Big Game Illustrated - Issue 33

Summer 2022 issue CANADA/USA 6.99

COVER STORY

THE STORY OF “TIPS” Austin Orsted FEATURE ARTICLE

THE MAGIG OF THE RUT Jayson Burton

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38 Feature Editorial THE MAGIC OF THE RUT

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By Jayson Burton November 18th was a day that I will remember forever. It was the day when I was able to harvest the heaviest antlered buck that I will even see in my lifetime.

THE STORY OF GUINNESS

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By Devun Groot My hunt for Guinness started well before the hunting season.

Guinness first started appearing on my trail cameras in the last week of October, the year before, as a four-and-a-half-year-old buck.

In This Issue PURE HAPPINESS

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THE “BIG BOY”

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THE MAGIC OF THE RUT

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MR. VELVET

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THE PASTURE KING

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By Terran Winder

By William Ereth

By Jayson Burton

By Kyle Robertson

By Derek Stainbrook

THE STORY OF “TIPS”

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THE STORY OF GUINNESS

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THE STORY OF LUCKY

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DAY TO REMEMBER

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THE BIG TYP

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By Austin Orsted

By Devun Groot

By Austin Gartner

By Dean McNeil

By Lee Morin

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PURE HAPPINESS

By Terran Winder

Whitetail is by far my favourite animal to hunt. I grew up hunting them and have a love for them that I am sure most of you can relate to.

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I had set up a new blind on my fiancés family’s quarter, never being in that location, I was skeptical of the bucks in the area. After one week of having the camera up, I spotted this beautiful deer, only to realize he was just passing through and was on the search. During the next three weeks I sat in the blind countless hours and my back was feeling it. I was not overly hopeful that he was coming back and, to be honest, after the photos I thought he would be a 170’s deer which I was very okay with, but it didn’t bug me as much that he wasn’t around.

Towards the middle of November I decided to stay out of the blind for 4 or 5 days, I showed up on the morning of the 19th with my future wife, trying to get her a buck with the bow, we sat until noon and only seen a few does so we decided to leave. Around 2:00pm I had this gut feeling that I should be in the blind. I always have the same feeling when I am not in it, or a tree stand, or hunting in general during the season. So, I went back out and got setup. A few does would come in and leave, then a few more.

A little after 4:00pm a couple does winded me and started their classic snorting, I figured I was probably over for the evening, but I decided to wait.

I was just sitting and listening while trying to stretch out my back because it was in some pain when I heard a crack of a branch north of me through the trees, then following that the faint sound of two grunts! I wasn’t sure if I was hearing something or not, so I just kept listening then a few more minutes passed and another crack and one more grunt! I knew whatever it was, it was coming in. I lifted my bow up and onto my leg and I waited.

A doe started cresting the small hill out in front of me, then another, I was hoping something was following. After about a minute I saw that beautiful buck with a thick neck and an amazing dark chocolate rack. Instantly my adrenaline started to ramp up and I had to make sure I was breathing through my nose, so I didn’t pass out. I do not know why but hunting with a bow makes me feel like I

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“Instantly my adrenaline started to ramp up and I had to make sure I was breathing through my nose, so I didn’t pass out.” have worse buck fever then I did as a kid with a gun, I guess that is why I love it.

He had the does out front at 28 yards from me and he stayed back at 35 yards, I was worried he was not going to come in so I contemplated shooting him back there, but I figured I should wait cause I knew he would likely follow his does. Finally, he pushed them away and came in closer. He was facing me. He would eat then look up, he repeated this for probably 10 minutes. I was slowly trying to relax my arms because they were cramping up. I did not want to risk a chest shot with how aware he was of the blind I was in; he did not trust my setup. I could tell he was about to move so I got ready and then he shifted to the left and his head and neck were covered by a tree, I kept telling myself to aim low, aim low… slowing my fingers found my release aid to try and shoot as calm as possible, the shot went off and I heard a crack of my arrow hitting him. At first glance all I seen was a dark spot on his upper back, my heart sunk, I thought I hit him high.

and said, “See I told you!” He piled up and it was a lung shot, thank goodness! Taking a hold of that animal and looking at the size of him in person was amazing, first thing Nick said to me was, “Tarren, he’s BIG!” What an honor it was to hold such an amazing animal.

In the photos they took, with the flashlight shining on me and my buck, it looked like I was looking up into the heavens and was full of pure happiness, because I was. I hope every hunter gets to feel that joy at least once in their journey.

I made a call to my hunting partner Nick Stacey and told him the news. We decided that I should leave him for a few hours and come back after supper.

During supper I was so sick to my stomach, thinking I had bombed the shot. My fiancé and a few of my friends arrived shortly after. We went back out and started searching. Small drops of blood were found about 20 yards from the shot but there was not much.

I was getting more and more worried as we walked.

My fiancé was trying to look on the positive side that I hit him way better then I thought but I was definitely thinking the opposite. Sure enough, about 80 yards into our walk she was right, she hugged me

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THE “BIG BOY”

By William Ereth

It all started back in mid-June.

We were at my sister’s grad and somebody said that the fall hunting draw results were out.

Avid hunters that we are, we had to check right away and wouldn’t you know it, I drew all four species I entered for! I was going to have a busy fall hunting pronghorn antelope, mule deer, antlerless moose, and antlerless mule deer. To say that I was pretty excited for the upcoming hunting season would be an understatement.

Fast forward four months and the day found my dad, my brother, and I heading out to Swift Current, Saskatchewan to go pronghorn hunting. We left home at four in the morning to get to our designated hunting zone. Once we arrived there, we combed through a lot of land, looking for pronghorn. After looking at a couple herds, I found the buck I wanted. He was a very nice, wide buck that looked like he had some length.

My dad and I made a stalk on the bedded buck. We had good cover for our sound, as the wind was howling at 70 km/h. We army crawled until my dad ranged him at 250 yards. Then we waited for the buck to stand.

When he finally did, I was laying down prone with my backpack for a rest. I took aim, leaving a foot of correction for windage and took the shot. The buck took off running full speed for 50 feet then fell over.

My dad said, “you got him!”. I walked up to my buck

and he was everything I was hoping for, with tall heavy horns that grossed 75 4/8” and netted 74 4/8”.

Next up was my mule deer hunt. My dad had been telling me about this big deer that he was hunting the previous year. With no time to scout because of all the other hunting we had been doing, we were just hoping he was still alive and I would be able to just see this buck he called the “Big Boy”. We knew that once we had eyes on him we could come up with a plan. It was November 1st, opening day, and my dad, my brother,

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and I were headed 20 minutes from home for our hunt. We started hunting in the area my dad had seen him last. We looked high and low, seeing a couple decent bucks but not the “Big Boy”. Despite covering a lot of prime ground, we didn’t find him that day.

Day two found us up at the crack of dawn. My dad and I were back looking, covering ground and putting on miles, looking, searching and glassing. We came over a hill and my dad said, “Right there!”. I said, “Is that him?”. Wouldn’t you know it, there he was, but the problem was that he was already trotting away.

He went into some willows we circled around him and saw him standing broadside on the north side of the willows at 200 yards. I didn’t waste any time, and quickly took aim and fired. However, nothing happened, he just stood there looking at me! Looking back, I think I had a case of buck fever. I quickly

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reloaded and fired again, only to see him flinch and start trotting away. I loaded another round and fired, BOOM! He dropped in his tracks. My dad turned to me and said, “You just shot a giant!” We walked over to him and every step I took closer to him, the bigger he got. When I got to him, I grabbed ahold of his giant rack. I was so happy that I got the chance to take a buck of a LIFE TIME. He scored in at 221 7/8” gross and 217 7/8” net non typical.

