I hunt extensively on crown land, and know what the protocol is for "military bases".
There are only two bases in Alberta that allow limited elk hunting, of what they call the culling of the herds at Wainwright and Suffield. Due to COVID, only the Suffield hunt is still allowed.
Basically the process is a giant pain in the ass, there are restricted zones, safety orientations and range briefs, and lots of paperwork to sign. So no, you can't just go onto a base and hunt willy nilly.
I have heard of some of these spots on crown land that are used for survival training for NATO and CF troops (usually CF and Brits).
A friend of mine's dad owns such a place, but that's on private land that borders the forestry zone, so probably not this place in question.
Nonetheless, my wife's cousin and uncle were hunting up near Edmonton last year in the rifle zones and ran into a soldier who was by himself during survival training. They ended up seeing a whole bunch more guys. It was all good, they even chatted with the instructor for a bit before they went on their way. Nothing exciting...
The scenario in this thread is curious. I've never heard of an "off base" training area on crown land like this...
|