Big Game Illustrated - Issue 32

Spring 2022 issue CANADA/USA 6.99

COVER STORY

SOMETHING SPECIAL Joshua Corpe FEATURE ARTICLE

TAKING ON A WOLF… OR TWO Ben Jameson

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36 Feature Editorial TAKING ON A WOLF… OR TWO

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By Ben Jameson If you are one whose been lucky enough to have had an encounter with one of North Americas greatest apex predator, then you know the ice cold chilling feeling those bright yellow eyes can have on a person.

ONE OF A KIND

By Haylee deStrake

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It had been a long season full of ups and downs, but mostly downs when it came to finding a big mule deer! With the season coming to an end, I now had only four days left to fill my tag.

In This Issue GHOSTS ARE REAL!

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ARCHERY BULL OF A LIFETIME

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JUST BY LUCK BUCK

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CAME OUT OF NOWHERE

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SOMETHING SPECIAL

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By Hutley Sheppard

By Jordan Charuk

By Joseph Whitford

By Michael Rivet

By Joshua Corpe

TAKING ON A WOLF… OR TWO

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NEW GROUND

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TEN YEAR WAIT

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ONE OF A KIND

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By Ben Jameson

By Braden Arsenault

By Christopher Berlinger

By Haylee deStrake

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GHOSTS ARE REAL!

By Hutley Sheppard

The quest for this deer started three years ago in the spring as I set out on my annual shed hunt.

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Roughly an hour into my morning hike I found myself locked eyes with a deer standing up in his bed. I was shocked at first, to see a buck still supporting not one but both sides of his head gear in latter days of March.

This deer was already showing early signs of mass and had a little flyer on the one side. This was my first encounter as I knew nothing about this deer or even thinking something of that caliber was living in the area.

Right then I knew that he had the potential to turn into an absolute monster one day if he could survive all the pressure of hunters in the years to come. Little did I know that his level of hide and seek was already at expert. Over the next three years I only got the

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privilege of seeing this deer five times in person and not once did I get the opportunity to capture one picture as he walked by one of my many trail cameras in the area. I also had no luck with finding a single shed from him either. This left me puzzled and a little confused to be honest.

With a full year of not seeing this deer, I was starting to believe he had moved on or didn’t make it through the winter. But dreams were keeping him alive. When May approached, I buckled down, doing a lot of legwork and endless hours of homework. Studying topographical maps, morning walks, evening walks, you name it, I did it! I was doing anything and everything to up my chances on locating this deer and studying his movements. I narrowed down to what I thought would be the best locations to pinpoint him.

Placing out twelve trail cameras in the early weeks of June. I personally thought I had everything covered over the stretch of 2000 acres I was hunting.

Feeding areas, bedding, water sources, fence lines, funnels, I had it covered and there was a stealth cam hanging. Still not one picture of this deer. I had lots of bucks and some good ones but none of, “Ghost”. I had a couple leg shots, blurry pictures, some up close and personal pictures that I was hoping would be him but could never really tell 100 percent.

It was on a beautiful evening in late September when my five year old son and I got ready for an evening archery hunt for elk, the last thing on our minds was this deer. Our intentions we’re on locating the herd bull that I have been watching weeks leading up to this day. We were making our way along a fence line

“I was doing anything and everything to up my chances on locating this deer and studying his movements.” when I caught movement off in the distance. We both hit the ground with a thump. I grabbed my binoculars and began to watch a deer out in a crop field roughly 350 yards out. With his head down feeding I couldn’t determine the caliber of the buck but could see it had tines. I knew it was indeed a buck but little did I know what I was watching for the last five minutes was encounter number three.

With the wind directly behind us and blowing onto him I knew the chances of a stalk were slim especially with my little boy being five years old and new to hunting. I made the spot decision to back out that evening as I didn’t want to educate this deer of our presence. This deer was already smart enough and the last thing I needed to do was bump him.

Over the last month of archery, I was concentrating on pin pointing what trails this deer was using as he entered into the field to feed in the evenings. I juggled a few trail cameras around with no luck and still not one picture. Never seeing this deer again for the remainder of archery season. He slipped away undetected. without leaving any evidence that he was ever there. Just the view through the binoculars with my son was all I had to go on in the last 14 months. It was a memory that was clear as day, embedded would be a more accurate word.

Now with rifle season approaching fast I had to come up with a new game plan. I already had tree stands in place for another buck in a different area. I had my eye on a target buck in the pre season. A clean 10 point typical that I had named “High Beamer” but he wasn’t “Ghost”. I started to concentrate on the area that I had last seen Ghost and made a very bold move. Going in three days before opening day with a tractor to move my tower blind half of a mile that would better my chances and give me a much better view of the crop field he was feeding in and pasture. I knew that this was a very risky move that could push any deer out of the countryside but it was a risk I was willing to take.

Fast forward to November the 2nd, I found myself slipping into my freshly placed tower blind I set up roughly 500 yards from where I had last seen him 35 days prior. With little deer movement and temps being so high, it made for a very long sit. Only seeing two deer all day long and last light approaching fast, I decided to pack up and call it a day. With everything put away and my camera in my pack I gave one last look out the window before heading out the door of my blind. 80 yards away I saw a dark silhouette of a deer grazing across the pasture. Quickly I grabbed my Binos, and it only took all of two seconds to identify that this deer was indeed the deer I was looking for.

I just sat there and watched him for another five minutes until he disappeared into the darkness of the bush. Not having my camera rolling and too late to setup, I decided to let him walk with hopes I would see him again in the days to come. The whitetail rut was

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starting to fire up I thought this would only better the odds as the days past.

For the next two days I sat full day sits with little to no luck on locating this deer again or even seeing much for deer activity to be completely honest . It was now my third consecutive day on the stand and I was starting to think that maybe the decision to let him walk over not having my video camera rolling would forever haunt me. The emotions were starting to take a toll on me. Regret, frustration, the feeling of defeat were all starting the play a role.

With me only having a half day my expectations were low. 9:45 am rolled around and not one deer was to be seen and I once again found myself packing up as we

and tears welled up as I looking down the barrel.

For a moment life was on pause, nothing else on this world was on my mind, only him, as my thoughts flashed back to all the highs and lows. I had to act fast but remain as calm as possible. With my cheek firmly pressed against the gun and a solid rest in place, I was making sure I didn’t rush the shot. Click goes the safety, my breathing was controlled, crosshairs were steady and placed perfectly behind his shoulder and I slowly squeezed the trigger. BOOM, and watched years unfold right in front of my eyes. I bet the farmer a mile away could hear me screaming and felt the ground shake due to my knees shaking.

I rewatched the short clip over and over a hundred times, confirming that my shot couldn’t of punched

“I knew that this was a very risky move that could push any deer out of the countryside but it was a risk I was willing to take.” had our first appointment for or newest addition to the family. Very first ultrasound at 11 o’clock with my wife so I just sent the text, “Packing up now love and I’ll be on my way home”. I found myself once again packing up my gear to head home. Packing away a few things I looked out my window and I saw a doe walking by at 175 yards. Little did I know she had a friend on her tail and he was coming in hot. Nose to the ground and shadowing her every move, I knew it had to be a buck, I just couldn’t confirm it was Ghost due to having my binoculars in my backpack already. Quickly I unzipped my front pocket of my bag and grabbed my Binos.