It was a hunting season I will never forget, being able to shoot an elk in open season, a pronghorn, mule deer, moose, mule deer doe, and to have my dad beside me through it all. Now I can spend the rest of my season looking for a big whitetail buck.

14 year old William Ereth from Vibank, Saskatchewan.

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THE MAGIC OF THE RUT

By Jayson Burton

November 18th was a day that I will remember forever.

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It was the day when I was able to harvest the heaviest antlered buck that I will even see in my lifetime.

My son and a good friend of mine, Rob, had arrived a day earlier on November 17th. They met with the landowner to discuss all the details of the hunt and make sure we were all on the same page.

They went over all the requirements related to the property that we had permission to hunt, and made sure we knew exactly where we could hunt and what was off limits.

It was all set and we had a good plan together to hunt the peak of the rut in Alberta. When I arrived on the 18th, we met up and toured around, scouting all the areas and making sure we had all the locations that we had permission pinned on the maps. In addition to showing me all the spots, we were also scouting and looking for areas that were likely to hold deer.

To our delight, it was only about 20 minutes into the show and tell when I spotted a very heavy buck standing over a doe, right out in the middle of a field! We glassed the buck, confirming that he was indeed a great looking buck worth a closer look.

The anticipation built as we put on our white camo, grabbed our gear and began the stalk through the field. There was no ideal route for a stalk through a failrly open field, but we took our time and utilized the low spots in the field to slowly and carefully close the distance. We were very fortunate that the buck had not seen us as we crept closer and closer. Luckily, he and the doe were distracted by each other, and after a 600 meter stalk we were getting close to being within range. It felt like an eternity to get there as I watched a slight hill in the field get closer and closer, knowing that once we crested the hill, we should be in range and have a good vantage point on the buck.

We crested the hill, and there he was, so we got set up with my son beside me on the rangefinder since the buck was still at a bit of a distance and we didn’t want to take any chances. We took our time attempting to range him, but could not get the rangefinder to zero

“We were very fortunate that the buck had not seen us as we crept closer and closer” in on the buck due to the tall grass and hilly terrain.

We did not want to risk the buck busting us, so we discussed the range, and agreed that we were both confident that it was just under 200 meters. I waited for him to turn broadside at the perfect angle and I squeezed gently behind the front shoulder and the buck immediately headed for the large bush that was 50 meters away and we could tell he was hit.

He stopped before the treeline, inside a shallow depression so that all I could see was his massive horns and head above the hillside. I settled in again and then when he stepped out of the small depression I was able to take the second shot and I placed the 143 grain right on his shoulder, quartering to me slightly, and the buck disappeared. We gave him a few minutes then headed up to find him. We expected to

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see him lying in the depression, but when we got their my heart dropped a little because he was nowhere to be seen. However, a quick look over the area revealed a good blood trail to the large bush 20 meters away.

Thankfully, he had made it on about 20 meters into the trees and expired right there! I immediately tagged him and I can say that after almost 30 years of hunting, buck fever hit me like I haven’t felt in many years. It was fantastic.

We talked to landowner who he and his family hunted this property earlier and were successful. However, they had cameras out and no one had ever seen this buck before either on camera or in person, so who knows where he had come from. Magical things happen in the rut!

To experience this hunt with my son was a memory I will carry for the rest of my life and I am so grateful for the opportunity to harvest a once in a lifetime buck.

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MR. VELVET

By Kyle Robertson

This year’s hunting season started back in August. I had made plans to help my friend Marco harvest his first archery mule deer.

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Unfortunately, our pre-season scouting was not going as planned. The fields started coming off early and it was still over a week until opening day.

With no standing fields for cover, no game plan, and no target buck, time was running out. Soon the deer would feel the hunting pressure of the bow zone and those bucks would disappear fast. My hope of finding Marco an early season deer was fading.

On Friday August 27th, I almost didn’t go scouting after a long day at work. It was 7:30, and I had just enough time to drive to my fields. I decided to park the truck and glass a property I had not hunted in a while.

I had low expectations, and with only a few minutes of decent light left, I put the binoculars up to check the field. There was one lone deer feeding along the tree

“For the next six days, hunting consumed my life, every possible moment was spent in the blind.” line. I was overwhelmed when I saw him, there stood a giant full velvet whitetail! I took a short video to get evidence of the beast and sent it to Marco. A new game plan was set; Marco would sit waiting for his mule deer and I was waiting for Mr. Velvet Whitetail. We built a makeshift ground blind utilizing a dead willow tree and a few branches for cover.

For the next six days, hunting consumed my life, every possible moment was spent in the blind. I had a short window of opportunity and I wasn’t going to waste it.

Opening day arrived and we had pouring rain, which made it a long day with no deer in sight. On day two he fed within 90 yards; he was so close but still so far.

Even then I felt a sense of accomplishment. Day four, another encounter as he snuck passed us at 129 yards

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only catching a glimpse as he disappeared into the bush.

At this point I was gaining some confidence. “It’s just a matter of time before he slips up,” I thought to myself.

Day six, we got out early for the evening hunt. Marco was set up looking one way, myself the other. We had only been sitting for a few minutes when Mr. Velvet made an appearance. I watched him in awe as he fed along the far fence line, his velvet antlers glowing in the sunlight.

Suddenly he spooked, bolting across the field in our direction. When he felt the safety of the tall grass he bedded down, disappearing from sight. For over an hour he stayed bedded, to the point that I questioned if he had given us the slip. I was hesitant to go after him, he was comfortable here and with multiple encounters I didn’t want to push the deer. It was time to make a decision.

The wind was in our favor but we couldn’t see him bedded. We used the tree line for cover to gain some ground and we quickly gained around60 yards, but there was no sign of the deer. Another 30 yards, and to our horror he stood up on high alert! I thought for sure we were busted. Still, he stood there not moving an inch, Marco and I split up and I closed some distance, regaining confidence and thinking maybe we had a chance. I crawled, inching as close as the cover would let me. I then ranged him at 50 yards. I took a few breaths to calm my nerves. I drew my bow, touched the string to my nose, remembering to look through the peep, focusing on my shot placement, counting my pins 20,30,40,50, and released. Smack! I could see the lighted nock in him as he ran; the shot looked good!

When he hit the tree line, he held up standing uncomfortably for a few moments, then disappeared.

Darkness settled in, there was no sign of the arrow but we had decent blood. The age old saying, “When in doubt, back out”. In fear of pushing the deer we elected to do just that and return in the morning.

After a sleepless night at 5:00 am my alarm went off. I was already awake running the previous night’s events over and over in my head, anxious and beyond nervous. At first light there was a bed full of blood but

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no deer. Panic started to set in, I cautiously walked up and down the tree line with little evidence of which direction he went. My Dad and Marco arrived and the three of us got to work. We finally picked up the blood trail running across a narrow section of a freshly tilled field. On the other side a clear path of destruction led to a piled up Mr. Velvet Whitetail.

