North of the Border: He’s a Wide One!

Hunting Alberta for Trophy Whitetail
by Justin Newman

The morning of November 22nd, 2007 started out on a good note. Although the weather had not been cooperating for the fall hunting season (it was warm and there was no snow), I had been seeing a lot of good deer. One of my hunting buddies, Chris, was on his last day of hunting. He would be heading back to Ft. McMurray for another shift in the oilsands of Alberta the next day. Chris had an open mule deer buck draw tag in his pocket and, as I wouldn’t be receiving my draw again for another two years, I was happy to help him out. I had spotted a good mule deer buck about ten days prior that I figured would go about 200-inches with the extra “junk” he had. We decided to go to the area where I had spotted this buck for the day.

I have spent most of the month of November for the last few years hunting in a community pasture. I took a 197-inch mule deer with a 10-inch drop-tine there three years previously, so I knew the area well. To make a long story short, Chris never saw the “big one” that morning, but he was lucky enough to fill his tag on a nice, heavy, mature 3×4. It was a good buck for the last day. As the buck was in a fairly remote part of the pasture, we enlisted the help of Chris’s brother, Darren, to bring a quad up for us to retrieve the deer. By the time we field-dressed and hauled the deer back to the truck and then returned to the farm, it was already past noon. After skinning and caping the deer, followed by a hot lunch supplied by Chris’s mom, it was now almost 3:00 p.m. Darren, in the meantime, had arrived back at the farm following a trip into town and decided to head out with Chris (who still had his whitetail tag) and I for the evening hunt. Because we were running a bit late due to the previous activities, we decided to change locations a bit due to the length of time it was going to take to do the drive and then the hike in. Although we were only going to be about five miles “as the crow flies” to where the morning hunt took place, it was still a much quicker drive.

Upon arrival at our destination, we grabbed our packs and rifles and made a quick plan as to which way each of us were going to head for the final hour and a half of daylight. Although I had not hunted this exact spot yet this year, I had spent a lot of time in this area in previous years, so I already knew where I wanted to be. Typically, when I hike into an area, I take my time and do a lot of glassing. But, because of the fact that time was running short and it was over a mile hike, I didn’t waste any time. My chosen spot was on a hillside overlooking a draw to each side and another hillside that was covered in thick patches of willows and trees to the front of me. The downside of this hill is that it is wide open. But, I have always found that as long as I am lying down on my pack, keep movement to a minimum and avoid the skyline, the deer usually don’t notice me. Lower light conditions and the deer being a good distance away always helps too.

Just as I was nearing the aforementioned spot, I spotted an animal in a slough bottom about 300 yards in front of me. A quick inspection with my 10×42 Swarovski’s revealed a nice 6×7 bull elk that I figured would go about 350-inches. This was a very good bull for an area that the elk had recently moved into the last year or so. Maybe in the next year or two that bull will be the topic of another story.

After watching the bull for a minute or two, he decided to head for quieter pastures and I continued on. After another 10 yards, I decided that now would be a good time to sit down. Before doing so, I took a quick look around with my bino’s and noticed five whitetail does just coming over the hilltop about 600 yards away. The does had also spotted me and decided to head back in the direction they had just come from. I figured I had just spoiled my evening hunt by being five minutes too late, but figured I had better get down and stretched out on the ground anyway because you just never know.

I’d been sitting for approximately thirty minutes, glassing the whole time, when I saw a lone doe coming over the same hill that I’d seen the previous does vacate. She was a good 600 yards away and feeding down the hill. A closer inspection of the trees covering the hillside where the doe was feeding revealed another deer which was sneaking in and trying to remain hidden. I figured it must be a buck, so I kept the binoculars trained on him the whole time. He stepped out of a bunch of willows momentarily and all I thought was, “Wow, that deer is wide!” I knew that if I had an opportunity to shoot this deer, I was going to take it. Just like that, the buck disappeared into the brush again. Although he was now about 550 yards away, I could clearly hear him grunting at the doe (obviously the wind was in my favor). The doe thankfully kept feeding out in the open and making her way closer to me. I didn’t see the buck again for at least a couple of minutes and began to think that another big one had slipped away from me.

As the seconds that seemed like minutes passed, I really began having my doubts. But, suddenly, he was back again. I could tell that the buck didn’t like the doe leading him out towards the open, but that’s what the rut is all about. I had laid my pack on the ground in front of me, loaded my gun, and begun thinking that lady luck was now again on my side. The tree row that the buck was sneaking through ended at a fence followed by a big, open, dried-up slough on the other side of it. The doe had now crossed the fence, and the buck wasn’t far behind. Once he crossed the fence, the buck was about 400 yards and quartering away. It was now or never. He was only at a walk, so I didn’t lead him much. It wasn’t long after the report that I knew I had missed. Amazingly enough, lady luck gave me one more chance when the buck stopped, turned to face me, and stared right in my direction. I cranked another shell in, held in the center of the base of his antlers, and squeezed the trigger on my trusty .300 Weatherby again. This time I heard the unmistakable thump of the 180-grain Partition hitting home. The buck immediately turned and started running, not in the direction he had just came from, but at a 90-degree angle. I decided I needed to grab my pack and get moving in his direction quickly before he disappeared from sight behind the sloped hill.

The buck went about 75 yards or so, tripping and stumbling the whole time, while I covered about 25 yards. At about 450 yards, the buck stopped at a clump of trees and turned broadside to look in my direction again. My pack was down, the rifle rested over it, and about two inches of daylight showing between the crosshairs of my Zeiss and his back all in a matter of about two seconds. One last pull on the trigger, and the “thump” of the Partition told me that it had done its job. The buck quickly disappeared from sight, but I knew it was a solid hit. I jumped up, reloaded the Weatherby again just in case, and started making my way to where I had last seen the deer.

It didn’t take me long to get there, but of course it seemed to take forever. I was about 25 yards from the buck when I first spotted him. It looked like his head was propped up with a stick due to the width of his rack. After a quick check to make sure that the buck had expired, and probably a couple of woo-hoo’s, I figured I better go find my hunting partners. Darren was the first one I ran into and, I think because of my being so fussy, along with the smile I had on my face, he knew I had a good one on the ground. We, of course, had to go back and have a look at the buck before heading back for the truck. Needless to say, Darren was also quite impressed with the width the deer was carrying – the four drop-tines probably helped as well. After getting the buck back to the farm, it was a quick job of skinning (and having a couple of celebratory beers) before we stretched out the tape. The buck’s 4×4 main frame, coupled with the four drops and an inside spread of 30-inches, grossed just over 180-inches. Upon closer inspection of the skinned out buck, I noticed that both bullet entry points were fairly low in the chest, confirming the long distance the shots were taken at.

Looking back on things, I am sure glad I’ve always carried a pack with me. Not only is it convenient for carrying a spotting scope, lunch, etc., but I don’t think I could have made those long shots without it being used for a steady rest. I’m also thankful for quality optics such as Zeiss and Swarovski that make hunting an easier job in low light conditions as well as long distance. Top if off with my favorite .300 Weatherby and a clip full of Nosler Partitions, and I had the perfect combination to make the 2007 hunting season another memorable one.