Saskatchewan Whitrtails

A few pictures from Saskatchewan hunt last year.

I hunted there in 2006 and again in 2008. The antler size was a lot bigger in 2006 than 2008. The winters of 06-07 and 07-08 were the hardest they had in a few years. Either the mature bucks hadn't survived the winters because they lost their fat stores during the rut or they survived the winter in a depleted condition and that restricted antler growth. There stilll seemed to be a lot of bucks, just not the bib ones.

In 2006 18 hunters harvested 18 deer with the average score being 145 and the largest over 170. For 2008 16 hunters took 15 deer with the average being 130 and the largest being 145.

These are still nice deer, just not quite up to Saskatchewan standards. I talked to other hunters in Saskatoon that hunted with different outfitters and they hadn't done any better.

Still decent bucks. Granted, not probably what someone going to Saskatchewan would expect, but you gotta make the best of it while your there. The bodies on those deer don't look as big as I would have expected. Who did you go with up there?

I hunted with Proudfoot Outfitters and I would highly recommend them. The owners are from North Carolina and the guides are locals. All are great people.

Most of the deer field dress around 200 lbs, they weigh them all. I would guess a field dressed deer at 200 might be 250 or a little more live weight. They said they had taken deer in past years that field dressed 270 but I think a 300 lb whitetail is pretty rare even in Saskatchewan.

I think most of the deer taken were mature deer also, probably 3 1/2 up to 6 or 7.