What an adrenaline rush! Starting with a difficult and disappointing scouting season, the thought of not being able to find him, to being able to put my hands on him for the first time. If I said this was the buck of my dreams, I’d be a liar, he is way better than anything I would dare dream about. Marco still had a tag to fill and I had a promise to keep. Fast forward one week, Marco called me and said, “Tonight’s the night”. It was a Wednesday night, a bad wind, but what the heck!

Marco said, “I’ve got a good feeling, so let’s go.” Back to our makeshift blind we go. Marco’s good feeling paid off and an hour into our hunt he launched an arrow through his first archery big game animal, a beautiful 4 by 4 Mule Deer with brows. Mission complete!

What started as a disappointing year of scouting turned out to be the best two weeks of hunting both Marco and I have ever had. Maintaining a positive

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attitude, enjoying time in the field with friends and family is what made this early season a success.

Thank you to my wife Marisa, who puts up with me and takes care of the Bait shop while I’m out. Thank you to my Dad for always being there when the hard work begins. And thank you for your time fellow outdoorsmen and women! Hope you enjoyed it.

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THE PASTURE KING

By Derek Stainbrook

The Month of May is the month that a lot of hunters eagerly await in Saskatchewan, and that is because it is when the draw results come out.

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I was up north fishing with my father in-law and brother in-law when the results came out. I was thrilled to realize that I was lucky enough to draw an either sex moose tag and mule deer tag. The best part is drawing the mule deer tag was that it was in my home zone! This is not an easy tag to pull and had taken years of application to finally pull a tag, so I was overjoyed to say the least.

Summer months consisted of scouting and getting permission in hopes of finding an old giant mule deer.

In archery season I came across a gnarly deer. He was exactly what I was looking for, a big non-typical deer with a pile of scoreable points, he looked like a Christmas tree with tines everywhere. However, I was the only one who knew about him, and I knew of at

“He was exactly what I was looking for, a big non-typical deer with a pile of scoreable points, he looked like a Christmas tree with tines everywhere.” least one other hunter that was in pursuit of him. To make a long story short, I wasn’t able to stick an arrow in him. The other hunter after him was able to though, which was nice to see as he put in a pile of time also trying to arrow him.

I was disappointed, but kept working at it, and a couple weeks after the gnarly non-typical was shot, I came across another great deer. He was a big framed, long tined typical with great fronts and backs with a long flyer. He had it all! I put in a lot of time trying to pattern this deer. All the time put in allowed me to find out where he had been sleeping and which way he was going out to feed. But things changed once he dropped his velvet. The deer I had been after for about a month

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now seemed like he wasn’t as impressive as I thought.

He had everything but the mass. The one morning I was able to get a really great look at him. I looked him over and I finally made the call, although he was a great buck, he wasn’t quite a draw tag deer for me.

Time was now ticking; it was the middle of October, and I was back to the drawing board. The one thing that I don’t usually have is time. I run a busy schedule with working, taxidermy and family. I was starting to get frustrated and stressed, the pressure was now on. I knew the big pastures would be opening soon and they usually pack a pile of great deer in them, so I pinned my hopes on that option. There are a few community pastures around and I knew where a lot of the good deer are likely to be in them, but I wanted to try a different area scouting too. Once my wife got home from work, I whipped out for an evening scout. There was deer everywhere, and right at dusk I spotted a good deer through my spotting scope. He was about 3 miles away. I knew he had great fronts and was heavy, but I couldn’t make out his left side. I knew he needed a second look. The timing couldn’t have been any worse. I started my night shifts at work, and they started at the end of October and rolled into opening week of rifle. I made a phone call to the pasture manager just to make sure it was ok for me to be hunting in the area. He said you bet but let me know that he was not allowing hunting until November 1.

And he also asked that I not to be to close to his house, which was in the same area. Luckily, I knew the area so could come up with a solid plan.

It was November 3rd, the morning I got off my last night shift and I was itching to get out. I had to wait for my wife to get off work again to watch our girls.

My friend Cole Wallin was dropping off his antelope to get shoulder mounted so we sat around and talked about the deer I was after, waiting for my wife to get home from work. It was 3:59pm and I was texting her asking where she was. Once she showed up, Cole and I hopped in the truck and headed south. We got to the area where I had seen him last. We saw lots of deer, but not him. I re-positioned the truck so I could look in a

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different area with the spotting scope. A minute into looking and I said, “Cole, I’m pretty sure I found him”.

He was bedded down along a fence line up high. He was bedded down all by himself about a mile away from the other deer. We had about an hour to make this happen. We still weren’t sure how impressive he was. It was the same view that I had before, all I could see through the spotter was mass and his right front fork, as he was bedded down in the sage brush. We got our stuff together and started walking to get a closer look. We got to the point of us having to belly crawl up a hill. Once we reached the top we got into position.

We still couldn’t make out everything on his head gear.

The deer turned his head, Cole and I looked at each other and we said that’s a BIIIIG deer! The buck was still bedded at 270 yards. I was sitting and ready to go behind my rifle for when he stood up. Cole let out a couple soft whistles to get him to stand. Once he stood it was game over. I leveled him with my .300 WSM, he dropped. Then there was high fives and celebrating.

Thanks for all the help, Cole! Also, thanks to my wife for understanding what its like drawing a mule deer tag at home. A lot of time goes into this, and it is pretty special when it pays off.

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THE STORY OF “TIPS”

By Austin Orsted

The story of “Tips” starts in the early weeks of August 2021.

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It was a warm fall afternoon and as I was finishing up my work for the day in Estevan.

I looked out my office window and thought to myself “It’s a perfect night to do some scouting”.

I packed up my bag, filled up with gas and headed out. I had been setting up trail cameras in the week’s prior around our family farm just north of Macoun with the intention of putting in some hard work to find a target Whitetail for the upcoming archery season. But for some reason that evening I decided that I wanted switch gears and focus on finding a target mule deer for opening day.

I had made that decision as I was approaching the turn off that would have taken me straight to our family farm. Turning north off the highway would

“I looked out my office window and thought to myself , It’s a perfect night to do some scouting” take me right into prime whitetail country, while turning south would give me a good opportunity to see some mule deer. At the last moment, I decided to switch gears as I mentioned, and I headed south.

From that moment on, the next few weeks will be a series of events that I will never forget.

I decided to head to some old stopping grounds near Goodwater, Saskatchewan where I had permission on some land from the year prior that followed an old creek bed. With the window down, George Straight playing in the background and a full tank of gas, it was set to be the perfect evening.

I made my first stop at a dead-end road that overlooks the creek bottom. Subtle rolling hills, tree lines, and buck brush filled the landscape and I

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soon began to see deer. I decided to get out of the truck and walk to a hill just east of where I was parked for a better vantage point. The quantity of deer that I was seeing was a very promising sign. I decided to drive just one mile west, where the land I had permission on continued. As I pulled up to the start of the section, I seen four deer standing in the stubble field. They were roughly 400 yards off the road, so I pulled over and reached for my spotting scope. The deer were feeding in a low spot and with their heads down it was tough to tell what I was looking at. I waited for a few minutes and then one by one each of them lifted their heads.

What came next absolutely mesmerized me. With the first two deer being good up and comers, the last two deer to raise their heads were exactly what I was looking for. A giant typical with a sticker off his right side had lifted his head and in the warm fall evening he

spotting scope I knew that the next few weeks leading up to opening day was going to be consumed by studying this buck and learning its patterns.

