DDOUBLE BEAM KING OF THE FOREST

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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 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.

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 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.