Big Game Illustrated - Issue 18

‘Moses’

The Legendary Mule Deer

Manitoba

MONSTER BULLS

MEGA Whitetails

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Publisher: Big Game Illustrated Media

email: info@biggameillustrated.com www.biggameillustrated.com Senior Editors Chad Wilkinson, Devin Gorder & & Circulation: Cody Forsberg Production Team:

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10

Volume 5 Issue 2 | Fall Edition 2017

In This Issue...

16

06

Addicted to the Hunt by Chelsea Pretty

10 Moses by Dane Hildebrandt 16 Butterknife by Tyler Jensen 32

22

Double Draw Dream Season by Bryce Vetter

26 The Spot by Scott Patay 32

Dream Come True by George Galambos

38 Lenny by Mark Sturko 48

72

44

Blast from the Past by Shawn Fournier

48

Two for Two: A Manitoba Elk Hunting Success Story by Dale Meyers

52

The Split Beam Buck by Kurtis Bachman

56

The ‘Carrie’ Buck by Rob Rongers

59

Fence Walker by Rob Rongers

64

Double Drops by Nick Pilote

68

Two Year Quest by Shaun Krupski

72 Tails by Preston Haanen 78

Pass Through by Darryl Mutrie

78 Contact Big Game Illustrated: www.biggameillustrated.com Email: info@biggameillustrated.com

By Mail: 28-2995 2nd Ave W. S6V5V5 Prince Albert, Sk, CANADA

Like us on facebook!

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The deer herds in western Canada are recovering nicely from some harsh winters and some incredible animals were taken in 2016, such as Chelsea Pretty's incredible Alberta whitetail. See her story on page 6.

FEATURES...

21 Definition of Lucky

by Chad Wilkinson

Some hunters seem to be ‘lucky’, year after year. In fact, if you look deeper, you will see they make their own luck.

62

Campfire Chronicles

by Chris Maxwell

The podcast is the newest craze in the hunting world that is helping get the message out.

76 The Future of Hunting Dedicated to all the young hunters.

Photo by Shawn Danychuk

Addicted Hunt to the

BY: CHELSEA PRETTY

Chelsea Pretty from Bonnyville, Alberta with the monster buck she anchored in her home province in 2016. She had hunted the buck for a couple years but he was a cagey old buck, and almost exclusively nocturnal. The rut was approaching in mid-November when he finally made a mistake and Chelsea was there to capitalize. The buck has incredible mass and everything northern deer are known for, and has a gross score of 190 7/8”. Chelsea did not grow up hunting, but after a couple years of hunting under her belt, and some amazing success, it is safe to say she is now addicted to the hunt!

L

ooking back, I had never thought of myself as a sport hunter, until I met my husband Adam. Adam is the type of guy that spends more time obsessing over hunting than I thought I would ever be able to understand. As years went by, I start to find myself tagging along on more hunting trips and camera checking adventures. Initially, it was the idea of being able to supply my family with wild game that had my interest, and the whole experience had become something I enjoyed. It wasn’t long before I decided I had enough confidence to go on my own hunt. To my surprise, Adam was super excited! It was probably the only thing I had ever seen him get more excited for then hunting season itself.

October 22, 2014 was my first day ever hunting whitetail deer. Adam had found a cutline with some well used cross trails and set up a two-person tree stand for us to hunt from.

At this point I was already pretty excited! After two days of hunting dawn to dusk and only seeing does, I was starting to get worried. Finally, on the third day around 9:30am, a 3-½

year old 5x5 walked out on the line at about 150 yards. Taking my time, I aimed and squeezed off a shot. “You missed”, Adam said, as I watched in disbelief at the buck running away. Suddenly, he stopped again at about 200 yards. Without wasting another second, I took aim again and let off the second shot.

My first buck hit the ground and I could not have been happier!

June 2015 found my husband and I on our way to check our trail cameras for the first time of the year. As we approached,

right there standing on a cutline, stood a mature whitetail buck. This was the first time we saw the buck we decided to call, “The Animal�. Even in June, his antlers grew an impressive amount, leaving us in awe. By the end of the day we set up cameras on just about every trail between the bedding and feeding areas. This boy was smart, and we only got pictures of

him at night, all the way into archery season. One more encounter solidified our desire to seek him out during the season. With no luck in archery season, we started to prep for rifle. Days into rifle season we decided to check our cameras, only to find out that horses were in the pasture and that we could no longer hunt the property! It was a big letdown for us

both. We decided to move to our other hunting spots and I ended the season by tagging a 140 class 4x4 and my husband took a 160-inch 5x5.

As an added bonus, to finish out the season and begin the New Year I harvested my first elk! It was a great year, but we were both still thinking about the monster buck who gave us the slip all season long.

In March of 2016, we were out searching the property where we had seen “The Animal” the year before. With luck, we found his right antler and in the summer we set up cameras again in the area, with hopes of landing the giant whitetail. By September we still hadn’t had a picture of him! We were quite worried about the possibility that he had been shot the year before. But as luck would have it in October, “The Animal” showed him-

self on camera and boy he had grown! Instantly, we were happy that he had escaped us the year before, because he was still an impressive 5x5 but now he had a second beam on the right side and multiple kickers off his G2’s and G3’s! We set up three stands between bedding and feeding areas in hopes of catching him crossing in daylight.

It was an unseasonably warm fall for Alberta and after a series of freezing rainstorms, deer movement was on hold for most of October. It was November and into the rut before deer movement started to pick up. Adam had been hunting the area but had no luck. With the rut approaching, I had two days to hunt with this being the first time I hunted without Adam in the stand next to me. It was early morning, November 12th, when I climbed in the stand we had set up on a small field nestled into some willows. That morning I had several small bucks and a couple does cross through the field but none I felt could compare to my buck from the previous year. At 4pm to my far right, a doe entered the field followed by a mature 5X5 buck. Due to the location of the stand, I was forced to watch helplessly as this mass of a deer walked away from me. When last light faded, I waited for Adam to come into sight and told him what had happened. As disappointment set in, we decided to move the stand about 50 yards closer to the field so I would be in a better position to where the deer had been crossing.

It was bright and early on November 13th when I took to the stand with big hopes of seeing the buck from the day before. By 9am two does stepped out of the tree line to my left and crossed the field into the willows. Other than an owl, that was the only

animal activity I had. Minutes later I could hear my husband rattling from his stand about a kilometer to the south, it echoed quite far in the calm morning air. Shortly after that, a fog rolled in, leaving visibility at a minimum and testing my patience as a hunter. Finally, by 11am the fog was finally lifting and I could see the tree line at the other end of the field again. Noon was approaching and my husband text me, asking if I had seen anything? I replied with a disheartened, “No”. I hadn’t even laid my phone down from answering him back when I heard a sound to my left. Out of the willows, at about 40 yards, walked

a healthy, mature whitetail buck. I did not have time to study him in detail, but knew without a doubt he was a fully mature, big deer and without hesitation I took aim and squeezed the trigger. He flinched slightly and ran about 300 yards across the field. With my heart racing I watched as he dropped just inside the willows! Everything had happened so fast that I didn’t even realize the deer I shot had been the one we were hunting all this time. Needless to say, the excitement and pride we shared that day made it clear, I was now addicted to the hunt.

Dane Hildebrand anchored another monster mule deer in 2016. He is no stranger to big deer, and has numerous 250+” mule deer on his wall. The story behind the buck he called ‘Moses’ is the most incredible of all his successes. Amazingly, his hunt for Moses began in 2010, and it took 6 long years for him to finally tag the monster buck. The flyers and extras on Dane’s buck make for a truly special animal. His buck was entered into the record books as one of the top mule deer taken in Saskatchewan in 2016 with a final net score of 267 5/8”!

T BY: DANE HILDEBRAND

hrough the last few years I've had the honour of taking what most people, including myself, consider dream deer. It has been the most rewarding thing I've ever done, and has also been the most difficult. For anyone that has picked up a bow and tried to bow hunt mule deer, you know they don't come easy. To be successful, it takes a massive amount of persistence, dedication and hard work, all while staying mentally strong. Hunting one specific mule deer buck can “tear you apart". The first few years I tried bowhunting were rough ones, as I learned many lessons! Chasing after mulie bucks with my cheap Seneca bow, trying to get within range, then trying to hit my target beat me up both mentally and physically. It seemed no matter how hard I tried or how often I target practiced, I just couldn't get it done. I sent more arrows over buck’s backs than I care to remember.

One particularly failure left me trying to decide if I should even go home or not. I was too ashamed to admit to everyone that, "he got away" and I failed.

That evening I sat down and watched the sun set over the horizon with still over four miles to walk back before I could be picked up. I soon realized how brutal and unforgiving the sport of spot and stalk bowhunting could be. It seemed I had bitten off more than I could chew. That moment on that hill forever changed who I was, and have become as a bowhunter. I learned a lot in a short amount of time thanks to my cousin Steve Magill who took the time to teach me a lot, but I still believe one of the best ways to learn can be learning from your mistakes.

I can thank one particular buck for teaching me countless lessons. He was a deer that I have been trying to get my hands on for six years. In fact, I spent a good portion of my young teenage life chasing him!

I know it may sound funny, but he taught me almost everything I know today about bowhunting mulie bucks.

The story of this special deer started in 2010.

One day I decided to go scout out an area I rarely checked, to look for whitetail bucks. As I pushed a bluff of buffalo berry bushes, three mulie bucks ran out and one was a big framed three-year-old mulie that would change my life as I know it! He looked to be in the 180” range with a tall narrow frame! I quickly whipped my little Sony video camera out and recorded him and his posse bouncing away into a field of wheat. That year I travelled to that same spot looking for him but never managed to spot him again. At that time. I had no idea where he called home.

When the 2011 scouting season came, I managed to find him again. He was four miles away from

where I had first spotted him in 2010 and was also another 30+ inches bigger with a giant 190+ inch frame, multiple inlines and a big flyer that branched off his g2 well over 7"!

When archery season came, I found him bedded with a group of four does and a few fawns. Of course, they all surrounded him like they were his ADT home security, ready to sound the alarm whenever danger was detected! After a long stalk and confusion of which bluff he was bedded in, I spotted him less than 100 yards from me. One of the small fawns walked up to the king and sniffed his massive antlers. They were almost as big as the fawn! After watching the events, my heart started pounding out of control. I carefully snuck to within 45 yards of the beast and drew my bow. I rose to my feet and let one fly at the bedded monarch! The arrow sailed inches over his back! A storm of white butts running full tilt was the last thing I saw. The next day I was out looking again, but never managed to find him. Later that evening I received a phone call from a farmer I had permission from. He was harvesting in the area and said he saw a BIG deer with a "club" hanging off its right side bedded on the edge of his field! Instantly I knew which deer it had to be, but wasn't certain due to the fact he was over five miles south! The next morning, I was glassing the field and spotted him bedded in dry crunchy lentils! Even though it was an impossible stalk, the thought of waiting for a better situation for some reason never crossed my mind so off I went. Snap!

Crackle! Pop! Every inch I took sounded like a kid jumping on bubble wrap! After two hours of stalking in dry lentils, I got to within 37 yards of him! With nothing but a small hill keeping me from being total visible, I tried to stay as low as the eight inch lentils. After watching him for about an hour, he stood up looking the other way giving me an opportunity to draw and stand up. I put my first pin a tad high and released! My Montec broadhead skinned under his belly, just enough to leave blood on my arrow. Again, my dreams bounced away, over the horizon. After a few more close encounters, my stress level was at the max. A giant deer in big, new to me territory made for some of the toughest bowhunting weeks of my life! The 2011 archery season ended with me coming out empty handed and leaving with nothing but haunted dreams. Little did I know that would be the last time I would see him until 2015!

On a cool autumn day, I was headed back to an old spot to put up a trail camera for whitetails. As I headed into the bluff, I noticed two bucks staring at me, not 80 yards away. One looked awful familiar and after examining him through my binos, I knew perfectly well which deer it was. After three years of not seeing the big flyer mulie, I had found him again! He was smaller than the last time, but still would have been over 210".

He still carried that same unique flyer that he had in 2011, and had numerous small stickers off his frame. After having a stare down with the beast for over five minutes, he busted through the shrubs and was gone over the hill. A few weeks later I notched my archery mule deer tag on a deer I named "Elmonstro". Had that not happened, I would be pursuing my old friend Moses with bow in hand. As I continued to walk into the shrubs with my trail camera, I couldn't help but wonder how he made it this long? The fall season changed to winter,

then to spring with me not seeing him once since that fall day.

My 2016 scouting season began earlier than normal. After seeing how big a 250" mule deer could be in June, I figured starting early wouldn't hurt. From mid May to the end of July, I saw some impressive deer. One was a young droptine buck that caught my attention. I headed out to setup for him and try get a very good look. After glassing for about ten minutes and not seeing anything, I decided to lift my spotting scope up and check out the far horizon to a spot I had seen a particular buck for several years. I soon spotted two bucks feeding away from me over three miles away on the horizon. One of them was a complete FREAK! My heart fluttered and that warm fuzzy feeling filled my insides! From what I could tell, he had points going everywhere and he was still over three miles away! I scrambled out of the grass and threw all my gear inside my backpack and began to run back to the truck faster than Usain Bolt! After a short run, I tossed my out-of-shape-farmer-body into the 1/2 ton and tore off for a closer look.

I parked the truck nearly a mile away and again began to sprint towards his direction. Getting within about a 1/2 mile, I reached a hill that viewed the ridge he was feeding on. I emptied my backpack and quickly assembled my scope on the tripod. When I picked him up in my scope my voice turned to that of an excited little school boy! He was the biggest thing I ever seen with a distinct flyer on his right antler! As my mind began to come back to reality I realized which deer this was. “But how?� I thought. He was now a NINE and a HALF year old mule deer that survived and had seen it all, and he easily over 260"! As the sun set below the horizon I headed back with my mind working at 9000 RPM, trying to piece it all together.

When I got home later that night and watched the film I had, I realized I hadn't gone insane. I knew how rare this opportunity was and knew I had to figure out where this deer called home. The next day I was on the edge of the field with a good vantage point. 500 yards away, I laid in the grass watching him as he stood to feed. I got the look I needed and was in absolute disbelief. I watched him for over an hour straight and still couldn't count all his points. Every time I looked another tine

watching him feed and head into cover.

That evening I was back out with few of my friends that wanted to meet my old friend. We again found him not far from where he was earlier. A distant truck that was in the area spooked him further in the pasture as we watched him weave through the hills. I found him again five days later about another mile from where we last seen him. He was a smart old buck and was not going to tolerate any risks. A few days later while walking to my vantage point I bumped him up not 100 yards from me. He must had heard me coming! He slowly trotted away with a few other bucks and finally began to feed some 800 yards later.