He was already half way across the pasture, so I had to quickly confirm it was Ghost. I could tell it was a good buck but couldn’t notice the distinctive flyer that made him stand out. As soon as my glasses focused my heart started to race. Here he was! I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, as the adrenaline instantly started pumping through my body. Years of hard work, sweat,

him any better. “It’s finally true, I got hiim”, I thought as the celebrating started to takeoff. If you ever stood in the cold underdressed, shaking uncontrollably including the chatter of the teeth, you have experienced the feeling I felt at that moment.

The only difference was, I was in a heated blind with a long sleeve and a baseball hat on. I couldn’t believe what had just happened. Three years of work for all of 30 seconds. It happened that fast and it may have been even quicker than that.

It felt like the battle was already won, but I never count my chickens until the eggs are hatched. I gave him a good 45 minutes as I made some phone calls to inform some of my close friends and family that I just shot a deer of a lifetime. I slowly returned back to earth and made the decision to get ready for the retrieval. It didn’t take too long before I was standing at the sight of impact. With a heavy blood trail, it

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made the tracking easy, but I still took my time taking in every second of it. Ducking and weaving trees for roughly 10 yards with the blood trail going from excellent to phenomenal, I was all smiles. I finally could see a deer had expired deeper in the bush. This was by far one of my biggest moments of hunting, right next to my very first big game hunt with my father.

Putting my hands on ghost for the very first time was a little emotional. I will forever relive that day.

Running solo and running two cameras on top of that was a challenge in itself but I’m very blessed to pull it all off. Walking up to this deer is by far one of my highlights in my 20 years of hunting.

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I still can’t believe I closed out the last chapter to a buck I named Ghost. With five sightings and zero pictures in a span of three years, unbelievable is a more accurate word. For the record I did indeed miss the ultrasound appointment for our newest addition and to this day I’m still happily married. Thanks to my wife for understanding all the outcomes that come with hunting.

Always believe in yourself, never give up, push your limits, and always be true to who you are, And that’s why we are.......Just Relentless!

Note: Be sure to follow all of Hutley’s adventures on the TV show Just Relentless on Sportsmans Channel and through their socials.

ARCHERY BULL OF A LIFETIME

By Jordan Charuk

Hunting has been a big part of my life for as long as I can remember.

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I grew up in a hunting family and that is just a normal part of life to me. For some reason I never got into bow hunting but last winter a couple friends and I took it up. I instantly fell in love with it and couldn’t wait to get out when the season opened up. I was also lucky enough this year to get drawn for bull moose around home and thought that would be an awesome opportunity to try for with my bow. A cousin of mine, with whom I have had multiple hunting trips with over the years, was also excited for me because he is an avid hunter and wanted to accompany me on the hunt.

We had spotted a few young bulls and cows over the first 2 1/2 days but no real opportunities had presented themselves on any of them. The first few hours were slow on our last morning, so I decided I may as well try a different spot that I hadn’t checked out much before. I knew there was lots of good spots that could hold moose there so it was worth a try. We pulled up to a big ravine and slowly walked out to a good vantage point so that we could get a good look down the ravine lengthwise. As soon as we got to the spot there he was! He was about a mile or so away, just standing there all by himself. This is exactly what we were looking for, a bull by himself who, by pure luck, happened to be pretty big!

My cousin let out a few calls while I quickly got on my iHunter app and started quietly phoning farmers I knew in the area to get phone numbers for other land owners to make sure they were okay with hunting on their land.

By the time I got off the phone with everyone and got my bow ready to go in closer, I got back to where my cousin was only to see him pointing and mouthing, “He’s right there, he’s right there”. He had called him right in that by the time I got off the phone with landowners! It happened so quick that I literally didn’t even have time to get everything ready. Unfortunately, he got a bit spooked and went back across the ravine and into the bush there.

The next plan of attack was to come in from a different side and call him out to us. We would be ready this time.

Within five minutes of getting in there and calling he came wandering out, slowly but surely. He was at about 70 yards and I was waiting for him to get a little closer

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and to step in the clear from one single tree that just happened to be perfectly placed in the way. It was all coming together perfectly, exactly how we had it planned. “I can’t believe it’s going to happen,” I thought. Just then, a vehicle passing by on a noisy gravel road caught his ear in the distance and he turned around and trotted off. As we were leaving the bush, I looked down the road and see my Dad driving in the distance. It was him that spooked the moose by accident when he was coming to see where we were.

Most people might have been furious at that point but after those two close encounters with such a great bull I thought that was even worth the rush it gave me. I felt worse about how upset with himself my Dad would be!

At that point I was grateful for the great experience, but I thought for sure that was the last time I was going to see that bull.

“The next plan of attack was to come in from a different side and call him out to us.”

We watched him from a distance for the next while.

To our surprise he came out again, and then he met up with three other small bulls and luckily a single cow!

It was back to iHunter to make sure we were still on land that we were allowed to hunt on. All the bulls were after the cow and they were on the move. After watching him cross four or five fields they went into some trees. I quickly got my bow ready and the trusty ole boat ore in hand to head in and try call him out.

After we spotted the cow and did some calling and scraping, he came out ready to find, and fight whatever small bull he thought we were to chase out of there. He came out of the trees and after waiting for a clearing in the trees I was able to put all my bow practice to the final test. The rest of it is history and a day that I will never forget. Looking back, sometimes I still can’t believe happened but I am thankful it all worked out on our third try that day.

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JUST BY LUCK BUCK

By Joseph Whitford

We have been setup and running cameras in an area that we got permission in aways from home, along untouched land along the forest edge.

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We had couple 165 class bucks along with a 175 class whitetail as well so it was a good spot. I knew I just needed some time to hunt it. On November 18th, I finally had some days off work, so I purchased a tag to head out rattling that evening.

We got set up along the forest line edge for rattling and I got my older brother to set up on a trail about 350 yards to the south of us. I started to rattle and not even four minutes later I got a text message saying, “There is a huge buck coming your way.”

Needless to say, I was instantly really excited and could tell buck fever was setting in without even setting eyes on the buck. We waited a while but had no sign of the buck, so I continued rattling, hoping to convince him to come out of the thick bush. However, about five minutes later, I got another message from my brother, “There are head lights coming up the trail towards us.”

“The wind direction was coming right towards us so I knew they could not smell us at all. ” “Like wow, you got to be kidding me,” I thought, and sure enough, it was other hunters driving right in and ruining our hunt. As they got closer I realized it was people we knew, and to boot they were setting up a hunting spot right in the middle of the same field that we were already setup on and had been working on getting the area ready to hunt for over month already!

To make matters worse, they knew we were hunting it and had some good deer, but setup anyway.

That incident totally just killed my night of hunting and we were so livid, but what can you do but move on. So, I pulled that plug and said it was not worth it, I’m done with this area before there is going to be is a war over this hunting patch. Thankfully in Saskatchewan there is a tonne of ground to hunt so it is not worth stressing over.