As the next couple weeks went on, I tried spending as many evenings as I could watching this buck and understanding his habits. On August 28th, I headed out again for the evening to do some more homework on Tips. When I arrived at the spot where I had seen him every evening prior, he was not there. A sense of panic settled in, it was four days away from opening day and the plan that I was putting together was falling apart. I knew there was a snake trail that was on the backside of the stubble field so I decided to drive around to it. There were standing wheat fields on the west side of the snake trail and from years prior, I knew that a big buck could be drawn to that as a sense

“After about an hour of glassing and still no sign of Tips I decided to pack up and head home. Just as I got into the driver’s seat I looked to my left, and right on the edge of the wheat field I spotted him!” looked magnificent as he continued feeding. But out of the corner of the spotting scope I had caught a glimpse of the last buck to raise his head. At first, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. It looked as though there were two sets of horns coming from the same buck and I really didn’t know what I was looking at.

As I focused the spotting scope on what turned out to be “Tips”, I realized I had just come across something incredibly special.

It was by far the biggest mule deer I had ever seen in person, with points coming off in every direction. His left side was something like a freak of nature as he had a giant club sticking straight out from the middle of his head. After a few moments of staring at Tips I decided to give my dad a call. As I sat there talking to him, trying to explain what I was seeing through the

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of cover. I arrived at the end of the trail, parked up on top of a little hill. I decided to get out and stand on the roof of my truck to try and get a better vantage point. After about an hour of glassing and still no sign of Tips I decided to pack up and head home. Just as I got into the driver’s seat I looked to my left, and right on the edge of the wheat field I spotted him! He was walking right towards me and even though my truck was sitting in the wide open, he didn’t seem to care.

Tips kept making his way towards me. 250 yards……

200 yards….. 150 yards! He kept getting closer and closer. At this point I had the spotting scope mounted to my door window and for the first time I was getting an incredible look at this once in a lifetime buck. For the next 10 minutes Tips stopped and began feeding on the edge of the wheat field just over 100 yards from me. Time stood still as I sat there and appreciated

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this magnificent buck. As he lifted his head, he looked directly at me through the spotting scope and the two of us just stared at each other. There was no one else around, no other deer, just me and him. It was perfect silence and an image that will be stuck in my head forever. In that moment I had never felt more passionate for a buck in my entire life.

The days leading up to opening day of archery season, I made sure all my equipment was thoroughly checked and bow was dialed in. I was shooting my bow everyday in August knowing that if the opportunity presented itself, I was most likely going to have to take an extended range shot due to the nature of the landscape. The evening before opening day I headed out for one last look at Tips. I drove up to where I had always seen him and sure enough, there he was again.

I decided to back out and not risk spooking him before the morning came. I don’t think I slept for more than an hour that night, thinking and playing out situations in my head of what the next morning might look like.

I woke up around 4:30am, made a cup of coffee, packed a lunch and gathered my gear. My good buddy

Cam was going to meet me out there that morning to give me a hand at the task ahead. We arrived at the spot I had seen Tips just hours prior and pulled over on the side of the road waiting for it to be light enough to see.

When we could begin to make out the field, we set up our spotting scopes and began glassing. After scanning the field a for a few minutes, I realized that Tips was not there and we decided to head down the snake trail to see if he was on the backside towards the wheat field. As we slowly drove along the trail, I looked to my right and spotted Tips with two other smaller bucks!

This was it, this was the moment that I had been waiting for. The bucks quickly disappeared behind a small hill only a couple hundred yards away from Cam and I, and I knew that they were most likely making their way to the fence line and the stubble and wheat fields on the other side. The bucks had one fence to cross and I knew there was a bush along that fence that I could get to that would potentially give me a shot. I quickly gathered my bow and backpack and made my way to the bush alongside the fence. Once I arrived, I soon realized that the three bucks beat me there and they had already crossed the fence. I sat and watched as all three of the bucks made their way through the stubble field, feeding and continuing on without a care in the world.

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To paint a better picture, there were two wheat fields separated by a small stubble field that had a dried up creek bottom running through the middle of it.

The three bucks were making their way through the stubble when suddenly a coyote appeared in the field and decided to start chasing the three bucks. They headed further west and almost out of sight. Cam and I hopped in the truck and decided to get around the west side of the wheat field in hopes that we could figure out where the coyote was chasing them to. When we got around the other side of the field, there were no deer to be seen. Frustrated by what just happened, we began glassing again hoping to catch a glimpse of Tips. My buddy Cam suddenly shouted, “There he is!” and had spotted Tips running back to where we just came from.

So we hopped in the truck again and headed back to the snake trial. We parked in the same spot and got out hoping to see him coming towards us, but he was gone.

We sat and glassed wondering how this buck could just disappear into thin air, especially being with two other bucks and a coyote chasing them all. Minutes turned into hours and with no sign of Tips we decided to go for a walk to the creek bottom. We walked through the creek bottom and still will no sign of Tips and finally decided to head back to the truck to try different vantage points. The day progressed and there was still no sign of Tips. That was until about 4:00pm when we drove back down the snake trail and all of a sudden there Tips was again standing right in front of us on the trail itself. I was confused but it didn’t matter, we found him again! He ended up bedding down on the side of a grassy hill with four other deer. We watching him for another hour and then put together a plan to go after him. The day was winding down and we started our stalk. We decided to try walking through the creek bottom to stay out of sight, as there were cattle and other deer in the area as well. We made it to a couple hundred yards from where Tips was bedded

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and began crawling our way around the backside of the hill. With our boots off and feet and legs full of prairie cactus, we were slowly closing the distance between us and a buck of a lifetime. I got just within bow range but a bedded doe decided to take notice of us and the stalk was over. All four deer stood up and they were gone.

As we made our way back to the truck, we had noticed that Tips was making his way across the pasture towards the grid road that I would normally watch him from. Still picking cactus out of our feet, Cam and I tried to hurry back to the truck as quickly as possible intercept Tips as he got closer to the road. As luck would have it, Tips ended up ditching the other deer and he was with only one other smaller buck now still making his way towards the road. I quickly got in the low spot of the ditch, just 90 yards from the two deer and they were coming my way! I calmed my nerves and crawled closer to where I thought they might cross the fence. Sure enough the first smaller buck crossed the fence only 40 yards from where I was laying. This was it! I thought for sure that Tips would follow suit and take the same path as the other buck.

Just as Tips was about to jump the fence and I was ready to draw back my bow, he suddenly stopped. The wind swirled and he pegged me. Immediately we locked eyes and it was over, Tips knew there was something out of the norm and he was gone. The evening drew to an end and I was heading home empty handed.

September 2nd came along and I found myself sitting at work watching the clock as I knew that Tips was still out there. As the day progressed, I sat at my desk anxiously waiting until it was time to head home. When it was time to pack up for the day, I practically sprinted out to my truck and off I went. I met up with my buddy Cam again and we headed straight for the spot where we last seen Tips. When we arrived, there was no sign of Tips anywhere. Back down the snake trail we went and we

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started glassing again. With still no sign after a good hour or so, we thought about maybe going for a walk along the wheat field. Just as we were about to make a move, Tips and a handful of other deer appeared along the creek bed. I knew based on previous history, that if they started making their way towards us, the deer would walk the edge of the wheat field and then cross over through the stubble and jump the fence. As we watched the deer, they started to turn and make their way towards the edge of the wheat field. This was exactly what I was hoping for! I gathered my backpack and bow and headed towards the fence line where I knew the deer were going to be crossing. I thought setting up in an isolated bush right along the fence only a few yards from where they normally cross would give me the best chance at intercepting Tips. Cam stayed at the top of the fence line hidden behind another bush as a point man to let me know if the deer were making their way towards me. After about 20 minutes,

though he disappeared into thin air once again! Both Cam and I were completely confused at this point as he had seen Tips only minutes prior. After a few minutes of scoping out the wheat field and the sun setting, we decided to head back to the truck, which was parked just down the snake trial from where we were standing. As we were walking down the trail, a buck suddenly appeared from right behind the truck. It was Tips! He somehow managed to circle around us. At this point all Cam and I could do is laugh at the mind games Tips was playing.