A few days after, I was perked up on a vantage point with the sun at my back.

As I glassed the other side of a wide barren valley, I spotted what looked like a big antler. After 10 minutes of deciding if I should get it or not I had enough and headed out to get it! As I picked up the massive antler I realized it was a shed from Moses in 2011(the first year I shot at him)! That night as I admired that antler, I worried that again I would lose track of Moses due to spooking him the last time. Finally, 10 days later, the morning before the season, I spotted him further north in the distance, making his way across a flat, headed to thick cover. As he disappeared into the thick bush, I spotted a tree shaking and all his 36 points shredding it apart! That evening I was there again with my friend and cameraman, Jon Neustaeter. At last light, we saw him working his way back up to feed. We watched him until we couldn't see through our spotting scopes anymore. That night we called our friend Josh and asked if he would want to come with us for the morning hunt and help spot. He had his own monster that he watched during the summer but decided to throw it on the back burner to come help!

Opening morning found us split up, 300 yards apart, each glassing the area while the sun began to rise. After scanning the area, I picked up a deer so far away that all I saw was a mirage of mass! It had to be him. We all met up and headed back to the truck to go around and try to get a better look. As we walked through the hills a few miles, the sun was getting high and the deer were starting to bed down. We slowly crawled our way over each hill, glassing the sloughs and brush that laid in the bottoms. Jon decided to stay back and film from a hill as me and Josh crept up 40 yards from the small bluff of brush.

We glassed the area over good and didn’t see anything. With the brush being only three feet tall we figured we would see his antler tips sticking out unless he was in the only patch of taller and thicker brush that was not 30 yards from us. As we sat there and brainstormed an idea came to mind. We decided to grab a rock and throw it passed the shrubs to see if there was any movement. The problem now was there were no rocks!

Josh pointed at the binos around his neck as we quietly giggled.

By: Aimee Murray

appeared! His body was so enormous it looked like a rhinoceros with his sagging belly! The next evening found my friend Jon and I on the vantage point. We looked for over 45 minutes before catching a quick glimpse of him, Jon took a quick look and told me he looks like he has a burning bush on his head!

“Call him Moses,” he suggested, and the name stuck since he was a very old and wise deer that maybe couldn't part the sea in half, but could split a young determined boy’s dream in two!

He was now heading over the hill into a pasture that I hoped he wouldn't cross into. We went back and tried to intercept him to see where he was heading, but he vanished. I had a bad feeling as he was headed into lots of big, unfamiliar territory.

I spent the next 2 weeks scouting for him every morning and evening with no luck. I was stressed out of my mind, and mind boggled of where he could have gone. Not wanting to ruin this opportunity and let him slip through my fingers again, I was trying to figure out his home range. However, outsmarting a buck on his home turf at 9 1/2 years old isn't the easiest task.

He wouldn't move much during daylight whereas in the past, he had a known range of 18 square miles! With the work on the farm piling up and harvest season on at full force, it created a bit of tension between me and my Dad. On the balance beam stood my Dad’s workload that needed to be done now, and then stood my dream deer named "Moses" somewhere bedded in the abyss waiting for me to find him.

Thank goodness, on August 18th, my sister covered my late afternoon shift and I headed north in search of Moses. I sat for over an hour, watching a few smaller bucks and some does. As I scanned the far horizon, I spotted mass and trash well over a mile away. It was HIM! A feeling of relief came about as I watched him go up the hill and jump a fence. A half hour later I was repositioned watching him from 300 yards feeding on native grass. He was now over three miles away from where I first spotted him two weeks ago. With sloughs full of water and plenty of cover well away from any road or civilization, I had a feeling it was his home turf. The next morning, I was back out

Two minutes later found me at full draw and Josh trying to throw the second set farther than the first attempt that only went five feet. The strong wind wasn't helping! After the second set of Vortex binos hit the dirt close to the shrubs, we concluded he wasn't in there. WRONG! After some rough years of bowhunting past you think I would have learned a few "what not to do" things. With wind whispering in my ears "how stupid are you", I watched as the 200 and "God knows what" mule deer trotted away with another win under his belt! We walked back to Jon with whimpering looks on our faces saying a few choice words. That evening I saw few familiar bucks but Moses was nowhere to be found.

The next morning, I was back out solo looking for him. The sun was still below the horizon and the air was completely silent. I was glued to my eyepiece scanning for him, while my mind was in another state, praying to God to get another chance at him. With all the history I had with him, I didn't want it to end like that!

My prayer had been answered as he appeared between a hill in my scope! He was heading back to the thick draw I had spooked him in the day before. The only trouble was a few hunters that were driving around in his direction! As I watched him feed into the thicket, I saw the truck coming not 300 yards away.

They drove by and turned around. I watched the thicket for another hour for any movement before heading back to the truck. I called Jon to tell him I found him again but didn't see him bed. He then met me around noon to try a stalk.

With the wind in a direction that gave us a chance, the layout wasn't looking good. I had to try it. With the amount of times he left me searching, backing out wasn't an option. As

we approached the edge of the shrubs on the far north side, we immediately spooked a deer out. Not knowing if it was Moses, all we could do was continue. We crossed the thick draw and continued until we were laid flat on top the hill that overlooked the brush. We could see nothing, but heard what sounded like a moose in the bottom. An hour went by and Jon was passed out snoring in the prairie grass like a Hereford bull. Through the scouting season and into bowhunting, sleep is cut to about half and stress can double! So, having a sun snooze with potentially a 36-pointer bedded under 100 yards may have seemed crazy but it was reasonable! As I slowly started to back out to go get another angle, Jon woke from hibernation and I told him my plan. I went around about 80 yards east and crawled back to the edge. After a half hour of glassing the shrubs, 150 yards away, I picked up a small piece of antler bedded under the deep and dark brush.

After waiting for eternity for him to move his head, I confirmed it was him! I again backed out and got Jon. We then walked 100 yards back to the back packs to discuss a plan and maybe send a quick prayer upstairs. Our game plan was set and our boots laid back at our packs. As we crept along the bottom, trying to stay along the brush line two moose stood up not eight yards from us and began trotting out over the hill.

We paused for 10 minutes making sure he wasn't going to bust out, then continued through very thick brush! One step at a time until we finally reached the small hill that was overlooking his bed, not 40 yards away. As I slowly peeked up, I saw his massive rack swaying back and forth as he was feeding on the shrubs! I quickly repositioned and waited for him to take a few more steps forward to reveal his vitals, when Jonny frantically

said to me, "Dane wait, my memory is full on my camera"!

“WHAT?!” I replied. He quickly flipped though old videos trying to hit delete with his hands, shaking so bad I thought he was going to drop the camera! "Jon," I whispered, "You look more nervous than I am"! He switched his camera from playback to video and told me he was ready! Moses was slowly making his way out of the draw, just one more step! From my knees, I drew my bow and slowly rose, his head facing the other direction and my pin on his body. I was 37 yards away from a deer I've practically grown up chasing and now the last chapter could be in the books. The arrow released from my string and hit him hard making a THWACK! Having a few small shrubs in the way of the vitals, I wasn't sure if I hit any. As he sprinted away I saw my arrow and the blood on his side! We quickly went back to our vantage point and waited for any sign. After giving him 45 minutes, I spotted a doe and her fawns staring at something in front of her. As I met back up with Jon who went around

to make sure he didn't go out the back, we then circled back and found my arrow. I began slowly following the blood trail for fifty yards. As I looked up there he lay a few yards ahead of me! I yelled at Jon and skyrocketed my binoculars 100 feet in the air! Jon sprinted over and joined the yelling party! I pulled his horns from the shrubs and couldn't believe it. The six-year journey for a special deer that taught me so much about the sport was finally over! With a best friend to experience and video it right beside me! He had only gone 100 yards and tumbled in some thicket, my arrow met his femoral artery and part of his cavity, and for that I thanked the Lord! Although some won't understand, growing up bowhunting mule deer has brought me closer to God than a church may have. Sometimes no matter how hard you try you just can't do it on your own.

It’s like Garth Brooks once said, "Sometimes I thank God, for unanswered prayers".

www.saskbowhunters.ca

I

Tyler Jensen of south central Iowa with the monster buck he nicknamed ‘Butterknife’ for the thick bladed G2’s the buck carried. After locating the buck in 2015, Tyler tagged another buck and it is a good thing he did because Butterknife blew up in 2016 into a 185 3/8” bruiser. The buck has everything needed to score high including a 28 2/8” beam, 13” G2, and great bladed brows.

n the summer of 2015 I started scouting a new farm. First I started by looking over a couple of different areas, via aerial photography, that I believed may be ideal spots to pattern and kill a mature deer. After I narrowed it down to two areas, I set out to hang a bunch of trail cameras throughout each area.

After a couple of card pulls, I got one picture of solid buck I believed to be a 4.5-year-old scoring in the neighborhood of 165-170”. I decided to name the buck Butterknife, due to his bladed g2s that looked like a butter knife. I focused all my cameras in on the one location and started patterning the deer. I found the area he frequented the most was a little grass patch in between a high ridge and a large bean field. It seemed as though he would work his scrape over roughly every four days.

With my newly acquired information, I started to really do my

homework. I noticed he liked to enter the grass patch from a couple of different trails but he would always leave through the same gap in the fence after hitting his scrape. Hanging a stand on the fence row seemed like the most logical conclusion. I needed a south wind to hunt the grass patch and the fence was on the south side so I found a tree I believed would work and hung the stand.

Fortunately, I never got a chance to hunt Butterknife in 2015.

My friend had an old bully buck on his farm that he wanted me to focus on. October 31st was when I would get a shot at the bully buck and I made the most of it. It really bugged me that I had put so much time and effort into Butterknife and never got the chance to hunt the deer so when the summer of 2016 arrived, I was all in on Butterknife.

BUTTERKNIFE BY: TYLER JENSEN

Unfortunately, September came and went with no pictures of the buck. “Was He dead? Did I blow my shot?” I wondered.

Finally, October 5th rolled around and I got my first glimpse of Butterknife in the background of one picture, and he looked big! October 13th was the first night I had perfect conditions.

I sat my south fence row stand but he never showed. After my hunt I pulled the card on my camera and found That Butterknife had showed around midnight on October 9th. Luckily, he stuck around the camera long enough working his scrape I could get many quality pictures of him. In these pictures I could see he would easily top the 180” mark!

The next night, October 14th, I had good conditions once again to sit my grass patch stand. At 6:50 PM I spotted a big deer walk out into the grass patch. I put my binos on him and saw it was Butterknife! Only problem was I was running out of light fast. Eventually he worked his way to his scrape, where I again got many good photographs of him on my trail cam-

era. After few minutes of scraping, 49 yards away from me, he started angling towards the fence. I knew the spot he was heading for so I drew back and waited, but it was just too dark to identify my target with 100% confidence, so I let him walk.

After that encounter and another one just like it a few days later, I decided I had to make a move. He would start to seek out does in about a week. I decided to hang a stand up on the high ridge to see if I could catch him with good light yet.

One more close encounter on October 31st came and went, and I knew it was time to book hours in the tree. I knew does liked to bed on the ridge I was on, so I decided that was the stand I'd sit come rut.

It was November 11th, I had already booked 8 all day sits in the last 10 days and I was feeling defeated. A cold front just started coming through and I had a North wind. North was the worst possible wind I could have, but I thought I may be able to get away with it until 10 am or so with thermals being what

the yearling. The mature doe reared up on her hind legs and kicked the yearling on her way back down. This caused the yearling to run off 50 yards and out of my wind. Both deer settled and bedded down.

Minutes later I looked off to my left and saw a good buck around 150 yards away. I quickly identified it as Butterknife due to the end of his right main beam being black in color.

I immediately rattled but he ignored me. I tried grunting a few times which stopped him, but he was on a mission that didn't involve getting close to me. I watched him head down the ridge and rub a tree. I snort wheezed and that finally did the trick. I got him turned, kind of heading towards me but I knew if he didn't change his path I would not get a shot. As he approached the top of the ridge, he jumped the yearling doe that had got smacked in the face minutes earlier. She busted and ran right in front of me at 30 yards, I knew at that moment Butterknife was going to give me an opportunity! I ranged a spot I figured he would be and it showed 34 yards.

I grabbed my bow and drew back. He read the script and walked the exact trail I had ranged, I waited for him to clear the tree, and stopped him. I took a deep breath, settled my pin right behind his shoulder and let it rip. I watched as the arrow lodged deep behind his right shoulder and struck his left shoulder, which stopped the arrow. Instantly, I knew it was a perfect hit and he wouldn't go far. I lost sight of him in the thick underbrush but thought I could hear him crash.

they are. I climbed in my stand just shortly after 4 AM. Before the sun even came up I could he deer chasing, grunting, and rubbing all around me. Right at first light I had a doe and fawn walk through, right when she got dead downwind she stopped for what seemed like 20 minutes. Eventually, she decided it was safe and her and the fawn bedded right in front of me.

Around 7:20 a yearling doe popped out to my left and worked her way right in front of me. Again I was busted, the yearling doe stopped in the exact spot the other doe had, but this doe started stomping. This caught the attention of the mature doe who was bedded in front of me, who got up and walked over to

After calming down, I called a couple of buddies to give them the news. We agreed that I wouldn't go look for the deer until two of my buddies, Marc and Austin, arrived. We started blood trailing the deer, and the blood was persistently spewing out both sides. After 40 yards of major blood we spotted

him. This was the moment I had been waiting for, the realization of how big the animal truly was.

We all stood there in admiration of the deer for a few moments before snapping some photos and tagging the magnificent buck.

After the long haul out and showing the deer to friends, we decided to put the tape to him.

Butterknife green gross scored at 185 3/8� and Netted 168 7/8� typical. Some measurements include a 28 2/8 inch beam, 13 inch g2, and both g4s well over 5 inches in length. His 7 1/8 inch bladed brow and 3 inch "fire poker" point are my favorite.

All in all though it wasn't about score, it was the highs and lows of patterning and hunting a mature whitetail. If I'm lucky, I’ll get the chance to do it all again next year.

Definition of Lucky By

L

BY: CHAD WILKINSON

uck. That is a funny word and one that is open to a lot of interpretation. On its face, it seems pretty straight forward. However, when you dig a little deeper and apply it to the hunting situation, then there is a lot more to it than that.

Growing up I remember regularly hearing how lucky my Father was. He and a small group of friends almost always seemed to shoot the biggest whitetails around. I remember thinking that I hoped I would be lucky in hunting when I was old enough to take part. When the time came and I could spend time hunting with my Father, I realized he was not lucky at all, but rather prepared, efficient and smart about how he hunted. As a small child, I saw it simply as randomly finding a spot to sit, plopping yourself down then shooting the big deer that walked out.

