Upon arrival, I got to witness the black bear his wife had shot the night prior. Man what a pig! This bear, tipping the scales at over 400 lbs., was by far the biggest I had ever been that close to. It latterly consumed the bed of his F-350 truck.Well, after a restless night in Antigo, we departed for the 2nd leg of my journey (approx. 16 hours) to somewhere in Montana. There we would stay the night before crossing the border in the a.m., again, another restless night. I could blame the lack of sleep on the close game Ohio State lost to USC and the ever looming mule deer I would pursue across the SE Alberta Plains. After some needed rest, we trekked across the border and headed north towards Cypress Hills Provincial Park. After meeting with Graham (outfitter) we headed back south to meet up with Blaine (the most awesome mule deer guide on the planet)!
The first night we stayed close to the house and spotted some potential shooters. Little did I realize that we had around 100,000 acres we would be hunting!
The accommodations were modest. The bunk house consisted of an old house boat that had been dry-docked.
The bathroom was an authentic outhouse (thank god it was not cold out). The showers were from a portable propane heater and 5 gal. bucket filled from a water tank on the back of an old flat bed. These humble amenities made the trip that much more memorable.The first day of hunting I let Jesse stalk the first deer. After about an hour he was able to make a shot but was unfortunately high in the shoulder. I watched the deer from the truck and was able to spot some blood. I followed the deer until he crossed over a hill. We later went back on that deer only to have him run off, presumably unscathed. We saw plenty of deer the first day and covered a lot of ground in the process.
The 2nd day, we attempted some more stalks, with a miss (maybe me, I don’t remember) and some close encounters. We were experiencing some problems with the wind, as there was none! As anyone who had stalked game before knows, wind is vital when trying to sneak up on critters.
The 3rd day was more of the same, lots of riding and glassing in the a.m. followed by long hikes in 100deg. weather. Oh yeah, Alberta was experiencing some of the hottest temperatures in about 100 years. Unbelievable! Well, after another long day and a little discouragement setting in, a home cooked meal and a few rye (whiskey) drinks later there was no problem falling asleep!
On the 4th day it proved a little more eventful. After spotting a giant world class mule deer in the morning. We were able to watch him bed with another potential 170+ class deer in a valley. I again, let Jesse take this one, as I envisioned a long hike to get in position and an almost impossible access to the deer. I was able to stay back about 300-400 yds. and watch the bedded bucks. Man what a sight! These deer had no idea I was there, even though I was afraid to move thinking they would see me. Anyways, after a long hike to get downwind of the deer, a slight swirl carried their scent into the bottom and away they went.
After watching where the deer ran, Blaine and I decided to look for them. After about 30 minutes of hiking in near 100 deg. temps. We located a group of about five bucks located on the side of a bank. They were mostly smaller, with one decent one in view. We decided to make a stalk!
We were able to get within a few hundred yards and then were dealt with typical wide open prairie terrain. This seemed impossible to me. Blaine lead us through a dry creek bed where we (I am not exaggerating) belly-crawled about 200 yds. The saving grace was a large crack in this creek bed that allowed me to use my knee to push along.
After a nerve-racking approach, we were out of options. Blaine informed me that it was 53 yd. shot to the bedded buck. All I could think of was how come this buck does not see us? After I calmed down, Blaine gave me the go ahead to shoot. So I slowly rose to my knees and prepared for a shot I had practiced hundreds of times that summer. As I released I could hear a thump! Those deer ran everywhere. But, the buck I was after stumbled out of his bed and stopped at 30 yds. in front of us. I quickly nocked another arrow and in one motion sent another Slick Trick through the front shoulder and his entire body. The deer ran another 40-50 feet before expiring within 15 yds. of us.
I was ecstatic and overwhelmed with adrenaline. This spot and stalk hunting was more than I had imagined. Being that close to these animals is unbelievable. After some high fives and hand shakes we quickly field processed (cape and quartered) the deer and moved him towards the truck. Needless to say, I slept very well that night!
The 5th day was spent with me watching Jesse and Blaine stalk on a bedded buck. They sat on this deer for around 6-7 hours waiting for a shot opportunity. Well, eventually it happened and the shot was a little far back as I watched him cross the road and jump a fence. The next day five of us searched for this deer with no luck. We headed for home later that day driving straight through to Wisconsin (approx. 20 hours) and then me continuing on to Ohio. A total of 30 continuous hours in a vehicle!
All in all a great trip. One I will never forget unless I do it again soon!
Here is my 09 buck shot on Nov. 1 at 4:00 p.m. I had planned an all day sit on stand. I packed about 25 lbs. of gear on my approx. .90 mile hike to the ridge top that I have only hunted once this year. Well, I had plenty of action this morning seeing about 11 deer all the way up to about 11:30 a.m. There were a lot of little bucks cruising and even chasing a bit. I got down at 2:00 to have a bite to eat and take a little siesta! I was back on stand around 3.
At around 3:40 a small yearling started to feed around about 70 yds. out. I was assuming see was part of a group of 4 that I saw earlier. Anyway, at 3:50 a mature doe started to feed down the ridge to my stand. I have had a hard season thus far, not seeing any deer the first few weeks. So, with her in my sights I figured I would take her. Well, as she approached, I started to here some grunting from a few yards away. I figured it was one of the smaller bucks I’ve seen earlier in the day. Then, this buck came into view at about 70 yds. He was actually trying to intercept this doe, not trailing her. She stopped and squatted as he came closer. As usual, he was right behind her. She went on down the ridge as he stood there at 40 yds. I drew and held for about a minute with no shot. He began to move so I drew once more. Again, I held with no shot. Then, unexpectedly, he turned and started to work back the other way. After he took a few steps, I stopped him in a small (I mean small) opening and shot. The shot sounded good as I watched him run up the ridge. I could hear him starting to (I guess) choke and then a CRASH! The sound we all love to hear.Well, as we are all taught NOT to do. I got down about 5 mins. later to look at my arrow still uncertain of the shot. I found the arrow and started to follow the trail trying to get an idea of the hit. As typical of a SLICK TRICK shot deer he was bleeding profusely. I continued on and there he was about 100-150 yds. from where I shot him.
As mentioned this was almost a mile hike with no access with four-wheelers, so the rest of the evening was pretty tough! 2.5 hours later he was at the truck.
Also, this was shot on public land!
The 2009-2010 Season was by far my best yet. Altogether I had taken 4 animals with archery equipment. I was able to take an additional 2 does one from stand and another from, well, my bedroom!
Also, I assisted (bird-dogged) a buck for my buddy Ron, while hunting the late muzzleloader in Ohio.
