It finally happened for me. To preface this statement, let me tell you a little about myself.... I started hunting when I was in University, my dad never hunted, but when I was young he bought my brother and I a couple of BB guns for some plinking, then moved us up the line to small caliber rifles, so in short I can shoot. I bought a bow when I was 20 because I thought it was fun and a couple guys in some of my classes had one. I went to the range a ton (can't shoot in my backyard) and I went out "hunting" with some buddies in which I had some good and some bad experiences. I quickly learned how I wanted to hunt. The first 2 deer I ever shot, were bad shots and I never recovered them, needless to say I almost gave up hunting after that. I am an independent person, I like to be able to do things on my own and I just started reading everything I could about harvesting an animal. Don't get me wrong, I love having friends who hunt, I just have had a hard time finding the person who pushes me when times are hard and who I can rely on to help no matter what. I have a lot of good friends who will be there, but not when it comes to hunting. I had a buddy who invited me out a few times when I was first starting out, I learned from him that whitetails have certain patterns and he showed me what to look for in the bush. He showed me how to gut/skin and always pushed me to work hard. We don't get to hunt together much anymore though.
So this year I decided to go solo, for the first time I just wanted to be on my own, make my own mistakes and deal with the consequences if need be. The last few years the deer population up here has taken a hit due to bad winters etc, and it is finally starting to rebound. Now up here, there is really no "public/private" land, its mostly agricultural where I am living. If it is not posted "No hunting/trespassing" it is pretty much fair game. I am lucky enough that my farming background/job in agriculture allows me to be out in the country a lot and my wife and I will be moving onto our farm next spring after our first child is born, so I am out there prepping the old yard for a new house and doing work on pretty much everything else that needs fixing, that being said, our land isn't the best habitat for whitetail, but they do come through every now and then, I am very lucky. Being the prairies, it is very wide open with patches of trees/bush in little spots.
Now, for the hunt.
The rifle season opened Nov 20th, Sask residents can purchase a general season tag which allows one either sex whitetail to be taken in any of the seasons archery, muzzleloader or rifle. I had went out with my bow when the season opened back in september but working in Agriculture, harvest time is my busy time so I didn't get many days in the field.
I don't hunt from a tree stand, we really don't have the trees around my area to even think about hanging one, but I had a couple of spots picked out to sit, so that's what I decided to do opening morning. After the mile or so walk into the area I was hunting on opening morning, I sat patiently and waited for the sun to rise. Within minutes I could tell the winds were not in my favor, but I didn't have a choice, I knew which way the deer were expected to come from, and if I moved now I risked spooking something, so I waited. That morning I saw 8 does, 3 bucks and a few mule deer. Surprisingly, none of them spooked to my scent. The area is heavily farmed so the smell of humans is always around. We have many road warriors around that will shoot at anything they see, so time is always of the essence.
Around 11:30 that morning I wasn't feeling very well so I decided to walk back to the truck, have something to eat and make a game plan. After eating I decided to walk the 3 miles or so into an hay field where I had spotted a few deer the day previous and had watched deer munch in for most of the summer. I get back into the field and I instantly see two does hanging around, watching a coyote. It took everything I had not to drop that coyote where he stood, but something told me to keep walking. I was almost to where I was sitting that morning when I look to my left and see a buck standing about 300 yards away. I was behind a row of trees so I slowly crept up to an opening. At this point my heart is beating and I am experience some definite buck fever. The buck was around the bush he came out of and is walking right towards me, I tried to set up but I just couldn't get a good rest. Finally I realize that I will have to hold onto one of the trees in front of me, but the buck has now caught my wind and is staring right at me. I couldn't move. Finally he turns to run, as soon as I see his head turn I grab the tree infront of me, and steady myself. He stopped, turned, looked me in the eye at 190 yards and BOOM. I had been working for this moment all year, scouting, studying travel routes and looking for deer whenever I was out. I thought I had missed, the recoil mixed with sheer emotion I didn't see what happened after I shot. So I called my wife haha. I asked her to come help me look for blood, I was only about a half an hour drive from where we are living now so she said she would leave right away. I hung up, collected my thoughts and looked through the binos to see antlers sticking out from the uncut wheat field. There he lay, a beautiful mature whitetail, he didn't move an inch from where I shot him.
Thanks to every member of this forum for allowing me to read your stories and learn from your mistakes/successes.
So this year I decided to go solo, for the first time I just wanted to be on my own, make my own mistakes and deal with the consequences if need be. The last few years the deer population up here has taken a hit due to bad winters etc, and it is finally starting to rebound. Now up here, there is really no "public/private" land, its mostly agricultural where I am living. If it is not posted "No hunting/trespassing" it is pretty much fair game. I am lucky enough that my farming background/job in agriculture allows me to be out in the country a lot and my wife and I will be moving onto our farm next spring after our first child is born, so I am out there prepping the old yard for a new house and doing work on pretty much everything else that needs fixing, that being said, our land isn't the best habitat for whitetail, but they do come through every now and then, I am very lucky. Being the prairies, it is very wide open with patches of trees/bush in little spots.
Now, for the hunt.
The rifle season opened Nov 20th, Sask residents can purchase a general season tag which allows one either sex whitetail to be taken in any of the seasons archery, muzzleloader or rifle. I had went out with my bow when the season opened back in september but working in Agriculture, harvest time is my busy time so I didn't get many days in the field.
I don't hunt from a tree stand, we really don't have the trees around my area to even think about hanging one, but I had a couple of spots picked out to sit, so that's what I decided to do opening morning. After the mile or so walk into the area I was hunting on opening morning, I sat patiently and waited for the sun to rise. Within minutes I could tell the winds were not in my favor, but I didn't have a choice, I knew which way the deer were expected to come from, and if I moved now I risked spooking something, so I waited. That morning I saw 8 does, 3 bucks and a few mule deer. Surprisingly, none of them spooked to my scent. The area is heavily farmed so the smell of humans is always around. We have many road warriors around that will shoot at anything they see, so time is always of the essence.
Around 11:30 that morning I wasn't feeling very well so I decided to walk back to the truck, have something to eat and make a game plan. After eating I decided to walk the 3 miles or so into an hay field where I had spotted a few deer the day previous and had watched deer munch in for most of the summer. I get back into the field and I instantly see two does hanging around, watching a coyote. It took everything I had not to drop that coyote where he stood, but something told me to keep walking. I was almost to where I was sitting that morning when I look to my left and see a buck standing about 300 yards away. I was behind a row of trees so I slowly crept up to an opening. At this point my heart is beating and I am experience some definite buck fever. The buck was around the bush he came out of and is walking right towards me, I tried to set up but I just couldn't get a good rest. Finally I realize that I will have to hold onto one of the trees in front of me, but the buck has now caught my wind and is staring right at me. I couldn't move. Finally he turns to run, as soon as I see his head turn I grab the tree infront of me, and steady myself. He stopped, turned, looked me in the eye at 190 yards and BOOM. I had been working for this moment all year, scouting, studying travel routes and looking for deer whenever I was out. I thought I had missed, the recoil mixed with sheer emotion I didn't see what happened after I shot. So I called my wife haha. I asked her to come help me look for blood, I was only about a half an hour drive from where we are living now so she said she would leave right away. I hung up, collected my thoughts and looked through the binos to see antlers sticking out from the uncut wheat field. There he lay, a beautiful mature whitetail, he didn't move an inch from where I shot him.
Thanks to every member of this forum for allowing me to read your stories and learn from your mistakes/successes.