As I spent time in the field I realized this was simply not the case. Like everything else in life, ‘Luck’ was created and was a combination of preparation, intelligence, positivity, flexibility, adaptability, focus and the ability to make it count when the opportunity arose. Although it was not as simple as finding a random spot to sit, it was as simple as figuring out where the mature bucks were, then figuring out where they were going to and coming from, then putting yourself in a position to intercept them, all the while being flexible and aware enough to quickly change your game plan if conditions changed. This is what makes hunting so incredibly fun. It really is a chess game where you pit yourself against an incredibly smart animal, and when you win, then the reward is a freezer full of meat and a trophy to remind you of the adventure.

As a person who is privileged to be able to talk to hundreds of hunters, it has become even more clear that those who consistently have success also have much more than their fair share of ‘luck’. In fact, they have figured out how to make their own luck. It is no coincidence that many of the largest animals taken every year have many familiar names beside them. This is because these people make sure they are prepared, efficient, smart, flexible, adaptable, focused, positive and willing to share.

The one trait that may surprise some is being willing to share.

This is absolutely an essential component of being a successful and a “lucky” hunter. Time and time again, I see those who are willing to share have an incredible amount of success while those who are not positive

and hold every piece of information tight to themselves struggle. Of course, this must be done with some degree of discretion and with those who are also willing to share back, but it absolutely leads to creation of more ‘luck’ when it comes to hunting. In thinking about this more, it seems to tie into the collection of information, and those who are willing to share end up with more information coming back to them as well.

Another important factor in dictating how ‘luck’ gets allocated, is managing expectations and definitions of success, and this is critically important. Ideally, a hunter would like to be successful every season, and this is actually very easy to accomplish if expectations are managed. If the definition of a successful season is to have fun, spend time with friends and family, and take advantage of opportunities when they come along, then virtually every season will be successful, and this may or may not include cutting your tag on the exact animal you hoped for. Again, this links back to positivity and your outlook on the experience. It seems as though those who focus on the positives are almost always able to write an amazing story of how their seasons went, and it almost always results in them tagging the animal they want, but when it doesn’t they still consider themselves ‘lucky’ to have had so many great experiences.

Another key trait that is common among those who are consistently successful and ‘lucky’ is their ability to focus on themselves and their own hunting experiences and block out external factors out of their control. This may seem selfish, but in fact it is the opposite. They do not worry about what anyone else is doing, or if anyone else is going to ‘ruin’ their hunt, but are focused on their own experience and that of those they hunt with or share with. The way this is accomplished is through confidence. These hunters are supremely confident in their own abilities. When talking about their hunt, whenever there is a bump in the road or some issue that pops up, perhaps an encounter with another hunter who scared away the deer they were stalking, or perhaps a trespasser, whatever it is, these hunters do not hardly seem to give it a second thought. It is simply a small part of their hunt which added to the challenge, and a part of hunting. It is not something to worry about or focus on, as they recognize this will do nothing to promote their own hunting experiences. Ultimately, luck in the hunting scenario is something that is almost wholly created by the individual hunter through their actions and attitudes. Good luck to everyone as you prepare this fall, and I hope you all have a lucky 2017 season!

Every issue of Big Game Illustrated is available free at: ISSUU.com/biggameillustrated

Double Draw

Dream Season BY: BRYCE VETTER

E

very year winter fades and spring arrives and with it another year to put in for the big game draws. Just like everyone else, you have to wait, hoping this year will be the year you get drawn! Most years the draw results bring disappointment, but sometimes the stars align and in 2016 I was extremely fortunate to be drawn for both moose and mule deer!

It was a dream come true and I was excited beyond measure.

My wife Jill was not quite as excited, knowing this meant that I would go scouting and hunting more than she may like! It was a once in a lifetime season approaching and I was planning to make the most of it.

With the long, warm summer days of August came frequent trips out to my mule deer zone, scouting and getting permission on the land. Both my brother, Reagan and Dad, Jim were also drawn for mule deer. We had spotted multiple good deer and gained permission on some areas with great potential for the fall hunts.

Finally, opening day of archery mule deer I was out by myself as both Jim and Reagan had to work. That morning I spotted

a good buck bed in a standing oat field, but it wasn’t meant to be, as the crop was just too tall to allow any shooting opportunity. The day ended without another opportunity. The next day my brother Reagan was able to make it out too. We made our way through the regular area, seeing lots of deer and a few nice bucks but nothing that was suitable to stalk. I’d decided mid-morning to check out a different area. On our way there I spotted four bucks out in a standing wheat field. They were a long ways away, but one looked pretty good! After watching him through the spotting scope for a while, we finally decided we’d better have a closer look at him. The wind was perfect and they were busy feeding as we began our stalk. The two small bucks fed off on their own, while the big one and his 160” friend decided to bed. We managed to crawl to within 21 yards of their antler tips and then settled in to begin the long wait for a shot. We waited an hour and a half when suddenly, out of nowhere, the big guy’s friend jumped up and stared a hole right through us! Bow in hand, I was waiting for him to bust and the whole thing to be over. Luckily, he did not know what

Bryce Vetter accomplished a rare feat in 2016, taking impressive specimens of two of Southern Saskatchewan’s most prized species, mule deer and moose.

His mule deer is a monster buck, netting 213 6/8”, while the moose is equally impressive with a 53” spread!

we were and he curiously walked around us until he caught our wind and trotted off, leaving the big guy sleeping, still unaware. Another half hour rolled by and I finally had to stretch my knees. I slowly came to my feet with my bow ready, just in case. Suddenly the buck’s head turned!

I instantly drew my bow and waited, but he did not move and I finally had to release from full draw. The buck must have heard me let my bow down because his head turned our way again, and I drew back again, but this time he stood up perfectly broadside and I instantly released the arrow and with that my personal best mule deer hit the ground! A quick follow up shot finished the deal and the celebration began. As I approached him, I realized he was even bigger than I had first thought. He had great front forks and good mass and width. I thought to myself, “He has to be close to 200" non typ.” Two months later I finally had him scored at Orion's taxidermy and was pleasantly surprised because he netted 213 6/8 non typical points!

Once my mule deer tag had been filled, my attention quickly

turned to my draw moose tag. Both my friend Rhett and I had been drawn in the same zone. I had spent several evenings out in an area I knew held moose, but had not had much luck spotting anything to hang my tag on. Finally, a week before draw season, I spotted a big bull! While I was taking pictures of him, I phoned Rhett and told him the good news. Due to work, we were unable to get out and spot again until the day before the season. That morning we covered a lot of ground and saw a few moose, but couldn't find the big guy.

Opening morning came and good friend Clayton joined along for the ride. The weather was anything but ideal with heavy fog and rain. We hunted all morning, not seeing anything with visibility at about 50 yards. We decided to stop in at one of the farmer’s houses that we had permission from and he pointed out a couple areas on the RM map that we should check. We headed to one of the spots, which was a couple miles from where I had last seen the big bull. While making our way down the trail alongside a large willow bottom Rhett suddenly yelled, “There’s a bull!” The visibility was so poor that is was hard to see, so we got out and headed in for a closer look.

The cow finally came into the open and stood broadside at 75 yards. I asked if he was sure he had seen a bull when suddenly you could hear splashing in the slough! I pulled up my gun just in time to see a large bull running through the water!

With little time to decide what to do, I sent a round on its way. The sound of a hit echoed back as he disappeared in the fog. We set after him and Clayton found a blood trail right away. We followed it for a hundred yards, but with blood looking marginal and visibility poor we decided to pull out and

wait for the fog to lift. It was a long wait but several long hours later the fog finally burnt off and we returned to look for the bull. His tracks were headed to a large slough and a plan was made for Rhett to walk one side and me the other. Clayton would position himself on a high hill and keep a look out in case he gave us the slip. We were roughly half way through the walk when I could hear a loud moose grunt coming from Clayton’s direction. Looking over, I could see him frantically waving his hands back towards where we had originally pushed the bull out of. I began to run as fast as I could back in that direction! After a 300 yard dash, I finally came up the hill to see what Clayton was pointing at! It was my big bull standing there at 275 yards! I quickly raised my rifle, between the excitement and the run, the shot was tougher than I would have

liked, but I was able to make it count and he only went 20 yards before piling up. Rushing over to see him, I was thrilled to see it was indeed the same big bull I had spotted a week earlier. The bull ended up stretching out to 53" wide, with a broken up left paddle making him easy to pick out I knew it was the same bull that I had encountered earlier. It was a great way to end a true Saskatchewan dream season.

The

SPOT BY: SCOTT PATAY

Scott Patay travelled three hours from his home in Kindersley, Saskatchewan to hunt a piece of property he had scouted out the year earlier, including finding a big shed in the spring of 2016. His dedication and time paid off big time as he anchored a ‘Studly’ whitetail buck that had a gross score of 184 2/8” and easily made the Boone and Crockett minimum with a net score of 171 3/8”. Scott also anchored a tremendous mule deer after following him throughout the summer.

PART 1

Hunting in Saskatchewan is something that I truly enjoy. One of the greatest aspects of never knowing what will be on the next trail camera picture, or what lies over the next hill.

Like many hunters, I'm always looking for 'the spot'. The spot where dreams become reality, the spot where we finally get face to face with the one we've hunted our whole lives. Little did I know when I asked for permission on a particular piece of land during the last week of the 2015 deer season that I was standing in 'the spot'. This new area was a three hour drive from my home in Kindersley, Saskatchewan, but the deer sign and terrain was something worth checking out a little further. Unfortunately, I was unable to return to the area again during the 2015 deer season and it would have to wait.

Fast forward to April 10th, 2016 and I was combing the area looking for some sheds. I stumbled upon a beautiful 6 point shed with a long main beam and an inline G3. This was all I needed to prove my theory that there was a big buck here! It was worth driving the three hours during the upcoming season. So, after a long summer of building hopper bottoms at my new job as a welder at HES Manufacturing, it was time to try my hand at an archery mule deer. Although I had two chances where I could stalk, maybe a little too close, up to a couple very nice mule bucks, the end result was tag soup.

Switching gears back to whitetails found me unable to get into the heart of 'the spot' because of cattle. I placed a camera on a fence post on a well-used trail, two days before I had plans to head north on a moose hunting trip, which again had me come up empty handed. Despite that, I was still excited because it was time to go check the trail cam. Upon arrival, the rancher was in the process of rounding up his cattle which was the moment I was waiting for, now I could get into the core of the area. So, as the last of the cattle were still in the corral, Deb and I gave the rancher a wave as we headed in to set up. Things were starting to come together now and all I needed was the G3 buck to be on our camera. Once we arrived home, Deb and I started scrolling through 700+ pictures that had accumulated. Many deer were on the camera but not the G3 buck. However, there was a huge dark antlered beast of a buck, a buck I immediately named 'Studly'! He had a Big Body, Huge Rack, he was a Monster! As the next few weeks went by, the weekend routine was to load old blue with peas and me, Deb and her

camera would head out. She enjoys taking beautiful wildlife photos, of which she got many good shots this particular day.

Studly was becoming less camera shy as the rut drew closer. The Saturday before the drive in, he crossed the trail right in front of us! He was even bigger than I thought. Later that evening, the plot thickened because, while going through the trail cam pics, the G3 buck made an appearance! Wow! What a problem to have with two great bucks coming in to the same area. After looking over the pics and comparing them, I decided I'd still hunt Studly and hope that the G3 buck would make it through till next year.

At last, opening day arrived. After a long foggy drive, I was settled in my blind, having a coffee waiting for daylight. As daylight started to break I could see numerous deer milling around. Still being quite foggy, it was hard to make out if they were bucks or does. It was roughly 8:10 am, when just like a ghost, he materialized out of the fog at about 80 yards to the right at a fast trot, there was my target buck. Unable to shoot due to many trees, I grabbed my grunt call and let off three soft tending grunts. This was enough to stop the buck, he turned and looked right at my blind. I thought my heart was going to explode at any minute, but somehow I managed to keep it together. Wondering where the grunts were coming from, he started towards the front of my blind. I slowly grabbed my gun and got ready for my shot. As he kept walking, he was not offering a good broad side shot and I was not comfortable taking a questionable shot and losing this beautiful buck, so I made one more soft grunt. He then slowly quartered towards the noise, at the same time I was shouldering my rifle. I steadied

but I can truly say this was not the case here. As I walked up to this heavy horned brute, all my years of hunting came down to this one moment. I have been lucky to take some pretty nice deer over the years, but nothing even compared to this moment! Right away I phoned Deb and said, 'Babe, I got him and he's huge!'. I also called my dad back in Cape Breton, where I'm originally from, and told him the news. I called all my hunting buddies, I was so excited I could barely contain myself. I finally did it, I shot a Boone & Crockett whitetail. My deer had 184 2/8 gross typical score and netted 171 3/8”.

I'd like to thank my girlfriend Deb for coming on so many scouting and trail cam missions, also for putting up with my obsession. Thanks to the landowner for allowing me to access and pulled the trigger. The buck then took off on a dead run until I lost sight of him in the red willows. Excitement and doubt now filled my thoughts, 'Why did he go so far, he should have dropped right there', I thought, so I decided to just sit tight in the blind a little longer than I would normally, not wanting to jump the deer. I sat for about an hour, poured a coffee and had a slice of pizza, then got out and went to start blood trailing my deer. As I walked over to where he last stood, it took me awhile to find blood, but once I did it was sprayed all over the snow in small droplets. I was then thinking, 'I must have got him in the lungs', so I continued on the blood trail, slowly making my way to the bush where I last saw him. This is where my excitement turned to a total letdown because the blood all but stopped. 'Now what?'

I thought. Again, doubting my shot, I decided to give him even more time, so I got back in my blind, turned on my heater and went through it over and over in my head. While sitting there I noticed more and more crows, and magpies circling the same area 200 yards behind where I watched the buck disappear. With this, I knew deep down I had indeed got my buck, so I high tailed it to the edge of the bush where he had run and edged my way in, stopping every so often to listen to all the commotion as these hungry scavengers were having their way with my deer. As I walked deeper into the bush, I could see the dark chocolate massive antlers laying there in the snow! We have all heard of ground shrinkage,

such a great spot to hunt, to the farmers for supplying me with peas and oats to keep the deer happy. Thanks to Bentley Co-

Part 2

J

- “Norm”

uly 13 was a day just like any other day. I woke up, had a coffee, and then it hit me. “The Big Game Draw results are out!” I had been drawn for mule deer. Only a few days later my girlfriend Deb and I were on our first scouting mission of the summer. It was seemingly uneventful, until eagle eyes Deb spotted a bachelor group of nine bucks feeding out in a dried up slough. One glance through the binos and I'd found my target buck, a triple drop tined, heavy velvet covered beauty of a mule deer!