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On November 19th, it was time to change areas.

I switched back to an old area I used to hunt. We previously seen a group of five whitetail bucks together and one looked to be a potential 170 inch deer so I knew that was a good place to start. So that Tuesday morning we again setup along a small bush line overlooking a field and then a good chunk bush behind it. I hung up the doe estrous in the tree by me and then began rattling. I rattled off and on for about 45 minutes, then I saw a huge doe step out of the bush. Instantly, she began to run across the field to the south, and she was had that tell tale run of a doe being chased by a buck.

A few moments later was when I saw him appear. The problem was he was like a bullet right after her, full speed on her tail. I tried grunting to get the buck to stop that was not working. They kept working there way south, too far away and at a good pace so I knew it was time to regroup.

Since I knew the area well, I had a good idea where they were headed so we made our way over to the spot and slowly started to make our way through the area. It didn’t take long to find the doe. She had stopped in a big slough of cattails and moments later the buck appeared right behind her. The wind direction was coming right towards us so I knew they could not smell us at all. They could see us but he did not care one bit about us being there. We had no way to close the distance, so I laid down and got locked in on a good shooting rest. The buck was standing broadside at a perfect angle, but close to the maximum yardage where I was comfortable, and my first shot was a complete miss! I quickly recomposed myself and let a second shot go. Instantly, the buck then turned and ran, but quickly laid down in the the slough. I knew I hit him good but didn’t drop him.

The cattail slough was surrounded by open field so we made the decision to move in quickly and finish the job if needed. We quickly and quietly got about 100 yards away and then I slowly inched my way towards the slough getting about 75 yards away when the big doe busted me. She flew out of there as fast as she could and then the big buck jumped up and I was able to quickly finish the job and put him down for good.

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I found myself screaming with enjoyment, walking up to a true beast of a deer. Looking back, it was the best day ever, my biggest buck to date and best shot to date as well. Admittedly, I just got lucky to be in the right place at the right time, but during the whitetail rut in Saskatchewan that could be anywhere at anytime.

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CAME OUT OF NOWHERE

By Michael Rivet

This buck showed up on my property in the Anola, Manitoba bow zone on October 26th.

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Amazingly, he seemed to come out of nowhere, since I had no previous history with this buck, but obviously he quickly caught my attention. Since he had never been in the area before, I did not want to waste any time, knowing that he could disappear just as quickly as he appeared.

However, with a busy weekend planned I knew I wouldn’t get to hunt him till the following week. I was all setup to hunt the spot already, so I could not do anything but wait for the day to come that I would have time to get out.

Monday the 2nd finally arrived, and I rushed home and then quickly settled into my blind. The deer movement was pretty slow that night and I hadn’t yet seen a deer so was not overly hopeful. As the sunset I was not holding out a lot of hope, when, out of nowhere, he stepped out just before shooting light ended. I went to full draw and tried to settle my pin on him at 29 yards. Although it was still legal light, I knew it would be borderline on whether or not I could see my pins. Sure enough, to my disappointment, I couldn’t see my pins well enough to take an ethical shot. I had to let down and was overwhelmed with disappointment!

I knew with a buck of this caliber, most times you’ll only get one chance at them during a season, if you are lucky, and my chance had come and gone. I waited until I knew for sure that he was gone and quietly snuck out.

My next sit was not until Wednesday morning. To my surprise, I had yet another encounter with him!

However, he took a different trail then I was sitting on so I had no opportunity for a shot. Fast forward to the next week, Monday the 9th. Again, I rushed home for a quick evening sit. I was only going to have an hour of daylight to hunt but conditions were good for me to get into position so I went for it. I got settled in my blind overlooking a small staging area 20 yards off the field edge. With some weather moving in it didn’t take long for deer to start funnelling through. I had

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six doe’s and fawns already out in front of me when two young bucks appeared. They fed their way to the does and once they were close started chasing and grunting up a storm. With light fading, I knew if that big boy was in the area he wouldn’t put up with that kind of action on his home turf. With each grunt from one of the young bucks, I felt like my chances got better and better, and my gut was right. He stepped out with minutes to spare. Instantly, he ran those two young bucks off and stood proudly, and within range of me. I took a quick range and drew my prime, grunting to stop him for a perfect broadside 26 yard shot. The shot looked perfect, but I still waited a few minute then got out my the blind.

“I knew with a buck of this caliber, most times you’ll only get one chance at them during a season, if you are lucky, and my chance had come and gone. I waited until I knew for sure that he was gone and quietly snuck out. ” Despite searching, I couldn’t find my arrow even though the shot looked perfect. I found blood right away, but without inspection the arrow I didn’t want to push him in case the shot wasn’t perfect. So I made the tough decision to back out. Panic set in a little on my walk home to make dinner. I returned an hour later and got on the blood. The trail got better and better, and then I found my arrow laying there, blood soaked. After inspecting it, I was very confident that he would not be far. I took a few more steps and there he was!! My Manitoba archery buck. I’ve been fortunate enough to take several nice bucks with my bow here in Manitoba.

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I was all setup to hunt the spot already, so I could not do anything but wait for the day to come that I would have time to get out.

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SOMETHING SPECIAL

By Joshua Corpe

I lied awake, impatiently staring at the ceiling. The clock read 23:58 on November 14th.

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Falling asleep is never a problem for me, but the night before any big game season opener is the exception. This evening in particular, it was extremely difficult to drift away. Just 11days earlier, a tremendous whitetail buck walked by one of my trail cameras. To say he was the only thing on my mind would have been an understatement. I was obsessed. In a mere seven hours and sixteen minutes, I would be hunting this deer of a lifetime. It would likely be my only chance at a deer of this magnitude.

My first image of this buck was back in 2017. I captured a photo of him on my trail camera, 30 yards from my elevated blind. He was enjoying the mineral I put out for the local deer herd. After locating it, he decided to stick around and call this area home.

Getting hundreds of photos of him, I quickly grew fond of this deer. He was a young, clean 145” 6x5 buck. Easily recognizable, with a bump halfway down his left main beam and a split brow tine on his right antler. He was not the only or biggest buck at my blind but, there was something about this deer.

I desperately wanted this deer to survive a couple more seasons to see what he was to become.

My Dad was struggling to see any decent whitetail bucks, so I gave him my keys to the blind. I told him there was only one condition. He could not harvest this particular deer. He looked at me and said, ”I am not going to sit in your blind if I have restrictions on which deer I can shoot”. I told him any other bucks including, the bigger ones, were all fair game. I remember my exact words to him. “If the twin to Milo Hanson’s buck walks in, pull the trigger. But this one is off-limits. He will be something special one day”. I sent him some pictures of the buck so he could not mistake him for another deer. Confident he could shoot any buck except one, he took me up on my offer.

On the last day of the season, he harvested a nice mature doe. No bucks had shown up that evening and, he wanted some meat for sausage. I knew the

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buck had made it through the 2017 hunting season. A picture of him after the season, on December 5th was the last picture of him in 2017 before he left the area.