That evening, I laid in bed and kept replaying the scenario that just happened over and over in my head.

“How could Tips be the only deer that didn’t take the same path as the others and walk right past me?”. But then I remembered a saying my dad always told me “They get big for a reason”. With little to no sleep again that evening, I woke up the next morning still thinking about Tips. I sat at work once again looking at the pictures I

“Minutes turned into hours and with no sign of Tips we decided to go for a walk to the creek bottom” I got a signal from Cam that they were heading my way. I nocked an arrow and patiently waited. One by one the deer funneled towards me and began crossing the fence. I thought for sure this would be it. This would be the moment that I get a shot at Tips! As the deer continued to funnel past me and over the fence, I thought Tips would be right behind. After the last doe came by with Tips no where to be seen I was left confused and anxious. I got my phone out and texted Cam, “Do you see him? Why isn’t Tips with the other deer?”. Cam responded, “He is heading into the wheat field”. I quickly gathered my gear and slowly walked back up towards Cam along the fence line. When I got to the top of the fence line, we both thought that tips would be just on the other side of us somewhere in the low spot of the wheat field. With an arrow nocked I slowly creeped my way towards the edge of the wheat.

When I got to the edge I slowly stood up and to my surprise, Tips was no where to be seen. It seemed as

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had of him on my phone. It was lunch time and I was sitting at my desk wondering what Tips had in store for me that evening, when a co-worker and fellow hunter walked into my office. I shared what had happened the night before and my co-worker told me “Why are you still sitting here? Get out there and go get him. He’s a buck of a lifetime”. I sat and thought to myself how disappointed I would be if someone else ended up getting Tips. So I packed my bag and off I went!

I made it out there around 1:30 pm and headed straight for the wheat fields. When I arrived, the North wheat field had been taken off and the deer were feeding in the new stubble. I pulled my spotting scope out and focused on a couple bucks that were some 600+ yards away. I could only see the tops of the horns but I thought for sure that was Tips. I parked my truck at the bottom of the snake trail, grabbed my gear and started walking. I got situated parallel to the deer I had seen through the

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spotting scope and caught a glimpse of horns again.

I judged the wind and put together a plan to come in downwind on the backside of where the bucks were bedded. I could tell there was some sort of slough bottom or tall grass in the middle of this stubble field and that is where these bucks were bedding. Once I got around the backside of the slough, I started crawling closer and closer. Only moving when the wind would pick up. I got within 70 yards and I could just see the tops of the horns of what I thought was Tips. As I crawled a little bit closer, the bucks decided to stand and stretch. My stomach sank. What I thought was Tips was actually two bucks bedded one in front of the other making it appear to be all the multiple points Tips had on his rack. At this point I was so heartbroken that I just stood up allowing the bucks to spot me. I

“Tips was no where to be seen. It seemed as though he disappeared into thin air once again!” had just wasted a good couple of hours stalking the wrong deer and I was back to square one.

As I was walking back towards my truck I took a video recording of myself explaining what had just happened. I was joking with a couple other names that I came up with for Tips and ended the video by saying “We can worry what we name him later, I have to get my hands on him first”. I continued my walk back to the truck, frustrated and feeling defeated. I eventually made it back to the truck and decided to call my dad. I had explained what happened and almost decided to head home for the evening. Just before turning the truck around, I decided to drive to the top of the little hill at the end of the trail for one last look. Still on the phone with my dad, I looked over towards the creek

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bottom and there he was! Tips was walking out of the creek bottom and into a flat part of the stubble field beginning to feed. How I didn’t spook him walking back to the truck is beyond me, because from where he came out of the creek bottom was only a few yards from where I just walked. Two other smaller bucks accompanied him and I got a sudden boost of energy and confidence. I told my dad that I was going to get another chance at him and I hung up the phone.

I sprayed myself down with scent killer, grabbed my gear and headed towards Tips. Because he was pretty much in the wide open, I thought I would need to somehow get into the creek bottom and peak up in the right spot somewhere in front of him in order to get a shot. There were a couple of bales on the edge of the stubble field that I knew I could get to and use as cover to approach the creek bed.

I would put the bale between Tips and myself and with the wind blowing in the perfect direction, that is exactly what I did. Once I got to the bale, I took off my backpack and decided to only carry my bow and rangefinder to minimize any extra weight and noise. I was about 300 yards from the group of deer and with no other bales between them and me I had to start crawling. I slowly made my way towards the edge of the creek bed, crawling for what seemed like an eternity. Just as I got to the edge I noticed that all three bucks decided to enter the creek bottom as well. I kept crawling my way along the edge keeping the wind to my face. I knew that Tips could appear at any given time so I began ranging how far the opposite side of the creek bank was. It was averaging around 60 to 70 yards so I set my single pin to 65. As I continued crawling, the edge of the creek bottom tuned into taller grass and weeds. Everything began working in my favor, the wind was still perfect and I had some taller grass to help hide me. Suddenly I heard something in front of me. I looked up and less than 80 yards was a coyote that appeared on the top of a little knoll in the field. My mood changed and I thought that this was the same coyote that was chasing Tips only days prior and he was back to do it again. For some reason, even though the Coyote seen me, he just

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decided to sit down and watch me. Not sure what to do, I decided to keep crawling making my way closer and closer to where I seen Tips enter the creek bottom. At this point my entire body was tired, it felt like I had been crawling for hours but I knew I only had a little bit further to go. I was less than 40 yards from where I thought I needed to crawl to when the wind decided to swirl and change direction. It was now blowing from directly behind me and I thought I would be upwind from Tips. I started to panic and think that at any given moment Tips would catch my wind and bust me. I decided that I needed to close the distance fast and get to a point where I could see down the creek bottom incase I had a split second to get a shot at him. I stood up, knocked an arrow and began walking slowly along the edge. I took only about twenty steps when I heard something move beside me. Out of the thickest grass and weed bottom you could possibly imagine, Tips stood up directly across from me on the other side of the creek bed. I froze, time stood still and I could feel my heart rate rising. I slowly grabbed my range finder and brought it up to my face. It read 65 yards! During those few seconds, I have thought back and wondered why Tips didn’t run away when he spotted me? Instead he just stood there like he was confused by what I was. With my sight already set I drew back my bow and found my anchor point. I can honestly say what happened in the next few seconds was a complete blur but after releasing the arrow, I heard the famous thwack. I knew I had hit him! He ran out of the creek bottom with the other two deer and into the stubble field. I watched anxiously waiting for him to drop. Tips stopped for a moment and then slowly wandered back into the winding creek bottom less than a hundred yards away from where he was bedded. I started to shake and reality began to set in. I immediately called my dad and told him what had just happened. Still trying to comprehend the events that just occurred, I decided to give Tips time to expire and not risk bumping him. After about a half hour and still no sign of Tips re-appearing from the creek bottom, I decided to walk over to where I last seen him go in.