Watching this deer became our favorite evening past-time, well that is when we had time in between unpacking our belongings into Deb's Grandmothers house in which we had moved into. Over the remainder of the summer, Deb and I spied on 'Norm' and his buddies for countless hours, trying to figure out his daily routines.

One evening in late August, Norm was walking along a side hill when I noticed something was missing. "Oh no" I said, noticing he had broken off one of his droptines, a tine I estimated to be 10 - 12 inches long. We spent too much time to give up on 'Norm' now, knowing he was still a great deer.

Fast-forward now to October 1st, opening day of muzzleloader season, which happened to be a rainy, windy miserable day, not fit for man nor beast. For some reason though, I couldn't wipe the smile off my face as I made my way through the deep coulees that 'Norm' called home. Day 2 brought a few moose sightings, one that I called in to 30 yards which was fun,

ben for scoring the brute and showing Deb & I kind hospitality. Bentley & his family are truly great people.

but close enough! Day 3 and day 4 had few mule deer sightings, but better weather and still no sign of 'Norm’. I was still determined to find where he was hiding. "Oh where could he be" I said to Deb. October 6 arrived and it was a great evening for a trip to 'Norms' hilly hideout, with yet again my good luck charm by my side, off we went! On our way to the area we noticed a once-standing cornfield had been harvested. “Could it be where he had been hiding these past few days?!” I said. As Deb and I crested a hilltop, there in all his glory, bedded down, roughly 200 yards away, soaking up the last bit of evening sunshine, was 'Norm'! “Ok it's Go Time!” I said, and slowly but surely we closed the distance to 125 yards. Just then he rose to his feet so quickly, so I got a rest on my steady pod and flicked off the safety. I squeezed the trigger, and sent the 250 grain

shockwave sabot.

When the smoke cleared, there he laid. A great summer of evening drives with my best hunting companion, was closed, with her by my side. Is she my lady luck?! Well I like to think so, because Deb was also with me last year when I took my biggest whitetail to date, but that's another story!!

This deer we call 'Norm' is in memory of Deb's Grandfather, former mayor of the town we now call home, Kindersley, Saskatchewan. 'Norm' scored 185 2/8 gross, even after breaking off 12 inches and was the winner of the Kindersley Wildlife Federation Biggest Non-Typical mule deer with rifle/muzzleloader. I would like to thank Lyle Waddington for doing the taxidermy work and to all the land owners who gave me permission to roam their pastures.

Photo by Hamilton Greenwood

George Galambos of Lake Lenore, Saskatchewan, with one of the most unique bucks taken in 2016. The buck has amazing character and is a once in a lifetime animal without a doubt.

Despite the narrow frame, George’s buck still has a gross score of 203 4/8” including 66 2/8” of abnormal points!

Chris Garland from RIPS Taxidermy did a great job bringing George’s buck back to life.

L

ike many avid outdoorsmen, my fascination for hunting began thanks to my father. My two brothers and I were all raised to be hunters, which meant we were raised to have the upmost respect for the outdoors and the wildlife in it. I have had a lot of good fortune in my hunting career so far. I’ve filled my tags on some good animals and have been able to spend countless hours in the field with family and friends on numerous hunts, making memories which will last a lifetime.

In 2011, I was lucky enough to be drawn for either sex moose in zone 41 here in Saskatchewan. This was the first year moose had been open in this zone and I was lucky enough to score 1 of 25 tags. My brothers and I spent countless hours scouting, looking for such an animal suitable for this rare tag. One evening, my brother was out scouting for moose for me when he came across two monster bull

Dream Come

True BY: GEORGE GALAMBOS

“Family really is what life is all about.

Take a kid into the outdoors, teach them to respect it and the wildlife in it, then you will have a hunter for the rest of your life.”

moose. He called me immediately and within days we were already planning my hunt for one of these giant prairie moose.

October 1, 2011 was opening day for moose and a day I will never forget. My Dad, one of my younger brothers and I headed out to the area where we had last observed these bulls a few days earlier. We arrived right at legal light and we were discussing what we should do for a game plan when our Dad decided that I should give a few cow calls. Unbelievably, I got a reply from the bush just 150 yards from us! So, with an instant adrenaline rush, it was game on! I grabbed my bow and rifle and ran towards the calls when out stepped an amazing bull.

At that time, he was close to 100 yards away. So, I used an idea

from watching Jim Shockey’s Hunting Adventures on Wild TV and put my bow up on my head and slowly walked towards the bull, grunting to try and close the distance. All summer I was practicing with my bow and was comfortable shooting out to 60 yards. I made it to 61 yards and I slowly nocked an arrow and just then the bull started to move off. It didn’t take long for me to decide that archery wasn’t going to happen and I quickly substituted my bow for my rifle. He ran out to 125 yards and sky lined himself, presenting me with a good, clean, ethical broadside shot. I put my crosshairs on him and pulled the trigger. With a loud WHACK the bull was stumbling. I placed a follow up shot and dropped him. It is common to hear of some

he could begin hunting with myself and his older brother Tristen. Tristen had some success the last few years taking a couple of very nice deer, and his first moose, which I was very proud of.

Early season was uneventful after I was unsuccessful with my draw applications. I purchased a regular season elk tag and my brother and I hunted hard through the archery and rifle seasons with no success. It was not all bad though, we met up with some friends and pushed some bush. They were lucky enough to fill some tags.

As the seasons were changing, the leaves began dropping and the crops started coming off. I would normally be out trying to find a whitetail worth pursuing with my bow, but time just didn’t permit. Once November came along, I knew that my sons and I would have to hunt extra hard to try and fill our tags on some great deer. My focus was getting the kids onto some nice deer, and I had no intention of filling my tag unless it was a really good one.

Opening morning found my sons and I going out towards some land our family knows very well and has hunted for years. It doesn’t see the same crazy hunting pressure as most places closer to home. Unfortunately, our first couple of spots brought us minimal success, so we decided to head towards another area we knew very well. Just as we headed into the area we wanted to go, my son Tristen spotted a buck in the field.

We headed around in the direction he was heading, hoping to get in front of him. We looked over to see the deer trotting just on the other side of the hill and all that we could see was the tops of his antlers. Suddenly the antlers stopped and I told the boys, “Let’s go, run up the hill!” I ran up the hill and when I crested the top I noticed the big droptine and then instantly, without even thinking a couple well-placed shots had him on the ground! The poor kids didn’t even get to the top before I had the buck down. My dream buck, that once in a lifetime deer was down and I was about to put my hands on him for the first time. I was so excited, I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to have had a buck of a lifetime down on the ground, and that I could share it with my two sons who were just as excited as I

ground shrinkage, but as we walked up to this bull he just kept on getting bigger and bigger! I couldn’t believe my eyes when I put my hands on him. All I could think was, “What a bull!!”

He ended up scoring 179 7/8” with a spread of 56 2/8”. One of the best parts was getting to share this moment with some of my lifelong hunting partners. This amazing tag, and once in a lifetime bull only took ten minutes into the first day of the season, proving scouting really does pay off.

Fast forward to 2016, I hadn’t filled a whitetail tag for a few years now as the whitetail population here in Saskatchewan was on the rebound from some harsh winters. My season started same as most with entering my name in the Big Game Draws. My youngest son Austin was turning 12 which meant

was, even though they didn’t get to fire a shot. As I proceeded to walk up to the deer, the amount of non-typical points kept

on growing. I am not a very smiley person, but the grin on my face has not come off yet. We snapped a few field pictures and I began sending them out to my brothers and close friends who also couldn’t believe what had just happened. I was on cloud 9.

To share this with my two sons made this buck and the whole experience my “Dream Come True.” The season was not over, because I knew I had to guide my boys so they could have a chance to fill their tags. After we got done cleaning my deer up, we went to the wildlife lands close to home to try some rattling.

We got to the first spot I wanted to try, got them setup and started banging the horns. Not 30 seconds in ran a little spiker!

Austin could just see his head. He never presented a clean shot but Austin was excited and disappointed at the same time. We moved to our second location and started banging the horns and almost instantly a little spike mule deer came running in.

Once again, the excitement was high followed by a little disappointment. I explained that it doesn’t always work out, but was confident that we would get them a deer. The boys did manage to fill their tags. Austin shot himself a little buck and Tristen got himself his biggest buck to date!

My buck is a 20 pointer, a nontypical 12 x 8 that carries 66 2/8” of abnormal points. He grosses 203 4/8” and nets 181 4/8” non-typical. I would like to give a special thanks to Chris Garland from Rips Taxidermy in Tisdale for bringing my buck back to life with this amazing mount. I would also like to thank my wife Stephanie for always being there and always being un-

derstanding when I head out hunting. My children Tristen, Austin, and Alexis for sharing in so many of these great moments in the outdoors. My Mother and Father for teaching me everything I know about hunting and the outdoors and my two

brothers for always being my hunting partners. Family really is what life is all about. Take a kid into the outdoors, teach them to respect it and the wildlife in it, then you will have a hunter for the rest of your life.

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Lenny

BY: MARK STURKO

Mark Sturko spent the better part of an entire Alberta hunting season, along with significant time in previous years, scouting and trying to pattern a big Alberta mule deer he nicknamed Lenny. He also had the help of several friends and it took all their efforts for Mark to finally get a shot at the huge framed buck. His big deer stretched the tape at 187”! Be sure

to follow Mark’s adventures on ‘The Fever” TV show on WildTV.

P

riorities for Mule Deer tags in Alberta are an average of a five-year wait, so my last mule deer, being my second mule deer buck, was my biggest with a gross score of 156''. My goal was to try beat that, while harvesting a mature mule deer buck with my 2016 draw tag. My large Sturko family and I have spent close to 40 years hunting together, including the last 25 in the zone I had entered for mule deer. With a few mild winters, the mule deer numbers looked to be healthy, making my hopes to top that previous mark of 156'' hopeful. I like to think I'm a good hunter, knowledgeable, with a way of finding good bucks. However, I have not had many antlered mule deer draw tags in my pockets over the years so I was hoping to prove in the 2016 season that I could find and harvest a target buck. Many have said I have horseshoes in my backend while I've been able to harvest a couple nice whitetails in years past. I like to think it has something to do with skill, putting myself in the right place at the right time, along with a little luck!

During the 2015 scouting season, (the year I was originally hoping to get my draw tag) my cousin Kyle Sturko and I were out watching over the valley and about six different bucks through my Vortex Optics Viper HD spotting scope with the Phone Skope attached. One buck that was in the group was a large framed 4x3 with an open look to his frame; whom we later named Lenny. I did not pull a tag in 2015, but continued to visit the area but was not able to locate Lenny. Talking with another hunter in the area, Ryan Friend, and some other landowners, it seemed that Lenny was seen and had made the season. My Cousin Kyle Sturko, Brother Matthew Sturko and myself had started filming our hunts about 15 years ago. It was a hobby, putting our stories and recoveries on DVD for family members each year. Well with my brother Matt's editing magic and my dedication as a cameraman, I filmed most of our hunts. This passion became a reality and our Show on Wild TV called "The Fever" is now filming our 4th season. I hoped to make Lenny a part of the show.

Talking with Ryan Friend, his brother Chance Friend, and Lane Skori we discussed their desire to film hunts and accept the challenge of filming and producing a hunting show. Once the draw results came out for 2016, I was finally awarded my antlered mule deer tag. Already having a front runner target buck on my mind, things started to get exciting for the FEVER. In mid-July, after a couple mild winters, the crops were full, the yellow canola fields glowing, with the bounding of mule

deer going through one by one. There velvet tines topping the crops with full summer patterns developing. Knowing now it was just a matter of time, I got a call from Ryan Friend. He had now spotted "Lenny" but this year to our surprise he was a 4x4.

The exact same frame with the double throat patch but his G2 was now split. With a couple weeks left to grow and watching some other bucks, I had started to develop my hit list and Lenny was at the top.

August had come and we now noticed Lenny has a 4’’ drop tine off his main beam on his right side. We knew Lenny wouldn’t score as well as some other bucks on the hit list, but he was a mature deer in the area, with his massive frame making him a special deer. We figured Lenny would gross in the mid 180’s or could be close to the 190’s but that didn’t matter, score is just a silly number. Ryan and I came up with a plan. When archery season opens, in Alberta it is a general tag. Therefore, I was going to film Ryan the first chance we got. The previous year Ryan and I couldn’t find Lenny after a week into the season. In fact, he seemed to become a ghost like most mature bucks once their velvet is off and they tend to break away from their group. With rumors of other hunters seeing Lenny in some areas quite far from where he summers, we had a little worry about losing this deer if we messed up.

September 1st arrived. Our crew had been practicing with our APA bows, gearing up for archery season. We’d been watching Lenny, who had now been nocturnal for a week or so, but our hopes were still high for opener. As our alarm clocks went off, it officially kicked off the 2016 season. Our coffee mugs were full and we were off to some lookout points to sit and watch the sun come up. The deer were out and feeding in the spots that we frequently scouted but there was no sign of Lenny on opening day. The next morning the wind was hot and hard, and after checking some spots Ryan and I went back to our lookout where we had been watching Lenny all year. After sitting watching for about 45 minutes, the sun had turned just enough. Then I heard Ryan say, ‘’There’s Lenny, he’s with another 4x3 that had some junk.” The other buck was now up feeding and Lenny was bedded in the perfect position. With the wind howling strong, we felt very good about our chance of getting in close. My brother Matthew was on the look out

and filming from afar and through the spotter with his phone skope.

Ryan and I worked around the other side of the valley getting in position to stalk in. Once we could locate Lenny we slowly moved into position. Belly crawling down the hill, inch by inch Ryan crested the high grass with his bow thus parting our way to the bottom where the bucks were bedded. Getting to within 80 yards, we couldn't get closer without losing sight of Lenny.

Luckily, the wind was strong enough. It gave us the confidence to try get around the last bush that we hoped would get us within 50 yards and in better position for Ryan to get a shot off. As we belly crawled around the bush and wiggled under a fence we wanted to get to a little higher spot about 10 yards away in hopes to see Lenny or the other buck. As Ryan was inching toward our next vantage I hear him say, "There's Lenny, coming right at us!" I got the camera on and started filming. Ryan got his release on, drew, set his 50 pin behind the shoulder. By this time, Lenny has walked close to 10 yards and is now closer to 40 yards away. Ryan shoots for 50 and the arrow sails over Lenny’s back. Our stomachs sank. There is so much going through your mind, although all good hunters make bad shots, myself included. I felt for Ryan as Lenny disappeared, for all we know he's now gone for the season. I always say everything happens for a reason and maybe, just maybe, Ryan's time is set on a different stage, for a different story.

