Just got back from a road trip, visiting relations, in Eastern Alberta. My uncle asked if we wanted elk steaks, the obvious answer was sounded out and off we went. When we reached the destination, roughly 15 kilometres west of Lloydminster , on highway 16, the sign was changed to "buffalo meat for sale". We proceeded the 3 k's to the farm and were blown away with an abundance of bull elk, laying on a hill. When we enquired about the elk meat we were told that the bulls were going to "hunting ranchs" in Western Alberta. I mean someone is going to be ripped off royally! We stopped the car ( of course no camera) the fence was 50 yards or less, and they didn't care if we were there or not!

That's a strange one. I think penned hunting is illegal in Alberta. It's legal in Sask. and a lot of producers sell to Sask. outfits.

the chef

Uhmmmmmm......I know that penned hunting of elk or deer of any kind is illegal in Alberta. It is illegal to hunt fenced elk in BC and it is illegal in Manitoba. Saskatchwan allows it.

No I do not just guess this I know this........unless Alberta authorized it in the recent past. I knew people who owned elk and deer inalberta that just wanted to shoot them and stick them in the ground to get rid of them after the game ranching thing crashed there.........

.366 care to elaborate?

I know some 'outfitters' in Saskatchewan that buy elk bulls from other farmers for the 'hunt farms'. It is a joke....actually been there and watched it.

Sad, very dad.

I agree with the others, unless it was a recent change it is not allowed. I doubt it has changed as I keep up pretty well with "hunting issues" in Alberta and have heard no talk of this.

Robin down under

Could it be as simple as selling it to a rancher who turns it loose on his unfenced ranch a couple of days before the PDF hunter arrives?

Dean

OOOppps! I assumed that they were staying in Alberta, due to fear of anthrax etc. They may be headed to Saskatchewan. The proprietors son had less information, after the intial conversation.
However it's still disgusting to have these semi-tamed animals used for "hunting" purposes. The elk is a majestic animal for hunting, it is a reverance to take a true trophy in the wild.

Sorry if my eagerness is not showing the whole truth as to the final destination. I should have researched futher, but the young man didn't have the necessary information. So I filled in the blanks.

I met this nice American fellow who moved to Saskatchewan in 2004 and bought an elk farm as I recall. He was planning to offer (Elk Hunts) for a good amount of money... I guess he already had a list of people booked to come up and target shoot!!!

Its not what I call hunting, not what my father or grandfather would consider ethical either!

Oh well, life goes on.

quote:

Originally posted by Enigma:
I met this nice American fellow who moved to Saskatchewan in 2004 and bought an elk farm as I recall. He was planning to offer (Elk Hunts) for a good amount of money... I guess he already had a list of people booked to come up and target shoot!!!

Its not what I call hunting, not what my father or grandfather would consider ethical either!

Oh well, life goes one.

Levi Britton runs an operation in Sas. He was run out of Montana after they banned High Fence Hunting.

One fellow shot the Grand Salm of Sheep on his Montana Ranch and entered it in the Grand Slam Club, SCI and FNAWS. He was caught but I don't know what they did to him.

Personaly I see no problem with people raiseing critter for others to shoot. As long as the shooter knows what he is getting for his money.

Any time one sees hunt offered for pay by the size of the critter you want to shoot it is a farm shoot not a hunt.

On the bright side of this, it keeps all these so called hunters out of the woods.

There is no differants in killing these critters then killing cows for meat or any other farm animal. Except one might have to walk a little bit more and kill them your self instead of having the plant do it for you.

I watched one of these elk hunts in Saskatchewan, well actually I saw three. A lady shooter was driven around in a half section with about 400 elk in it. The place was pretty much eaten off to dirt.

They chased the elk around until they managed to get a specific bull seperated long enough for her to shoot. It was a joke, hell I have had cattle that were a lot wilder than those elk.

Another hunter, the ladies husband, went to a different half section (for those of you that don't know it is 320 acres) and sat in a shooting box about 40 yards from the gate into the enclosure and waited for the elk to walk by on their way to get a drink. They had been lying bedded out by the provincial road next to the fence for all to see but eventually they went for their morning drink and he popped a bull.

The third was a guy who shot the first decent 6 point that stood still in the clear.....length of the hunt after going through the game fence gates.........oh, 4 1/2 minutes.

I will be the first one to agree that a landowner and livestock owner should be able to do what they want with their animals as long as they provide them with adequate care. If a rancher can get a person to come and pay big coin for a massive bull elk that has been pen raised and genetically bred to produce huge antlers, well all the more power to him.

What I can't stand is people calling it hunting and record books that accept animals from these situations. On most of these 'hunt ranches' in Saskatchewan the bulls are raised and put into special pastures for the hunt. Many are purchased by the 'outfitters' from other elk ranchers and trucked in and released in their hunt pen to be shot.

The kicker for me was the guide saying to the one hunter "oh there is a good bull, I have never seen that one before"........could that be because it just got booted out of a trailer at around 1AM after being trucked from another elk farm?

I watched these 'hunters' and the looks on their faces, the tone in their voice, and I have no doubt that despite the talk and bravado about how great it was I think that deep down inside they were disappointed and knew it was a sham.

If a guy wants to go and drop a few hundred on a rancher to hammer an elk for the freezer instead of buying a side of beef, fair enough, but do not call it hunting. And to the guys who are willing to pay $12,000 for a big pen raised bull................it is too bad you are missing out on what hunting is really all about.

Amen!!!

the chef

Skyline, you have hit the nail on the head my friend.

Whats the going rate for one of these shoots?

It varies quite a bit and a lot has to do with the score of the bulls antlers. The regular run of the mill 6 points go for anywhere from $3000 up to $4500 or so. Big bulls over 370 to 390 are probably around $6500 to $8000 and the monsters over 400 are in the $8000 to $12000 range. Some of the bigger bull prices are negotiated with the 'outfitter'.

When one the elk ranchers has a few of these tyros with too much money and a burning desire for a new Number 1 SCI bull, they will call them if they have an exceptional set of antlers grown and negotiate a price for the bulls head.

If you want to learn who the players are in the canned elk hunts in Saskatchewan just look at the ads in SCI's Safari magazine and Big Game Adventures magazine.