|
Hunt Introduction This hunt takes place in southern Alberta, Canada. We are hunting in Unit 148, about 60 miles north of Medicine Hat. Primitive Outfitting owns a house in the little town of Empress, Alberta, which is our base of operations. Primitive has access to numerous acres and different properties in not only Unit 148, but also a few others right here in this area. Outfitter Jeff Lander holds the only non-resident bow tags for these few units, so if you want to hunt here, Jeff Lander is your man. I hunted with Jeff in the Fall of 2000 and was fortunate to take a nice Mulie buck with my bow. If you're interested in reading that Live Hunt, Click Here. I'm back for another go at the big bucks I know live here. The country here really varies. There are high desert plains, deep coulees, draws and serious canyons, and even some sandhills. My hunt will encompass various types of terrain in this area. Jeff uses several different methods of hunting to help his hunters be successful. I will probably be primarily hunting by spot and stalk, as that is what method served me best when I was here in 2000. Monday A.M.  River Breaks along the South Saskatchewan River This morning I started out watching a cut wheat field that there were a lot of deer tracks in. I was there before daylight and was surprised to not see any deer in the field. They must have left early to bed down in the coulees along the South Saskatchewan River, where we're hunting. The plan was for me to hunt down to the river and then hunt the coulees/river breaks parallel to the river, ending up at a pre-arranged pick-up point by 1 p.m. I saw my first bucks of the morning less than 30 minutes after daylight. A medium size 4x4 and a small 3x3 were feeding on brush in a little coulee that was hidden in the prairie until you were almost right up on it. I wasn't interested in trying to take either buck, but I did watch them for a few minutes.  The big 2x2 buck I saw this morning I took the pic through my spotting scope  more river breaks habitat  The South Saskatchewan River flows right through our hunting area I worked my way down to the where the river breaks started and then got out my binoculars and spotting scope and started glassing. I saw a good amount of deer activity the first few hours of daylight, including about eight different bucks and just as many does and fawns. The bucks were a mix of 3x3's and 4x4's, plus a big 2x2. None of them were quite what I was looking for, but some of them will be real nice bucks next year.  even though there's a drought going on here it's still pretty green deep down in the coulees  The decent 3x3 I saw this morning  an old shed I found I saw one of them, a tall 3x3, from a distance, and thought he might be worth a second look. I watched him go over the edge of a coulee and worked my way over to try and find him. About an hour later I finally was at the edge of the coulee, and I found him, or should I say he found me. He had moved up higher in the coulee, and was bedded only about 10 yards below the head of the coulee. I got a good look at him from about 50 yards away, and he wasn't quite as big as I had thought from a distance. I was downwind of him, and he didn't seem to be bothered by my presence as he just stood there letting me take pictures of him. He eventually bored of the staredown and trotted off out of sight. At that time I happened to look to my left, down the coulee, and immediately say something that said "deer" to me. There was a flat rock ledge and I could see a very nice buck bedded beneath it. I took a quick glance with my binoculars and could see that he was without a doubt a "shooter". His antlers were pink, indicating that he must have just shed his velvet. He had a good spread, was a 5x5, had tall tines and very good mass. I'd say he would score in the 170"+ range, conservatively. Unfortunately, he was looking at me (I was about 400 yards away), but he didn't run or get up, just layed there. I backed out of his view and quickly formed a game plan to stalk him from above. Even at that, though, I wasn't sure that I would be able to shoot him in his bed, because it looked like the ledge hung out too far.  Here's where the big buck I saw this morning was bedded - I think he's been here a few times! Well, to make a long story short, I came from above, found the rock ledge, and waited just above it for about an hour and a half, arrow nocked and release on the string at the ready. The wind was perfect and I know he wouldn't have heard me either because of the wind. I started to get impatient, so I tossed some small rocks down the hill, hoping to make him stand up. I chunked about 10 small rocks down the hill and never saw the buck stand up. I was starting to wonder if he was still there or if he had snuck out when I was making the stalk. So, I went back up the hill and snuck back around to where I'd first seen him. I crawled over the edge until I could see where he had been, and lo and behold, he was gone. He must have left when I was out of his sight and making the stalk. I took a picture of where he was bedded, and there were well worn, frequently used beds there. He outsmarted me. We'll check that spot again in a day or two. Monday P.M. This evening we hunted across the river from where we were this morning. I slowly walked along the edge of a big coulee glassing for deer getting up for the evening to feed. Between 4 and 7 p.m. I saw about 20-25 mulie does and fawns throughout the coulee, but I never did see any bucks. I'm not sure where they were at, I figured there would be at least a few, but there weren't.     a pretty serious trail across the prairie Check back for tomorrow's update!
|
Copyright © 1997 Hunting Information Systems, All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this information is provided to you.