In Saskatchewan, the draw system for mule deer is for residents only. The first time I drew, in 1999, I took a 175 typical with a muzzleloader. In 2003, I took a 35-inch non-typical with a muzzleloader at 125 yards. The buck grossed over 215 and netted 205 even after the 60-day drying period. Both bucks are entered in the Longhunter records. My dad took a world record, velvet, typical mule deer in 2001. I was on that hunt with him which took place only two miles from our house in Harris, Saskatchewan. The story was featured in the Hunting Illustrated Dec/Jan 2004 issue. That was a hunt we'll never forget. Hopefully this year it would be my turn to take a big muley with my bow.
This year, I would be hunting with the Matthews Legacy bow that I had purchased two years ago. My dad and our friend Alvin would also be hunting with me.
We had been out scouting for the past month and had seen and filmed some trophy bucks. We had also picked up a lot of sheds from the deer living in our area. We hunted on and off for quite a few mornings and evenings before I finally got a shot.
It was a drizzly, dreary Saturday morning in September when a buck appeared out of a big patch of silver willows heading in my direction. Alvin was hiding on the edge of a big poplar bluff, 200 yards to the west of me. When the buck got to what I thought was 35 yards, I shot. The arrow went just over his front shoulder. I had totally misjudged the range. He was only about 25 yards, as I later figured out. The buck trotted over to a smaller bluff of trees between Alvin and me. I tried another shot at the buck at fifty yards. He walked off making a screaming noise - like a hawk. He only went eighty yards and disappeared out of sight. I wasn't sure where I had hit him. Alvin saw the buck and heard it screaming. After a while, I met up with Alvin. He thought we should leave the deer for a while and so we went back to where we had parked the vehicle. Dad and Mom were hunting about a mile west of us. We found them right away. Dad said we'd go back and quietly walk in.
Mom stayed back at the vehicle. Dad, Alvin and I walked in about 100 yards apart with our bows ready. I would walk to the spot I had last seen the buck; dad would walk on my left and Alvin would walk on my right. Dad said to finish him off if I found him alive. I spotted the buck, only twenty yards away. I motioned to Dad that he was still alive. He motioned to shoot it if I could. I shot and the carbon arrow did its duty.
I had told Dad that I thought that the deer was a 180-inch typical. Upon seeing him close up, Dad thought he was at least a 185-inch because of his main beam length and mass. You couldn't get your hand around his bases. We also saw where my first arrow had hit him and why he was screaming. The arrow had zipped through his throat, cutting his jugular and windpipe.
We had filmed this deer a few weeks earlier and were not even hunting him as there were deer that we thought were bigger and more interesting to hunt in that area. I was sure glad I had taken him, as he looked much better than we had thought earlier. My tag wouldn't fit around the base of his horns. I put it above the eye-guard and it still barely fit. After the proper tagging and taking pictures, we loaded him on Dad's old 1972 Ford 4x4. That truck has hauled a lot of huge bucks home over the years, including my dad’s 237-net, non-typical, muzzleloader mule deer he got in 1997. That deer grossed over 245.
We got my deer home and caped him out. I scored him and could hardly believe the numbers. He green-scored over 205 gross and 195 2/8 net. Dad was really surprised. I later had him scored on December 29, 2004 by official Boone and Crockett and Longhunter scorer, Jack Clary, who has scored a lot of Saskatchewan's largest deer. The buck’s inside spread was narrow, at only 23 4/8-inches. Both bases were 6 5/8 inches in diameter and he stayed heavy throughout the 26-inch beam lengths. My buck officially scored 204 4/8 gross with a net score of 195 1/8 typical. His typical mainframe is 202 3/8. He has one small 2 1/8-inch sticker that caused some additional deductions on the net score. This deer will be the new, number three, velvet, typical buck taken with a bow for our province. He doesn't look nearly as big as Dad's; but, has heavier bases and bigger eye-guards.
I still had a whitetail tag and we'd seen some good bucks earlier. I ended up with a big, 25-inch wide whitetail last year with my muzzleloader. It was the largest one taken in our area in 2003. I ended up capping off a great year by taking another great trophy whitetail in 2004 as well. For an eighteen year old, I've had some wonderful hunts. I would like to thank my dad and mom for the knowledge they’ve given me over the years and Alvin for his humor. He keeps us laughing all day long.  |
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