Saskatchewan Whitetail Deer Bowhunt Live!

DAY 4

11/03/09

Day 4 - AM

Weather called for highs near sixty today. Not good. The buck movement was nocturnal when it was 18, so 60 is probably not going to help any. But with optimism Rob and I headed to the farm where I filmed that 100" buck two days ago. The only bow hunter that sat here, last week, saw 17 bucks ranging from 90" - 165". He killed a 145 the next day at a different stand and was done on day 2. Of course, my luck is nothing like that and my bad luck streak took a wild turn this morning. After Rob drove off with his quad, I finished getting everything set up and settled in as light started to crack on the horizon. I glanced over at my bow which was hanging from my bow holder and something looked strange? My sight was gone. I had no idea what happened. It was just gone. Obviously, this would make the hunt a little more challenging. I called Rob on the radio and he confirmed that the sight was in the case with two screws laying loose. So he came back to pick me up and naturally I needed to leave with him to shoot and ensure that I was still sighted in. By the time I got back to the stand it was quite late in the morning and nothing came in. Not even a doe.

Day 4 - PM

It was time for us to switch gears. We are 1/2 way thru the hunt and I've only seen one rack buck. My buddy Dwight has been seeing rack bucks every day but still not quite what he was looking for in a shooter. Although I can't quite speak for Dwight, my guess is he's starting to think about that high 130" buck he passed on day 2. Of course, a high 130" buck would be welcomed at this point.

So we spent a little time poking around and looking at some stand locations. Rob put up a stand just today. It was way back in the Provincial forest, which is just like our National forest back home. But this wasn't like any public ground I've ever seen. This was pure wilderness and I fell in love with this new stand. The stand is in a spruce next to a beaver swamp. It' a spectacular location. Pure wilderness.

Now, we did bait it, but it was only just baited today so I wasn't expecting a lot of activity. I was still pleasantly surprised when I saw several deer including two spikes. But just at dark a big buck came in. I never saw him but I could hear him grunting and there was no mistaking the sound of large horns hitting branches. Unfortunately he winded me and blew. And it was one of the deep, throaty blows that you only hear from mature deer. He was coming in late, probably after legal shooting light so I couldn't have shot him. I left all my gear in the tree so I can sneak in there early tomorrow morning.