As I approached, my heart rate began to rise again. I walked to the edge and looked to the bottom...... there

he was! The emotions began to settle in and all the hard work and dedication had finally paid off!

As I walked up to Tips for the first time, I can’t even begin to explain the emotions running through my mind. To seen him that close and finally being able to put my hands on him was a dream come true. I can honestly say that Tips is a true buck of a lifetime and one that I will forever be grateful for. With all the adrenaline still pumping through my body, I took a moment to sit back and reflect on the chain of events that lead up to the moment I was able to put my hands on Tips. I was incredibly thankful for the help that my buddy Cam gave me. He could have been hunting himself the first couple days of archery season, but he instead gave me a helping hand pursuing Tips. I

“The emotions began to settle in and all the hard work and dedication had finally paid off! ” was thankful for my girlfriend and family at home for picking up the workload around the house while I was in the field every night leading up to and during archery season. And ultimately I was thankful for Tips himself. Tips gave me a pursuit and drive that I have never experienced before in my years of hunting and without that, the story and hunt itself would not have been the same.

To be able to harvest a buck like Tips, still in full velvet will be something I will probably never do again in my lifetime. I will never forget all of the memories made and it will forever be etched into my mind. As hunters, it is moments like this which we all dream of.

All the hard work, hours of scouting, and time spent in the field makes it all worth it when everything comes together. And even when things don’t come together, the pursuit is always worth it.

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THE STORY OF GUINNESS

By Devun Groot

My hunt for Guinness started well before the hunting season.

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Guinness first started appearing on my trail cameras in the last week of October, the year before, as a four-and-a-half-year-old buck. I got several pictures of him off my cheaper cameras when he was moving quite fast, resulting in his antlers blurring. This led me to believe that Guinness was not as big as he was, so he did not become my target buck that year.

Once the season had concluded my cousin and I set up more cameras on the properties where we had gotten pictures of Guinness. Our hope was to find the trails that he frequently used and get some non-blurry pictures. After a few weeks of having our trail cameras out we decided to go and check them. What we found

“One morning after a hunt, I swapped one of my SD cards out of my camera and checked it.

There he was, Guinness had returned” shocked us. We were getting many clear pictures of Guinness in daylight as well as at night. Upon looking at the pictures we realized he was far bigger than we had previously thought.

Guinness was a main frame 5x5 with a split on his left g2, and a set of tines grew where his g4’s were. We were looking at a four-and-a-half-year-old deer in the 170s with fourteen or fifteen score-able points. We were in shock; we had never had such a large antlered deer at such a young age. As the winter rolled on, we kept getting Guinness on camera, up until he dropped his antlers in February.

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As spring rolled past and summer came, we started hanging cameras again in hopes to find Guinness in June. We had more mature deer on camera this year than we had any other year in the past, but with not much antler development in the early days of June it was tough to tell if Guinness was still in the area.

As July rolled around and the antler development progressed, it was easy to tell that Guinness was not using the same area anymore. We had many mature deer this year with two big typical 5x5s that my cousin and I had deemed as our target deer. As summer progressed and Guinness still did not show, it was evident that his summer range was not where we had permission to hunt. We hoped that he may end up returning once he made the switch from his summer pattern to his fall pattern.

On August 31st, as our whitetail archery season began, I was preoccupied chasing elk and with no pictures of Guinness yet, my motivation to be in the woods was not very high. As September progressed Guinness was still a ghost. I was working 60-80 hours a week, so I didn’t have much time to hunt regardless. September passed with still no pictures of Guinness. My cousin and I had high hopes that he would return near the end of October as that was when he showed up the year before.

As October passed we still didn’t have any pictures of him. As my construction season was slowing down I was able to get out on the weekends and hunt for some of the other mature deer we had on camera. I had many close encounters with some very nice bucks that I chose to pass on because in the back of my mind I knew there was hope Guinness would return.

One morning after a hunt, I swapped one of my SD cards out of my camera and checked it. There he was, Guinness had returned, 1pm on October 25th.

What I saw shocked me. Guinness was massive. It appeared he had added 30+ inches of antler from the previous year, including a large drop tine off his left antler.

The hunt was on, I was determined to not shoot any deer other than Guinness.

I had started hunting mobile this year, setting up and tearing down my stand after every hunt, moving in on the deer movement I saw or on fresh sign. Although I was getting more encounters with mature deer than I ever had in the past, Guinness was always one step ahead. If I was on one property he’d be on the other, and when I’d go to the other, he would be where I previously was.

At the end of the first week of November, I still hadn’t had any encounters with Guinness, only trail camera pictures of him. On November 11th, I was told that Guinness was spotted early morning kitty corner to where I hunt on a neighboring property with a doe.

I hunted the property next to where he was seen that evening but did not see him. The morning of November 12th the wind direction was not favorable for my stand set ups on the property I wanted to hunt.

I decided I would do some scouting and drive around and see if I could spot him and then set up near where I had seen him for a midday/evening hunt. At 8:45 am as I was driving by one of the properties I hunt, a doe ran out of the bush and across the road followed by a buck. As I got closer, I could see his very identifiable drop tine. I was in shock as this was the first time that I had ever seen Guinness in person in two years. He chased the doe across an open field and into a chunk of bush that I did not have permission for. I decided that I would sit along the tree line of the field in hopes that the doe would circle back and return from where they came. I sat from 10am till the end of shooting light and did not see a single deer.

The next morning was the second time all year I reached for my gun instead of my bow. The game plan was to go sit on a cut line between the two chunks of bush where I originally got the first picture of Guinness and where I watched him and the doe run out of in the morning prior. My hopes were that the doe would circle back overnight, and Guinness would still be with her. My plan was to get a shot at him as

they entered the cutline. 20 minutes after I got set up, I heard the fence rattle to my right and a 140 class 5 x 5 was standing 20 yards to my right looking at me. After a few minutes of the buck trying to get me to move he sauntered off. I decided I would try a rattle sequence so I crashed my antlers together as hard and as loud as I could for around three minutes. Not long after, I heard a snap in the bush behind me and I turned to look. What I saw surprised me. It was not Guinness

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but a massive 160 class 5 x 5, a deer that I had not had on camera before. He was making his way behind me and was just about to go directly downwind at about 10 yards. This would be the biggest deer I would have ever shot with a rifle and it got my heart pumping. All thought of Guinness being the only deer I planned to shoot this year went out the window. I turned slowly and went to shoulder my rifle and as I did this, I bumped my grunt tube which made an absurd amount of noise. The buck looked in my direction and bounded off. I felt kind of defeated and reached into my pocket to grab my phone. When I checked my phone, I received a text message informing me that Guinness had been spotted on the other property that I hunt. I immediately stood up and went to leave.

The buck that I had just attempted to shoot started blowing at me as it was only 30 yards in the bush, but I did not care. I left and went straight to my truck and moved to the other property.