I laid mineral on the ground at my blind early in 2018.

There was no sign of him through the spring, summer, and into the fall. “Where was he? Why would he have called this spot home for eight months and not return?” I wondered. I was a bit saddened, but this is just a part of hunting. Pass up a buck, hoping he will become a giant, only to find more often than not, that he vanishes or gets hung on another hunter’s wall. It was on November, 14th at 0900 that he triggered my cellular camera. I was thrilled! He grew. Not huge, but

“He was not the only or biggest buck at my blind but, there was something about this deer.

I desperately wanted this deer to survive a couple more seasons to see what he was to become. ” a pretty solid mid 150” buck. He carried a drop tine on his right main beam and a flyer on his left G2. It was going to be a tough decision to shoot or hold off another year. I have never shot anything with a drop tine before. I decided that I would make that call if I saw the chance to see him in person. I wanted the chance to at least lay eyes on this deer.

Opening day was November 20th in Saskatchewan that year. I would patiently sit in my blind for the first five days. My eldest son, Teague, came with me on one of those days. I do not think he would have let me pass on him if he would have made an appearance. He would mingle around the blind throughout the nights,

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but he was nonexistent during daylight hours. On the sixth day, Teague had hockey out of town, and at 1015 my cell phone chimed. I guess he wanted his picture taken during daylight, with us not in the blind. Teague said to me, ”Hockey is not that important, Dad. Let’s go get your bow and head to the blind.”

Knowing we missed our opportunity, we continued to the arena. I hunted him for the next three days with no sign of him anywhere. Vanishing again, I was not sure if he survived the remaining seven hunting days. It was the second year in a row he took off and did not return.

I figured he was wintering somewhere else.

The 2019 season came and went with no sightings of the buck. Did he get shot by a fortunate hunter? Or did he move to another area for good? In the past, he had returned at one point through the season. I was thinking the worst, he had probably not made the hunting season or the winter.

Discouraged not having any new photos of him, I figured it was time to move on. I needed to set my sights on a new target buck for 2020. It was halfway through October, and I had yet to see a deer that was even remotely tempting. Usually, by this time, I would have a target buck on my mind. There were five young bucks including, a 6x6 with split brows. All these bucks needed another season to put on some tine length and mass. I crossed my fingers and was hoping something big would show up.

As November neared, it troubled me that I did not have any decent bucks on camera yet. I decided to scout a new area. On November 1st, roughly one and a half miles away from my blind, I found a nice little pocket along the river. I threw up a trail camera and dumped a pail of oats. Not being overly optimistic about the new spot so late in the season, I felt no urgency on making an additional trip out there to see what was on the trail camera. Dad, Teague, and I were hunting mule deer around the new area on November 11th. I took the midday hunting lull to swap out the trail camera card and drop a bit more oats on the

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“He carried a drop tine on his right main beam and a flyer on his left G2. It was going to be a tough decision to shoot or hold off another year. ” ground. By the looks of the tracks, I had some pretty good activity in there. I put the card in my pack, and we continued the mule deer hunt with my Dad.

activity in the area, he skipped the daylight visit but returned after dusk. I may have changed his timing a bit, but he did not seem too bothered.

After supper that evening, I loaded the card in my reader and started flipping. Pictures of a couple of younger bucks had me excited there were bucks in the area. Then on November 4th, at 17:20, an image on my trail camera that I will never forget. It only took me a minute to recognize this buck once I inspected his rack. Dropper, split brow on the right side, bump on the left main beam. That’s him! He is still alive! No pictures, no sightings for almost two years. Seeing pictures of him was revitalizing. A buck that never left my thoughts was still breathing and packing a crown that would give any seasoned hunter buck fever. I had about a hundred different things going through my mind. The push is on now, three days to get set up and be ready to hunt him.

Everything was lining up perfectly until ten cows with calves moved into his bedding area. Early afternoon on the 14th, the day before the opener.

“I hate cows! Surely this was going to change his pattern, but how much?” I thought. Despite the setback, I was still optimistic about the next day.

On November 12th I moved my cell camera from my elevated blind to the new area. I could better monitor his movements and not contaminate his bedding area with scent. I was running out of daylight to erect a blind and cut shooting lanes. That was going to be tomorrow’s task. I headed for home and, as I arrived in town, my cell chimed. Daylight pictures of him standing in all his glory, he once again took my breath away. Hopefully, he would keep showing up during legal hunting time.

I headed out the morning of the 13th to finish setting up, trying my best to be quiet. With all the extra

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My alarm did not stand a chance at going off opening morning. It seemed I woke every hour and checked the clock to make sure I did not sleep in. I sprung out of bed at 04:30 and could hardly contain my excitement. I packed my lunch, grabbed a coffee, a bagel and started driving to the blind.

As I pulled up to the field edge, the cows were leaving the blind area for water. Luck was back on my side; I did not have to chase them out of there. I gathered my gear and hiked the 200 yards through the bush to the hidden blind. I smiled as I thought, “For the next 18 days, this blind will be my living room, the window my viewing pleasure, 10 hours of wilderness tv every day.” There was pretty good action the first day, lots of does strolled by, but no bucks harassing them.

Before legal hunting time on the 16th, my camera snapped a picture of him at 03:00. The first picture of him in three days had me excited driving to the blind in the dark. Similar deer movement as the day before, but day two came and went with no sign of him.

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As I arrive home that night, the cows moved back into the bottom. Disheartened, I knew I would not have a great chance at seeing this deer if they kept disrupting his area. These cows were ruining everything. I was on the verge of a mental breakdown. That evening I texted my cousin Steven, asking him if he would mind moving the cattle out of that quarter. Thankfully for me, he was going to set aside some time the next day to move them. Certainly, saving me a bill from Steven and the local butcher shop for processing a cow I was ready to shoot. Knowing the cows were moving a full quarter away, I felt the odds back in my favour. My stress level went from extreme to manageable.

A perfect time for him to show up. Suddenly, they all ran in multiple directions, my heart rate shot up, and I readied my rifle. I could tell something big was coming, and then…….Moose! I am pretty sure she heard me say, “You got to be kidding me.” Cold and let down that he did not show, I packed up and headed for home.

With the added activity of moving the cows, the 17th was slow. At this point, the cattle had affected the deer.

It was a long day in the blind, seeing one doe all day.

Reviewing pictures of him chasing a doe at 0400 had me excited. That puts him very close, just three hours prior. It was pretty quiet until a 150 class whitetail buck showed up once the sun decided to poke through the trees. He was nervous, possibly the lingering smell of the big buck or maybe his sixth sense, but he sure had my heart going when he first walked in. Throughout the day, I watched exceptional deer activity, which had my spirits high. By 15:00, it felt like I saw every deer that inhabited this bedding area, except for him. Thoughts raced through my mind, “Where was he? I am now down to a scant 108 minutes and 30 seconds. Would he reveal himself ? It seemed like every time I looked at my watch, 15 minutes vanished. Was it too much to ask for time to stop?” At 1600 there were five does foraging around me, and I was hoping they would not wind me on this close to perfect day. At around 16:25, a doe walked right into my shooting lane. Putting my rifle in my hands a few minutes prior might have got her attention. She came over to check out the noise. She stood there for at least three minutes attempting to smell me. It felt like an hour. At a mere seven yards, you could almost feel the air exchange from the blind when she was inhaling.

