deerhuntr4885
Active Member
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- 379
Ok...This is gonna be long so get a cup of coffee while you read this.
My Alberta hunt actually started on a high country buck hunt in the Pasaytan Wilderness here in my home state of WA in about 1997. I sometimes pack in alone if my hunting partners can't make it. This was one of those years. I packed my gear, left my wife a map of where I would camp, where I would glass from, and what basin I would hunt. I then grab a handful of magazines to pass the time with when not hunting. One of which is Peterson's Hunting (Sorry Brian and Rusty).
I was sitting on my perch enjoying the mid day sun, reading a story in Peterson's called "Red Deer River". The article featured Jack Franklin's Lost Creek Outfitters. After reading that article I decided that if I could ever afford a guided trip I wanted to go there. I placed the magazine back in my pack and brought it back home. I kept it for several years until I got a second job. I then found the courage to bring the idea up to my wife. She said to do whatever I wanted with the money! She even opened the savings acount for the trip. So I booked my trip for the second week in November 2005.
I recruited my best friend, Manny to accompany me on the trip. Manny's jobs were to be my videographer and keep me awake on the drive up. I had talked to Jack about bringing Manny along and asked if that was OK, and if so how much would his meals cost. Jack said that it was fine with him and told me not to worry about the meals or board he had plenty of room and food. I knew right away that Jack must be a good guy.
Hunting in this part of Alberta is only allowed on Thurs, Fri, Sat. Scouting is done on Tues and Wed.
We left at 0430 on Mon. Nov 7th. It took us about 15 hours to drive to Brooks, Alberta. We were supposed to meet Jack there but he was held up by another arriving hunter and a very thick fog bank. We met his girlfriend, got our licenses and went for dinner. We stayed the night at a hotel in Brooks and then Jack met us the next day.
We were supposed to start scouting on the 8th at first light but that was not to be. We met around lunch time and then we followed him to a small town named Jenner about an hour north of Brooks.
I could not get over how flat the county was. I expected prairie country but I pictured it with coulees and hidden valleys where the deer could prosper. I saw none of that as we drove. I just kept thinking to myself, Where the heck could all the deer be?
We arrived at the ranch at about 2:00 PM. I sighted in my rifle and I met my guide. I was teamed up with a 20 year old named Scott. Scott was awesome and we hit it off right away. I love to hunt hard and hike a lot and I knew I had the guy for that.
At about 4:00 Scott loaded us up in his truck and we headed out to see some deer. We drove about 20 minutes and came across a huge 3X3 with 11 does. He was massive! Thick and wide. After looking for a few minutes Scott said we had to go so that he could show us some BIG ones.
We looked at about eight bucks that night that were over 170 with two or three over 180. I really wanted something with an extra point or two. Most of the bucks I saw were 4X4's. All of these bucks were seen from a road!
It was really cool but I was starting to worry a little. I had no intention of shooting a buck from the road. And it really seemed like that was the plan. Drive, find the buck I wanted, lean over the hood and bang!
I told Scott that I was not interested in doing that and he assured me we would be hiking.
Just before dark we spotted my buck. He was about 1000 yards out in a field. I could see that he was not very wide but looked prett
My Alberta hunt actually started on a high country buck hunt in the Pasaytan Wilderness here in my home state of WA in about 1997. I sometimes pack in alone if my hunting partners can't make it. This was one of those years. I packed my gear, left my wife a map of where I would camp, where I would glass from, and what basin I would hunt. I then grab a handful of magazines to pass the time with when not hunting. One of which is Peterson's Hunting (Sorry Brian and Rusty).
I was sitting on my perch enjoying the mid day sun, reading a story in Peterson's called "Red Deer River". The article featured Jack Franklin's Lost Creek Outfitters. After reading that article I decided that if I could ever afford a guided trip I wanted to go there. I placed the magazine back in my pack and brought it back home. I kept it for several years until I got a second job. I then found the courage to bring the idea up to my wife. She said to do whatever I wanted with the money! She even opened the savings acount for the trip. So I booked my trip for the second week in November 2005.
I recruited my best friend, Manny to accompany me on the trip. Manny's jobs were to be my videographer and keep me awake on the drive up. I had talked to Jack about bringing Manny along and asked if that was OK, and if so how much would his meals cost. Jack said that it was fine with him and told me not to worry about the meals or board he had plenty of room and food. I knew right away that Jack must be a good guy.
Hunting in this part of Alberta is only allowed on Thurs, Fri, Sat. Scouting is done on Tues and Wed.
We left at 0430 on Mon. Nov 7th. It took us about 15 hours to drive to Brooks, Alberta. We were supposed to meet Jack there but he was held up by another arriving hunter and a very thick fog bank. We met his girlfriend, got our licenses and went for dinner. We stayed the night at a hotel in Brooks and then Jack met us the next day.
We were supposed to start scouting on the 8th at first light but that was not to be. We met around lunch time and then we followed him to a small town named Jenner about an hour north of Brooks.
I could not get over how flat the county was. I expected prairie country but I pictured it with coulees and hidden valleys where the deer could prosper. I saw none of that as we drove. I just kept thinking to myself, Where the heck could all the deer be?
We arrived at the ranch at about 2:00 PM. I sighted in my rifle and I met my guide. I was teamed up with a 20 year old named Scott. Scott was awesome and we hit it off right away. I love to hunt hard and hike a lot and I knew I had the guy for that.
At about 4:00 Scott loaded us up in his truck and we headed out to see some deer. We drove about 20 minutes and came across a huge 3X3 with 11 does. He was massive! Thick and wide. After looking for a few minutes Scott said we had to go so that he could show us some BIG ones.
We looked at about eight bucks that night that were over 170 with two or three over 180. I really wanted something with an extra point or two. Most of the bucks I saw were 4X4's. All of these bucks were seen from a road!
It was really cool but I was starting to worry a little. I had no intention of shooting a buck from the road. And it really seemed like that was the plan. Drive, find the buck I wanted, lean over the hood and bang!
I told Scott that I was not interested in doing that and he assured me we would be hiking.
Just before dark we spotted my buck. He was about 1000 yards out in a field. I could see that he was not very wide but looked prett