Archery season goes by and we couldn’t locate Lenny anywhere. With rifle season nearing, there are other hunters flooding in the area. Some we know for sure are hunting Lenny. I seemed to hear the same thing, which is that he goes MIA at this time of year. I told myself that if the story of Lenny goes down ethically, I will be very happy for whoever is lucky enough to harvest him. Then, Friday October 28, 2016, while I was walking and checking some cams about two miles to the south, I came over the hill on the north side in the pea field.

There was a group of five mule does feeding in the peas and a huge framed deer just finished hopping the fence and made

it into the bush before I could get my camera on. There's a lot more going on when you are trying to film every moment you are hunting and when you are by yourself there's a lot going on, but I could not mistake that HUGE looking frame anywhere.

I was certain that was Lenny. It was still late archery season, but I did what I felt was right and backed out. Knowing he was there was huge for me, for him to stay there was doubtful but to know that's a spot he frequents could be a big advantage. I knew he was still alive and I still had a chance!

November 1st was on a Tuesday and I had the 1st and 2nd off work and then the weekend to try to fill my tag. I sat the first couple mornings on the valley where Lenny was almost always seen, but nothing. I figured sitting on that pea field could be my answer, but all I saw was other hunters. The bush was a crown piece of land and seemed to soak up the trucks. Not seeing any deer, I went to regroup. My whole life I've had success finding big deer by looking for the big groups of does so I went back to what has worked. During the rut, find the does, and the big bucks will appear. That afternoon I was north east of where Lenny was seen before and wouldn't you know it, there was eight does in a group. The next day that group was now 10.

I knew Lenny was there. I couldn't see him, but knew with the rut going to be in full swing any day, he wasn't far. He couldn't be far.

On opening weekend, I located two more big groups of mule does. I figured Lenny had no reason to leave his home area until he bred his does. Then he would have to move to one of the new, closer groups. Without a doubt in my mind I knew the next weekend I would find him. I felt confident the areas I had in mind to sit and watch. It was only a matter of time until Lenny would step out. The following Friday I was off work. That morning I went straight to where the main group of does were living and where I felt Lenny would be. This time considering how the wind was, I parked on the other side and walked in. As I walked up on the valley edge, I moved slowly, hoping to see the deer first before they saw me. I noticed some does about 250 yards in the bottom of the valley. I got set up with the spotter, and as I was watching the does I saw a buck come from behind the bush in full sneak, going after his doe rounding her back into the low spot back towards the bigger valley bush edge. It’s Lenny! With the camera not on a tripod, I had to hold off on the shot while I set it up!

I held still, got the camera set up to film, knowing he would only appear for split seconds. It was a situation where if getting footage didn't matter I would be shooting, but I knew I needed help. If I wanted this hunt to be memorable and on film to have forever, I decided to hold tight and just wait for my cousin Kyle Sturko to come film me.

I saw Lenny with a doe and knew he would stay with her.

They were about 650 yards out when Kyle showed up. I got behind my Montana Decoy and started to stalk down to where I had last seen them, hoping to spot "Lenny" before he spotted us. It’s crazy to see how the ground changes and how flat an area appears to how hilly it gets when you get there! We stopped and weighed our options, thinking maybe we were too close and should back up to take a better look, when out jumped Lenny! He was 250 yards, trotting when I got down to rest for a shot but I couldn’t see him. Then I tried standing but he was behind trees. I could not get the cross hairs on him.

Kyle was beside himself, wondering why the deer is just trotting away. Lenny works the bottom on me and is now moving to the top of the valley. I see he's going to be in an opening for only a split second. At this point, I did what gets me upset as a cameraman and ran ahead, losing my communication with Kyle. Thankfully, Kyle knew to just keep filming as Lenny approaches the opening in the bush, now 350 yards. I elected not to shoot. Then, as Lenny skylined, I was forced to not shoot again. Knowing there was cattle in the field on the other side, we watched him get away, yet again. My stomach sank but I saw his does down by the bottom so Kyle and I backed out. As I got back to the top of the valley, I could still see the does and thought, “He can't be far.” I felt he was likely still with the does and would stick around, but we backed out and went to

meet some family for lunch. I knew that I was going back in to sit the evening.

After lunch I walked to the top edge again and wouldn't you know it, the does were still there! Feeling confident he could be close, I stalked down to the bottom and sat in a bush that was maybe twice my size. I'm a big guy, but not that big. Knowing these does would want to head in my direction to their evening spot, I sat still with fingers crossed. After about an hour a few does were out and I could hear noise in the bush. Suddenly, out bolted a doe and Lenny was right behind her, but then gone just as fast.

Self-filming this wasn't going to be easy, but I stayed positive.

That's easier said than done when trying to film 11 does undetected! The closest doe was at 80 yards, and they were working their way to the north east just as I knew they would. It had to only be a matter of time until that hot doe would go and Lenny would follow. Crashing started up again in the bush and out the top in a split second went the twelfth doe, with Lenny on her tail! Gone again and out of sight. I remembered my Uncle once saying to me a long time ago that sometimes a doe must leave a group to be bred, as they want to be alone. Not sure if there was any truth to that on this day, but again Lenny had slipped me and I was running out of daylight and had a good walk back to the truck. Even with a cameraman I wouldn't have been able to get a shot off considering how fast Lenny was there, then gone.

As the sun came up the following day, I found myself on the valley edge, in my lookout spot for Lenny. I didn't even glance the bottom fully and could see deer everywhere. They were in the exact same spot Lenny was the day prior. Without even confirming he is down there, I headed down with my decoy and Buck Bombs. As I near the area, I could see them, but they were in a bit of a low spot. Remembering what happened the day before, I stayed put. As I got set I sprayed off a mule Buck Bomb doe in estrus on my boots and grass around me. Before I knew it, I had four bucks coming towards me, about 20 yards away but no Lenny. This group of deer had more bucks than does and I just knew this wasn't his group. He's never had other bucks around this time of the year. So, I took a 45 minute nap in the bottom of the coulee, then I made my way back to the truck.

The weekend came to an end with no luck on finding Lenny again. I had to go back to work for one last week before I had the week off again for our Annual 2016 Mike Sturko Family Hunt Camp. I felt like I had a good idea where he would be when I headed back to hunt so stayed optimistic while away at work.

The following Saturday came and I just happened to be with Ryan again while Lane was my cameraman. As we made our way to a good lookout, we instantly saw a bunch of deer and again Ryan says what became his phrase, ''There’s Lenny! He's about 200 yards, with a bunch of does and they headed back over the hill.” Without skipping a beat, I said, “Let’s go get him.” We walked over the fence and started our stalk.

This was my time. I could feel it. Everything was lined up perfectly. As we got closer we did a wide hook to try ensure the deer didn't double back on us and hopefully we could pin them in the bottom of the coulee. We spotted the group with Lenny in the middle of them. We slowly started to work the other way to get up on a high spot.

After running up the back side of a steep hill and out of breath, I looked and saw a bunch of does running to the east. Then a bunch more going to the west! I remember thinking, "Lenny's gone, he has to be.” Then, standing in an opening in the bush all alone is Lenny, thinking he's hidden by the bush. I ranged him at 282 yards, got down on one knee and using my other as a rest I got my cross hairs on him then off him, swaying badly! I knew the camera was rolling, and I pulled my head back, looked up at Lenny, and remembered what my Dad told me as a young boy when shooting, "Take a deep breath, find some calmness within the moment and make

your shot count!" I got back on Lenny as he started to take a couple steps. I put my cross hairs just above his vitals accounting for my distance, and feeling steadier I took my ONE deep breath, squeezed and BOOOOOOM! Lenny humped up, hit hard. He went about 20 feet, behind a bush then gets to a spot and beds down. His head dropped and I knew that Lenny was finally down. Feeling so blessed, I knew that everything worked out perfect! To get it all on film, to have this memory to watch with my grandkids one day means everything to me.

It's simply why I do what I do.

After all the hours put into hunting Lenny, I was ecstatic to get my hands on him. I've put many hours hunting Lenny, but Ryan Friend has put even more into this buck over the past couple years. I wanted to wait for Ryan Friend so we could go up to Lenny together. We did get a tape on him, it's not an official score but we got a green gross score of 187".

I'm very blessed to be able to hunt majestic animals like "Lenny" and put together our show The Fever. And on that day, the same day that kicked off our Annual 2016 Memorial Mike Sturko Hunt Camp held each year in honor of my Dad, Mike Sturko, who passed away with cancer in 1991. I was lucky enough to have him over my shoulder, in my ear whispering those words that he once said to me as a child. I took my deep breath and made another shot on the buck of a lifetime count.

Please follow our Show the Fever on Facebook, Instagram or our website www.thefever.ca.

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W

hen one thinks about trophy-class whitetail deer, provinces such as Saskatchewan and Alberta are the first to come to mind. Stories of monster deer coming out of south-western Quebec, on the other hand, are few and far between and rarely heard.

Quebec is not known for holding monster deer; however, the odd monarch does get taken from time to time. This is a story of one of those giants from many years past.

Berchmans Seguin, or ‘’Bat’’ as friends and family call him, is a humble, hard-working, soft spoken man and it was on November 12, 1961 that he took his largest whitetail.

“There was less deer in those days’’, explains Mr. Seguin.

“Baiting was unheard of back then. We would still hunt through the mountains and swamps, or watch over fields when we would be hunting alone. We would also do deer drives during the weekends when the group would be together.”

People were not trophy hunters back then. The focus was to take an animal in order to provide the family with meat for the winter. ‘’The deer population was exceptionally low that year. We were not seeing many deer and no one in the group had put a deer down. We hunted hard all season without any luck.

We were discouraged.”

Mr. Seguin was hunting on his in-law’s property to finish off the season and after not seeing a deer during the final morning hunt, he returned to the farm house to help his mother in law, Marie, “Me-Mere’’ Wallingford, with the chores. It was close to noon when everything was done, and it was then that Berchmans glanced out the window of the house, which overlooked a cow pasture, and couldn’t believe his eyes!

“It was a beautiful fall day, sunny and crisp with no snow on the ground. I was in house with “Me-Mere’’ when I looked out the window to check on the cows in the pasture, and that’s when I saw him step out of the woods. I immediately knew that he was big as soon as I laid eyes on him.”

the Past BY: SHAWN FOURNIER

Berchmans raced to put his boots on and quickly grabbed his rifle on his way out the door.

“I knew I had to act fast because he was not stopping as he crossed the pasture. He might have been on the trail of a doe, but I believe he simply wanted to cross the pasture in order to reach the next block of woods on the other side’’.

Mr. Seguin knew that he would only get one chance to take this deer, so he carefully stalked his way to the garden fence and rested his rifle.

“It was about a 200 yard shot. The buck was already nearing the other side of the pasture, and as soon as he gave me an opportunity, I squeezed the trigger.”

Mr. Seguin is known for being an excellent shot with his trusty Savage .308 and was confident at that distance. Only one shot was needed.

“When I pulled the trigger, I knew I had him. At the shot, he jumped and then trotted to the edge of the woods where he fell over”.

A great feeling of joy and pride came over Berchmans as he walked up to his trophy. And rightfully so, seeing as how he had never before seen such a big and unique deer.

Being the last day of the season, Mr. Seguin’s fellow hunters had gone into town to run a few errands to prepare for the upcoming work week, and upon their return, they were greeted with quite a surprise.

“Once the others arrived at the house to eat a quick lunch before returning to the woods for the final afternoon hunt, I explained to them what had happened. Everyone was shocked that such a big buck was taken during such a slow year, so close to the house, and during mid-day. When I brought the group to the deer, everyone became ecstatic. No one had ever seen a deer with such a big rack and big body in our area before. As

far as I know, no one had ever seen this deer before, and no one knew he was in the area or knew that he even existed.”

Although the deer was not weighed, it is one of the largest bodied deer that Mr. Seguin has seen to this day.

“I was happy to have the help to drag the deer back to the barn,” Berchmans said with a chuckle.

Berchmans Seguin is a great man. He has taken several large animals including other deer, moose, black bear, and caribou.

He has passed on his passion for hunting and the outdoors to his children and grandchildren. Even to this day at the age of 83, “Bat’’ will hit the woods and take any decent buck which presents itself. After all, hunting is not meant to be a competi-

tion based on the size of the animal’s antlers, and Mr. Seguin knows this well. However, the buck that he took back in 1961

is yet to be topped by family and friends alike, and more than 55 years later, it remains a story that will not soon be forgotten.

O

TWO fo

ur 2016 season started out with daily trips to the post office. Waiting and hoping for a Manitoba elk draw tag to arrive. Finally, the day came. With excitement, I opened the mail box and pulled out the envelope with a Manitoba elk draw tag enclosed. Brad, his girlfriend Steph and I were officially in the hunt for a Manitoba elk!

We spent the next while making sure everything was ready, preparing and planning. We were confident in the area we were hunting and our ability to get into some elk, but you just never know how it is going to turn out. The first bull came very fast.

We hunted one uneventful day and then Steph arrowed a nice 6x7 with a separate main beam on the second morning! Brad called him into 30 yards with the BUKU Elk Angel hybrid.

Steph made a great shot, folding the bull up 70 yards from the shot which elk hunters know is no easy task.

Things really died down after that. There were not many

bulls calling and not many sightings. The days were getting long. We were putting in the time, waking up at 3:30am to get to our spot to hunt in the morning, then dedicating the rest of the day to scouting, locating, and mapping certain areas. We spent countless hours on quads and on foot following tracks and using our hunting instincts, to get where we thought we needed to be, but had little luck.

Despite the lack of activity, we pressed on and we finally located a few target bulls. We recognized one particular bull as one that Brad had been chasing for four years. We spent the next few days studying Google maps and venturing into uncharted territory in search of these bulls. Things did not come easy, winching bikes through swamps and floating bogs, filling our boots and putting miles on aching feet through the thickest forest imaginable.

We spent days checking maps and travelling areas not meant

Dale Meyers and his friends pulled a couple Manitoba elk tags, and made the most of the opportunity, tagging two tremendous bulls using archery tackle!

or TWO

A Manitoba Elk Hunting Success Story by Dale Meyers

to be travelled, until we finally found the areas we were trying to get too, and knew that we needed to be. We were going to need the perfect wind and we were going to need to be perfect as hunters, but with our knowledge we figured we had a good chance. Due to a family matter, I had to head home on day one of our mission. Luckily our good friend and considered brother, Cam Lohmer, was more than happy to fill my shoes and join Brad for the hunt.

