Hey Guys,
Living in Alberta for my entire hunting life, I've had the pleasure of chasing a lot of mule deer in the past. I grew up in Southern Alberta and have lived along the entire border from SK to BC in Alberta, chasing mulies in almost every prairie zone from the badlands to the foothills. I've been lucky enough to see several giant mulies and been on some good mulie kills. One thing that I've never seemed to be able to do was to hold on to a rifle tag long enough to kill a BIG buck. I've got an itchy trigger finger and I've always liked shooting good looking bucks.
This year would be different. I drew in a new zone with two buddies and we spent a weekend in the summer scouting, knocking on doors, learning the area, and making plans for a November trip. Several follow up phone calls and scouting via Google Earth and landowner maps helped us pin down areas that we wanted to concentrate on. My goal was 180" buck and I was determined to go home with a tag in my pocket if I didn't find the right buck. This zone produces big bucks so I was confident I could do it if I kept passing on the smaller bucks.
The seasons in this zone are Wed-Sat in November. There are 4 'sets' of days and we picked the 3rd week as the best timing for the rut. Heavy snow, super cold temps, and strong winds sure made it seem as if this choice was going to be a brutal one. We spent the first day scouting before the hunt and located a couple good bucks, including a good 180" buck on land we couldn't get access on.
My buddy shot this great buck on the opening Wednesday, in about -35 temps and bone chilling winds. Great 280 yard shot dumped him in the deep snow. His best buck.
Our other friend shot his buck on the 2nd day, a nice 4x3 after spending a lot of the day passing up bucks of all shapes and sizes. A bit of 'trigger finger itch' got the best of him, but one well placed shot dumped his biggest buck at 148 yards.
Friday came and I was starting to have those nagging thoughts that we weren't going to find a 'big' bruiser. I continued to pass several 160" bucks on my quest for a big guy. We hiked, we drove, we glassed, and we marched through snow that sometimes hit my bino harness where it had drifted. This was NOT an easy prairie mulie hunt by any means.
At about 1:30 in the afternoon, I received a text from a buddy in the area. "We found your buck, he's gotta be 190. Where r u at?"
It didn't take long to get in touch, figure out where him and his son were and meet up. We made a game plan on a buck they had seen while looking at some coulee property. He was tucked in with his does and had got up when they were glassing. As they knew I had a tag and was looking for a good buck, they left him and got in touch.
We snuck into place and had a doe at 300 yards in the same spot that the buck was in about 30 minutes before. Not sure if he had spooked or if he was there, I settled in for a bit of a wait. I scoured the bush to see if he would appear and realized a buck was laying in the bush looking at us. I wasn't sure if it was 'him' but I was hoping it was.
He stood and started to walk away, along the ridge of the river valley. I had settled in on his shoulder and one quick check to see the droptine told me that this buck was special. A 140 gr TTSX from my 7SAUM between both shoulders anchored him to the ground in the deep snow. A few kicks and it was over.
The sheer mass, points, gnarly bases and drop tines just drove me nuts when I walked up on this guy. I could care less about score, this buck had CHARACTER!!! With bases that I could barely reach my fingers around, bladed brow points, and a couple 'extras', this buck had it all.
Quick scoring when we got home taped this guy at 187" gross. My biggest by far and am just in awe every day of killing such an old bruiser. A great way to spend a few days back in Alberta with good buddies!!!
Living in Alberta for my entire hunting life, I've had the pleasure of chasing a lot of mule deer in the past. I grew up in Southern Alberta and have lived along the entire border from SK to BC in Alberta, chasing mulies in almost every prairie zone from the badlands to the foothills. I've been lucky enough to see several giant mulies and been on some good mulie kills. One thing that I've never seemed to be able to do was to hold on to a rifle tag long enough to kill a BIG buck. I've got an itchy trigger finger and I've always liked shooting good looking bucks.
This year would be different. I drew in a new zone with two buddies and we spent a weekend in the summer scouting, knocking on doors, learning the area, and making plans for a November trip. Several follow up phone calls and scouting via Google Earth and landowner maps helped us pin down areas that we wanted to concentrate on. My goal was 180" buck and I was determined to go home with a tag in my pocket if I didn't find the right buck. This zone produces big bucks so I was confident I could do it if I kept passing on the smaller bucks.
The seasons in this zone are Wed-Sat in November. There are 4 'sets' of days and we picked the 3rd week as the best timing for the rut. Heavy snow, super cold temps, and strong winds sure made it seem as if this choice was going to be a brutal one. We spent the first day scouting before the hunt and located a couple good bucks, including a good 180" buck on land we couldn't get access on.
My buddy shot this great buck on the opening Wednesday, in about -35 temps and bone chilling winds. Great 280 yard shot dumped him in the deep snow. His best buck.
Our other friend shot his buck on the 2nd day, a nice 4x3 after spending a lot of the day passing up bucks of all shapes and sizes. A bit of 'trigger finger itch' got the best of him, but one well placed shot dumped his biggest buck at 148 yards.
Friday came and I was starting to have those nagging thoughts that we weren't going to find a 'big' bruiser. I continued to pass several 160" bucks on my quest for a big guy. We hiked, we drove, we glassed, and we marched through snow that sometimes hit my bino harness where it had drifted. This was NOT an easy prairie mulie hunt by any means.
At about 1:30 in the afternoon, I received a text from a buddy in the area. "We found your buck, he's gotta be 190. Where r u at?"
It didn't take long to get in touch, figure out where him and his son were and meet up. We made a game plan on a buck they had seen while looking at some coulee property. He was tucked in with his does and had got up when they were glassing. As they knew I had a tag and was looking for a good buck, they left him and got in touch.
We snuck into place and had a doe at 300 yards in the same spot that the buck was in about 30 minutes before. Not sure if he had spooked or if he was there, I settled in for a bit of a wait. I scoured the bush to see if he would appear and realized a buck was laying in the bush looking at us. I wasn't sure if it was 'him' but I was hoping it was.
He stood and started to walk away, along the ridge of the river valley. I had settled in on his shoulder and one quick check to see the droptine told me that this buck was special. A 140 gr TTSX from my 7SAUM between both shoulders anchored him to the ground in the deep snow. A few kicks and it was over.
The sheer mass, points, gnarly bases and drop tines just drove me nuts when I walked up on this guy. I could care less about score, this buck had CHARACTER!!! With bases that I could barely reach my fingers around, bladed brow points, and a couple 'extras', this buck had it all.
Quick scoring when we got home taped this guy at 187" gross. My biggest by far and am just in awe every day of killing such an old bruiser. A great way to spend a few days back in Alberta with good buddies!!!