With no smell detected, she moved out of the lane. A second doe entered the shooting lane and stopped in the identical spot. After a few sniffs, she continued following the other doe. Then a sound no hunter can mistake, antlers coming through the willows. Just 40 yards away and getting louder. My binoculars quickly confirmed what I was hearing. Big buck, big drop tine, it is him! I

“It only took me a minute to recognize this buck once I inspected his rack.”

Viewing trail camera photos of him after dusk and before dawn on the 18th boosted my spirits. Maybe today would be the lucky day.

Inconveniently the weather app on my phone had the wind out of the southwest. Knowing I would flood the area with my scent, I could not sit in the blind. I ventured 300 yards to the north edge of the bush to try some rattling. I managed to coerce three bucks out, but not him. With no change in wind direction, I stayed there the remainder of the day. I glared down the fence line all day until darkness surrounded me.

With a cold front moving in, the 19th was a pretty wicked day. I saw countless deer. Two different bucks chasing does around my blind kept me entertained for most of the daylight. With the last 10 minutes quickly dwindling, I had six does right in front of me.

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Waking up on the 20th, I felt like today was going to be different. Whether it was the sudden temp drop overnight to -20C or the fact the cows had been out of there for three days. I was feeling very optimistic, not feeling that since the second day into the hunt. I sat down in the dark blind to take on day six.

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quickly shouldered my rifle. I knew if he decided to chase a doe, there might only be one chance for a shot through the narrow shooting lane. As soon as his vitals cleared the brush, I squeezed the trigger on my Cooper.

With a big whack and a high leg kick, the bullet had hit the mark. After hearing a big crash, seconds after the shot, I was sure he had gone down. It all happened so fast. My adrenaline had not even kicked in until I fully realized what had just happened. I could not contain my emotions. I had just shot Something Special. My buck of a lifetime. He was on my mind and in my heart for three previous hunting seasons. But he moved to an obsession over the past ten days.

Then, my emotions went from triumph to sorrow. I realized I would not be hunting him anymore. I also questioned myself if I hunted hard enough to earn him.

of blood, I walked in the direction he bolted. Broken branches and leaves pointed the way. It was almost dream-like approaching this buck, following his tracks only 30 yards from the shot. I knelt beside him, brushing the snow off his body, paying my last respects to this incredible animal.

I grabbed my phone to call my wife to share my excitement. This incredible woman accepted that her husband turned into a whitetail hunting zombie, basically disregarding all responsibilities known to him.

This year was an exception, but she always picks up the slack. I then called three close friends who helped me through this. The only ones who knew this buck existed. They picked me off the ground when I was down. They helped me make the right decisions at the right time and kept reassuring me hard work pays off.

“Then a sound no hunter can mistake, antlers coming through the willows. Just 40 yards away and getting louder. My binoculars quickly confirmed what I was hearing. Big buck, big drop tine, it is him!”

I feel 110% commitment is a must when you locate and hunt one of these relic whitetails. Shooting him on the 6th instead of the 18th day had me feeling guilty. But then I thought about the 130+ hours of blind time this season and 2018. I thought about how I rationed food and drink to keep noise and movement in the blind to a minimum. I thought about how I froze my cheeks off many times. The risk of scent was not worth the reward of a heater. I can be warm later. The physical and mental stresses that come with hunting a giant whitetail. It was then when I realized I had put in 110%.

After mentally gathering myself, joy had set in again.

Several minutes had passed, time to go-lay hands on this beauty. I slowly scanned the ground where he stood when I shot. Quickly finding some hair and a bit

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After some incredible field photos with a great friend, we headed to town. A stop at my house made smiles I will never forget when my sons peaked over the tailgate.

I then headed to my parent’s house to surprise my Dad. I was very fortunate that my Dad started taking me hunting when I was nine. I loved it then as much as I love it now. It is in my blood and, it always will be.

It is great to share the same feeling he got taking me hunting with my two sons. The excitement they show when shooting guns, bows, or even scouting for the next big buck, I know the obsession has started.

This buck made me become a more detailed hunter.

He taught me two important lessons. First, do not disregard two to five-acre pockets of bush. He called

one of these pockets home and was quite comfortable in there. Even though there with two well-travelled roads on both sides of it. A spot I drove past for two straight years, never thinking it would preserve a mature whitetail. I thought it was just too busy.

Second, do not give up on a particular buck. Do not assume the worst. He may have just moved a short distance away, and you need to go looking for him.

Hard work and perseverance will pay off. The start to my season was a bust. That quickly changed when I located a buck I thought was dead. He grew into Something Special, with a spectacular 218” crown.

Before this season, shooting a magazine-worthy whitetail was only a dream. If you are willing to do all that it takes, you might be next to write a story for your dream buck.

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TAKING ON A WOLF… OR TWO

By Ben Jameson

If you are one whose been lucky enough to have had an encounter with one of North Americas greatest apex predator, then you know the ice cold chilling feeling those bright yellow eyes can have on a person.

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As though they can see right into you and what your intentions are, and the intentions they have for you.

It all started as a young boy listening to my grandpa’s hunting stories who had been a Sheep / Elk / Moose guide and outfitter since the early 50’s in the Alberta Rockies. He would tell stories of what hair-raising animals Wolves can be, how smart they are, communicating, working together as a pack to ambush prey and how their chilling lonesome howl would roll throughout the hills in the mountain nights.

As a kid, it was pretty intimidating to me and I didn’t want much to do with them, but as I grew older and hunted more and more, I finally had my first Wolf encounter. It happened on a Northern BC Caribou hunt in 2014, we were hiking across a vast mountain flat when this big black Wolf appeared from over top of a fold on the flats, only 200 yards away from us.

He was bold, confident, and wasn’t too concerned about us, as he was the king of the hill as far as he was concerned. I threw my pack down, jerked my rifle out and racked a shell into my rifle, which at the time was a short feather weight 260 Remington. I tried my best to steady the rifle on the pack, got the wolf in my scope.

This was my first look into a killer’s eyes, and it was something else, the feeling they shoot through you still gives me butterflies. BOOM. After the recoil settled, I seen he was still standing there, untouched, as he seemed to have just brushed it off, he turned around and disappeared back over the fold he came from, never to been seen again. There is just no other animal out there like that in my opinion, they are nothing like

a domestic dog. After that experience with a Wolf, I was hooked into redeeming myself, but it proved to be a harder task then one would think.

