Hunting season came to a close this evening, another productive season in the Tunkwa area. Hunting pressure has been very light the past while, but deer are still out there as is evident by all the abundant track! Temps are still above normal, but we’ve had a few colder nights, and some fresh dustings of snow almost daily.
A big Tunkwa 4pt was taken last Thursday.
Good shootin Jimmy, your running out of room on your walls!
This morning on closing day, a WT buck taken by staff.
Tag was saved for a cranker WT this fall, but just didn’t happen!
Below are some picts just received from guests taken over the past couple of weeks.
A giant bodied 3×4 mulie Buck taken during the Nov. rut, for the “BigSlapper”! Great job again Brad!
Ken sons nice 4pt Tunkwa mulie.
JB’s nice bull moose taken on a Nov. LEH.
Normally a tough draw to fill, but some hard work paid off.
Thanks everyone for another great hunting season at Tunkwa!!!!
Guess that’s it for deer, guess it time to get out the varmit rifles for some of the plentiful Yotes, and pick up some cat tags!
See you all next fall!!!
Hunting pressure has been light, with not many still out chasing deer. Temps have been unseasonably warm, with day time temps hitting as high as +7 and nights just dipping below freezing. This has made conditions in the back woods very slick, with roads icy and very tricky to get around. It is slippery even trying to walk anywheres! A dusting of fresh snow has helped and make the fresh track stand out. Whitetails have been very busy, with all kinds of fresh track out there, but very few sitings, most likely to there more nocturnal movement. From the signs on the ground, the rut is still on with them. Lots of mule deer around, and losing track of the number of does one sees is in a day is frequent, but buck sitings are just smaller ones still chasing behind the does, hoping for some left overs. Locally there still have been a few big bucks harvested the past few days. There have been some big, mature 2pts, and some huge 3pts being spotted chasing does, so be please extra cautious on the count. Over the past couple of weeks, we have been finding more then a couple of mule deer, with less the required 4pts or better, shot and left in the bush, NO excuse for that!
Lots of encounters with WT bucks this past week, but few shooting opp’s.
Since the last report a Mule doe was harvested on an LEH along with a 5 X 5 Bull Moose, two 4 X 4 Mulie bucks were harvested as well as an absolute brute 8 X 7 Mulie!
Hunting pressure in the bush is very light now.
White Tail deer are now starting to have their necks swollen and loosing their awareness to surroundings as a nice 4 x 4 was taken yesterday evening.
Temps have bee above seasonal and appears the same during the week with some snow forecast for tonight and the odd flurry at 40 % during the week and 60% at the end of the week.
Hunting pressure around Tunkwa last week was light, but the long weekend saw lots of hunters out. Tunkwa received about 8″ of snow on Friday, followed by some really colder temps, dipping to -18 at night, a real change from the week run of plus 10 temps we experienced! Tunkwa, as well as the ponds, have frozen over, wrapping up the season for the waterfowl hunters. Reports coming in from the field are saying it has been slow, but lots of fresh track is around, but animals were elusive. A few does, the occasional small buck, and still quite a few moose(incl. several different immies) were still being seen. Things seemed to changed later this past Sunday, when many more deer being spotted, mostly does though. The bucks are not on the does yet, but they are starting to get worked up, with more rub/scrapes being found, and the occasional scrapping pair of bucks being seen, but the does aren’t receptive to them yet. I had a very large muley buck some right in to me on a doe bleet, mid morning on Wed. He was very interested and out roaming way past daybreak, which was great to see. The muley rut should start to kick in later this week, and the bucks will start moving consistently. Find the does, and the bucks will be coming down to them. Walking through whitetail areas, the snow is loaded with track, but no sign of the active deer, it would appear they have gone nocturnal, typical for them! The whitetails will start rutting closer to months end….from all the track around, there is a pile of them around.
It was a slow week for animal being harvested. There were at least 4 moose harvested right around the immediate area of the lake this past week, with 2 immies standing side by side taken, then on Wed. an LEH bull tagged was filled, while congratulating each other, a immie walked out to the dropped bull, and was harvested as well. It has been an unreal year for immature bull moose in this area, with so many being harvested. There are still more out there, and close by, but they sure are skitterish, making it near impossible to get a count before squeezing a shot off. This past week, we have had a bunch of muley does come in taken on guests LEH draws, we had an impressive, very tall, typical 4×4 muley buck come in, and small white tail buck as well. Hunting pressure has died off, temps have become more seasonable, and a bit more fresh snow has come down. We expect to hear about more encounters with some of our big Tunkwa muley bucks over the next couple weeks, it will be prime time to try for a trophy buck.
Since the last report guests have harvested 10 mule deer, 2 whitetail and 1 moose.
Since Tuesday we have had 6 muley bucks come in, with a 4×3 the biggest. Lots of reports of moose being seen by many in the field, even a couple of immies around evading the hunters.
Lots more waterfowl coming on Tunkwa, as smaller area ponds are freezing up, and more northern ducks are starting to pass through.
