Expectations

All hunters want to hunt where they have the highest odds of harvesting their ‘dream’ animal. The best way to improve your odds is to hunt in Alberta with realistic expectations to avoid going home disappointed. As all true hunters know, a good guide, combined with 100 per cent sincere effort and a positive hunter attitude, will always produce better results. Add THA’s extensive hunting territory to the equation and you are probably operating at the highest reasonable odds of harvesting a true trophy.

We emphasize proper perspective in all of our dealings with our guests. We do not oversell our hunts, or our possibilities. We tell you how it really is. What we do provide is a proven track record, lots of flexibility and a 100 per cent solid effort on your behalf.

There are many uncontrollable elements associated with any hunt. North American Hunting Club Executive Director, Bill Miller explains:

‘The list of uncontrollables dwarfs the list of things that can be controlled. Weather, animal movement, regulation changes, area closures… and a million other variables must be left to fate. There’s no way any of us – hunter or outfitter – can control these. For the hunter, the greatest and most important thing that can be controlled is attitude. If the hunter comes to camp fully expecting to have a good time and is willing to adapt, he probably will have a good time (however, if he has the) attitude that the hunt can only be successful if he leaves with an animal, then chances are he’ll head for home with a sour taste in his mouth.’

Bill Miller also affirms that the Outfitter, ‘must commit that he’ll do everything humanly possible to see that each hunter in camp enjoys the trip’, adding that, ‘the outfitter owes the hunter maximum effort to ensure an enjoyable trip and – as much as the uncontrollable elements allow – a crack at an animal.’

Well-said Bill! We agree!

We anticipate that hunters should see a variety of big game, and while we cannot guarantee a harvest, we can guarantee 100% effort and perhaps the hunting experience of a lifetime with the potential for world-class results. We’ll help you spot the game – you decide whether it meets your criteria, and if so, the hunt will be on, be it calling, spot and stalk, working the bush, ground blind hunting behind camo or in a simulated hay bale, tree stand hunting or some combination of these proven techniques. Whenever possible, we’ll call the elk and moose in for these types of hunts, while we’ll push and/or ‘talk’ to the deer, as required, for the whitetail and mule deer hunts.

We suggest to our hunting guests that we hope to be able to show them minimum 125 class whitetail and 140 class mule deer on our deer hunts. On our moose hunts, we suggest to our guests that we hope to be able to show them 30″ to 45″ moose, and on our elk hunts we suggest that our hunters should hope to see 230 class to 300 class elk. As you can see, we do not oversell our hunts. Many other outfitters may ‘promise’ that you’ll see much larger animals but fail to perform to the higher expecations after your arrival to camp.

When hunting mule deer, we tend to see lots of muleys and typically 100% of our mule deer primary hunters do harvest a mule deer. In fact, in the past 10 years, every hunter has indeed harvested or opportunity an average mule deer has scored 160 B&C. THA has won the very coveted APOS Award for the ‘Largest Mule Deer – Archery on an Alberta Outfitted Hunt’.

On our whitetail primary hunts, we usually see deer that exceed 125 class and frequently some serious trophy whitetails. THA has recently been honored twice with the APOS Award for the ‘Largest Whitetail – Archery on an Alberta Outfitted Hunt’.

Our moose hunts can run from very productive to more challenging. We know the moose are there, but, in spite of their incredible size, sometimes they are difficult to find. Our average moose harvest is 85%. THA recently won another coveted APOS Award for the ‘Largest Moose – Archery on an Alberta Outfitted Hunt’.

Elk, the most beautiful member of the ungulate family, can be feast or famine. Once pressured, elk become quite nocturnal. Our archery elk hunters generally see several keeper bulls and we usually experience 100% opportunity on our archery elk hunts. This last fall, we won the APOS Award for the ‘Largest Elk – Archery on an Alberta Outfitted Hunt’. The rifle elk hunts can be quite difficult since elk are not on a resident draw in most WMUs and there can be a lot of resident elk hunting pressure resulting in spooky, nocturnal elk during the rifle season. Successful elk hunters, however, have harvested the most magnificent member of the North American ungulate family.

THA hunters have won the APOS Award five times, in the past few years, harvesting the largest Whitetail in Alberta twice, the largest mule deer, the largest moose, and the largest elk on an outfitted hunt. This is quite an accomplishment when there are over 450 Alberta Outfitters.

We want you to harvest that big animal as much as you do. Our hunting guests appreciate our honesty and are rarely disappointed! Our philosophy is to under-promise and over-achieve.

Our mandate is to make every effort to ensure an enjoyable trip and a memorable wilderness experience, while at the same time hopefully providing an opportunity to ‘bag the big one’.

In summary, Trophy Hunters Alberta offers the following:

• Tested, proven, licensed, bonded and insured guides on a 2:1 or 1:1 basis
• Record Book potential
• Productive and extensive hunting territory
• Mule deer, moose, whitetail and elk hunts including numerous combinations of these species
• Accommodations to fit your individual needs including camp wall tents, heated motorhomes/travel trailers with full facilities, B&Bs, cottages/cabins, full comfort ranch houses and hotels/motels in small towns
• Outpost or spike camps as appropriate
• Wholesome meals prepared by a full time chef in our wilderness camps, ranch ‘mothers’ on our ranch hunts and local approved restaurants in our other camps. In all camps, we provide healthy meals including fresh fruit and vegetables, frequently real maple syrup, Canadian bacon and wild game (where available).
• Fabulous scenery
• Airport service (complimentary) for arrivals and departures to THA recommended pre/post hunt hotels in either Calgary or Edmonton. Hunters arriving by air should pre-arrange a rental vehicle for the duration of their hunt. THA has special discounted rates with Enterprise Rent-a-Car near the Calgary International Airport.
• Complimentary rough caping and trophy and meat pick-up from camp

If you want world-class hunting potential, Trophy Hunters Alberta can provide the territories and, hopefully, the opportunities.