I spent the next three winters in Alberta specifically trying to kill a killer, and let me tell you, it’s no walk in the park. I had some close encounters, wolves howling back, cutting fresh tracks, finding the odd Wolf kill, but no actual sightings of a Wolf. Not until 2016. I had been at work out in the bush with my dog Josey, she was just a pup at the time, a German Shepard, we were driving down a lease road when we came around a corner and laid eyes on a big light colored Wolf, he was big and you could tell that right away. I couldn’t believe it, a great big old white Wolf just standing there on the road as if I had inconvenienced him, he just stood there at 100 yards watching the truck. How could an animal so witty and elusive just be so bold and confident to stand there and stare me down, well I had no idea what we were in for. The big old Wolf, after about one whole minute of standing there looking at me, casually walked off the road into the timber. I slowly drove up and kept a real close eye into the dark thick timber that he had walked into. To my amazement, there he was, not 30 yards from the truck, sitting there looking right at me, so close that my dog Josey seen him. She jumped up on my lap, stuck her head out the window and started barking at him, as if she was going to tell him a thing or two. The wolf stood up, and slowly began walking towards to the truck, head hung down low. I didn’t know what to do, that Wolf had a look in its eyes like you knew he meant business, and he was going to show us. I pulled my dog back and the Wolf stopped, now 20 yards from the truck, he slowly turned

“I tried my best to steady the rifle on the pack, got the wolf in my scope. This was my first look into a killer’s eyes, and it was something else, the feeling they shoot through you still gives me butterflies.”

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around and walked off. I was in such disbelief, I had been trying to hunt down these ghosts for two years by now with no luck, and this happened. I went home at the end of the day that day, grabbed my custom 22-250 that I had loaded up with heavy 80 grain Bergers specifically for Wolves, a rabbit call and rushed out the door, I didn’t even grab my warm clothes, camo, boots or nothing, I was going to find that Wolf that night when I knew where he was, this was going to be it. 20 minutes later I was there, I pulled my truck off about 200 yards from where he was, luckily, there

was a nearby cutline and I thought that this would be my best chance at drawing him out into the open where I could get a shot, I rushed down the cutline in the direction he had been heading and sat down in the 2’ deep snow…..in my jeans! I had the wind and everything for this set up, it was feeling good. I racked a shell into my gun, clicked the safety on, and popped out my bipod. All nestled in, I began a call sequence on my Sceery rabbit call that I have had lots of success with, in the past, with Coyotes. After about one minute

of calling, I stopped and waited, 10 minutes passed with no sign of the Wolf. Let another calling sequence go, another 10 minutes passed with nothing. Now I’m feeling defeated again, outsmarted again, cold and wet again. One more call I figured as I was sitting there shivering, mad at myself for not taking the time to dress for the occasion. Again, nothing. I retracted my bipod and stood up. I thought, what the heck, I’m here, I’ll try a quick howl. I let a long stretched out howl go……nothing. One more long howl……. nothing.

Now I’m freezing, I slung my rifle over my shoulder and took one more look down the cutline…snap crack.

I looked over to my right, and 10 yards in front of me, covered by a little bit of willow, there he was, the great big white Wolf, looking me right in the eyes! I slung my rifle off my shoulder and flicked the safety off, the Wolf flinched, but didn’t run. He wasn’t scared of me, he was the boss, and he knew it. Quickly putting the cross hairs on his shoulder, I just pulled the trigger as soon as I could in fear the Wolf would sprint off into the bush, never to been seen again…. BOOM. The Wolf spun a quick 180 and tore off back in the direction he had come from. I didn’t know what happened, did I hit him? Did I hit a twig and deflect? How did he get so close? Why didn’t he run? So many things running through my head. I walked over to where he had been standing and to my excitement, I seen what I wanted to see, a light spray of bright pink blood across the fresh white snow. I couldn’t contain the excitement, I was so happy, I finally did it. All of a sudden, I went from uncontrollable shivering to forgetting all about it, the adrenaline had taken over. I thought I would give him a bit, and me to calm down, I walked out back to the truck, and to my surprise, cut the Wolf’s tracks, he had come around, made a big loop and came in behind me, straight into my wind, and didn’t care. He knew what he was walking into. I phoned a friend to tell him about the experience and that I might need some help dragging him out, he was on route!

About 20 minutes had passed now and my friend had arrived, we headed back to the first blood and began tracking. Long leaps and strides through the deep snow, with every leap producing another gush of

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blood into the snow, I couldn’t believe how far he had gone, already at 60 yards and still going, what a tough animal with a will to survive, he didn’t want to hang up the gloves, it wasn’t bred into him to quit. Another 20 yards in, there he was, he had died on his feet running, skidded under a thick spruce tree. I give him a couple pokes with my gun barrel to ensure I wasn’t going to grab onto a live meat shredding machine. He was dead, and that was that. Couple high fives later and some celebration, I drug him out from under that tree and couldn’t believe how big he was, this was my first up close and personal experience with a Wolf. I had to get my buddy to help me prop him up so I could get behind him and bear hug him for a picture, the dead weight of big mature Wolf is surprising, I wouldn’t want to be on the business end of one! The fur was immaculate,

“I spent the next three winters in Alberta specifically trying to kill a killer, and let me tell you, it’s no walk in the park.” thick and prime, I skinned him out and sent him away to have a rug made. I felt so accomplished after that, almost felt more accomplished then when I shot my first Bighorn Sheep, it was something else.

Three years later I found myself trying to outsmart another Wolf, this time it was a little earlier in the year, September / October. I had seen them a few times now just about my business at work, never for very long, just quick glances, but always within the same general area, I knew they were sticking around, probably because of some nearby cattle in the area. I had set up 4 times throughout the month of September, calling, waiting, listening. Again, I was able to get them to howl back to me, it was a whole pack. One time I had

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them very close, but never able to lay eyes on them.

The last sit / calling session in September I did for them, they were howling and they were getting close, it was last light and I decided to switch to a rabbit call to try and draw one out before it was too late. To my surprise after 30 seconds of calling, I seen a dog, and he was loping straight towards too through the trees.

I couldn’t believe, I thought finally I was able to pull one from the pack, I quickly settled the crosshairs of my 22-250 on the loping dog, BOOM…WHOP. I just seen a flickering tail in the tall shrubbery. YES! Wolf number 2 I thought! As I walked up to the dog, now dark with my flashlight, I was instantly disappointed

and felt sick to my stomach. I had just shot a big male Coyote, that, in the low light of the thick timber had looked like a Wolf loping in towards me, and now I had just given the gig up to the pack of wolves that there is a hunter in the area. I just ruined my opportunity at ever getting another chance at this pack I thought. I didn’t know if this Coyote was just brave or stupid to come running into a pack of wolves like that, either way, he found his fate.

It was about two weeks later now, into October, and snow was on the ground. I was at home sleeping in on my days off when my friend was at work phoned me and told me about a cow that had been killed in the

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area that I was hunting those Wolves in, there was lots of ravens and fresh Wolf sign in the area. I got up, threw on all my warm stuff, poured a strong black coffee into a contigo and a thermo and I was out the door. I thought, this is my chance at them now, a free bait sight, right on a cutline, I was prepared to sit all day right till dark.

