How did everyone do on whitetails this year? I hunted Alberta and NW Saskatchewan this year with moderate success. My Saskatchewan buck was a 5x5 scoring aobut 145, and I passed up smaller bucks in Alberta. I shot 2 does on opening day with my son as well. I found this year to be unseasonably warm with little to no snowfall, affecting hunting visibility and I suspect, deer movements. So, how did we do and what were the more effective tactics in what conditions by province?

Season was way too warm for my liking! Midway through November the frost came out of the ground making things very muddy for a few days. We saw lots of deer however, on the best days around 100, but nothing for Big bucks. Lots of three points and tons of does. I didnt bother shooting a buck, but took a Doe on the last Friday. A buddy of mine took a nice 5x5 that would score about 140. We also got a moose on the first friday, so there is plenty of meat. Warm or not Hunting is way better than work.

What worked for me this year was finding a good Alfalfa field that deer were coming out into, then setting up one of those 'tent-style' camo blinds. Rattling was not very productive for me, and neither was spot and stalk. Several of my friends did well hunting "safari style" (road hunting)but I generally don't like that.

Matt B,a friend of mine told me he knows five hunters that travelled to Saskatchewan to hunt this season,and all they got was a spike buck.

I met several hunters from SE BC when in Saskatchewan and they all had very limited success - bucks were out there but very few people were getting them. I saw some road hunters with a few decent bucks but it certainly was not as good as last year.

Both of these were from Northern Idaho. Not quite Canada, but close. Dad's was nice, I shot mine because it was about the ugliest buck I've ever seen...

Dad's


Mine

very nice! How did you get them? When travelling from Idaho to BC once, I saw a fabulous buck that I swear would go Boone. Healthy populations of Whitetails there? I think the sub-species is the columbia type in Idaho, no?

I don't know, these are pretty big bodied deer. They are the same from Western Montana clear over to North/Eastern Washington.

As to how we got them, the hunting is heavy timber with some clear cuts. Both of these were shot in heavy timber. My daughter had a MX race that I had to go to, so I shot the buck I saw. I had turned down a couple and was going to pass on this one, but it's rack was really odd, so I knocked him down. After I got back I ended up seeing a beautiful buck, but of course had no tag. It was the first time I've hunted the area. So I spent the next 12 days scouting the region.

Matt B. There was twelve of us in camp near Bancroft, Ont. We hunted Mon-Thurs during the first week of the season. we had good weather with the exception of heavy rain on Wed. We had a great time with old friends, some, who we only see once a year. We shot 5 bucks and a doe, lots of meat to go around.
Regards...Jim

I got one with my bow...first bow kill it was a nice little buck 5x5 with a couple forks thrown in to boot. I missed my annual pilgrimage to Sask. things just didn't quite work out this year. I intend to go to Sask. next year maybe a little further north than I usually go. And also planning a fly in moose hunt if I can convince the charter company I have in mind to do it. Anyone interested there might be an extra seat or tow.

the chef

Calgary Chef, I find that when you access areas well away from the agricultural zone in SK, it is important to do so and try to get away from the guide outfitters. If you can find an area logged within the last two years and hasn't been baited by the guides, go for it. Make sure you're in aspen/mixed wood stands. Chances are there will be mature, un-hunted bucks in the vicinity. When I worked in NW SK in the early 90's, I saw this pattern to be very evident.

Thanks Matt, are you still in Sask? I used to live in Lloydminster. I was thinking about heading up to the meadow lake area......it's still up in the air though.

the chef

Chef I'm in Edmonton now but having been going back to SK (Meadow Lake area) for the last 11 years. I've noticed many more non-residents in the area since I first started. I'm actually looking to another area further north for next year. Most really good bucks taken by outfitted clients are coming off baits, and the habitat seems to be saturated with those clients. The agricultural zone where the non-canadians cannot hunt seems to be hit hard by the can residents and Sk residents.

Well sounds like Sask is outlawing baiting next year..fat chance the outfitters will adhere to the new law. It would be nice if Sask. would go for minimum horn sizes for bucks. I'd also be willing to take 2 does if I couldn't get a decent buck.......but such a small amount of meat on a doe that for the 150 dollar tag I don't really want to just take one doe. I also get a little pissed that out of province hunters have to go the second week of the season..........also a longer season would let hunters relax a little and not have to go crazy for 2 weeks trying to get a deer.

the chef

At first I was quite miffed that SK stopped selling antlerless tags to non-residents, but deer are so plentiful in Alberta that I just shot my meat does here. I'll continue to hunt SK as long as there's good opportunities to hunt big bucks without a tremendous amount of competetive pressure. I think I'm going to change techniques as well. I'm going to switch to more ground blinds in areas where the ag zone meets the provincial forest. I'm not having much success with rattling, either.

I shot a buck that I think was young and had potential to grow up to be a real big one.

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I rattled in one and my son shot his first buck.


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I had good success rattling in bucks this year but then I rattled a lot more than usual (I got a blister on the palm of my right hand fron a rough bur on my rattling "horns").

Robin

I've so far been skunked, but me and crossbow have a few days remaining. Wish me luck.

Got a youngish buck down south, weighed about 215 lbs, 8-pointer including the brow tines. With two years of sheep hunting behind me, this was my first whitetail buck since I came to Canada.

Frans

Alberta Whitetail 2005
I got this guy in northern Alberta. I thought it was bigger when he was running away and found a big stick stuck in the wire that was wraped arround his horns and forehead.

I'll get this picture thing right eventually. At least you can see the wire in this picture I hope. I should have left the big stick that was in the wire stay there for the picture.