In another thread I was asked if I shared the story on my wife’s 2020 archery buck, so here it is.
A little information about me, I grew in west central Alberta and I ended meeting a girl from Saskatchewan. I spent a couple of years living in Saskatchewan and now we have moved back to Alberta in January. While I was living out of province I still ran some trail cameras on my parent’s land but I didn’t hunt in Alberta.
The story of this buck started a few years ago when my parents had a young buck around that would hide in their corals during big storms. It was funny because he would actually come running when big storms came in. Over time we would see him less and less. He had disappeared for a while, then in October of 2018 he started to show up on camera as a tall thin horned 4x5. We never really gave him much thought.
Over the last few year’s there had been a few bucks that spent their summers on or around my parents property. And every year, September long weekend would hit and they would go nocturnal or disappear all together. This buck was no different.
2019 I had pictures of him on our land and some crown land 2 miles away. Over the summer we would get small glimpses of him here and there. Until a big July storm rolled in and the next morning there he was; bedded in the corals. My dad had called me to tell me the tallest whitetail had ever seen was feeding in the crop 100 yards from the house. That winter my dad and I sat a few times in hopes that my dad would get a chance at him. We ended 2019 with no sightings.
But, we were not the only ones that knew of this deer. Speaking to the neighbour to the north; he had bumped him a few times and the neighbour to the south is a very successful hunter. With this deer travelling so much I knew his days were numbered.
2019
2020 came and I wasn’t going to be able to scout as much as normal. My wife and I were planning our wedding for sept 5th and I had a pile of work to do before the wedding day. As a result, all of my scouting time and effort was going to around home (where we had the wedding). I set up a trail cam near a hole in the fence and the first pictures on the camera were of him. I littered their property with tail cameras and I started to collect information. I documented days, times, and wind directions for every time he crossed a camera. By the end of July I had stands hung and a blind brushed in on two different pinch points.
In the past, the bucks lived on the property to the north and travelled through my parents to feed on an alfalfa field to the south, usually in the dark. But this year was different, the neighbours to the north were spending much more time on the property pushing the bucks onto my parents. I knew if we could get in there before the long weekend we might have a chance at him. I avoided the area I thought they were living in as much as I could.
I had their bedding area narrowed down to two locations: a big slough in the middle of the property, or a small patch of trees to the north east. Don’t get me wrong, their pattern wasn’t set in stone. They disappeared for a week when the neighbours were bailing and I had bumped him a couple weeks before the season. I thought I would never see him again; I was sick with myself. But, I had snuck into their area a few days before the season to check a cam and there they were, but now they were there in the dark.
I had been watching the wind forecasts and it looked pretty good for opening day. I was getting fewer pics of the bucks but I was optimistic that we would get a chance if we put in the time. Opening morning I was hiding the the crop overlooking the slough in the center of the property. I was hoping I would catch a glimpse of them going to bed down. But, they were no shows. I thought there was a chance they could be in the bush to the north east. I convinced my wife to come out from Edmonton after work and we would go for an even sit - this being 4 days before the wedding she wasn’t impressed. But, she came out and with a few practice shots with her new bow (thanks to jimbows) we were on our way. We snuck around the best we could and settled into the blind. We weren’t their long and the wind started the swirl. We could hear a deer blowing to the south as they winded us. Shortly after we caught a glimpse of a doe sneaking away out to that big slough. We sat there for 3 hours with no activity. It was nearing the end of legal light and i was packing up our stuff when my wife tapped my leg. I looked at her and her eyes were glued to the edge of the field,there at 28 yards, there he was standing proud staring out into the field. It was as if he appeared out of thin air! It felt like and it took an hour before he stepped out. As he made his way out into the opening that same doe walked past him, he took a few steps towards her and he put his head down to feed. I told my wife to draw as he was quartering way and shorty after I saw her pink lighted nock disappear right where it needed to be. As he took off the arrow fell out of the opposite side. She exploded with excitement and she stuck her head out of the blind to see where he was going. She said she seen him standing on the crop and then he was gone. Trying to reign in the excitement I convinced her that we should back out quietly and come back after we have a coffee. We gave him an hour and we when we returned he was exactly where she said he was going to be. He maybe went 50 yards. It was a long night after that. The next morning we were right back to wedding prep.
This was one of those deer that grew as you walk up on them. He carries way more mass than what I thought and every time I look at him he grows. I figured he would be a nice 150 class buck and a great first whitetail for my new bride. I recently put a tape on him and he grosses 174 5/8 and nets 168 6/8 - I am not an official measurer so take it with a grain of salt.
After a few pictures got out one of the neighbours reached out to me and told me about his history with the buck, which I thought was pretty cool. To be honest it is kind of bitter sweet, I’m happy my wife got a great first whitetail buck but I am sad not to see him around or on camera anymore.
So ya, that’s the story of my wife’s first whitetail buck and her third big game animal with her bow. Thanks for reading
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk