Big Game Illustrated - Issue 30

Spring 2021 issue CANADA/USA 6.99

COVER STORY

DOUBLE BEAM KING OF THE FOREST Chad Wilkinson FEATURE ARTICLE

BIGHORN SHEEP HUNT 2019 Flint Smith

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Publisher: Big Game Illustrated Media

email: info@biggameillustrated.com www.biggameillustrated.com Senior Editors: & Circulation:

Chad Wilkinson, Devin Gorder & Cody Forsberg

Production Team:

Kaare Gunderson, Shawn Danychuk Phil Webb, Adam Deutscher, Rob Hanes, Myles Thorp

BGI Field Staff:

David Lockie, Lane Hodnefield, Brad Shaw

Final Proofing:

Carol Wilkinson

Magazine Design & Layout:

Dougal Muir

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30 Feature Editorial DOUBLE BEAM KING OF THE FOREST

By Chad Wilkinson

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The 2018 whitetail season ended with me tagging the buck of a lifetime, and one that I never thought I would top.

BIG HORN SHEEP HUNT 2019

By Flint Smith

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Drawing a sheep tag is a dream of every hunter. That’s exactly what happened to me in the 2019 lottery draw on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming.

In This Issue BIG HORN SHEEP HUNT 2019 06

By Flint Smith

PAPA’S GUN

By Tasha Hirschfeld

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DDOUBLE BEAM KING OF THE FOREST

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DEEP COULEE MONSTER BUCK

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DOUBLING UP ON BIG ALBERTA WHITETAILS PART2

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By Chad Wilkinson

By Tyler Bien

By Dylan Cadman

THIRD TIME’S A CHARM

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ATHOS: A KANSAS MONARCH

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55” ALBERTA BULL

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By Darek Hilty

By Cody Larrimore

ByBrett Andrusiak

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I didn’t think in a million years these rams would do what they did and run to open ground through the middle of the bowl. I knew at this point I would have to make a running shot. I moved to my left to where I could see the rams and set up the shooting sticks.

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BIGHORN SHEEP HUNT 2019

By Flint Smith

Drawing a sheep tag is a dream of every hunter. That’s exactly what happened to me in the 2019 lottery draw on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming.

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Getting ready throughout the summer months preparing gear and of course trying to get in sheep shape doesn’t always work out in your favor.

Injures can happen at anytime. That’s what happened to me when my knee started giving out, but I wasn’t going to let it slow me down.

The day had arrived for my first planned trip. Of course things never work out as planned so I was going in solo, which I do not recommend, but nothing was stopping me from getting to the sheep country. I decided to hit a area where I had seen rams in the passed. After the hike in I immediately started seeing sheep. There was a band of 4 rams 800 yards away, and 2 of them looked to be borderline shooters. I sat and studied the rams trying to decide which one was bigger, and if either was a complete shooter. I decided to hold off and took pictures and video with my Vortex Razor 85mm spotting scope and Phone Skope attachment.

If it wasn’t for this combination of gear I would not have The quality of footage to completely judge these rams.

Later that night I sent the pictures to a good friend of mine. He agreed, 2 very nice rams. Either ram would be a shooter. The ram I chose to take the next day would be the darker ram of the two. The next morning found me back in the steep country I last saw the rams. I hiked quite a while before I finally made contact with them. And when I did it all happened fast. I peeked over the rim and seen the rams slowly walking to my left, slightly away from me.

I quickly backed out of sight and moved to where I could get a clear shot. I peeked back over the rim at my new position and shouldered my 270 Winchester on the 1st ram. It was the dark ram looking straight at me at 75 yards. At that distance I decided to take one more look at the other rams to make certain this was the ram I wanted to take. I looked the other rams over quick. I decided the dark ram was definitely the shooter. When I got back on the dark ram I settled my crosshairs on his shoulder getting ready to squeeze the trigger. Then the ram stepped over the saddle edge disappearing. My heart dropped! I had this ram dead to rights but had to make damn sure he was the one, and it cost me. r,

It’s been 2 weeks since my last trip. This 2nd trip starts much the same, a solo hunt. As if the odds weren’t stacked against me enough already. With plenty of time to think about what to do on this 2nd hunt. I headed back up to the same area to look for the dark ram. After wading through numerous bugling bull elk.

I got to my glassing point. I immediately seen tracks in the snow on the steep cliffs. The snow had been there a while so I wasn’t sure how fresh the tracks actually were being so far away. I glassed a little longer then continued hiking. I finally got to where the dark ram stepped over the edge on the last hunt. All I found was more glassing and bad memories. I hiked a little longer turning up nothing. Only herds of elk on distant ridges.

I made a plan to circle around lower and hunt back towards my original glassing point. I needed to get a different angle underneath the cliffs where I couldn’t completely see the 1st time. I set up to glass overlooking a big bowl surrounded with steep cliffs. I glassed for a minute and suddenly I picked up two rams in my bino’s. Very excited I set up my spotter. The ram on the left I could tell was not a shooter. I could only see part of the head on the 2nd ram. I had to move to my left to get a full look at him.

When I focused the spotting scope on the ram I thought I was seeing things. I could see the heavily broomed tips break the bridge of his nose. I could not believe what I was looking at. In disbelief I thought to myself, what is a ram like this doing in Wyoming? I’ve never seen anything like it. I then quickly set up the Phone Skope and started taking pictures and video.

Sitting there making a plan. I believed the best way to get on this unbelievable ram was to go at him from straight above. Everything about this stalk was a huge gamble. If I go at him from above I have a clear shot if he decides to go left or to the right side.

I started the stalk and The cliffs were much steeper then they looked. Creeping down the cliffs with rifle and shooting sticks in hand it was much harder than anticipated. With the melting snow turning to slick mud in a few spots and stepping on small rocks was like walking on marbles. This stalk was ridiculous to

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The ram was in such a bad spot I ended up calling a couple of friends Austin and Garrett Nimmo to go in and pack him out the next day with horses. The 12 mile round trip pack out was ridiculous to say the least. Thanks guys I couldn’t have done it without you.

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say the least, This stalk was ridiculous to say the least, almost impossible. That’s why I believe this ram lived so long. He was in one hellhole of a spot. I continued down steep cliffs. I suddenly slipped and fell, sliding off a 6ft ledge banging up my right knee. After catching myself I looked left and right for the rams. I thought they would spook for sure after that. At this point I was very close to the rams. I gathered myself and started glassing. Below me was a few big Boulder’s and slightly to the right of them there was a opening in the rocks.

In the bottom of that opening I seen the smaller ram looking straight up at me still bedded. I slowly slid my rifle off my shoulder and brought the scope to my eye.

The small ram then stood up. I still could not see the big ram.

Then the small ram slowly walked to my left out of sight. I thought, OK here we go, the big ram is gonna step into this opening and it’s all over. The big ram bolted past the opening and jumped off the cliffs running straight below me where it was the only place I didn’t have a clear shot. I didn’t think in a million years these rams would do what they did and run to open ground through the middle of the bowl. I knew at this point I would have to make a running shot. I moved to my left to where I could see the rams and set up the shooting sticks. There was a 3rd ram with them I couldn’t see originally. I quickly picked out the big ram and the 1st shot was going straight away, a complete miss. The ram was getting further away and started running to the left.

I took careful aim and led the ram considerably. I fired and could hear the bullet hit.

I took careful aim and led the ram considerably. I fired and could hear the bullet hit. The ram slowed down and bedded up under a small boulder. I was relieved that I hit the ram but was unsure I would get

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to finish him at this point. I had more cliffs to get down off of and a long hike down to where he was at, and I only had a few hours of light in Grizzly country. My decision was to go after the ram. I got about half way to the ram and I could see him move down into a large crevice. I figured once he was in there he would bed up long enough to where I could get to him and get a finishing shot. When I finally got to the spot he went in. I found him laying in the bottom. I then shouldered my rifle and took aim and finished the ram. At that moment I can’t tell you how relieved I was. I made my way to the ram and could not believe what I had just accomplished.

I walked up and put my hand on his horn in disbelief.

This is the most beautiful Wyoming Bighorn I have ever seen dead or alive. A ram of many lifetime’s! Later I found out many hunters have been after this ram for a few years and was the most photographed ram on the winter range near Dubois, Wyoming. Very special!

I walked up and put my hand on his horn in disbelief. This is the most beautiful Wyoming Bighorn I have ever seen dead or alive. A ram of many lifetime’s!

The ram was in such a bad spot I ended up calling a couple of friends Austin and Garrett Nimmo to go in and pack him out the next day with horses. The 12 mile round trip pack out was ridiculous to say the least.

Thanks guys I couldn’t have done it without you.

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PAPA’S GUN

By Tasha Hirschfeld

Being raised in a hunting family, I always knew that I would eventually test out the hunting fields too. I have had the opportunity of experiencing all that goes along with the sport of hunting all my life.

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Being raised in a hunting family, I always knew that I would eventually test out the hunting fields too. I have had the opportunity of experiencing all that goes along with the sport of hunting all my life.

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However, I’ve never actually done any of the hard work for the end result. Early on I would go hunting with Josh (my brother) right by my side. He would be the one to set up the stand, get the deer coming, and check trail cameras. Then when everything was ready, he would take me out and all I had to do was shoot the gun.

Hunting for me was simple, or so I thought. I didn’t realize the time, effort, and passion it took to get to that last stage, pulling the trigger. It wasn’t until this year that I decided I would do all the heavy lifting.

This year I was going to be the one to setup the spot, check the trail cameras, and sit in the stand day in and day out. I didn’t know what I was getting into, but I was following in the footsteps of my Grandpa, Dad, and brother, only hoping to get a buck but not actually knowing what would show up.

There’s a backstory as to why 2019 was going to be my hunting year, why I was so determined on shooting something. You see, my Grandpa (Gordon Dillabough) or Papa as we all called him was the most amazing man. He was an idol and role model for so many. His passion for everything he did, runs deep through our family. He was a generous, loving, humorous man and one of the greatest hunters that I’ve known in my lifetime. He lived in Battleford, Saskathewan and often times when I would be passing through, I’d stop in and we’d go for on a lunch date. We would talk about all his hunting adventures that he has been on, my future hunting plans, and anything else that we could fit in. On one particular lunch I had mentioned to Papa that I was looking to purchase either a 270 or 300 rifle. Papa, being the knowledgeable man that he was, went into great detail about each gun stating all the pro’s and the con’s. He told me to think long and hard about which one I wanted and to not go buy one too quickly without researching them both first. Fast forward to the next lunch date I was so excited to tell Papa that I had decided a 270 would be best for me and my hunting goals. Once we got back to the house, he mentioned that he had something to show me down in his gun room. I followed him down and he went into

his gun safe, pulled out one of his old 270’s and went into great detailing explaining everything about that gun. He then handed it to me and said, “Here ya go kid, go shoot a big one”.

Later that year the role model that so many loved, Papa, had passed away. I was now DETERMINED to shoot a deer with the 270 that he gifted me. I wanted to make him proud and shoot that big one.

At the start of October, I began setting up the spot. I was lucky enough to have my boyfriend Connor’s old deer stand to go out to. He had a ground blind set up about 85 yards away from the camera. Unfortunately, he was gone to work for most of October so he couldn’t join me in this exciting part of the hunt. Josh was very excited when I told him my plans to go hunting with Papa’s gun. He is one of my role models when it came to hunting. He knows so much and is always willing to share and teach. He helped me get started with some peas and hay and sent me on my way. I laid out the hay, spread the peas, and set up the camera. A long week later I went back so I could lay more peas and check the camera. There were 489 pictures on that first chip, and he was on one of them! Holy crap, I took a picture and sent it to Josh and he called me right away. “Tash you need to get out there now and shoot that guy, he’s massive! It’s muzzleloader season so you can go out there and shoot him with a muzzleloader before someone else shoots him!” But that wasn’t the plan. The plan was to shoot him with Papa’s 270. I showed a couple other people that picture and they said the same

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thing “Get out there Tash, he isn’t going to last long.” I ended up sticking with my plan and waited, but boy was it hard! I saw him a few more times on the camera after that but then nothing. Nothing for a couple weeks. He was gone, “Someone must have shot him. I missed my chance,” I thought.

Rifle season came and I started sitting out there morning and night. I had been going out there for about a week and a half with no sign of the big buck who we later named Gordon. Going to bed the night of November 10th, I wasn’t sold on getting up and going out, especially when it was going to be the coldest morning that we’ve had so far. However, I still set my alarm and told myself I’d decide in the morning if I’ll go or not. When that alarm went off at 6:30AM I rolled over, looked at the weather on my phone, -22°C. I shut my alarm off and had every intention to go back to sleep, but after lying in bed for another ten minutes I couldn’t fall asleep. That was my sign, “Just get out of bed and go Tash, you can’t sleep anyways so you might as well sit out there and see what comes in, you’ll probably regret it if you don’t”. I got dressed in all my layers, ripped open a couple hot packs, grabbed Papa’s 270 and headed out the door. It was a short 10-minute drive and 500 yard walk to the stand. I got there around 7:30, loaded the gun, and started the wait of a lifetime. As I sat in silence watching my breath, I could hear the coyotes howling in the distance at the full moon. It didn’t take too long until a couple deer walked in, a doe and a fawn. They’ve been in almost every morning I’ve been there. There’s something so majestic about sitting in the silence watching nature.

It was now starting to get light out, legal shooting time was 8:02. The time hits 8:32. The doe and fawn were still there and then a little spiker walked in. He had also been there many times before. More deer walked in and out. They were following a path that came from behind me, went off to the right side and then headed for my shooting lane. There was does all around. Then, I heard a sound beside me. I looked through the little slit in the wall, maybe an inch thick, and I saw a doe maybe 10 yards away from the shack. As I continued watching this doe, I glanced a little further behind her and low and behold there he is! My heart instantly starts

pounding. The buck of a lifetime is maybe 20 yards away from me. I sit and wait. I watch him through that slit as he stands in the same spot for what seemed like FOREVER. I swear he could hear my heart beating.

My gun is loaded, my glove is off, and I’m ready to shoot whenever the chance arises. It’s now 9:04 and Gordon starts to move. I watch him for as long as I can and then he is out of sight. My heart is still pounding as I’m thinking to myself “Did I miss my chance? Is he going to come back? Where’d he go?” I’m trying not to make a sound, but I also want to peek my head out and see if I can see him. Before I do that, I finally see movement. He’s coming in from the North. “Now’s my chance,” I thought but I knew I had to be patient and wait for the exact right moment.

“Now’s my chance,” I thought but I knew I had to be patient and wait for the exact right moment.”

I keep thinking in my head, “Be patient, be still, be quiet. Don’t move Tash, let him come in all the way.” I watched him as he walks closer and closer, and I wait for him to turn broadside. As he gets closer, I start to look through the scope to ensure I’m ready when the perfect moment happened. And then he turned perfectly broadside. I slowly placed my hand on the trigger, take a deep breath, and as I released my breath I pulled the trigger. I heard Josh’s voice in my head, “Whatever you do Tash, after you shoot make sure you watch him. Watch how he acts, watch where he goes, and stay in the blind”. Gordon jumped, hunched up, and kicked his back legs. I’m watching as he started to run. He goes maybe 20 yards, runs in a circle, and then runs another 20 yards and I see him fall. I grab my phone with shaky hands and call Josh. “I shot him, I shot him with Papa’s gun, holy Sh** Josh and I think he’s down!” I can’t see him anymore but I’m hoping and praying he’s exactly where I saw him fall.

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I couldn’t stop my brain from thinking all of these things and the suspense was insane! Finally, after 30 minutes of waiting I snuck out of the blind and walked towards the truck (in the opposite direction of where I shot) to continue waiting the full hour before going out to see if I could find Gordon.

“This can’t be real,” I think as I get up right close and poke him with the barrel of the gun.

After waiting the FULL HOUR as instructed by Josh, I went to begin my search. I’m talking on the phone with Josh as he instructs me step by step on what to do. I reached the spot and began looking for blood. At first, I couldn’t see any, but with further investigation I found my first drop. “Now follow the blood trail and

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keep looking up as you’re walking,” Josh instructed.

Still shaking, I was following the blood trial as it was leading me along the path that I saw him run right after I shot. Gordon ran about 20 yards; blood went about 20 yards. Gordon ran in a circle; blood started to go in a circle. Gordon took off north; blood took off north. I was slowly and quietly walking north, not to spook him if he was still alive. As I turned into the little nook in the bush, I saw him. I was walking towards Gordon, gun in one hand, phone (with Josh still on the line) in the other. As I was getting closer I was getting more nervous, watching for him to stand up, to run away. “This can’t be real,” I think as I get up right close and poke him with the barrel of the gun. He doesn’t move! GORDON IS DOWN! I just shot the buck of a lifetime with Papa’s 270. What a rush and a dream come true; I hope I made you proud Papa.

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He will forever be a reminder to never give up. As Brandon always told me before each hunt, it’s about being at the right place at the right time and that day I certainly was.

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DOUBLE BEAM KING OF THE FOREST

By Chad Wilkinson

The 2018 whitetail season ended with me tagging the buck of a lifetime, and one that I never thought I would top. I had managed to find the buck by pushing further back than most other hunters and getting way off the beaten path into a pocket of timber that did not have much hunting pressure. Since we hunt almost exclusively public land, this was my strategy again in 2019.

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The winter and spring of 2018-19 had me wondering what became of the double beam b uck, and I knew that he would be a buck that I would definitely try to get a look at early in the season.

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However, while I was pushing hard and getting way back in the middle of nowhere, I was also scouting out many other areas that I had hunted in previous years, including some ground that consistently held big deer despite incredibly heavy hunting pressure.

I had actually hunted one of the bucks, at one of these spots, in 2018. He was a 170 class buck with a double main beam, but I only managed to get a handful of pictures of him through the entire 2018 season, and halfway through the season he broke off his double beam, so he got a pass for the year while I concentrated on the 200” class buck that I would eventually tag miles away deep in the forest.

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The winter and spring of 2018-19 had me wondering what became of the double beam buck, and I knew that he would be a buck that I would definitely try to get a look at early in the season. He had that big framed, long legged, but lean look of a five year old buck that could get bigger the next year. The spring shed hunting season had me scouring the countryside for miles in every direction from where I had a few pictures of him the year prior. I did not turn up his sheds, but found some amazing spots to setup trail cameras once

fall rolled around. One spot in particular was almost perfect, with a heavy game trail through some open pine on rolling hills adjacent to a thick spruce swamp.

I actually picked up a few old sheds on the trail that spring, and also noted dozens of rubs along the small pine trees close to the trail. The only issue was it was in a very busy spot, with easy access and likely lots of hunter pressure. As I went in to hang the camera, I actually found a hunting platform built out of 2x6’s with a collapsed pop up blind on it. It looked as though someone had hunted the area two or three years previous but looked like it was definitely unused for a year or two and no longer active. Despite this setback, I decided to roll the dice and still setup in the good spot I had found, which was a few hundred yards away.

Thankfully, most hunters in Saskatchewan do not get out much for whitetails until November, so I figured I would hang cams and see what was there and if nothing great was around then I could pull out before the area got really busy. I found five or six other great spots within a couple miles and hung trail cameras on all of them once August rolled around.

It was literally my first round of camera checks in

mid-August when I first laid eyes on a picture of what may be the biggest wild whitetail I will ever see. I swapped out the cards at the open pine ridge spot adjacent to the swamp, and there he was. As I quickly scrolled through thumbnails of the pictures, it immediately caught my eye, and I thought to myself, “Something must be caught in that bucks’ antlers”, but my stomach immediately started turning when I clicked on the thumbnail to make

the picture larger and zoom in on the buck. There was nothing in his antlers, everything I was seeing was what he had grown throughout the summer, and it was spectacular. He had blown up a lot with a 170 class 6 point left side with some stickers paired with a monster right side that had a double beam that split into a big crabclaw behind his palmated G2, a super heavy typical five point side under that and a drop tine off his base, along with an 8” point that stuck out straight

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forward and a pile of stickers all over his base. To top it off the double beam was webbed into a mass of antler that was definitely one of a kind. Instantly, I felt incredibly blessed and happy to have found such a buck on my camera, but I will admit I was also instantly stressed to the max. As a hardcore whitetail hunter, I knew what an incredible opportunity there was now in front of me, and also knew that I may wait a lifetime for another such opportunity, so it made my stomach turn and the next three months made it hard to sleep or focus on anything as my mind continually wandered to the king of the forest, who I knew was strolling around in his domain throughout the fall.

Our opener was September 1, so a week or so ahead of time, I went back into the area and hung a treestand.

The area was littered with trails, but also bordered a very open area that was visible from a heavily hunted trail about a quarter mile away, with the swamp on the other side, so I had very limited options on where to setup so I hung a new camera on one of the main trails through the heavier cover, about 80 yards from where I had been getting pictures of him on a different trail.

My first sit was early September, when I snuck into the treestand at first light. I sat for about six hours and did not see a single deer. On my way out, I checked the new camera I had just hung beside the treestand, and the old camera on the original trail where I had pictures of him in August. I also checked the other half dozen cameras I had hung in the surrounding area to try and get a better pattern on him. As I checked all the cameras, I did not see a single picture of him,

until I got to the camera on the original trail, and sure enough he was on it regularly. I waited a week or so and checked the cameras again, and saw exactly the same thing. He was only ever on the one camera on the one trail, even though I had cameras all over the area. It was clear that he had a solid pattern, but it was almost exclusively at night, and he did not have a large home area and was not a wanderer so I knew what I had to do.

As soon as the forecast called for rain, I snuck in and setup a new blind. It was more out in the open than I would have wanted, but there was not a good location for it on his preferred trail, and it was clear now that he was not going to change his pattern. I managed to find a small bluff of thick pine trees and some rolling hills that were just deep enough to hide the blind from the open trail that had constant hunting traffic, but I was still really nervous about the setup. Over the next month or so I hunted every chance I had. It was usually just a couple hours early in the morning, or whenever I had a spare moment between work and family commitments and I had a few great hunts where it seemed like I saw every buck in the area except him, including a couple really nice 150 class character bucks. There were a couple times when I missed him by a day, and I was getting the odd daytime picture once a week or so, which was enough to keep my hopes up, but also enough to make me very nervous that he was going to be taken by another hunter, especially given all the hunting pressure in the area. Early November rolled around, and a snowstorm was in the

forecast for Friday night and I had a half day Saturday morning to hunt. When I woke up on Saturday morning, sure enough we had a fresh blanket of snow that was supposed to stop at about 9am. Needless to say, the anticipation driving to the blind that day was overwhelming. That is, until I got to my spot. I usually parked about a half mile away along the well used trail, but when I got to the spot there was a truck parked there, and fresh hunter tracks headed towards my setup. I went back a couple hundred yards, parked and then headed in anyway. This other set of tracks went in about a hundred yards before my setup, but the wind was good despite this extra activity, so I sat the morning anyway, and again saw absolutely nothing.

Thankfully, I did not hear any gun shots and the truck was gone when I went out. I told myself maybe it was a moose hunter or just a random deer hunter going for a walk. However, when I checked the card, I did not have a single picture of my target buck over the last 10 days or so, which was not at all consistent with what I had seen up to that point. I checked all my other cams

in the area and he was not on any of them. I won’t lie, this had me worried, but I also knew that the pre-rut made bucks do strange things so decided to stick with

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the plan of sitting on this one trail as often as I could when the wind was right.

My next chance to hunt was a week later, but I only had a couple hours to sit from first light until about 11am when I had to leave due to family commitments.

As I headed in, I couldn’t help but be nervous that someone would be in the area again. Thankfully when I got to the spot nobody was parked there. However, as I began walking in, I noticed two sets of fresh hunter tracks on the trail, likely from the day before.

As I walked in very slowly, the tracks went to within about 60 yards of my blind, but did not walk in to it.

I wondered if they knew about my setup, or the giant buck that they had no doubt been so close to, but hunting public land there was nothing I could do about it, so I brushed it off. As I snuck in close to the blind, I spotted a doe and fawn headed down the trail I was setup on.

“I sat and waited a few minutes for them to pass through. Thankfully, they slowly fed off and into the thick spruce bedding area while I quietly slipped into the blind.”

I sat and waited a few minutes for them to pass through. Thankfully, they slowly fed off and into the thick spruce bedding area while I quietly slipped into the blind. I sat all morning without seeing another deer. It is hard to describe the feelings going on in my head, knowing that a true buck of a lifetime was so close, and being so happy about that opportunity, but also the stress of knowing that it was on public land, and clearly was an area being hunted heavily so I

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knew that it was an opportunity that could very easily slip through my fingers and was enough to borderline make me sick. Don’t get me wrong, any hunter out hunting that day ‘deserved’ this buck just as much as I did, and I would be genuinely happy for them, while also knowing I missed an opportunity that may never come again.

“As he closed the distance from 100 yards to about 60, a mess of antler materialized against the snow as he dropped his head to sniff a scrape and it was my target buck!”

As 11 o’clock approached, I just told myself that I was doing absolutely everything in my power to make it happen, so I could not have any regrets if it did not come together and I was fine with that. I packed up all my camera gear and was about to unzip the door to the blind, when I looked back out and way down the trail, some movement caught my eye. Immediately, I recognized the stance of a buck working some licking branches with his head up the trees, standing stiff legged with his head back. Quickly, I got my camera back onto the tripod and hit record. For a long time, I could not tell which buck it was as he walked stiff legged down the trail working a series of scrapes and licking branches all the way in. As he closed the distance from 100 yards to about 60, a mess of antler materialized against the snow as he dropped his head to sniff a scrape and it was my target buck!

The double beam was unmistakable. I knew the area well and knew there was a fork in the trail at about 55 yards, so I debated taking the shot at him then, but he

was facing head on to me, and I was fairly confident that he would follow his usual trail. Sure enough, he very slowly worked his way down the trail I was setup on. I waited and just enjoyed seeing such a spectacular animal in the wild. He came all the way in to 30 yards and turned so he was quartering towards me slightly. I remember being surprised at how much I was shaking, but I managed to take a deep breath and make a good shot on him, albeit a bit far back. He took off instantly and I chambered another round, prepping for a second shot as I knocked the camera over in the blind. Just as I was about to shoot again, he fell, about 40 yards from where I first hit him, mostly hidden behind a young spruce tree. I watched and did not see any movement so began celebrating and waited 15 minutes to go have a look.

and I scanned around me, but as I got to the spot, I could see where he fell in the snow. Quickly I found his tracks where he got up and looked in the direction he went, only to see him lying under the next bunch of spruce trees, 30 yards away. I quickly ran up to him and finally got my hands on him. There was no ground shrinkage or disappointment, and he was exactly what I thought. His dark chocolate antlers and big heavy body were the type that can only be found in a monster northern Saskatchewan whitetail. His 170 class typical frame carried over 50” of abnormal points. He truly was the buck of a lifetime and I will always appreciate the opportunity to hunt him and eventually tag him after hours, weeks and months of time spent trying to get one step ahead of him.

Finally, I headed out to put my hands on the monster I had been obsessing over for three months. As I got closer to the young spruce tree where he fell, I could not see him and my heart jumped up into my throat.

Panicking, I thought maybe I was at the wrong tree

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DEEP COULEE MONSTER BUCK

By Tyler Bien

When I was drawn for an either sex Mule deer tag after waiting 11 years, needless to say, I was ecstatic!

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Me and my hunting partner Jerry planned the trip well in advance and we booked an entire six full days to fully dedicate to finding a nice mule deer for my first one ever.

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Taxidermy was done by Derek at Paragon Taxidermy.

Pictures courtesy of Jerry Bien

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“I came up to the crest of the ravine and just as I did something caught my eye. Sure enough, there he was to my left.”

Me and my hunting partner Jerry planned the trip well in advance and we booked an entire six full days to fully dedicate to finding a nice mule deer for my first one ever.

Leading up to opening day there was some worry due to the tinder dry conditions in southern Saskatchewan.

Most private land and all the community pastures were not only not allowing any vehicle traffic, but also no hunting at all due to the extreme fire risk. It was not looking good and I was concerned that my dream mule deer hunt would not happen at all.

Thankfully, someone must have been looking out for us because an early season snow storm blanketed southern Saskatchewan where I held my draw tag with a heavy covering of snow, which eliminated all the fire risks and opened up vast areas for us to hunt. The forecast for opening day was well above season averages, which meant most of the snow would be gone which would be helpful in getting around, so if all went to plan we would have full access to most community pastures in the area.

It was a long week of hunting that was an emotional roller coaster. I hiked many, many kilometers up and down some of the craziest ravines and coulee systems I have ever had the chance to hunt. It was some amazing country and very different from what I was used to hunting. The wind picked up the first day and never let up. We were fighting gusts up to 70km/hour or more at some points during the week. Despite my best efforts, I was down to the last day of the hunt with the tag still burning a hole in my pocket.

The morning of the last full day of our hunt started

off like any other, grabbing a coffee at the local COOP and hitting the highway to get to our spot before sunrise. As soon as legal hunting time arrived, we spotted a nice big, mature mulie buck on the edge of a coulee trying to make his way out of the open flats and back down into the depths of a massive ravine. I made a run for it to try and cut him off and managed to come over the crest of a hill just in time. As I crested the hill, I spotted him at 200 yards and he was broadside. I knew this was my chance, but after a run like that I was struggling to catch my breath and I knew he wasn’t going to stick around much longer because he had spotted me cresting the hill. I tried to steady myself and let a shot go between deep breaths. MISSED and just like that my dream of harvesting a big mature mulie was gone. I was defeated, I hunted the rest of the morning in that area trying to locate him with no luck.

Having lunch back in town that day I was just devastated that I had a chance to fulfill a dream of mine and missed. I made a phone call to my wife who was back at home holding down the fort so I could try and make my dream come true. She told me not to give up and she just had a feeling because her day had started out so good. She just had a feeling mine was going to be great so I was recharged and ready to keep trying.

After lunch we headed back out to a different area we had located that week. After a short walk to check out an out-of-the-way coulee we looked up and spotted two BIG, BIG mule deer slipping out the other end of the coulee over some high ground and dropping into a big ravine. I could not believe that I was going to have a chance to redeem myself. We rush all the way around to the other side to come at the ravine with the wind in our face.

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With the sun fading fast I knew I had to get in there because those big smart bucks were not going to stick around too long. I made a run for it, leaving Jerry behind and covering 400 yards in what felt like two seconds due to the adrenaline pumping through my veins at the thought of what awaited me.

my 338 win mag. I heard a loud, “Smack” and down he went. I was ecstatic to see that I dropped him right where he stood. I couldn’t believe my dream had come true. I laid there for a minute on the top of that ravine, thinking about the entire week and how it had all led to this moment in time.

I came up to the crest of the ravine and just as I did something caught my eye. Sure enough, there he was to my left. He was making his way up the wall when he spotted me and froze. Deva Vu 150 yards broad side I wasn’t going to repeat my mistake from this morning.

I took a deep breath, sat down and exhaled slowing. I felt calm and focused as I squeezed off a round from

I waved my partner over and the celebration really began. We enjoyed the moment, took lots of pictures and celebrated. After some hard work, we were loaded and on our way back to town. It still didn’t feel real to me and took a long time to sink in, but I knew I had done it!

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Part 2

DOUBLING UP ON BIG ALBERTA WHITETAILS

By Dylan Cadman

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Backing up to when we were all gearing up for elk season, we were also keeping tabs on some good whitetail from prior years. I went to my father in-laws’ house in late June to go fishing with my Brother in-law, Kyle and Cousin In-law, Billy.

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Kyle decided that he would be happy shooting a spiker as he had never shot a deer before and this was going to be the last day that he was able to get out hunting. He wasted no time, making a perfect shot on one of the spikers out in the field for the freezer.

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We were driving home from the lake one evening and, as always, we took the back roads home looking for deer and the next potential shooter buck and as usual we were seeing lots of deer feeding but nothing that really stood out to us.

When we rounded the corner, we saw four deer in the back of a field and as I put up my vortex binos up, I noticed one was much bigger than all the others and looked to have a lot of mass. Right then I knew this was a shooter deer. We instantly called the landowner to ask if we could hunt his property and he was grateful enough to grant us access to hunt all his land. The plan was to keep our eyes on him for the rest of the summer and Kyle would try to get the buck when season started as I would be busy with elk hunting. The summer went by with very little for sightings and when we did see of the buck, it was near sunset and there was very little time to watch him. I didn’t have any spare cameras to hang in the area so all our scouting was through the glass and with me living four hours away it was tough to find time to go scout for the big buck but we were confident that we would have a good chance at him.r In the meantime, Bryan had a big buck of his own he had his eyes on and it was very exciting watching this buck grow on his camera. I made the trip to Bryans one day in July to help set up a blind and two stands and then we would leave the area alone, with Bryan only going in to check his camera once a week before the opening day of archery season. The first day Bryan could sit in the blind was August 28th. I was out locating elk with my wife that evening when I received

a phone call from Bryan and he had the bad news that he had missed his target buck. After only being in the blind for five minutes, Bryan was just getting his camera set up and checking the clearance of his bow at full draw and when he was letting down he noticed the buck standing 30 yards away and from half draw he drew back and made a quick shot as the buck was staring at him because he didn’t think he would have much time and as the arrow was flying he watched it hit a limb and deflect under the bucks belly.

Fast forward to September 16th the day before Northern Alberta’s opening day of rifle season. I received a picture from Kyle and although the picture was blurry and you could only make out a little bit of the frame because of the distance the picture was taken from, we both were excited for Kyle to be out there on opening day. With no sightings of the big buck for the first week of rifle season, we were left wondering if the buck maybe moved on or if another hunter got lucky. Kyle hunted the area hard trying to lay eyes on the big buck, but with no luck, so Kyle decided to leave the area alone for a while and hope for the best.

In the meantime, Bryan was searching everywhere to find his target buck, including moving cameras and scouting new areas, but he was having no luck either. I was finally able to find time to make it up to hunt with my brother in-law, Kyle, in the first week of November. We hunted hard for three days when finally, on the evening of the third day, the big buck showed himself, but he came out with five minutes of legal shooting light left and was 800 yards away. With no time to make a stalk to get within shooting distance

“Bryan decided to get into his stand where the elk had entered the field. With the wind being perfect, he slipped in and got settled for the last four hours of daylight.”

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we watched him from afar and made the plan to be in there at first light.

The next morning my father in-law Wayne drove us out to the field, and he was going to watch another field we had permission on. When Wayne dropped us off we saw a big deer in the field and, as I looked through my binos I could tell that it was the buck we had been watching the evening before and all we had to do was get within shooting range and we had the buck that had eluded us all season. We started making our way in, staying behind the trees on the edge of the field and when we got to where we would be able to shoot from, he was gone. Kyle and I hunkered down to see if the buck would come back out. We watched does and small spike bucks for a couple hours and with the weather being -20 degrees Celsius and the wind blowing, Kyle decided that he would be happy shooting a spiker as he had never shot a deer before and this was going to be the last day that he was able to get out hunting. He wasted no time, making a perfect shot on one of the spikers out in the field for the freezer.

“I hit the rattle bag again and within 30 seconds another doe came out and then we caught movement across to our left and there he was” After we finished cleaning and cutting up Kyle’s deer, I decided that I was going to go back out and sit in that field as there were does coming out as we were dragging Kyle’s deer out. We arrived out into the field at 2:00 in the afternoon and after getting everything set up, I decided to hit the rattle bag. Within a few short minutes there was two does coming out into the field. We watched those two does for a good hour

when three more does started making their way into the field. We thought the bucks would be coming out any time now with five does in the field feeding. By 4:00 we were freezing but we also knew that the deer would be moving at any time. I hit the rattle bag again and within 30 seconds another doe came out and then we caught movement across to our left and there he was, walking wile fixated on the doe that just walked into the field. With one quick look through my binos, I knew that this was the buck we had watched all summer. I quickly panned the camera onto the buck and got ready for the shot. The buck then began to trot across towards the doe and following him with the camera I stopped and got ready to shoot. One perfectly placed shot flipped the buck over and when I turned to Kyle to give him a high five the buck got up and started running. I quickly got back on him and gave him another shot and that was it, he was done, and I had my target buck on the ground. I called my wife and buddy, Bryan to tell them the news. We quickly took some photos as we were losing light, then loaded the huge bodied deer up and took him back to the house.

Two days later I was off to Bryan’s house to help him find a good buck. We started the week off by setting up on a trail going into an old pea field, but the morning was slow with no deer sightings. That afternoon we decided to go for a hike and check out some new land that Bryan had received permission on that was just south of where he missed his target buck in archery season. The afternoon hunt did not turn up anything, but we did find lots of tracks and rut sign, so we decided to check out the other half of the property the next day. The next day we were in the field edge early and seen some small bucks and three does but no sign of the big buck Bryan had his hopes on. We headed back to the house for lunch and to get ready for the afternoon hunt. We decided to go check the camera where the buck was earlier in the season to see if he had been in the area, but as we expected he had not been in the area so we walked down the fence line opposite of the field where we sat in the morning and noticed a lot of good scrapes so we decided to sit on the edge of a swamp area where we could see good all around us. We got all set up and I hit the rattle bag and

after twenty minutes I noticed a buck crossing the tree line. I knew it was a good buck, but I couldn’t stop him before he hit tree line again.

“Bryan got steady and when the buck presented a good shot, he took it and dropped the buck in his tracks.”

it and he said all he knew is it was a good buck. As we walked up to the deer it grew bigger and bigger and when we got to the deer Bryan realized that he was in fact the big buck he was after. We took some photos and cleaned the deer then went back to get the side by side to load up the deer. I would like to send out a big thank you to everyone for the great support and especially our wives for being our biggest supporters We hope you enjoyed reading about our team’s experiences. Be sure to follow all of our adventures through social media at Boreal Pursuit.

In a rush I grabbed the camera to get a better view and hit the rattle bag on my leg as I moved, the buck walked back out and I knew that it was the big buck Bryan had been hunting. Bryan got steady and when the buck presented a good shot, he took it and dropped the buck in his tracks. After Bryan shot, I told him that it was the big buck he was after and he couldn’t believe

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THIRD TIME’S A CHARM

By Darek Hilty

Hunting for Ohio whitetails is my passion and a hobby I have become absolutely obsessed with over the years. I became involved in the outdoors as a young boy of eight years old with my father as my teacher, over the years I have learn what works and what doesn’t.

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Hunting for Ohio whitetails is my passion and a hobby I have become absolutely obsessed with over the years. I became involved in the outdoors as a young boy of eight years old with my father as my teacher, over the years I have learn what works and what doesn’t.

My favorite time of the year to hunt mature whitetails is in late season elements. My last five buck kills have been in the months of December and January. It takes a different mindset and tactics in order to be successful in getting the chance at your target buck during this time of year. Little did I know this winter was going to be one to remember for years to come. The summer months of 2019 involved running Hog County Whitetail Supplements mineral/feed and multiple cameras to see what bucks were on the farms. Countless hours glassing from the truck, checking cameras, and setting up tree stand locations in hopes of finding that one special buck. As season opened here in Ohio, I had several good bucks on camera, but I was waiting for something bigger. I elected to stay out of the woods as much as possible until a shooter showed himself. I took off a week vacation to hunt the rut but no luck on big buck sightings. I was starting to question my tactics and losing hope of finding a mature buck to pursue.

On November 26th, I received a notification from my Covert Wireless trail camera. I opened the picture and instantly I knew that was the buck I wanted to go after!

The trail camera captured a heavy main frame 10 point, and when I say heavy, I mean HEAVY. I elected to name this specific buck “Moose.”

I game planned for hours from the computer using google earth and onx maps in order to narrow down his travel pattern. The particular farm I was hunting was by no means a huge parcel, but it was unique due to having 12 years of history bow hunting it. The farm is roughly 40 acres, but its biggest asset is that it’s all thermal cover with prairie grasses mixed in, the perfect recipe for holding late season bucks. Since there is no mature timber, tree stand locations were limited so I elected to strategically place a ground blind in where I thought would give me the best

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opportunity to harvest this buck. With everything in place, I sat back and waited for the right time to go in after Moose.

Fast forward to the morning of December 5th, when I received another wireless picture, it was Moose standing 15 yards with a doe right in front of my blind.

I was in disbelief! I checked the weather forecast and knew it would be a good night to make my first sit. I knew since the area I was hunting had dense amounts of cover that he would most likely stay in the area and I had high hopes that he would show himself. I geared up for an evening hunt and my nerves were at an all-time high. “Is tonight the night? Is my setup going to work?” were a few of the questions running through my mind as I slowly worked my way through the thicket trying to remain undetected. With the blind in eyesight, I said to myself, “I made it.” However, that changed in a split second as I heard nothing but the rack a buck hitting branches as he ran through the trees and away from me. My heart instantly sank, I just spooked Moose and blew my chance! He was bedded 50 yards from my setup. I decided to sit the evening out and didn’t see a single deer. On the long walk back to the truck, I played it over and over in my head. There was no mistaking the distinct sound of big antlers hitting saplings. I got home and felt like I had just been hit by a truck, I blew my chance. I sat on the computer that night studying the aerial maps that I have well memorized. My wife walked into the room and said, “Honey, just be patient, you will get him.”

Those words were the little hope that I had since, from experience, I knew that once you spook a mature whitetail, your chances drastically decline. For the entire week I had no pictures of Moose and my spirits were at an all-time low.

That all changed when I got a picture of him on Dec 10th, he was back! I couldn’t believe it; I was like a kid on Christmas morning! Sadly, he was nocturnal for the next couple days on a different camera location but my mind was at ease since I knew he was back in the area.

After studying the trail camera pictures, I paid attention to detail and noted the wind, time, pressure,

temperature, and moon phase. There was no consistency with his patterns but what I did pick up was he was always with a single doe when he made an appearance on camera. Dec 16th at 11:30am, Moose made a daylight appearance with the same doe and put a show on for the camera. I knew this was the only buck I was going to persue the rest of the season. I elected not hunt that evening due to a bad wind and didn’t want to risk spooking him for the second time. Looking at the forecast that evening there was a big cold front and snowing in the works. As I drove to work the following

morning on the snow filled roads I got another notification. Sure enough, Moose daylighted once again at 8:00 am! At that moment I knew I had to get in the blind. It was 22 degrees and dropping when I left work, pressure system of 30.51 and northwest wind. These were the perfect conditions for my setup that I waited for all season. I texted my wife and said, “Moose day lighted!” Her response was, “Tonight is the night, go hunt!” I wasted no time and geared up for the evening hunt.

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My favorite time of the year to hunt mature whitetails is in late season elements. My last five buck kills have been in the months of December and January. It takes a different mindset and tactics in order to be successful in getting the chance at your target buck during this time of year.

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Walking out I had extremely high hopes but at the same time I had my doubts due to last attempt resulting in a failure. As I slowly approached the blind and got settled in, I said to myself, “I made it, all I need now is for him to show.” 4:00PM rolled around and I caught my first glimpse of a deer, it was a doe. She slowly worked her way through the thicket when I heard the distinct noise that I heard two weeks ago, antlers hitting saplings. It’s so thick in the area that visibility is limited to 40 yards and my shooting windows are limited to 25 yards. As I listened to antlers hitting the trees the doe stopped in my opening and squatted down on her hind legs and urinated in her tarsal glands. It all made sense, Moose was on a hot doe on Dec 17th! The sound got closer and closer when all a sudden I finally laid eyes on him, my jaw dropped. He stopped at 40 yards, not letting that doe out of his sight. With my eyes fixed on him, I caught a glimpse of the doe take off, trotting and he wasted no time as he ran past me at a mere ten yards with no shot opportunity. My heart once again sank as my opportunity passed by me! I sat there in the blind in absolutely disbelief and disappointment.

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Ten minutes went by when I caught movement coming from the way they ran, it was the same doe and Moose was right on her tail! She entered the same shooting lane and stood there looking back at him as he maneuvered his impressive rack through the brush. My heart was beating a mile a minute as he closed the distance, 50, 40, 30, then he stopped, looking head on. He stood motionless trying to find the doe he was pushing around. All I needed was for him to turn left or right, sadly he took off trotting for the second time in fear that he lost his doe. That was two times I had him within shooting distance but no shot was presented. At that point I thought it was never going to happen. I set my bow down as my hope of letting an arrow fly diminished, but before I could even set it down all the way the doe came running past again! Moose was crashing through right behind her and just before he entered the opening at 20 yards he stopped. I thought to myself, “Third times a charm.” He walked into the opening with steam coming out of his mouth from chasing and I let out a “bra” in order to stop him, it didn’t work as

he was fixed on nothing but the doe, “Brap” once more, no response. I knew it was now or never and decided to release an arrow. It felt as if my arrow was in slow motion as I watched my lighted nock enter the buck, but sadly it was farther back then I wanted. I watched him run off and lost sight after 40-50 yards. “Did that just happen?!” I began play the shot over and over in the head, “Did I get him?” I called my Wife Meghan breathing heavily, “I just shot Moose!” Her response was, “I told you tonight was the night!” I met up with my Dad Craig and two friends Chris and Dan. I waited five hours before tracking the deer of my dreams. We made it to the point of impact where we found very little blood, we proceeded to go another 40 yards following blood where we stopped and knew that we had to make a decision.

“His rack held nearly 50’’ of mass and 16 scorable points!”

The question was should we back out until morning or keeping moving forward slowly? I made the decision to back out but just before leaving my head lamp caught a glisten 20 yards ahead, I thought I was just a snow reflection on a branch but as I stumbled closer to see if my eyes were playing tricks on me, I caught the greatest view. It was a deer eye glistening and he was down! Moose was dead and the celebration began! I held his rack in complete awe, I finally had him in my possession. Never did I imagine that I would have a rut hunt in the middle of December. His rack held nearly 50’’ of mass and 16 scorable points! I got the share a very special moment as I got back to the barn with my one year old daughter Harper, she absolutely loved the deer and held the massive rack in her small hands as she babbled “daa”(deer). Too me that what it’s all about, sharing the outdoors with family and friends! I hope one day she can share the same passion for this great sport that was introduced to me by my father.

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ATHOS: A KANSAS MONARCH

By Cody Larrimore

The word “friend” is used in everyday life describing all sorts of people. However, for the purpose of this story, it should be said from the beginning that when I reference my “friends”, they are not your average ones.

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They are four selfless individuals whose generosity gave me the opportunity at something I only ever dreamed of; something they all personally wanted and something every whitetail hunter wants – a legendary giant. This three-year journey would not have been possible without their support, outrageous generosity, and most of all, friendship.

I moved to Kansas in 2017 specifically to pursue whitetails. I left behind everyone I knew including all of my family and lifelong friends to follow a dream I’d had since I started bow hunting at 12 years old. I took a leap of faith and it’s paid off in multiple ways. In less than a year, I was fortunate enough to be managing roughly 2,000 acres of prime hunting land split between several properties. The entire management process captivates me: finding a deer worth chasing, helping it reach its potential by using various types of minerals, supplements, and food plots; learning the nuances of each individual deer; patterning it throughout the season; and managing the age structure and land specifically for optimal deer hunting.