Ryan and his brother, Brandon pose with Ryan first buck, a nice Tunkwa muley. A successful 3 generation family hunt!
A large 2 X 2 Mule deer with tall antlers and a large 5 X 2 White tail were harvested Sunday afternoon and today a 4 X 2 White Tail was brought into our meat shed. Cooler temps overnight should get the ungulates moving to keep warm.
A second 2 X 3 moose was harvested by a guest who also got a Mule deer buck last Thursday, Friday 3 nice bucks came in, 2 from one of our guest in one cabin. Brad’s buck was a bit bigger than his uncle Bill’s, Brads was 4 X 3 and Bill’s a 3 X 3, both pictured below. Great job guys! Yesterday a White tail doe came in on a GOS and one of the healthiest 2 X 2’s I’ve seen in some time. Pic’s on our next report of the young hunter.
I expect some changes starting today as temps drop and weather does it’s part.
My dad with his 2 X 3 Mule Deer, after it was dropped a 4 X 4 was next to it hidden by it’s natural camouflage.
Since the last report there have been plenty of deer coming in ! On Thursday a guest brought in a nice 2 point buck and another brought in a white tail doe. Friday was a busy day with 4 bucks hanging out in the meat shed. Saturday was another good day with 2 bucks brought in. So…lots of game. Those having success are getting up early, packing a lunch and spending the day in the bush. It seems that there are lots of healthy 2 point bucks in the area with a few guests commenting that the larger 4 plus pointers come out while guests are feel dressing their 2 pointers.
Lots of reports of moose in the area and guests are anxiously awaiting the start of the fork moose season on Monday.
White tail doe opened yesterday with little pressure on them, hunters are out looking to harvest their Mule deer first before venturing out on the grasslands looking for them. Since our last report we had 2 mule bucks come in Tuesday to our meat shed, 2 more mule bucks in our meat shed yesterday and so far today 1 buck is being retrieved as the hunter needed some help pulling it out of the slash.
Overnight temps are 0 Deg in the basin and up to 15Deg. in the shade during the day, a few more beautiful day with a possibility of showers Sunday so the hills will get some fresh snow for Monday morning when spike fork moose opens.
Safe hunting folks!!
Few more people out there hunting this week.
Weather has been much warmer than normal, but night time temps have been dipping as low as -9!
Animals are moving first light and last light.
If your not seeing deer, move, yer in the wrong area!
We ahve had 9 bucks come in the past week, 8 mulies and i whitetail.
Richard dropped this beauty 4×4 mulie on Sat. morning.
This weekend, we had one guest in hunting, who tagged out quick, taking a nice 4pt muley on Friday eve, then dropped a 4pt whitetail buck back on Sunday morning. Some good hunting with no competition out there.Since the any buck season opened, we’ve had guests bring in smaller mulie bucks the past 2 mornings.
Not much new to report, the abnormally warm days have kept the animals from moving around during legal hunting times, plus it’s just too hot to hunt! Hunting pressure has been very light.
At least the nightime temps have been dropping down into the low single digits. Some normal weather will se things turn around for the positive.
Good shootin Bubba!
Morning temps have been dipping down to right around freezing with daytime temps into the mid teens with temps into the 20’s in the upcoming days. Hunting pressure has been light, and deer don’t seem very spooky, so chances are good of getting that 4 point early season Muley buck. Any White tail bucks is open and have some nice bucks have been seen before GOS.
A wet, cold spring has kept the grouse number down, but we are starting to see more of them out on the gravel roads the past couple weeks, including some big Blues, like this taken the past evening.
Reports of little game movement yesterday morning and aft. but lots in the evening and again this morning.
Massimo’s first buck taken this morning.
Another successful Junior hunter with a nice 3-19 Muley buck.
First buck for Lucas taken in the Tunkwa area.
Good luck youngsters and bow hunters, your getting a welcoming head start to GOS!
Please note, we don’t have youth licences available
Don’t forget that the deadline for having your LEH applications in, is fast approaching!
Remember, Tunkwa Lake Resort straddles the boundaries for the 3-18 & 3-19 WMU’s.
Also, we still have some LEH tags/application forms in our store, if anyone is having hard time finding some locally.
Good luck with your draws!!
The bears are definitely out of hibernation, as we are seeing them out feeding in the meadows, and around the resort area, more frequently the past couple of days..
Whitetail deer are being spotted daily, and looks like the mild winter with little snow accumulation was very good to them!
We’ve had sightings of black bears out in the fields near Tunkwa, one was a beautiful cinnamon phased sow, with 3 healthy cubs..there finally out!
A few people have been out shed hunting, and are finding some decent sheds.
One of staff, Shanna Fox, found this nice, matching muley set not far from the resort.
Good spottin Shanna!
We still have the odd guest up hunting at this time of the year, taking advantage of the plentiful coyotes in the Tunkwa area. The Yotes are a daily siting around here, and there calls fill the night time sky. They do respond well to calls and can be called in to close range. They have beautiful winter coats at this time of the year, providing some great pelts.
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