Guinness had been seen walking along a swamp on the bottom of a ridge heading south. Having knowledge of how the deer use the property I knew he was most likely going to follow the bottom of the ridge, go through a swamp and then come up on the other side of the swamp and cross into a neighboring property. I circled around to the backside of the property where I thought Guinness would come out onto a cut line that boarded the property. Once I was set up, I did a rattling sequence in hopes that it would draw him into the cut line. After sitting in the spot for around 10 to 15 minutes I asked myself what I was doing. My wind was blowing directly into the buck bedding area and I was blowing out the area for my evening hunt tonight. I decided I was going to walk down the cut line until I met up with one of the trails me and my cousin cleared out through the bush earlier this spring. As I turned down the trail and started walking, I decided I was going to hunt over a scrape line that ran along the trail. As I still hunted my way through the bush and was just rounding a slight bend in the trail I heard grunting to my left.

As a turned to look into the heavy cover I saw a doe running for her life from a grunting buck who was

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chasing her. They were going to run straight across the cut trial I was on. I turned around and quickly got to the straight part of the cut trail so I could intercept them crossing it. The doe ran across the trail and the buck stopped on the edge only 20 yards away from me and looked at me. He was not Guinness, but my adrenaline was pumping and all regards to only shooting Guinness went out the window again.

I shouldered my rifle and put the crosshairs on his neck. He was a beautiful, wide 150 class deer and then I pulled the trigger..... What happen next shocked me.

My gun just clicked as if it was empty. I was sure my gun was loaded and the safety was off. I quickly cycled

through and my thoughts were confirmed. My gun was loaded but for some crazy reason did not fire. The buck took off after the doe. That is when I heard more crashing to my right. I turned and was in disbelief. All I could see was a big drop tine; it was Guinness. He was chasing the doe as well but he was a little further behind. Guinness ran right down the same trail as the previous two deer. Just as he entered the trail, I shouldered my gun put the crosshairs right behind the shoulder as he trotted through. I pulled the trigger and the gun shot, I could see it hit him right behind the shoulder and he continued running into the thick cover to my left.

I was in disbelief. I immediately called my girlfriend to let her know, as well as my dad and my cousin. I called my friend Dustin Dola who previously said that if I shot Guinness, but only Guinness, he would leave his tree stand to help me film the recovery and take pictures. I called Dustin and told him that I had

shot Guinness. I waited for Dustin to arrive at the nearest Road and we walked in to go and recover Guinness. There was good blood at the initial hit site with bubbles in it, indicating that he had been shot in the lungs. As we followed the blood it became sparse, a few drops here and there. Then we found a ton of blood sprayed all over the trees. As I met up with the trail on the other side of the willows I looked over to my right and there he was not 10 feet from me. I was in shock after not seeing this deer live for two seasons, passing up several nice bucks while sitting many hours in my stands and having my first ever misfire. I got my opportunity on Friday, November 13th. I had finally laid my hands on Guinness, a beautiful Manitoba whitetail. Dustin was able to film the recovery and get some raw footage of myself walking up on him, something I am very grateful for.

After we recovered him, Dustin was able to capture some amazing pictures of Guinness and I, seizing the memory forever.

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THE STORY OF LUCKY

By Austin Gartner

From a very young age, I was shown what the love and passion for big game hunting looked like.

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I was fortunate to be able to watch my Dad, year after year, chase that next memory and fill the freezer in the process.

I couldn’t wait until it was my turn, and I started archery hunting in 2018, spending most of the spring shooting my new-to-me Hoyt that I bought off a good friend and hunting buddy, Dawson Johnston. Dawson taught me the ins and outs of archery hunting and let me tag along to do some black bear hunting for the first time and I immediately fell in love. I was itching for the fall season to roll around to start chasing mule deer here in Saskatchewan. After what felt like a long season, I came up empty handed, not realizing what a challenge it would be to outsmart a deer and get into range. The next fall season was no different than the last and I was beginning to realize mule deer archery success was

“I stopped the truck, grabbed my binoculars, and saw a tall tined full velvet mule deer and his smaller side kick.” going to be an extreme challenge. Putting on what felt like hundreds of blown stalks and missed opportunities on some gorgeous bucks, I ended up with an empty tag in my hand again.

The next fall started off promising, as we were able to find an absolutely gorgeous buck. After watching him feed on the same chunk of pasture day in and day out, I got an opportunity for a stalk. I got into 39 yards but could not get a clean shot. Knowing this deer had a very scheduled routine, I decided that I would head back in the next evening with another good hunting buddy, Sean Ellwood. I thought if I couldn’t seem to get to him, I’d let him come to me. Getting out to deer country early, we decided to check some trail cameras we had set up for whitetail before heading to the pasture to

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get settled in. As we drove to the pastureland where the buck was regularly feeding on, I caught a glimpse of something along the bush line 500 yards off the road. I stopped the truck, grabbed my binoculars, and saw a tall tined full velvet mule deer and his smaller side kick. Not knowing the size of the deer from the thirty second encounter we had with him, we decided to press our luck one more time and see if we could get a closer look. After a long walk in, while we were standing confused on the edge of a large bush, assuming it was shaped a different way, we started to come up with a new plan. While I was explaining my new plan of attack, Sean quickly interrupted with an abrupt, “Shhhhh!”. There he was, 60 yards away, looking right at us from just inside the bush line! Not knowing what exactly we were or if we were something to be worried about, he slowly fed towards us, spending most of the time staring and waiting for movement of any kind. After what felt like hours but was probably a few short minutes he kept coming. With the wind in our faces, my heart beating out of my chest, and my

adrenaline running at a hundred miles an hour, he made his way to 33 yards. Sean clicked ‘record’ on the camera. I grabbed my bow with the little shaking grip I had and as soon as he looked in the other direction, I drew back. Hearing me draw, his head snapped back in our direction and I knew I only had seconds. I settled my pin and let one fly. “Thwack” is all I heard as the deer sprung back into the bush!

The uncontrollable excitement filled my body, knowing I had connected on a giant. Giving him time, Sean and I walked back to the truck and reviewed the footage. It looked like a good shot. Making my first and most important phone call to my Dad letting him know what had just happened and waiting for my younger brother Jesse to show up, we headed back in to look for blood. Not even reaching the blood trail, there he lay 100 yards from where I had shot. Picking up the massive, unscathed velvet for the first time, a flood of emotions filled my body, and the only word I could think of slipped from my lips: “Lucky”.

DAY TO REMEMBER

By Dean McNeil

We had the pleasure of watching this buck for this buck the past three years.

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Last year he looked impressive, big deep forks with some extras growing. Then this year he exploded into a giant non typical, putting on at least 30 inches of antler. I didn’t have any idea he was still around until two days before the archery opener this year, when I checked a trail camera and seen him. After that I spent every spare moment looking for him.

It didn’t take long the morning before September 1st arrived and it found me sitting out in the open, glassing and looking and behold he came up over the hill feeding right towards me! I laid flat in the grass and waiting for him to pass at 200 yards. Thankfully I remained undetected.

Opening morning arrived and I was back in the same spot I setup earlier, where I thought he might come by feeding again. I had several other deer feed right past me and thought the setup was going to work out good. But sure enough, he was a no show. So, I snuck back up onto a hill to have a look around and instantly found him bedded, and no more than 300 yards away.

I literally had about one hour before I had to get back

on the combine, so I made a plan and aggressively put a quick stalk in on him. In no time, I was on him, and everything was perfect. He stood, I shot, but I blew it. The arrow sailed right over his back.

I watched him trot away, thinking I just blew probably my one and only chance at that deer.