In July of 2018, I was able to persuade a neighboring farmer to let me hang some cameras on his land. It’s important to note that all I had asked permission for was to hang cameras. This piece of ground in particular is about 600 acres and it hadn’t been hunted in years.

This is where the story of Athos begins.

After receiving permission, I studied the property using the HuntStand app allowing me to utilize their tools to help identify pinch points, measure and identify travel corridors, pick locations to hang cameras, and to share the property details with my friends in the group. I had low expectations because cattle were only recently pulled from the area. As it turns out, the first picture I got was a deer we would later name, “Athos”, the giant from Greek mythology.

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It wasn’t long before Athos became a regular to the site, and after hanging more Browning cameras, I was able to hone in on his bedding and core area. This caliber of buck is the sole reason I moved to Kansas.

You might be thinking, ‘Game Time,’ right? No. As promised, I showed the landowner this incredible buck, and he got excited and wanted to hunt him exclusively—and that was fine with me. It’s his ground, so his deer – I was just thrilled to have a deer of this caliber on camera! We made a deal that he would only hunt him, if I were there to film. I had more daytime photos of him than night time photos.

The first year the farmer was only able to hunt him one time due to his busy schedule. No luck. He was too busy the rest of the year. Throughout the remainder of the year, I received thousands of pictures of him, again, mostly in daylight so I was eager to search for his sheds the following spring.

Shed hunting has become an integral part of the management process for me. Some folks collect coins, art, or Christmas Santa’s; I collect sheds. I believe that each one tells an important part of the story, that you can learn a lot about the individual deer from their sheds, and that finding them gets you one step closer in the ultimate chess match.

It’s at this point in the story where it’s necessary to introduce you to some of my best friends, Craig and his wife, Alexx. I had only known Craig and Alexx for about a year now (spring of 2019). We met the previous spring when another one of my best friends, Nick (who lives in North Carolina), and I were in Florida.

Nick was trying to harvest his first Osceola Turkey and I was his cameraman. Nick and I had never met, nor spoke to Craig or Alexx on the phone prior to this trip.

Upon meeting them, Craig was generous enough to let us hunt several of his properties while asking nothing in return except to respect the ground. We found success a day later. Realizing we were all extremely passionate hunters, we became friends quickly.

I invited them to put in for a Kansas whitetail tag and if he and Alexx were selected, for them to stay and hunt with us that fall. It’s the least I could do after he displayed such generosity while Nick and I were in town. A few short months later, he and Alexx were both selected! They flew out in October, and Craig was able to harvest his largest whitetail to date. Alexx

In July of 2018, I was able to persuade a neighboring farmer to let me hang some cameras on his land. It’s important to note that all I had asked permission for was to hang cameras. This piece of ground in particular is about 600 acres and it hadn’t been hunted in years.

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wasn’t as fortunate, so they came back a second time in December to try her luck again. During both trips, Craig and Alexx were the most grateful and appreciative hunters I’ve ever met, hands-down.

Fast forward 3 months to Shed Rally 2019 (which is a contest hosted by Whitetail Properties). Craig and Alexx, now have a 2 year old daughter and a one month old son. That’s correct, a one month old. Despite knowing how tough the next few days would be in terms of weather conditions and how far we would be walking; Craig, running on very little sleep from managing a newborn, takes a redeye flight (6 hours) Friday evening after work, and is in Kansas for the start of Shed Rally 2019 Saturday morning.

Only because I wanted to find Athos’ antlers, Craig walked over 20+ miles with me in two days, in 40+ mph wind gusts, rain, freezing temperatures, and knee-deep mud. After enduring all of that, we finally found the antlers we were after. Correction, he found

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them, both sides actually, along with the majority of the others. To sum up the character of this man, I offered him the antlers and he refused to take them.

These are the largest antlers he and I have ever held in our hands, scoring 191” (with an estimated 17.5” spread) and he didn’t even consider the offer to take them home. Shed Rally 2019 was a success; not because of the sheds we found, not because of the photos we took, not because of the contest that Whitetail Properties puts on, it was a success because of Craig.

Without him, I wouldn’t have walked as far, endured the miserable conditions, and likely would have come home empty handed. Being in his presence is truly humbling. He sees the positive in all situations, encourages you to be your best, he’s always willing to lend a hand, and he will put you before himself.

His passion, dedication, and true sportsmanship like conduct and attitude deserved to be recognized in this community; and it was! Craig was selected as the

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overall Shed Rally 2019 Grand Prize Winner! Many companies contribute to the prize packages of this contest. Companies such as Mathews, Sitka, Yeti, Lacrosse, Buck, Hunterra Maps, Wired to Hunt, Dog Bone, Rack Hub, Stic & Pic, and Hodag Licking Stick all sent Craig prizes for winning the 2019 contest.

I didn’t get Athos on camera until mid-October that fall, the same as the year before because of the cattle.

As you can see in the November 2019 Browning photos, he lost some width, but put on significant mass.

And, just like the year before, the landowner was too busy to hunt.

“It’s difficult to describe my level of anticipation and nerves each time I pulled a camera card on that property. “ It’s difficult to describe my level of anticipation and nerves each time I pulled a camera card on that property. Hoping that I’d see him, that he was sticking around week after week, while not being able to chase this giant deer drove me crazy!

Obviously, the goal for Shed Rally 2020 was the same as the year before; findings Athos’s sheds! We had a larger crew this year too, and searched for more than 40 hours, logging an absurd amount of miles - we didn’t find either side. To make matters worse, Athos had seemingly disappeared before the end of last season. Worse even still, during the shed hunt, Nick found a skull not more than 100 yards from where Craig found his sheds the prior year with antlers cut off. As you can imagine, I was very nervous leading up to 2020’s summer growing season with many questions looming. Had he died? Did someone poach him from the road? Did he leave?

All of these questions were answered on July 4th

when my Browning camera caught the first glimpse of him for 2020. Not only is he alive, he’s back and he’s shaping up to be his largest self yet!

With the excitement of knowing he’s still alive and having him back on camera, the farmer and I both agreed that this was the year; that we had to go after him once the season opened.

“He was excited, and I was like a kid in a candy store! “ For the first time, we were able to watch him progress throughout the entire growing season. I was very careful not to spook him or alert him in anyway – this was the year it had to happen. I couldn’t push him off the property now! I did my routine card pulls only with the proper wind direction and at the right time of the day based on the camera location and activity. I kept the pressure on the property to a minimum and I used specific minerals and attractants from Anilogics that I knew he enjoyed in previous years.

My friends and I watched him grow week after week.

It became an addiction (more so than years in the past, believe it or not), and I became obsessed. His antler growth was astonishing. His dominance over the others in his bachelor group was clear, and he dwarfed every other buck in sight.

Although his core area is relatively small, we were told this summer, that a neighbor found one of his sheds during planting season this spring and had shared photos with many others. I had done my best to keep this deer a secret for several years now, but ultimately knew it was just a matter of time before others in the area would know about him.

After talking to my friends, we decided that if the landowner hadn’t harvested this deer by the time they all came out for our annual, “deer camp week” we would approach him with an offer for one of them to

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hunt him. At the start of the youth rifle season, Athos disappeared but showed back up about 10 days later with his velvet gone. Athos went from being a giant whitetail, to an absolute once in a lifetime deer, a dream; a legend. I never once believed or thought I would have a buck like this on camera just three years after moving here. Athos has captivated my mind since the first picture over two years ago, actually causing me to lose sleep on more than one occasion.

The chance to see a deer like Athos is the sole reason I left everything and began this quest. Watching him progress and live for three years is simply something I could never have dreamed of – something out of a hunters’ fairy tale.

As promised, I alerted the landowner when I received the first picture of him in daylight, during the regular archery season. Once he pulled his cattle, I went in and adjusted the Muddy blind setup, and the chase was on!