I woke up the next morning with that feeling in my stomach that I missed out on a great hunt, and by the time 10am hit, I knew something must have happened. I texted Brad, “Which bull is down?” Two hours later he sent me a picture of a tank of a bull that he called in to 25 yards and placed a perfect shot.

My heart was racing in excitement and a twinge of jealousy, but I was also so happy all our time studying these animals had paid off.

That night while we were sitting around admiring Brad’s tank of a bull, we were also discussing our plans for the morning hunt as I still had my archery tag and we still had a couple target bulls in mind. After considering temperature and the wind direction we decided on a path in. It was a path we had not yet taken, but we were hoping the risk was going to be followed with a reward to get a chance at one of our other target bulls.

3:30 am rolled around quick after a long night of stories, fresh BBQ backstraps and measuring out Brad’s bull that we rough scored at an impressive 349 4/8”! We started on our journey into an area we had never been. With all our scouting, RM maps, and Google maps we knew where we wanted to end up.

Once we got within a couple miles of where we wanted to be by quad, we shut it down, got our gear ready and started on

our way. While walking in, Brad and I both stopped when we thought we heard a mating bugle. So Brad got on the Elk Angel Hybrid by BUKU Calls to answer back. The response was a bull thrashing his antlers in the trees and letting out short bugles.

Brad called at him again and he went silent. Then he started again. We could tell he was angry, and he was also much closer! With a small strip slough between us and the bull, we were panicking to come up with the best idea to get him. Thinking the bull would skirt the slough to stay outside us we were going to split up but at the last second we decided to stay together.

This was the decision that made our year. As we settled into the

willows the bull charged full steam through the swamp right to the edge of the bush! I came to a full draw as Brad coaxed him with the elk angel hybrid. The bull made the leap over an old fence line and my arrow released. We watched the arrow

disappear through the ribs and the bull take off.

We waited what felt like two hours before moving in. When arriving at the downed bull we were both in shock at the size of the two bulls that we harvested within 24 hours. It would be two of the biggest bulls that were harvested in Manitoba for the year. We called up my brother Thomas Meyers who was just as involved in our adventure and he dropped everything and made the two hour drive to come help us retrieve the bull.

After quartering it up and loading it into our trailer, it took us

three hours of wading through waist deep swamps and winching the bike through some of the ugliest terrain Manitoba has to offer before we finally got the bull back to the truck.

We had this bull scored and it net scored 360 1/8! We had taken three bulls in the first two weeks of the season and the last two bulls combining for 700 inches of antler! This elk season will be one that will be hard to beat. A 340� bull and a 360� bull, both fell to our arrows within 24 hours.

E

very season in the field is filled with memories that will last a lifetime, memories that become permanently etched in our minds. From the first faint honks of geese in early September while lying in a coffin blind, to getting a glimpse of that cranker whitetail that has been in your dreams and eluding you for years, every moment sticks.

My 2016 hunting season was like no other. It was a year of firsts, a year of accomplishing goals and a year of catching up with that elusive monster whitetail that I have been chasing for years. With a hunt planned in Ohio with my great friend and owner of Big Al’s Decoys, Al Falkenstein in late October, plans to hunt the vast prairies and coulees of Southern Alberta and drawing a tag for the Saskatchewan non-resident whitetail season, I knew it was going to be a busy year.

With my Ohio hunt for waterfowl and whitetail a success, harvesting a respectable 6X4 whitetail in the mid 120’s, and Southern Alberta proving to be successful as well with plenty of waterfowl and a small 3X3 whitetail, there was one hunt left.

One hunt left to harvest my third whitetail of the year.

The Saskatchewan hunt is something I look forward to all year, not just because of the amount and size of whitetail in the area we hunt, but because of the people we get to visit. The Saskatchewan non-resident season opens on the 25th of November and typically, my father in law Dale and I would head out on the 24th to meet my brother in law Justin at the Craig ranch where we stay for the week. 2016 would, however, be a little different. We would not be heading out the 24th, but the 26th, missing the opener and a portion of the second day.

The trip out to Saskatchewan on the 26th of November was

filled with the same things as years prior. Dale and I investing a small fortune each into meat products at a wonderful meat shop, the vehicle stinking like garlic sausage and lots of laughs.

The plan was to complete some projects around the Craig Ranch upon our arrival before doing anything else on the 26th.

Arriving at the ranch around 10:30am, we got to work on the projects in the hopes we would be able to finish the day off with a hunt. It was around 1 o’clock and after finishing that, we decided to gather our things and get ready to go finish the day off in the field.

There would be six of us heading out from the ranch, two being first time hunters. We decided to go to an area that we know well, that we know holds whitetail, good whitetail. We pulled into the pasture on the old road leading in and made a plan. Four of the group decided to go for a walk through the scrub brush on the eastern side of the grazing pasture which is a well-known path of travel for whitetail going from crop land to bedding areas, while my father in law and I decided to head to the western side of grazing land. After dropping my father in law off, I decided to drive about 400 yards further down the old road and walk in from there.

I gathered all my gear and headed south of the truck towards the rolling hills that the deer frequently use as bedding areas. As I reached the bottom of the first hill I noticed a very well-travelled game trail and decided to follow it, the trail was full of fresh sign and led me up to the crest of the hill. When I looked over the top I saw some mule deer feeding around 300 yards away from me on the other side of a draw. With my father in law 400 yards to the east, I didn’t want to blow the mulies out of the draw and ruin either of our walks, so I sat and watched them for a few minutes. While I was watching the Mulies graze, I noticed that they were continually looking to their right, down the draw that was in front of me at something. I suspected either more mule deer or a coyote. In the distance, off to my left, I saw Dale, who was now further in than me, so I made the decision to push forward through a low spot that would hide me from the mulies. I must have only moved ten yards diagonally to my right when I saw something out of the corner of my eye bedded on the side of the draw.

Instantly, I could tell he had a large amount of bone on its head so I immediately hit the ground to get out of sight. I was only 20 minutes into my first walk on the first day of hunting, so my thoughts mostly revolved around doubting what I thought I saw, and hoping it is what you think you saw.

After a few minutes making a plan of attack, I decided that I would drop my pack, and crawl slowly over the top of the hill that was in front of me, allowing me to get a good look at what was bedded on the side of the draw. When I got to the top of the hill, I was pinned immediately, dressed in blaze orange, sticking out against the dormant prairie grasses. I was now 200 yards from the largest whitetail I had ever seen on hoof and had him in my sights! With my heart pounding, I spent a lot of time talking myself down, calming my nerves, praying for my aim to be true.

The

SPLIT BEAM Buck

BY: KURTIS BACHMAN

Kurtis Bachman capped off his 2016 season with his annual trip to hunt Saskatchewan, and to say he ended his season well would be an understatement! His Saskatchewan hunt had really just started and less than an hour in, he found himself standing over a beautiful, 192 4/8� whitetail buck Greenwood thatHamilton would make most Photo hunters fall apart!

There was a period of about 15 minutes that went by with the crosshairs on the vitals of the giant, waiting for the perfect angle. With one last deep breath and a slow exhale, I squeezed the trigger and watched him go down in a pile, hearing the thud of the impact from my 150 grain round out of my Savage 7mm Rem Mag.! I sat in disbelief of what has just unfolded in a 45-minute period from leaving the truck! I racked another shell and held on the giant until I felt comfortable that he had expired.

There are no words to describe the feelings rushing through

a person’s body, respect for the animal that you have just harvested, the excitement of the hunt and knowing that you have accomplished what you have dreamt of for years. I sat in disbelief beside the fallen giant until the rest of the group arrived to assist with the short drag out. The disbelief I was feeling was felt by all in the group.

The official Boone and Crocket score of my non-typical whitetail is 183 4/8" net and 192 4/8" gross. As I understand from talking with some of the well-known hunters where we hunt, this is the largest whitetail to come out of that area in

some time. Looking back on that day one thing rings clear, you never know what day will be yours to make dreams come true and you never know what is over the next hill until you climb it, in the next slough bed until you push it. This is the drive that keeps every hunter walking, pushing further past ex-

haustion to cover that extra ground in the chase of your dream buck. Any good whitetail hunter will tell you, as my father in law has told me, put yourself where the deer are and good things will happen.

Keep chasing your dreams.

Rob Rongers with an Indiana Hammer he tagged in his home state. The giant buck ended up scoring 191 5/8”! Incredibly, Rob had never captured the buck on trail camera, even though he ran many in the area.

Rob had a tough season plagued by terrible conditions and was sick the day he took the big deer, but his wife Carrie convinced him to go back out that day. He will have to thank her every day now when he looks up to see the big bruiser buck on his wall! Follow Rob’s adventures on his Facebook page Indiana Antler Addicts.

I

t has been awhile since I have harvested a mature whitetail on Thanksgiving, most often because I am already done and my tags are already hanging on a good one. The Thanksgiving morning of 2015 was one that I will never forget, and will have a hard time topping for a long time. The Indiana deer season was already in full swing with the rut dwindling down. I typically take three weeks off in early November to capitalize on the rut here in Indiana. I have found you can never go wrong sitting in a tree that first week of November. That magical November 6th-9th has probably been responsible for more mega whitetails throughout the Midwest than any other days in the year. Needless to say I had been hunting hard and bouncing around between my farms, trying to meet up with one of my target bucks. The end of October came and went without much to talk about. I did have an encounter with a mid 150s ten point that never offered me an ethical shot. I actually saw him twice, but could not seal the deal.

It was now November and the weather was not helping at all, with temperatures in the 60’s during the day and mid to upper 50’s at night. I knew a lot of the cruising and chasing was being done at night, and the deer movement was very slow, to say the least, during the day. My cameras were being lit up with a ton of pics of big mature bucks doing their thing but having them do this at night was not helping me, and I was beginning to get frustrated. Day after day went by with minimal activity.

Smaller bucks were showing themselves, but the bigger ones were not wanting to play. During this two week window of November, I always hunt from dark to dark as much as I can, and I am religious about it. I always want to increase my chances and put the odd’s in my favour as much as I can and that is what I was doing but it was just not happening. There was three days where temperatures got up to the mid 70’s which is crazy hot for this time of year! As the days went on, I never saw any of my shooters during day light hours but I kept putting in the hours.

Several days before Thanksgiving I got sick and was dealing with a cold that was not making anything any better. I was run down from hunting since September 15, the early season before opening day of archery on October 1st and I had been hunting hard since then, along with my work schedule and my two daughter’s soccer schedules. Opening day of Indiana

firearms season came and went, and things were not looking good, with no real sightings of any big ones, I was feeling like I got hit by a truck and the weather was something that continued to hurt our chances. My nephew, Jacob Anderson, hunts with me when his work schedule allows him to, but somehow, someway he finds time to sit in a tree a few more days during this time of the year than the rest of the season!

I hunted the day before Thanksgiving, returning home in the evening. I walked into the kitchen and met my wife who was cooking for Thanksgiving dinner and preparing several dishes we would eat the next day. She said, ”You look like you’re wore out” and I just chuckled and replied, “Yep, I feel like hell. I don’t think I’m going to go in the morning.” I thought to myself, “I’m sick, tired and it’s supposed to be terrible weather again, warm, very windy and rain all day”. She turned and looked at me and said, “Rob you have to go, Jacob has hasn’t hunted much this year because of school and work and he wants to go bad, he only has a few days off so please take him?” At this point I didn’t want turn this into an argument so I said, “Ok, I guess”, then asked her, “So I can’t sleep in for one morning?” She said firmly, “Umm, no, text Jacob and tell him you will take him in the morning.” So that is what I did, texted Jacob and said, “Be ready at 4am and I’ll pick you up.” The next morning came and I barely got out of bed, but slowly loaded up and headed to get Jacob for our 45 minute drive to the farm. We got to the farm, got dressed and headed out, down the side of the property and got to our “meeting spot” where he went his way and I went mine.

Before I left him I said, “Let’s just hunt to 9:30 because we have to go to Thanksgiving dinner at 11:30.”

He agreed and we then went our own ways in the dark.

As I was walking to my stand it had started to rain lightly already, only to start raining harder as the morning went on. Once I got settled into my stand I looked at the radar and saw that it was going to pour in the next hour or so, I texted Jacob and said, “Instead of hunting to 9:30 let’s hunt to 8:30, we are gonna get pounded in awhile!” As it got light out I confirmed what the radar was showing us, it was just west of us and was going to get us soon, dark blue and black skies already with strong winds and rain. As I sat in my tree holding on, the rain got harder. I was just getting ready to pull up my hood and put my phone away when I looked straight ahead out in front of me and saw a deer, just standing on a dike looking back from where he just came from. He was 100 yards away at that point but he was standing in some tall tan grass. I said to myself, “That’s a good one” and just as I said that he turned and came trotting down the dike towards me, closing the distance. I said to myself, “This isn’t happening to me, can’t be, no way,” and the next thing I knew he was standing 20 yards in front of me behind a tree, directly downwind of me, tongue sticking out panting like he just ran ten miles. I already had my cross hairs on him and he needed to take one more step. It took forever, but he finally took one step and I squeezed the trigger and the shot found its mark! He was hit hard and ran to the right of me and south across an open meadow type opening into some grass/cattails towards Jacob.

Jacob was hunting 250 yards from me and I thought when I shot that he might have seen the deer running in his direction but he didn’t. Just as I shot Jacob texted me, “Buck or a doe”? and I told him, “A big doe”. We made a plan to meet up so I got my stuff together and climbed down and walked in the direction of the buck. I just had to peek before going to get Jacob, I walked through the grass/ cattails and it didn’t take long before I saw him lying there. I eased out of the woods to the field edge and Jacob was already standing there excited to go track a deer. He asked again, “Big doe? How big?” I replied, “Pretty big, my biggest yet!”

We walked down and into the woods and he spotted it right away! “Oh my God, no way, holy moly, a big doe huh?!” His eyes were as big as paper plates. I’ll never forget it. He got down and admired it for awhile. I made some calls to the boys and told them, along with calling my beautiful wife and thanking her for making me go hunting that morning and that we might be late to dinner because we had to load up an “Indiana Hammer” into my truck!

The deer ended up scoring 191 5/8” and field dressed 219lbs. I had no pics of this deer, not one! I truly believe this deer was bumped

from another property next door and ran into mine the way he was acting and breathing. It was simply a “right place, right time” situation for sure. That is why I call this deer the “Carrie buck” If it wasn’t for my wife Carrie pushing me not to give up, I would have never seen this beautiful animal that morning!

Fence Walker BY: ROB RONGERS

I

will admit that I am shocked that a deer this big was using the property I hunt. I have, over the years, taken many nice, big, mature deer and have seen bigger deer, but it seems that they are always cruisers or deer passing through, on to the next farm over.

They typically don’t stay around too long, often only during the early part of the year.