Undeterred I was back there the very next morning setup again, waiting to see if he would feed back through the same spot I seen him before. And wouldn’t you know it, here he came, feeding right towards me. When he got to about 200 yards away, he just turned and went south away from me. So, I waited for him to feed over the hill with his buddies then I decided to try and follow him to see where he was bedding. I managed to sneak into 90 yds on

“It was him! He was working his way west along a fenceline with three other bucks” him then realized I was going to be late for work and didn’t want to rush and blow another chance on him so I backed out and left.

The next two days I spent looking for him and he was a no show both days. I figured he had now disappeared. I had watched him in past years, and he always seemed to disappear right around the time the deer were rubbing their velvet, which I knew was going to be any day. So this bring me to September 5th, my brother in laws were kind enough to give me two days off to hunt so I was back at it again. I was sitting up on a hill, glassing and watching all the regulars feed through back to their bedding areas, with no luck finding the big non typical. Then this pack of six coyotes came out to the south of me. I was watching them when something caught my eye. It was him! He was working his way west along a fenceline with three

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other bucks. So, I quickly started following them just to keep an eye on where they were going. I got up into a side hill of sagebrush and waited to see if they would pass by, continuing to go west. After 10 or 15 minutes, one of the bucks came around the corner and bedded about 35 yds from me so I held tight for a few more minutes, then I decided to keep slowly working down the sage brush looking for him. Then I spotted antlers sticking out, so I hit the dirt quickly and another buck stood up, not 20 yards from me, looking my way. So, I froze and thought it was game over again. He took a few steps towards me looking, then for some reason lost interest and walked 50 yards away and bedded down again. So again, I hunkered down and waited awhile before starting to move down the sage ridge looking for him. I slowly

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kept going, inching along and glassing and searching at the same time. Out of nowhere it seemed, there he was! I could see his left antler sticking up out of the sage. I took a quick range, he was 15 yds, then I saw his antler quickly snap to the side when hooked on my release. I knew it was now or never, so I drew and he immediately stood up had a quick look at me and I released the arrow, dropping him in his tracks! I was elated as this is by far my biggest muledeer I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching and hunting. I had my wife and boys come out and give me a hand and to enjoy the moment with me. It was definitely a day I’ll remember for a very long time.

Official gross score – 240 3/8”

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THE BIG TYP

By Lee Morin

The sun was well up into the sky on the second morning of the Saskatchewan archery mule deer season and I was yet to locate a target buck, which was becoming a pretty normal occurrence over the last few years.

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While on my way back to the yard for some breakfast I decided to take a detour and glass up a low spot that was somewhat often used as a bedding area for the local bachelor groups. It didn’t take long and I had a large group of bucks in view and although I was around two miles out, one of them looked like he would be worth a closer look.

As I cautiously crested a hill to look down to where the bucks were last seen I was almost immediately detected and they were on the move. I did get a somewhat better look at the buck in question, but all that I really came up with was that he was a really solid typical with about everything a guy could ask for, but seemed to be lacking a bit of width. Another attempt at a better look was ruined by one of the

last year during the whitetail rifle season. He must have stayed well fed all winter because he had a great amount of growth compared to the previous year when I had estimated him in the mid to high 180s. I was also confident that this buck had a good number of years on this earth and he was a deer that would be well worth the effort it takes to harvest one with a bow. But for now, there were a pile of bucks in very marginal cover, so I would have to wait and hope that they would return to the canola field that they had been calling home.

It was much easier to climb out of bed the next morning knowing I had a decent chance at some sort of action that day. I found several of the bucks right away but not the Big Typ. It wasn’t bad news as it possibly meant he was with a smaller group or

“I was also confident that this buck had a good number of years on this earth and he was a deer that would be well worth the effort it takes to harvest one with a bow. ” many younger bucks in the group and the bucks made a big move. So, I headed back to the yard for breakfast wondering just how good that “Big Typ” actually was.

A few days past as I continued to look for one of these mythical 250+ non typical that this province seems to pump out on a yearly basis. Naturally, coming up empty handed on that search, I swung back through the area that held that big typical that had been in the back of my mind. After a bit of searching, I had him and several others in the spotter but this time he hit the skyline and I was able to get a good look at everything. BIG 2s, 3s that were wildly deep and the 4s were beautiful not to mention a pair of brows that I estimated at 6”. This skyline view also confirmed that this was a buck I had encountered

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maybe even on his own. Another half hour or so and I noticed a buck stand up out of the canola, it was him!

And he appeared to be pretty much alone as he was about 700 yards from the others. After a good chat on the phone with the land owner I had the thumbs up to make a move. The buck seemed to be a bit on edge and bedded and stood up at least a half dozen times before staying down long enough for me to get to some lower ground and start to close the distance of about a mile and a half. Once I was in the bottom of a coulee, it was fairly simple to close the distance to about 200 yards but I couldn’t help but notice that the trusty Saskatchewan wind wasn’t picking up at its normal pace. After one aborted attempt due to the noise of the canola under my boots, I made a large loop to the south side of the buck and would attempt an approach with a very weak cross wind. Finding

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a sprayer track headed north felt like a blessing so I crawled along it until I was in what I thought was a fairly good position and waited.

The buck stood up to stretch and all I could see over the small roll in the field were the jumbo back forks, at nearly 80 yards. I had to get closer but there was still no wind and the tangly, noisy canola was going to be a BIG issue. Hours went by as I inched my way closer trying to capitalize on every small gust of wind that would blow by. It was hot, calm and I was sweating like a preacher in the presence of the lord, starving hungry and very thirsty. At one point while trying to gain a few more inches of ground the buck stood up and I dropped down. Immediately noticing that there was a rather large yellow spider about two inches from by right eyeball. Not my favorite creatures on earth but I really couldn’t move an inch so for the next while it was me and Charlotte in an uncomfortable stand off.

After what I assume was a few minutes I rolled the dice and started to straighten out to have a peak at the buck. Nothing in sight so I was back on the move.

It took around four hours to cut the original 80 yards down to a much more comfortable 40ish yards so I set up shop and started the waiting game.

The buck stood up and milled around several times but there was really no chance for a shot as he was just a little too low on the other side of the roll. A couple more hours went by and he rose once again but this time he began shuffling to the south which would bring him up just a little higher and provide a shot

opportunity. I gathered myself mentally and waited for his head to turn away, when it did, I stood up at full draw and sent an arrow. The buck kicked, spun around and ran a big loop to the northeast and into the coulee. Unsure of exactly where the arrow had hit, I walked over to where he was standing to look for some blood. Surprisingly I wasn’t finding any at all and then I hit the right row in the crop and it was painted red.

Full of confidence I followed the blood trail down into

the draw assuming he would be lying at the bottom.

He wasn’t, but the blood was still good so I followed it around a bend and then around another bend, then it turned to pin drops and then nothing. Slightly frustrated, I stuck an arrow in the ground at the last blood I could find and kept heading down the draw and around two more bends. My heart was sinking lower and lower with each step until I glanced over at some rocks in the creek bed about 100 yards away. I took a

couple of steps back for a better look and sure enough there was a beautiful velvet antler protruding from behind them! I approached with caution and at about 10 yards I could see the whole animal and after a quick apology for the poor first shot I put one more arrow through the rib cage and it was all over.

Note - Official Pope and Young score came in at 202 4/8”!

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Checkout Austin Orsteds cover buck on page

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03*(*/"-

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