Hi folks. Just thought I would report in on my Alberta hunt. Had a fantastic (if not frigid!) time! Saw lots of game, including numerous whitetail and muley bucks. Many of those deer unfortunately were in places we didn't have permission to hunt, or it was a day on which we couldn't hunt. I had lots of shot opportunities. I bagged a 5 point muley last Thursday. He is magnificent to me, a trophy in my books even though he is not a "book" deer. And that's what matters
. Had a large, swelled neck and a big body. As I only had three days to hunt, I could not hold out for a bigger buck, and our pre hunt scouting indicated that there was likely only one buck in our area that was larger. This turned out to be correct, as I called in Mr. Big (at least 25 % larger than my buck) to within 25 yds while we were dressing out the 3 point muley my uncle harvested. Tried to snap photos but the camera (as well as my rangefinder) would not function due to the cold. Shortly thereafter another buck also came running down the hill towards us in full view after hearing the same grunting.
The rut was absolutely ferocious out here, as I witnessed bucks fighting savagely, as well as bucks breeding does. The bucks were absolutely mesmerized by breeding, but the does were alert, and all those eyes posed a real challenge when trying to stalk a big guy. The buck I shot was with a group of 9 deer, including two smaller bucks. Glassed him at 1000 yds and had to close the distance. Had to crawl two hours on hands an knees across ground with no cover to get the shot. Snow camo paid dividends. I consider myself very fortunate to have been blessed with this deer. He was a worthy adversary and a magnificent deer.
I did not bag a whitetail, but saw three bucks that would each gross over 150 B & C. Muleys were the focus of the hunt as I had a non-resident draw tag, but I feel that if I had more time to hunt whitetails, I would have harvested a big one. The only day we really hunted for whitetails was Saturday, and the high temp was -26 C before the windchill 
I had a doe and two fawns within 10 yards of me sitting on the ground, and my observation was that the cold had them totally focussed on feeding to keep warm. I also suspect that it was sufficiently cold to restrict deer movement a bit, as we saw a ton of tracks, but very few real fresh ones.
Thanks to Trev, Scott and Noel for all being so helpful and informative in helping me appreciate what I was getting myself into in undertaking this hunt. If there is interest in pics, perhaps someone can help me as I have not posted pics before.
. Had a large, swelled neck and a big body. As I only had three days to hunt, I could not hold out for a bigger buck, and our pre hunt scouting indicated that there was likely only one buck in our area that was larger. This turned out to be correct, as I called in Mr. Big (at least 25 % larger than my buck) to within 25 yds while we were dressing out the 3 point muley my uncle harvested. Tried to snap photos but the camera (as well as my rangefinder) would not function due to the cold. Shortly thereafter another buck also came running down the hill towards us in full view after hearing the same grunting.The rut was absolutely ferocious out here, as I witnessed bucks fighting savagely, as well as bucks breeding does. The bucks were absolutely mesmerized by breeding, but the does were alert, and all those eyes posed a real challenge when trying to stalk a big guy. The buck I shot was with a group of 9 deer, including two smaller bucks. Glassed him at 1000 yds and had to close the distance. Had to crawl two hours on hands an knees across ground with no cover to get the shot. Snow camo paid dividends. I consider myself very fortunate to have been blessed with this deer. He was a worthy adversary and a magnificent deer.
I did not bag a whitetail, but saw three bucks that would each gross over 150 B & C. Muleys were the focus of the hunt as I had a non-resident draw tag, but I feel that if I had more time to hunt whitetails, I would have harvested a big one. The only day we really hunted for whitetails was Saturday, and the high temp was -26 C before the windchill
I had a doe and two fawns within 10 yards of me sitting on the ground, and my observation was that the cold had them totally focussed on feeding to keep warm. I also suspect that it was sufficiently cold to restrict deer movement a bit, as we saw a ton of tracks, but very few real fresh ones.Thanks to Trev, Scott and Noel for all being so helpful and informative in helping me appreciate what I was getting myself into in undertaking this hunt. If there is interest in pics, perhaps someone can help me as I have not posted pics before.
