If you have read December’s issue you would have read an article by Randy Jorgensen on his whitetail hunt in Saskatchewan the first week of the season, November/2003.
I booked Randy, along with 10 other hunters from Michigan to hunt in the Dore Lake area of northern Saskatchewan. As you can tell from the article they had a great time with some great whitetail being taken. Randy departed from camp on Thursday and there were still a couple of Michigan hunters and two from Tennessee who were still hunting. Before the hunt was over everyone had harvested a deer during the first week’s hunt. The two hunters from Tennessee harvested two very large deer. One scored 168 and the other was a heavy beam 9 point which scored 145.
I arrived in camp on Sunday November 9th, with 3 other hunters from Michigan. There were two additional hunters in camp from the U.P. and two hunters from Tennessee. It was very cold when we arrived and when we saw the quality of deer that was taken the first week, we figured that we would have a great week of hunting in store for us.
This is my 7th trip to Saskatchewan, my fifth trip to Dore Lake. In my 6 previous trips I have harvested seven whitetails, the first time I went you were allowed to harvest two. My very first trip I shot a small 8 point buck which weighed over 200lbs. I can’t tell you the disappointment I felt when I walked up and saw the size of the rack. The buck had come out just before dark and all I saw was this deer with a huge body and horns. I figured it had to be a really big deer.
The second buck I harvested that year was a very large 10pt with a very tall and wide rack. It scored 140 and weighed 280lbs. I realized from that hunt that I would need to learn to better judge these deer. I would need to focus on the antlers and not the size of the body.
My last five trips to Dore Lake have had its ups and downs. I have harvested some great bucks there, some weighting in at over 300lbs. But I have always wanted to harvest one of those bucks that all of the guys take on those hunting video’s. You know, like the kind that Bill Jordon shoots every week, a real HOG! I know they are there, I have seem them and I seen other hunters in camp harvest them while I was there.
I gave this hunt a lot of thought in the weeks prior to my departure. I had made up my mind that I was going to do two things this year. I was going to stay in the same blind the entire 6 days and not switch. I figured the longer I sit in one place, the better my chances were that a hog would come by. Second, I decided that I was going to hunt 5 days and not shoot unless a saw a buck that would score 150 or bigger, and on the sixth day I would only harvest a good buck or maybe none at all.
In my 6 previous hunts I had never hunted past the fourth morning. In 2001 after seeing 24 different bucks and 21 does I harvested a 10 pt that scored 145 on the fourth morning. In 2000 on the third morning I harvested the thirteeth deer I saw ( all bucks ) a very good 9 pt which scored 141. Its very hard to pass on bucks like this, but I knew if I wanted a crack at Mr. Hog I would have to do that or just get lucky and have one walk by the first day.
My first day on stand I saw 8 different bucks, my second day I saw 5 different bucks. On the third day of the hunt the temperature rose to 40 degrees and the rutting activity slowed right down. As each day passed during the week another hunter would harvest their buck. The next couple of days I saw several good bucks, some that would score in the 140’s.
When Saturday arrived I was the only person who was still hunting. I had seen a total of 31 bucks so far during the five previous days of hunting. I told myself that if I saw one of those 140 class bucks today I would take him. Most of the bucks you see are between 10:00am and 2:00pm. A lot of these deer have never seen humans before, they move at will and usually all day long.
I told my hunting buddies that I was only going to hunt until 2:00pm and then we would pack up and drive straight back to Michigan. Right after daylight I saw a very large buck with a big rack behind some pine trees chasing a doe. It never really gave me much time to get a good look at it and he was only two steps from being in heavy cover. I brought up my rifle and found him quickly in my scope and pulled the trigger. When I walked over to it, much to my surprise it wasn’t one of the 140 class bucks I had seen earlier in the week. It was a main frame 8 point with a split brow tine ( 9 pt ). It was a good buck, but I would have let it pass if I knew how big it was. I would have been just as happy to go home without a buck. However, I was proud of myself for sitting through the entire hunt and passing on so many bucks, even though the hog never came by. That’s what is so great about hunting in Saskatchewan, you never know what’s going to come walking by. You always see a lot of deer and sometimes moose and wolves as well. In 2001 I had two wolves walk right up to my blind and I was able to get a picture of them.
In 2002 Bushnell Secrets of the Hunt was there filming their hunt. After Dave Watson harvested his deer, his cameraman had some free time so they placed him in a stand that another hunter didn’t want to hunt in any longer. The cameraman was in the stand for less than an hour and harvested a HOG! It scored 182.
If you decide to go to Saskatchewan to hunt deer there are three things you should think about. 1. Learn how to score a big buck, look at a lot of hunting videos before you go or go to a taxidermist shop, they usually have some there waiting to be mounted. 2. Stay in the same blind the entire hunt; the longer you stay in one place the better your odds are that a HOG might walk by. 3. Be prepared to sit for 6 days and have patience, you are going to see a lot of 120, 130 and 140 class bucks. Try to pass on those for the first couple of days and see what walks by. You will see a lot of deer bigger than you have ever seen in Michigan but you need to pass on those in order to see that HOG walk by.
In the past five years I have sent close to 80 hunters to Saskatchewan to hunt, only three have come home without a buck. We have 8 ½ townships to hunt ( no other outfitter can hunt there ) and 56 stands. The stands are elevated and enclosed. If you’re interested in hunting whitetails with us, you can call me at 989-344-9038 or e-mail me at JPTROPHYHUNTS@HOTMAIL.COM
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