September and the first two weeks of October are when I spot them and then they tend to spread out a little more in anticipation of the rut. I had no pictures of this deer from the year before, nor had the guy that hunts the next farm over. It was one of those deer that just pop up and set up shop.

I put out cameras the end of June and did not check them until Mid-August, just as years past when I checked cameras, I had some nice deer hanging around but no slammers, just solid deer that would make any hunter proud to harvest. There was no real work to be done except trim shooting lanes and hang stands in the general location of where we over the years to consistently harvest our deer and then wait until the Indiana Urban Season opens on September 15. On the way home one day, I had to make a few stops and ran into a family member that owns the property next to me and asked, “Have you seen the big deer lately?” I responded, “Which one?” and he said, “It was the biggest deer he had ever seen in the area, ever!” I kindly replied, “Well I’ve seen a few deer that are nice but no real big ones yet?” He

Rob Rongers with the second 190 class buck he took in the same year hunting in Indiana! His neighbour is a non-hunter, but tipped Rob off on the giant buck that was feeding on the property line between the two.

Amazingly, Rob tagged the big deer only one hour into his first sit on a new stand hung based on his neighbors advice! Rob’s story is a good lesson, in that it pays to get along with your neighboring landowners.

said, “Oh you will know it when you see him, he’s been hanging out the last couple of evenings on the back-fence line behind my shop.” I said, “Well thanks, I’ll keep my eye out for him. In closing he said, “I’ll take a picture of him if I can from the shop and give it to you so you know what he looks like.” September 15th came and went and I only saw two does with no shots fired. Several days went by and three small bucks and small

does were the only visible deer that I saw in my normal stand set ups. I decided to set up a stand on the back side of the property, along the fence that separates the two properties in hopes of seeing the big buck my neighbour told me about. “Why not, I will give it a try since my neighbour doesn’t hunt” I thought.

I hung the stand and waited for a few days to hunt it until October 1st, which is Indiana’s opening day of bow season. I did not hunt it in the morning, but hunted it in the afternoon, harvesting a mature doe. On October 4th, I came home from work and had two pictures from the property owner next to me in my mail box. I never thought he would get a chance to take pics and then deliver them, but he did and my jaw dropped! It was an absolute giant deer. He has an outbuilding/shop that he piddle paddles in, and that butts up to my property. I was so anxious to get back out there, I couldn’t take it but I couldn’t hunt until October 6th because of my work schedule. The night before October 6th came and I was getting everything ready to hunt the new stand on the fence line that I hung weeks prior. I had not hunted this stand in the morning yet, only one evening sit. The pictures he gave me and the sightings of the deer had all been in the evening but I just had one of those “hunches” we all get from time to time to hunt where your gut tells you so I did. I hunted it the morning of October 6th. It was cooler than normal for that time of year for us which was nice. I typically don’t hunt mornings until late October but again that “hunch” had me get out of bed that morning for some reason. At first light, I had one small four point come down the right side of my stand following the fence back into a wet CRP patch they bed in. It wasn’t five minutes later and I almost fell backwards out of the tree, right behind the four point was the deer my neighbour talked about! The pictures of the deer matched the monster walking my way! I only had seconds to grab my bow and shoot. It was a 15-yard shot broadside, but downwards and the only shot I had. The Lord blessed me with a good shot and he bounded away behind me and into the CRP. That fast it was over. I had no time to see him coming, no trail cam pictures, and only knew he was alive thanks to a neighbour’s view from a shop window. It was all over in less than one hour in stand and seconds to shoot.

I could barely get out of the tree, but I did. Everyone was working that day except my Dad who met me for the tracking job. The deer only ran 75 yards and made his final resting spot right where I thought he would.

I am not sure if a hunt will ever go as smoothly as that and I doubt I will ever have a year ever again harvesting two 190” deer! I am truly blessed for my family, friends and the hunting opportunities that came my way that fateful season where everything fell into place perfectly.

Campfire Chronicles BY: CHRIS MAXWELL

The Podcast The best blend of social media and talk show radio.

While most people are familiar with mainstream social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter many in the hunting world are now just starting to discover the podcast. The tide of the Podcast is quickly rising and its prevalence is growing as fast as its popularity. While Podcasting in other areas is well established it seems that Pod Casting in the hunting community is just starting to hit its stride and popularity is soaring among listeners hungry for information.

What is a Pod Cast anyway? Who starts a podcast? Where do they come from? These are all good questions for those of us who have just started listening in. In its basic form a podcast is really just talk radio. I had the pleasure of talking to several popular hunting podcast hosts and they all have similar roots in origin. Grass roots initiatives focused on a hobby they loved with no intention of making money. Simply put these guys just love talking hunting! While some podcasters maybe more technically knowledgeable than others all successful podcasters have two things in common. First they have a lot of experience in the outdoors and second they bring on interest-

ing guests most of us would never have the chance to converse with in our day to day lives.

The hosts of Highlander Hunting view the podcast as a blend of old and new with elements of traditional talk radio and yet the popular and super accessible characteristics of modern day social media all rolled into one. Perhaps one reason why they have become so popular is because a podcast does not require you to use all your senses. TV requires you to use your eyes and ears, social media requires your visual attention, but with the podcast you simply listen which allows you to do other tasks why still absorbing this mix of social media and content listeners are soaking up. Why is this important? It means you can now get your social media fix while doing things like driving, mundane office tasks or other activities that require your visual attention.

Jay Scott, a well-known and respected Arizona outfitter the host of the Jay Scott Outdoors Podcast attributes his success to the educational value his listeners are receiving. “People are thirsting for knowledge” A lot of Jay’s feedback is from peo-

Jay Scott Outdoors Hunting & Fishing

Mike Highlander Hunting Podcast

ple commenting on how much information they are receiving from the podcast and Jay’s whole approach is about learning more about the species or topic in question. He often refers to himself as a “student of the game” which really shows no matter how much you know there is always more to learn. Jay’s approach is not unique however. The Hunt Backcountry Podcast hosted by Exo Mountain Gears Mark Huelsing also takes a similar approach. Knowledgably guests speaking to interesting topics with listeners getting valuable information, it seems to be the format for success. The Hunt Backcountry Podcast focuses on really trying to blend the social media aspect into the talk show radio by incorporating audience feedback, comments, and topic requests into their show. It’s no wonder why the format is so appealing to listeners; it really is an interactive platform that listeners can get engaged in.

The Highlander Hunting crew has a similar approach but with a slight twist. While many podcasts cater towards intermediate to advanced hunters and require the listener to have some kind of hunting background to really understand some of these in-depth discussions the Highlander crew focuses on newcomers to the sport. Relevant information a newcomer needs to get started and to get out there is the theme for these guys with a specific emphasis on backcountry hunting. Topics are relevant, easy to understand and the podcast is a great starting point for anyone looking to get into the hunting scene.

Why have Podcasts resonated so well with hunters? It seems that just like a TV viewer starts to feel they know a reality TV personality a podcast listener starts to feel like they know the podcast host. Mike from the Highlander Hunting podcast indicates that they have received a lot of e-mail from listeners who talk to them like they are old friends picking up from where they left their last conversation off. And what do the hosts think of this… well they all think it’s great! The audience

Mark Huelsing The Hunt Backcountry Podcast

interaction is really what has engaged people in this media.

So this begs the question why start a podcast in the first place?

For some podcasters that are running a business the podcast can act as a platform to help market their company and be a natural extension of their brand marketing engaging their end users with credible topics that incorporate their brand, for the vast majority however the start of the podcast was just out of pure love of the sport. Jay Scott loves talking hunting, strategies and interviews arguably some of the best hunters and outfitters in the west. The Hunt Backcountry podcast although incorporating their EXO Mountain Gear brand was really started because the love of the backcountry and wanting to gain and share information with their listeners. The Highlander crew as you can well imagine just love talking hunting and want to encourage and inform new and urban hunters.

Every podcast has its own unique flavor and is a direct reflection of the host’s personality not a corporation or management’s agenda; I guess that is what attracts a lot of people to them. It’s the homegrown approach, relevant information and entertainment value.

If you have never listened to a podcast before do yourself a favor and download a couple to your phone. I can almost guarantee you will get hooked on them!

Good luck this fall!

Some recommended hunting podcasts for download: Jay Scott Outdoors Western Hunting & Fishing The Hunt Backcountry Podcast Highlander Hunting Meat Eater Podcast Wired To Hunt

John Highlander Hunting Podcast

Nick Pilote of Lacombe, Alberta had gone three full seasons without filling his whitetail tag because he had not found the one he was looking for. That all changed in 2015 when he first encountered a buck he called Double Drops! It was a long time coming, but he finally tagged Double Drops on his last day of the 2016 hunting season.

Double Drops BY: NICK PILOTE

T

his story is about a man and a deer, and includes a lot of luck on the last day of hunting season. My 2015 hunting season started out like most, going to coffee and picking up my trusted hunting friends. This would be my last day of hunting for the year, and the rutting activity was at an all time slow for the bucks in the area. I planned to start at one of the lucky blinds we called “Farm Stand Blind”. The plan was to just sit the morning and do some calling and see what the movement was like. Over the years at this time of the month the movement is slow, but there was a good food source and lots of does in the area. We sat all morning enjoying the beautiful morning as small bucks and does fed in front of us. It was late morning when a buck I would name “Double Drops” came out

and crossed the field on top of the hill about 700 yards away. I got a good look at him and was impressed and knew instantly he was a shooter but he continued his way and did not pay attention to the does or other bucks and stayed out of my range.

We hunted the rest of the day in that area and made our way back to the “Farm Stand Blind” for the rest of the evening. At last light, he crossed the same field as earlier and again didn’t follow the food or the does. This was the last we would see “Double Drops” for ten months.

Spring came and there was no sign of “Double Drops”. Late summer I got a phone call from my hunting buddy telling me he got his mule deer buck tag and it was his very first mule deer buck tag for Alberta!

We started mak-

ing plans and getting permission for the mule deer hunt, as it was agreed that I would guide for him.

I accepted that whitetails had to be put on the side until the mule deer hunt was complete.

Fall was extremely busy juggling work, family and bird hunting with my best bud, my chocolate lab “Dozer”. When bird season came to a close it was on to focusing on deer.

After two and half weeks of guiding for mule deer bucks my hunting partner filled his first Alberta mule buck tag. We both started focusing back on whitetails with the thought of “Double Drops” on ours minds. The Whitetail movement was slower than normal with lots of ground fog in the area. This was making it hard to do long range scouting, so we decided to split up to cover more ground, meeting up for lunch and to share sightings of deer on the properties we hunt. November 16th, with bad fog in the area, my hunting partner and I decided to head home early with family commitments in our evening schedule.

As we passed by our last piece of property we looked off into the distance, and on top of the hill like a

ghost was “Double Drops” with four does, just standing there looking at us! With only 15 minutes left of hunting time all we could do was look at him in the spotting scope and make plans for the morning hunt.

I was leaving for work up north the next day and would not be able to hunt with my hunting partner, so the plan for him was to set up in the field with hay bales as a blind. Again, the fog was bad that morning and, as the buck walked out from the fog with his does, he stopped on the hill to look around but was not in range. The week away at work was tough, especially listening to the stories from my father and friends out hunting.

A week later I was back home from work and ready to put in a hard week of hunting. The plan was to go set up at the “Farm Stand Blind”. After five days of long hours of hunting it was starting to seem like I would not be filling my whitetail tag. This would be my fourth year not filling my tag and this was becoming a very disappointing reality. I knew it wasn’t bad luck or no deer, there just wasn’t the “one”, the “shooter” I was looking for.

November 26th was going to be the lucky day, I could feel it, it was cold with no fog and blue skies. I could only hunt the morning as my son had a hockey game, so the plan was to set up at the “Farm Stand Blind” same as the day before. There was a sign of a good buck fight and the deer tracks were big and noticeable, this meant it might just be “Double Drop”.

Morning came fast with not much sleep due to the building anticipation. I picked up my Father and went into the blind early. At first light, there was nothing moving so I decided to do some rattling with no luck. I rattled some more and added

some grunting. After 15 minutes a buck came out running straight towards us, he looked like a good buck, heavy, dark, and wide. He was 600 yards away and he was coming hard and fast. I put the gun down and momentarily decided to pass as I didn’t recognize what deer I was looking at. At 200 yards, I came to my senses and whispered to my Father, “Its Double Drops and I’m taking him!” With gun, ready and set there was no sign of the buck slowing down or stopping, so I made the split-second decision to grunt loud enough to stop him at 60 yards. He stopped and turned quartering towards me and, “Double Drops,” luck ran out with the sound of the 7mm in the cold morning air.

He lay motionless as the expression on my face was priceless! My dream buck was mine! A big thanks to my hunting partner and my father for all their help and time and the land owners giving us permission to hunt their beautiful properties as well as the amazing job from Sugar Creek Taxidermy for preserving my beautiful buck!

TWO YEAR QUEST BY: SHAUN KRUPSKI

I

t all started in the fall of 2015 when my brother Curtis had put up a trailcam in an abandoned yard that had an apple tree. It was obvious the deer in the area spent a lot of time feeding off that tree, and the deer trails to and from the yard looked more like cattle trails! It wasn't long and he got pictures of a mature 5x6 buck. With the bad winters we have had the last few years, there hadn't been much for mature bucks around, so this buck was our only target for the year. However, like most mature bucks, he quickly proved to be difficult to get a look at.

Archery and muzzleloader seasons came and went without a single day time picture of him, but we were getting numerous night time pictures so we knew he was in the area, but couldn't track him down or pinpoint where he was spending the daylight hours. During rifle season, Curtis spent a few afternoons in the blind with no luck. We did, however catch one glimpse of him and a doe only a mile south of where we were getting pictures of him. It was a fleeting glimpse with no opportunity to tag him. With the shortened seasons in Saskatchewan, that was our only look at him before the season ended. Then, of course, the day after the season, he showed up in daylight at the spot where Curtis had been sitting for him!

Throughout the winter I keep close tabs on the buck, having a couple sightings of him. On January 28th trailcam pictures showed he had lost his headgear. I spent countless hours looking for his sheds and not being able to locate them was driving me crazy. I knew where he was feeding and bedding, but had no luck despite hours and hours of scouring every inch of the country side trying to track them down.

In August of 2016, I put up a trailcam in the same abandoned yard as the previous year. I got the first pictures of him in September, and he was now a 5x5 with a little sticker on his right G2. I knew for certain it was him because of the distinctive small tear on the top of his right ear. I knew his core area, but also knew I had to find his bedroom, so I put out cameras surrounding the entire area trying to get a better idea of exactly when and where he used all his territory. I had already setup a blind and a camera a mile south of where he would frequently show up. It just looked like a perfect spot with lots of does showing up regularly on my camera.

