BC or Alberta hunters

[Jimbob]

Are there any BC or Alberta resident hunters on rockslide? My family is relocating out west and would love to get a local's perspective on good towns. Looking for a small town with hunting near by and I don't mind if its remote. Thanks in advance. Also if you are not a resident but have traveled to a nice area and liked it then I would love to hear about that as well. Thanks in advance.

 

[Bruce Culberson]

Really depends on what you want and how you want to hunt! Do you want to road hunt deer? Jet boat up rivers for sheep/moose/elk? Hike into the apline for sheep & goats? Also depends if you want to lake fish vs river fish vs ocean....
BC is pretty diverse, so lots of options.

 

[Jimbob]

Thanks Bruce.

Hiking into the alpine for sheep/goats would be at the top of my list. Not interested in fishing lakes but fishing rivers does peek my interest, no desire for the ocean right now.

Ideal situation would be a nice small mountain town that has mountain hunting within a short drive.

 

[Jimbob]

I thought Smithers looked pretty nice and also Mackenzie.

 

[goatboy]

Smithers will get you where you want to be. Lots of goat hunting very near by and sheep hunting within 6 hours. The kootenays will also got the bill if you want a milder climate.

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

 

[Bruce Culberson]

What goatboy said....

World class goat hunting around Smithers and Terrace. Excellent river fishing for salmon & steelhead. Good moose and bear.

Mackenzie has goats, moose and bears. Also not a far drive to get into elk, mulie, and whitetail country from there. A similar drive north though as Smithers to get into sheep.

 

[Salix]

First Question to ask is what do you do and what kind of things do you need to have in the town you are living in. I've lived in northern BC
my entire life, currently in Mackenzie. The north is full of small towns that have great access to hunting, depending on what you want to hunt but to be honest there is much more to picking a town than what's there to hunt.
Smithers and Quesnel are smaller towns that put you into a decent place to live and are close to the hunting/ fishing action. There are lots of smaller towns here that all offer their own access to hunting but are limited in amenities for living the other 9 months of the year. My family is enjoying Mackenzie but the one small grocery store and one decent restaurant gets old fairly quickly. It's affordable to live here though, no crazy mortgages like so many other places in BC. I can be hunting moose, deer, elk within 10 minutes of home and have open season goats very close by.
If you want a bit bigger town and not too concerned about a little driving then PG might be where you want to go.
J

 

[Jimbob]

Thanks For all the replies, I really appreciate it.

I am a high school teacher and my wife and I with our three kids are ready to take a giant leap into the unknown. We have even thought about the Yukon. We live in a town of 56,000 right now and we want to downsize considerably when we head west.

The big priority for us is in/near mountains and a reasonable drive to a larger city. The yukon is a little scary because bigger cities are non-existent. In BC we can live in a small town and enjoy that lifestyle but on the weekend if we want to head to a bigger city to get some things then we can.

Hunting is a secondary concern to the needs of the family but it is something I am factoring in.

Thanks again guys.

 

[Rackmastr]

I live in Cranbrook BC and love it. Have lived in bigger cities (Calgary and Lethbridge) and find Cranbrook an awesome mix of recreation, mountains, hunting, outdoors, kids recreation, safety, cleanliness, etc.

May be a touch bigger than what you're looking for, but I do love the Kootenays personally and I'm glad we made the move here. 4 hours from Calgary and close to the USA as well.

 

[Jon Boy]

If it wasn't such a hassle I'd move to BC in a heart beat. Such an awesome mix of everything. Good luck on your move!