdoorsmen.org/huntingregs/season-wmus.html

Any/all other suggestions appreciated!

bwest.............you beat me to it. I think that some sales speak has taken place here as to when the rut is. However, that doesn't mean you can't still have a good hunt at that time of year.

The weather has been warm that time of year in the recent past, but you could get anything, including some snow and cooler temps. Elevation can make a big difference as well and it sounds like you really don't have a clear picture of where you are going to be hunting.

.............we posted at the same time. In the mountains anything cn happen and often in the same day. You can still have a good mulie hunt in the high country at that time of year. It is pre-rut.......

Thanks Skyline, yea we posted at the same time. Doing my homework... I spent a few days in camp with the guide in the NWT a few weeks back, so I know who I'm dealing with at least. Just don't know much about Alberta, nor mule deer hunting for that matter. But I like that this would be on foot. Bill

One thing about hunting in the mountains that time of year is the weather is nice, the scenery spectacular and the mule deer bucks are probably still in batchlor groups. So if you find a heard of bucks it may be all the bucks in that neabourhood and so the biggest one is the biggest one.
Have a great time

Robin down under

The first thing you learn when you move to Alberta is that the weather is totally unpredictable, especially in the mountains. Might be warm and toasty, but can turn around 180 overnight. In 1991, I spent the last week of October on the Elbow. It was -30, the coldest week of the entire winter. 2002 winter came the first week of October and stayed late. Last year, we bitched about the drought and then had the 500 year flood.
I'd come prepared for at least some wet snow, really cold temperatures are not likely though.
Nice country, ranging from steep hills to real mountains. You'll probably hunt up Etherington or Cataract Creeks. Lots of deer there, as well as other game. Might even get lucky and bag a tree hugging hiker.
Grizz

Bill C
The area that you are considering for your hunt is multi use recreational public land in a no OHV zone. It is on the south side of Highway 40 in Kananaskis Country.Access is on foot, horseback or mountain bike.
If I had to guess, depending on your outfitter it may be in the area of the Hill of the Flowers up towards Lake of the Horns staged out of Cat Creek.Beautiful,rugged and a decent chance that you will get what you came for.You should have an awesome time.
I will be hunting that area for Archery Elk after next week.I will keep an eye out for any wall hanger muleys.When I am there I will snap a few pics, so that you will get an idea of the terrain.

If you want a chance at a 200" Mulie, best time is bow season either when they are in velvet or when they first shed it by mid September, or early rifle season on my experience. After that, those monsters go hiding and are rarely seen until well after the hunting season - they go(NOCTURNAL). Not saying you can't get a big mulie in the rut because I have , just what I have seen over the past few years. A person sees the monsters all summer and early fall, then they dissappear- and then show up the following spring/summer.

Maybe in the mountain WMU's it maybe different. Good of you to tease the man turnerhunter...lol Get his blood boiling for the chance at a respectable buck.

Good luck on your hunt.

No big thing to see a good mule deer in the mountains.Just need to wake up at 3am and start climbing, climb some more and climb some more.
Hopefully that puts you in place quite high up with a good view of some funnels about 1/2 hour before sun-up. Deer will be below you and your scent stream and working their way up high to have a snooze. Convective air at sunrise will rise.You make the shot a few minutes later and only need to deal with a downhill transport of meat and cape back to camp while it is still cool. Could not be any easier.

I returned yesterday from an excellent hunt. As you said, climb and glass. And YES it snowed all week and got a bit chilly, which kept us out of some of the higher elevations, but the deer were visible from above as they fed and bedded in the lodgepole pines and aspen. We hunted around the Willow Creek area in WMU 404, elevations of ~4800-5400 feet. I had a license for whitetail, and we saw sign and some doe and a young buck, but nothing worth shooting.

The people I met were terrific, travel to/from Calgary was a pleasure, and I was able to bring back ~45lbs of cut/packaged meat plus the antlers/cape. The guide, Tyson Mackin from Claresholm, was top-notch and an excellent hunting partner. So much so that I left a deposit for end of next Sept when perhaps we can backpack into some of the more remote passes.

I'll post a report later, but below is a picture of the buck I shot, which was estimated to be a 160'ish deer by one of the other guides (we didn't measure and I don't care). He was still traveling with two others, and at one point a young bull moose. It took us two days to get on them. One of his buddies was smaller-framed, but had some junk on either side. However, this guy presented a perfect shot, and I was able to drop him with the .270WSM at ~150 yards shooting down the mountain. Getting him all the way down and to the road was another story, man these mule deer are big-bodied! The snow helped here too.

Thanks again, Bill

Good job Bill! I'm glad your hunt was up to your expectations. When your guide told you that deer was a 160 class buck dont forget that we are on the metric system and that score would be in centimetres. Good luck and good hunting

Great to here a happy ending to your story on this thread. And always good to see the kind of smile that a hunter has when he is with a trophy that is the successful climaxe of an enjoyable hunt.

Good luck next year.

Robin down under