For two months, I spent almost every chance I had scouting that deer with only a couple of sightings. On November 15, with the rifle season fast approaching, I saw him at about 100 yards, making his way towards the bush I had already setup in! That was an encouraging sight for me and I thought almost certainly a good sign. On the 17th and 19th, he made daytime appearances at my setup! I now had that feeling like I finally nailed this buck down. I also knew that with the rut about to

Shaun Krupski of Lemberg, Saskatchewan, tagged a big whitetail buck after hunting him hard for two years. He and his brother had spent hundreds of hours trying to figure out the big deer and finally had him figured out when Shaun waited for the perfect conditions to sit for him. All the hard work paid off and Shawn tagged the 170” bruiser late in the 2016 season. ramp up, who knows where he would end up!

On the first day of rifle, November 20, I hunted with my brother Curtis and my Dad, just like we've done every year since we could hunt. That first morning there were hunters everywhere and with the wind coming from the wrong direction, I decided not to sit in the blind. This was a decision that was

tough to make, but one that I knew was right. All I could think all day was, “He is probably there right now and I’m not”. On the morning of the second day, Curtis and I went out in that direction and caught a glimpse of him heading north onto a quarter that has a lot of bush. It was a big area, and there was not much the two of us could do. We decided not to go in after

and he would go sit at another blind that the buck had made an appearance at in recent weeks. As I walked by the camera, I pulled the SD card and stuck a new one in. Once settled in the blind, I checked the card to see he hadn't been there yesterday at all. I thought to myself, “Well maybe he comes every second day.” As I sat there trying to stay awake on the beautiful November day, a small buck walked downwind of the blind right in front of me. As I watched him, he suddenly looked nervous. I could tell that something was coming from the east.

Instantly I knew it was him, the one I had been waiting for! I couldn't believe that I had only been sitting for an hour and there he was! As he slowly approached, I carefully raised the him and risk pushing him out and changing his habits which we had spent so much time figuring out. That afternoon I decided I was going to sit in the blind. Curtis would drop me off

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rifle and took the 20-yard shot. He took off through the bush and made it 50 yards out into the field. I couldn't believe what just happened! While this all happened, Curtis, only a mile and half away heard the shot and was already packing up his gear, knowing from the direction that it had been me. With a quick

Photo by Chad Wilkinson

text to him I confirmed I was successful! All the time and effort had paid off and the two-year quest was over! There's nothing more satisfying then putting time in the outdoors and finally connecting on that trophy you’re after!

Tails BY: PRESTON HAANEN

"Every young kid needs an idol growing up. For me, one of them goes by the name of Preston Haanen who some of you may know. Over the years I have admired Preston's ability to consistently harvest world class deer and it doesn't come with out hard work. Most children look up to those surrounded by media such as sports superstars and celebrities, but Preston isn't quite the same. Don't get me wrong, Mr. Haanen has won more Stanley Cups when it comes to whitetail hunting then anyone else I know but it's his calm and collective manner along with his humble personality that puts him among the elite. I was flattered to be a small part of his successful 2015 Saskatchewan mule deer hunt. In return for all the years of admiration and mentorship, I was fortunate enough to pay him back a little by giving him the sheds I found off his buck from the previous year. Now I have a new hunting partner and a friend for life; I can only hope that one day I'll be half the hunter he is. Thank you Preston for sharing your story, readers can expect to see this spectacular animal harvested on video by purchasing the Saskatchewan Trophy Bucks DVD series produced by Bentley Coben. Do not miss out!" - Cody Forsberg, BGI

“S

uccessful” was what I read when big game draw results were out for the 2015 mule deer season. Because of my busy work schedule, I was not able to get out until November 5th. The famous Bentley Coben was with me on this adventure.

We arrived at our destination at opening light. The first buck we saw was 180 class trophy, very encouraging, but it was not the one I had been waiting four years for. Bentley and I headed to a spot we had been before, but because of the excessive rainfall, the movement of the deer had been altered, so we had to change our hunting area.

Back at the motel, Bentley had talked about another area they used to hunt, and he assured me it would be good. The next afternoon we arrived at the new area, and we started seeing deer and a lot of sign. I was starting

to get really pumped, again. At last light, we saw two trophy mule deer.

One quick glimpse through Bentley’s, Swarovski binoculars was all I needed to know which deer I was going to pursue. Until I was successful, or until the season was ran out.

The one buck was a respectable 185 class typical. The other, mine, was a huge typical with bladed points, mass and sticker that went out and up off his right antler.

When we got back to the motel room that evening, I texted a good friend of my step daughter, Cody Forsberg. After describing the great animal that I had seen, he as-

sured me I was hunting in the right spot. I trusted his judgement because of the success the young hunter has had over the past decade. A game plan was put in place, and by 7:30am we were in place, waiting for the morning events to unfold.

First off, in the morning we saw a huge framed mule deer, who eventually “put the slip” on us. We spent the rest of the day looking for the huge buck we had seen the afternoon previous, but to no avail. Because of my work schedule, I was headed back home that night.

The afternoon of November 11th we arrived back at our destination, the area where we had seen my buck before. We saw a lot of trophy bucks that day, but none of them was the one I had my heart set on. On November 12th, the mule bucks were really starting to move due to the upcoming rut. Bentley got some great video footage of some amazing mule deer that day.

“Has somebody shot my dream buck, or had he moved on in search of does?” were the thoughts running through my head non-stop that day. The next day, we did see one buck that needed a second look. However, he still wasn’t the one worth putting my coveted tag on. A very respectable non-typical sparked my interest for a split second, but no shot was fired. Bentley was really starting to think that I had gone mad, because of all the great bucks I was passing on. I admitted that I could be a little stubborn that way, at times.

A good friend of Bentley’s had let a little secret out about a 200 typical he had seen. On the afternoon of November 13th, we went in search of the huge typical but again to no avail.

Although we did see some more good bucks that afternoon.

November 14th was the last day of the season so the pressure was on! 5:00am arrived quick that morning. I was a little weary from thinking about what area I should spend my final day of the 2015 season. Undecided, I left my fate up to the flip of a coin. Heads - I go to the area of the huge 200 class typical.

Tails - I head back to the area where I had seen my dream buck.

The coin toss revealed tails, so we travelled to the area where we had spotted my buck.

It was a great morning to be out and there was a slight breeze from the direction I needed. Around 9:00am the deer started moving in from the fields. It wasn’t long before I spotted the one that I had come back for. He was about a mile away. He was chasing a mature four pointer around and spent about an hour trying to move him out of his domain.

Finally, he made his move and headed our way. Bentley had the video camera rolling, capturing the whole morning’s events. He moved to within 400 yards of our hiding spot. I wanted to make my shot count, but we were caught and he took off back the way he came from. I should have known better than to try and push my luck with this trophy animal as I was sure he had played this game many times and always came out on top.

We had to go after him in his terrain. It was going to be a mission not easy to accomplish. After an hour of sneaking and belly crawling, we had closed the distance again. His buddy was back with him from the first week. Thank God the second buck had no idea about the intruders in his area. He started moving towards us and my buck started to follow him back in our direction.

Hiding in some silver willows, my heart was beating a mile a minute. The pressure I was putting on myself to get this buck was almost more than I could take. Finally, it was the moment I had been waiting for. The two bucks started sky-lining themselves on the side of a ridge. Perfect shooting distance and also a chance for Bentley to get his video footage that he too had waited a long time for.

The first shot was a complete miss. I think I was already chambering another round before I even knew I had missed him. The second shot was a solid hit. He was mine at last. The feeling I had when I walked up to this majestic animal was breathtaking. I was speechless!

This animal was everything I wanted and more. This deer had a 197 inch typical frame with mass, jet black antlers and 17 inches of non-typical points.

After the video tape session, I texted Cody Forsberg and told him what had happened. I described the deer to him and he was positive he had found the previous year’s sheds from the same deer. When we later met up with Cody, he showed me the sheds and sure enough they were from the same majestic animal.

After admiring and reliving the hunt for my trophy buck with Cody, he then offered me its sheds from the previous year.

I was truly grateful as I know, being an avid shed collector my-

self, it’s a hard thing to give away your treasures. I made a new life long friend that day and thank you Cody for making this experience even more rewarding.

I would also like to thank Bentley Coben for following along with me the whole time and putting up with my insane hunt-

Photo by Hamilton Greenwoon

ing methods. He has been a great long time friend that has educated me on hunting trophy animals. Stay tuned for this entire adventure on Bentley’s next video.

Thank you Cody and Bentley for helping me make a dream come true.

The

Future

of

Hunting

???? Weste

Macie & Jon Witt

Ryan Carstairs

Ryan Carstairs

Keyden O’Neill

Jayce Lockie

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PASS

THROUGH BY: DARRYL MUTRIE

Darryl Mutrie has a history of taking monster mule deer in Southern Saskatchewan, but now he can also add a world class whitetail to his hunting resume! He had the help of some great hunting partners, including a local farmer who hunted with Darryl and knew the area very well. His buck has nine scorable points on the right antler and seven scorable on the left antler. Despite a narrow inside spread of 16”, the buck still scores very high thanks to browtines just over 8”, longest G2 reaching just over 13”, longest G3 just over 9”, and matching G4s at 8 7/8”. The buck also carries great mass with the biggest circumference at 6 3/8 and 16” of non-typical points. The buck ended up scoring 198 5/8” gross and netted 189 6/8” non-typical Boone and Crockett.

I

t all started in the late fall and early winter of 2015 in southern Saskatchewan. I was out scouting a new area when I ran into an abundance of pheasants. There were not only a lot of pheasants in the area, but there was also a lot of good deer sign and activity. I am an avid pheasant hunter so I got to know the area and local farmers well. The 2015 hunting season produced nothing of any size, but something continued

to draw me back to that area. It wasn’t until the summer of 2016 that I decided to put out several trail cameras in that area. With the permission from a local land owner, I scouted several areas trying to find the perfect spot. After many hours spent studying the area, the trail cameras were positioned in hopes of catching anything that walked across their paths. Just then work got busy which prevented me from getting back out to check the cameras. It wasn’t until the first part of September that I was able to check, and pull the cards from the cameras. The excitement of just getting back out there was overwhelming, especially because I could take my two boys with me; Bosttin (6) and Bryer (2). Both of them love the outdoors just as much as I do so it was a real treat to get out with them.

After pulling the cards I decided to take a quick view just to see if anything stopped or passed through the cameras. My card reader had indicated there were a lot of pictures, so I decided to wait until I got home to have a better look. I have always found it exciting checking to see what was on them. It wasn’t

until that night, after getting my little hunters to bed, that I had a chance to sit down to see what I had captured on camera.

I was impressed with the number of deer that were showing up. I was about three quarters of the way through the pictures, around midnight, when he appeared! I seriously thought I was seeing things. It was a buck anyone would have dreamed of. A buck that stood tall in so many ways. A buck that I had never seen before. That night I knew, I was definitely not getting any sleep. That night marked that start of the next chapter on how to outsmart and harvest such a magnificent animal, which had probably outsmarted many previous hunters including myself up until now.

The next few weeks consisted of many hours of scouting.

Looking over the area, getting permission from local landowners, trying to find any signs of this incredible deer. Weeks after weeks my boys and I would check the trail cameras, just to see if there was any sign of him. I was hoping for an opportunity of an archery hunt or muzzleloader hunt, but it was as if he had vanished. Weeks passed and still no pictures or sightings.

Now I had realized that he was what I called the, “Pass Through Buck”. A buck that left his area to go on what we called an excursion. I was able to keep a lot of does in the area, hoping I would draw him back eventually. The weeks where passing quickly, leading up to the weekend of opening day rifle, and still I had no sightings of him.

The Saturday before opening day consisted of scouting the area one last time. While scouting I ran into a local farmer with a lot of knowledge of the area and an avid hunter himself.

After a good visit we parted ways. I was frustrated that evening thinking that I may not see the buck again, but also excited

knowing tomorrow was opening day. I kept thinking, “All A Guy Needs Is a Little Luck.”

The morning of November 20, 2016 finally arrived. My hunting partner and father in law, Sandy McCormick, met me at my house and we headed out. Looking back now, I had no idea that November 20, 2016, would come to be a day to remember forever. Our plan for the day was to take advantages of the high lookout points to see if we could see any movement of bucks chasing does. The morning was slow, with only a few young bucks chasing. It wasn’t until early afternoon that we met up with the farmer I had run into the day before when I was out scouting. We decided to start hunting together. I referred to him as, “The Man of the Hills”. He knew the area like the back of his hand and I’m pretty sure he knew every deer in that area. That afternoon consisted of a few pushes that only resulted in smaller bucks and does.

Thinking that the day was just about over and already focussing on Day two, the Man of the Hills said he had one more spot he would like to push that usually produces deer. This spot was located about a mile and a half from where my trail camera had been placed. For some reason I had a really good feeling about it. He positioned Sandy and I in an area where the deer would travel if pushed. We positioned ourselves where I could use the spotting scope if needed. It wasn’t ten minutes when we saw a deer standing on a hill top. I put my spotting scope on the deer and my heart started racing, I could barely get the words out of my mouth, “It’s him!”

Things happened so fast from there. The deer of my dreams was running right towards us. The deer passed by about 100

yards, when Sandy took a shot that grazed just over the back of the deer. This gave me a quartering away shot with my 7mm Rem. Mag. The thought was screaming through my head, “Do not miss this shot!” I lined my crosshairs up on the buck, took a deep breath and pulled the trigger. The bullet flew true to it’s target. Immediately I heard the thud, the thud sounded louder than the sound from the rifle. Knowing it was a solid hit, I watched the deer run several yards before he fell over.

The adrenaline begun rushing through my body when I re-

alized that I just harvested the biggest buck that I have ever set eyes on. I couldn’t wait to get over there to put my hands on him. As I approached my buck, my eyes opened wide and my jaw dropped. I could not believe I had just shot his magnificent animal. He was the buck of my dreams! He was bigger then I imagined. He had a beautiful trophy rack with extra points coming off the main beam. He ended up having nine scorable points on the right antler and seven scorable points on left antler.

Very big thanks go out to “The Man of the Hills” for helping in harvesting this animal. I would also like to thank my wife, Kerstin, for allowing me to chase my dreams. To the land owners for granting me permission to hunt on their land, my hunting partner Sandy in helping with every aspect of the hunt, Derek Stainbrook at Prairie Taxidermy for the shoulder mount, Raven Salvage and Barnwood for the pedestal and Chad Wilkinson for the opportunity to be featured in Big Game Illustrated again. “All a guy needs is a little luck.”

Photo by Hamilton Greenwood

Photo by Hamilton Greenwood