I drove all the way up and around to get the height of land advantage, as well as a wind advantage, and hiked in. It was about a 30 minute walk to get set up where I wanted to be, it was still early, cold and brisk out. I had been doing a lot of shooting that year and I was very confident with my gun well out to 500 yards, so I took advantage of that and set myself up 400 yards from the dead cow in hopes of the Wolves to return. I found a nice little hill to perch on with some tall grass for cover, it was perfect. I pulled out my bipod, sat down, racked a shell in and clicked my safety on. I ranged some things along the cutline for range references in case something happened quick I would already know and be ready to dial my scope accordingly. I took no more than three sips out of my Contigo mug and took a cool set up picture with my iPhone, put my iPhone into my pocket, looked up and there’s a big black Wolf, in broad day light, 200 yards away and standing broadside, looking straight away from me towards the dead cow! I damn near spit my coffee out. I quickly propped my gun up, clicked the safety off while the Wolf looked over towards me, still unsure of my whereabouts. I could see him scanning the terrain with those big bright yellow eyes, which really pop on a dark black Wolf by the way. I settled the cross hairs on his shoulder and this time I slowly squeezed the hair trigger. BOOM, the bullet cracked through the crip quiet morning air, THUMP. The Wolf was on the ground, his head rose twice and then nothing, I could see his breath in the air fade away. I couldn’t believe it, it happened so quick. I took my eyes off the scope and out of my peripheral vision, I caught movement to my left, another big black Wolf! Loping along the cutline, just inside the timber, he was heading towards me, closer and closer. I followed him in my scope, he stopped in the ONLY opening there was along the cutline, perfectly broadside, he looked back towards his fallen comrade. BOOM! WHOP! At 150 yards I

had just laid over my 3rd Wolf. Two Wolves within one minute of each other. I quickly jacked another shell into my rifle, shaking with adrenaline, looking for Wolf number three to show himself. I was only able to hold myself together for about five minutes.

I couldn’t contain myself anymore I had to jump up and go see the Wolves. Both Wolves had dropped right in their tracks, no running at all. I went over to the second Wolf I shot as he was closest to me. He was perfect fur condition, jet black with a light silver strip around his guard hairs, I drug him 100 yards to the first Wolf I had shot, which was no easy task in deep snow, almost equivalent to dragging out a deer! The first Wolf was even bigger than the second. I was still in disbelief that I had just shot a Wolf double, it’s an experience that I will never forget, and one that I will probably never get to experience again, a true once in a lifetime deal. After a few phone calls and storytelling, I found out that no one was available to come help

or even take pictures for me. I did my best to take pictures myself before my phone got cold and died. I then hiked back out up the big cutline to my truck with my quad in the back. I drove back down and around to the bottom and unloaded, I went and retrieved my Wolves, when I got back to my truck, I took a couple more pictures with my thawed-out phone. I ended up skinning these Wolves out as well and I got them tanned. The tanner informed me that the one black Wolf was one of the nicest he had seen come through the shop and offered me $900 for it. Like a dummy I refused it and hung it on my wall. I guess you just can’t put a price tag on memories and something that you truly cherish!

It took me five years, but I ended up putting three Wolves on the ground and I consider that damn good.

I think luck played a huge roll in it all, but I’ll take luck any day of the week, especially when it comes to hunting Wolves.

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NEW GROUND

By Braden Arsenault

I started my white-tailed deer season checking out an area that I always wanted to try, but just never got around to.

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To increase my chances of success in the upcoming season, I spent the winter scouting satellite imagery of deer habitat on Google Earth Pro as much as I could. This was to narrow down potential trail camera locations. Once trails were passable in the spring, my Dad and I put on the miles hiking in the areas I marked over the winter to look for sheds, rubs and high usage deer trails.

By June we started running a bunch of trail cameras to get visuals of the wildlife in the area in their summer ranges. By early fall my blinds were all set up and hidden with the dominant wind direction in mind, this way I could hunt anytime I got a day off from classes. I also made sure it would be tough for anything to get down wind me. This way I wasn’t adding much additional pressure to the area with my scent while hunting. Throughout the fall I tried keeping my presence in the area to a minimum and

“I heard a few branches snapping.

I instantly started to get a gut feeling that it wasn’t the wind.” let the trail cameras do the rest of the scouting for me. It was always exciting checking cameras every week because you just never know what might show up in the northern provincial forest. There were lots of up-and-commers with a few respectable deer but nothing that sparked our interest until right around first estrus. This is when we got our first trail camera picture of the 6x7 cruising in the middle of the day, likely maintaining his breeding range and checking does. Other than the trail camera photo, the 6x7 remained completely nocturnal until the last week of October where he made two more daylight appearances. With the recent daylight activity both my Dad and I were going to sit for this deer to put

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the odds were in our favour. I was beyond excited to be hunting a deer of this caliber and to share the experience with my Dad who I’ve been hunting with since a young age.

We got into the Altan blind a half hour before legal light as quietly as possible to get settled in for the day’s sit. I had the perfect wind and with just minutes until legal shooting light; the forest was starting to come alive. Just after first light I had a doe and a fawn come into the site. With the warm windy conditions, I never heard them come in just from a short 40 yards away. I got to watch this doe nurse her fawn. This alone made the hunt for me, knowing how few people get to experience observing this in the wild. As the morning progressed other does and fawns started to show up. With the good movement and deer activity, I was quite optimistic about the rest of the day. At around 10am, I heard

what sounded like antlers rubbing on a tree a short distance behind my blind.

With a strong south-west wind I was trying to convince myself it was just two trees rubbing together. After five minutes of this I heard a few branches snapping. I instantly started to get a gut feeling that it wasn’t the wind. As this was happening, I noticed that the doe and fawn began to alert towards the rubbing and twigs snapping.

Buck fever was setting in. Then I saw a big frame coming out of the aspen. I knew instantly it was the 6x7 I was sitting for. The doe and fawn had run off as the 6x7 came in to my line of sight, broadside.

Hardly able to believe what I was seeing, and just four hours into my first sit, I clicked the safety off my 7mm-08 to get ready. I lined up the scope and steadied the cross hairs so I could take him on the first opportunity presented. Knowing he may chase

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the does I wasted no time, so as soon as he slowed to almost a stop, I took my shot, getting a double lung hit.

When I walked up to him, I could see freshly rubbed bark on his bases which confirmed what I was hearing was indeed him making a rub on an aspen tree just before I shot him. Opening morning always is always special for anyone passionate about whitetail hunting, and this was definitely one I’ll never forget!

My Dad Al Arsenault is a Principal Wildlife Biologist with a consulting firm in Saskatchewan. He used to be the Provincial Wildlife Population Biologist and has lots of experience aging deer based on molar wear. He estimated this buck to be 6 1/2 years old. A big thank you goes out to family friends and hunting buddies, Ed Kowal (retired area biologist) and his son Travis Kowal for inviting us to stay at their place. Everyone was also happy to lend a hand skinning my buck for taxidermy, while sharing past hunting stories. The buck is easily my biggest to date, and potentially the buck of my lifetime!

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TEN YEAR WAIT

By Christopher Berlinger

November 25th is a day that I will remember forever!