The plan was to wait for my first daylight photo of him, back near his “usual” bedroom. Once this happened, we would hunt him the first available cold front or right wind direction. The picture came, the cold front moved in, and he simply couldn’t find the time. I checked the card days later, and he was there. I wasn’t devastated, but I was near. Everything we needed to happen happened. A week later, I reached out to him again as there was another cold front in the forecast.

He replied saying, “If you can make me a good enough offer, he’s yours. I’m going to be busy with harvest.”

“Watching him progress and live for three years is simply something I could never have dreamed of , something out of a hunters’ fairy tale.”

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The next morning we agreed on a deal. While leaving the landowners home, I messaged Craig letting him know what was decided and told him that I needed a minute to think about how I could get him and Alexx out here ASAP to go after him. Craig responded just moments later, “Nothing to think about. All of us have already spoken and made a decision. We are taking care of everything, and you are hunting Athos. We all agree it means more to all of us to have you shoot him then it would for anyone else. We actually won’t accept any other offer at all. Alexx, Nick, Marc and I absolutely refuse to shoot him and it would mean the world for us to see you close this chapter the way it always needed to happen. Everyone knows deep down this is the way it has always had to play out. The story cannot have an asterisk next to it.”

Still, while I am writing this, I don’t know how to put into words what this meant and continues to mean to me. It is a gesture that is 100% selfless, pure, and one that I will spend the rest of my life trying to repay.

How do you put into words the emotions you feel when your friends gift you your dream? Would you know it’s happening if it happened to you? To a lot of people my dream may seem silly. Certainly there are more important things in life than a huge deer, right?

Call me strange, call it whatever you’d like; but deer hunting has made me who I am. It’s my world, and I’ll forever be grateful to this sport, the friendships that have grown from it, and the opportunities it’s provided.

Emotions aside, it was go time! Except, there was a problem; I haven’t actually hunted whitetails in two years! After I saw the satisfaction of putting a youth hunter on a giant, 160” whitetail while capturing every moment of the hunt on camera, I’ve been more excited about filming, so much so that I sold my bow seasons ago. In fact, I tried picking up a bow this past turkey season and I ended up shooting a barbwire fence no more than 5 feet away. Welcome back to bow hunting, Cody!

This is where the story really begins to come full circle. Remember all the sponsors of Shed Rally that sent Craig prizes for winning? Being the generous

person that he is, Craig overnighted the Mathews bow, along with the camouflage from Sitka, and one of the two pairs of boots that he got in my size as prizes from Lacrosse. This is one of the wildest parts to this whole story - I would be hunting Athos in the gear Craig won from finding his sheds two years earlier. After a quick trip to an archery shop, the bow was set up and after several evenings of practice, I was ready.

Another one of my best friends who lives here in Kansas, Marc, agreed to video for me so I could focus on the hunt. After two unsuccessful trips, another large cold front was in the forecast and I knew I needed to take advantage of it, even though Marc wasn’t available that evening.

The cold front took effect, the Drury Outdoors DeerCast app was on point, and deer were on their feet early on October 23rd. While walking to the new elevated Muddy soft-sided blind, courtesy of Quest Hunt Co (the world’s largest deer hunting tournament), I watched as two smaller bucks moved across the field in front of me. Fortunately, when they spooked off, they ran in the best direction possible.

Unfortunately, after I took a few more steps, I noticed a giant rack staring right at me 15 yards from the blind.

I was able to grab my binoculars and identify the buck – not Athos, but a solid 165” deer. The 5 minute staring contest eventually ended with his “white” tail raised, blowing, and him taking off in the direction I was expecting Athos to come from. Needless to say, I thought the hunt was over before it began.

There was plenty of action with smaller bucks and does during the evening despite my pessimism. While it was still an enjoyable hunt, the one I was after continued to elude me. So I decided to pack up my equipment, load my bag, and began to close windows so I could slip out before anything else showed.

Midway through closing the last window, I noticed movement from the direction I spooked the bigger buck to earlier; the direction I had always assumed Athos would come from.

I caught a glimpse of antlers and within a true

millisecond, I knew without a doubt which deer it was. I didn’t have the luxury of admiring him, I didn’t try to get my binoculars back out of my bag to double check – there was no doubt in my mind which deer was working its way towards me, I had no time to think, only react. I pulled the bag off my back, sat down, and quickly began to unpack my camera gear. Tripod up, camera out; opened, on; facing the direction I knew he would pass through; record. I grabbed the Mathews bow, loaded an arrow, got the release out of my pocket and hooked on the d-loop.

At 27 yards, he heard me draw and picked his head up looking towards the blind. For the first time in three years, I was able to finally lay my eyes on Athos. With the light fading fast, I took an extra second to confirm that my peep sight and anchor point were in position. I squeezed off the shot and saw the red lighted nock find home.

I’ve seen numerous TV shows where the hunter speaks of how bittersweet it is when you finally catch up to the deer you’ve been chasing for so long. I can now say it’s a feeling that is both one of happiness and sadness. Bittersweet, might actually be the perfect word to describe the feeling.

I was able to catch up to Athos on the night of October 23rd, 2020, laying my eyes on him for the first time in person, but also the last.

Bittersweet, for sure.

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55” ALBERTA BULL

By Brett Andrusiak

After waiting five long seasons for a coveted moose tag, I knew this was going to be the year and I was determined to make the tag count. The days slowly rolled passed, with the season slowly inching closer and closer. I put countless hours into scouting throughout the summer and had zeroed in on a number of tremendous bulls that I would be very happy to use my tag on.

It was early July one evening when my family and I Days, weeks and eventually months rolled by as I continued to put on the miles down the backroads and into every corner of the country that I thought may hold a good bull. I put in all the time getting permission from landowners wherever I could and gathering information on the moose in the area from anyone who was out on the land. I thought that I was in really good shape as the season opened.

“Despite my best efforts, and the bulls I had patterned, when the crops began to get harvested it got harder and harder to locate the big animals.”

Despite my best efforts, and the bulls I had patterned, when the crops began to get harvested it got harder and harder to locate the big animals. I wasted no time bringing out the bow and arrow, and had multiple encounters with really good bulls but to no avail. All the stalks and failed attempts to put a big mature bull down started to fade into memory as rifle season was approaching. Finally, the rut was in full swing and cold fronts moving in, getting the bulls up and moving, and just as importantly, distracted by their annual rutting rituals. I knew I had my best shot to call in a bull now, but many hours calling and waiting and calling and

waiting and I still came up empty handed! It was not nearly as easy as it seemed through the summer when I watched the lumbering monsters tromp through the fields without a care in the world.

November 21 came around and it was a perfect day for hunting. The air was crisp and the skies were clear, without a breeze across the hay field. The day prior, I had received a helpful tip that a great bull was spotted not too far away from the hay field. My .300 was loaded and ready to go. As the day broke, the deer were out feeding on the alfalfa and playing around, but there was not a moose in sight. The morning went on, the skies got blue but I stayed in position, hoping for a sighting of a moose. Sure enough, right around noon, a huge black spot appeared outside of the bush and started his way across the field, coming closer and closer! At this point, I was excited as I looked through the binoculars to get a better look. Sure enough, his monstrous body carried a beautiful rack! He was definitely the giant Alberta bull that I had been waiting for all year. He kept slowly walking closer and closer until he was well within shooting range and I put the cross arrows on his chest and pulled the trigger. The echo filled the air and instantly laid the giant to rest!

“Measuring in at a huge 55” wide, he is by far my biggest to date and second moose I have ever shot!”

Considering everything that was going on in 2020 with the COVID-19 craziness, I could not be any happier with the outcome. I had accomplished my goal of filling the freezer, while also having a big set of antlers for the wall which will always remind me of 2020 and all the time and work that went into making the hunt a success. Huge thank you to all my friends, family and landowners for all the help, I could not have done it without you.

Measuring in at a huge 55” wide, he is by far my biggest to date and second moose I have ever shot! Considering everything that was going on in 2020 with the COVID-19 craziness, I could not be any happier with the outcome.

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