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It all really started back ten years ago when I first got interested in starting to hunt for trophy class deer. I was able to shoot a nice 4x4 back in 2010 and that really got me started in looking for that next class of whitetail. The next few years were really hard on deer numbers in Saskatchewan, with very few mature bucks making the winter, so I was stuck eating tag soup to do my part in order to let the deer recover. Finally, almost ten years later the deer were recovered and I had high hopes. This season, my good friend and farmer who I help out with harvest, allowed me to setup on his land.

I scouted out some great spots and was really encouraged right away when a couple early season cam checks showed two real nice mature bucks! The best part was that they were coming in quite frequently and things were really starting to look good on getting a trophy class deer! But opening day rolled around and I was away at work, and around midday I got a text from my friend saying one of the target deer I was after was killed a few miles away by a lucky hunter. I thought to myself, “Ok, there is still one more that I would very proud to use my tag on.”

My Oldest son and I sat the first day I was off from work. We saw some does but no bucks. Despite this, we sat the next day again and around midday we saw movement a few hundred yards away. I put up the binoculars and sure enough, it was the buck we were after! However, he was too far away, and with the crunchy snow, we decided to let him walk. Sadly for us, we found out two days later that he was shot by the neighbors. Despite my best efforts, the rest of the season ended and I could not locate another buck that I wanted to tag out on.

The next season started with another couple tremendous caliber bucks that were showing up on camera again! With opening day arriving, I just got off of night shift and headed straight for the blind. The start of the day was slow and with the last hour of the day creeping in, I finally noticed some movement to my side and, as I pulled up binoculars, I could see that it was

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one of the better bucks I had on camera approaching fast and he came right into my shooting lane in seconds!

At 72 yards, I was watching possibly the biggest buck I would have the chance to harvest during the season, and my biggest whitetail to date, but I thought that I had other deer on camera that I also wanted to see, so in all that excitement I decided to let him go. It was the hardest choice I ever had to make as a hunter.

Moving forward from that pass, the days were slow in the blind and on the 24th of November, my good friend Devon asked me if I could come with him and look for a big deer they had seen. So, the morning of the 25th found me out with him, walking and trying to find some sign of the big deer they had seen. I caught some movement in the next field. It was a mile away and I put up my binoculars and said, “It’s a Buck, ummm it’s a REALLY BIG BUCK!” Quickly, we went to an old fence that was on the property and we watched him make his way towards us. Luckily, he had not seen us. I

“It’s a Buck, ummm it’s a REALLY BIG BUCK!” was still admiring what I was looking at, thinking what an amazing animal it was to see. I had mentioned to Devon that I hadn’t shot a whitetail in ten years. To my surprise, he said to me, “If he makes you happy, then you go after him!” I did not need to be told twice, and instantly; I made my way down the tree line to the direction he was heading. I made it to a small bluff where I saw him enter the other side. I was scanning the area to make sure he hadn’t somehow disappeared and, as I was looking in the cattails, he walked out at 60 yards right in front of me! I raised my gun and shot and was overcome when he dropped in his tracks!

And all I could think about was he looked incredibly good at a mile away so they had to be nice at 60 yards.

Devon made his way down and we both walked up to my deer and he asked, “Any ground shrinkage?” I did not hesitate is replying, “No man, he’s something that made the Ten year wait worth it!”

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ONE OF A KIND

By Haylee deStrake

It had been a long season full of ups and downs, but mostly downs when it came to finding a big mule deer!

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With the season coming to an end, I now had only four days left to fill my tag. I started to feel like I wasn’t going to find that Mulie buck that I wanted. Tuesday November 12th around 4:30pm I was starting to get supper ready when Kody, my boyfriend, texted me and said he had spotted a BIG Mulie in the field that he was spreading fertilizer in, and that I had to get over there right away!

“We knew the area well, so it didn’t take long to locate him, but, as is so often the case, he saw us before we saw him so he instantly popped up and took off through the trees. ” So, I got ready and packed up our nine month old daughter and off we went to meet him. After arriving we headed over to the bluff he had seen him go into with no luck. Our experience told us a big deer like that would likely head for bigger bush, so we went deeper into the buck brush and bluffs to find him. We knew the area well, so it didn’t take long to locate him, but, as is so often the case, he saw us before we saw him so he instantly popped up and took off through the trees. We waited and watched to see where he would go. After pinpointing the spot that he appeared to stop, we decided that Kody would go in and push the bush that he had figured the buck went into. It only took moments for four or five does to come out and then I saw antlers appearing out of the trees behind them!

Sure enough, it was a buck, and not a bad buck at all,

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but it definitely wasn’t him. With no luck in getting the big guy to come out, Kody had to get back to spreading fertilizer and I had to get home to feed our daughter supper. I was disappointed but at least now I had a target buck on the radar, with three days left to try and get him.

Wednesday November 13th found us up bright and early getting ready. After all, there was just three full days left and I was starting to feel the pressure. So, we packed up our little family and off we went. We headed back to scout out a few bluffs where Kody had thought maybe he had gone into, but nothing, not even one deer came out. After a quick discussion, we decided to head east. Kody knew of a field that hadn’t been farmed in a few years and we thought that maybe he went in there with some does. As we were making our way through the field, the tall weeds surrounding us, Kody spotted him laying down. He had popped up out of the weeds and was looking at us. We took a look at him and noticed he still had some velvet hanging off his horns, which is pretty strange for November! But man was he nice.

Me, being a new hunter, felt buck fever kicking into high gear and suddenly I was very nervous. I did not want to mess this up. So, we snuck up a little closer as he had walked over a little hill and when we got over that hill, there he was just standing there about a 100 yards away. I tried to settle my nerves, got ready and shot, then shot again, and again, and MISSED!

I couldn’t believe it, I freaking missed! Meanwhile, Kody is frantically searching for more bullets, while I stand there looking at the big deer. We were out of bullets. “How could this be, I have the beautiful Mulie Buck in front of me that I have been searching for all season, and I’m messing it all up,” I thought to myself. My heart was sinking into my stomach.

“we snuck up a little closer as he had walked over a little hill and when we got over that hill, there he was just standing there about a 100 yards away.”

I thought to myself, “This gun must not be sighted in properly.” In the meantime Kody’s dad had been up on a road watching us. Luckily, he had a different gun and more bullets. In this time the buck walked into the standing wheat and laid down again. Luckily, he didn’t seem overly scared. Steve, Kody’s dad, came up and brought re-enforcements.

We decided it would be best if Steve and I walked into the standing wheat to quietly sneak up on him.

By this time, I was literally vibrating because I was so nervous. We spotted the buck still bedded with gave me a moment to get ready. Then, perfectly, he stood up. “Here is my chance, I have to get him this time,” I thought to myself, suddenly focused on what I had to do. My shot connected, I could could hear it as the bullet found its mark with a loud THUMP. At last, I got him! He took off into a nearby bigger bluff of trees. We gave him a few minutes and then decided to head in and try and find him. It was a really thick tangle of trees, so we searched and searched. Kody then noticed some mag pies squawking, and sure enough they led us right to him.

There he was, my first mulie and he was absolutely beautiful. He is a one of a kind buck, so unique with his velvet still hanging on. I couldn’t have even dreamed of getting a mulie buck like this if it weren’t for Kody introducing me into this amazing sport.

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