Mike works as a sales representative for Mike Wieck Sales Agency, who both represent some great outdoor manufacturers such as Swarovski Optik, Game Tracker, Darton Archery, Spyderco Knives,  and Natgear Clothing which gave us some great field testing.  Along on the hunt was Keith Hagen, who represents these same manufacturers in Wisconsin.  The week to hunt was November 12th through the 17th when the rut should be on.  Mike Bergeron, Keith Hagen, and myself were to fly on Sunday the 11th and meet in Minneapolis.  Then  fly on together to Saskatoon Saskatchewan and the rent a car and meet Mike Wieck who drove and had been hunting in other parts of Canada prior to this hunt.  One of the amazing things was the amount of hunters on the jet to Saskatoon.  I fly regularly during the fall hunting months and you can always count on several hunters on the plane going somewhere to hunt in the fall, but this plane, a Boeing 737, with the exception of a handful of passengers was exclusively hunters.  Being a fan of numbers I began to think of the commerce that is brought to just this part of Canada and it begins to add up quickly from airfare to car rental, restaurants, outfitters, taxidermy, hunters equipment, all the outfitters gear, and the list goes on and on. 

After meeting up with Mike Wieck in Lloydminster and grabbing a bite to eat, we headed to hunting camp and the excitement really began to climb.  When we arrived we met our outfitters Mick and Gail Manson, of Muk Monster Outfitters.  Mick and Gail were a great couple to be our host and guides, and they were excited Mike Wieck was back in camp for the 9th consecutive year in a row.  Mike Bergeron, also a repeat who had some unfinished business with a big buck, was glad to see Mick and Gail and also our guides for the coming week Bob and Lee.  Mick and Gail had two other acquaintances in camp this week with us, Jack and Barry from Pennsylvania.  With several of us getting reacquainted and the stories buzzing around the anticipation of the next days hunt continued to climb with the exception of the unseasonably warm weather.  I had been prepped for, long sits, big bucks, solid white clothing, magnum calibers, and very cold weather.  The warm weather and no snow were unusual for them but seem to haunt me on the previous hunts I have been on this fall, and was not helpful in the pursuit of game. 

Monday morning still came soon even thought it was a night of tossing and turning and thinking of big bucks.  This morning started like each of the coming mornings by Gail fixing a hearty breakfast, layering up the clothing and grabbing a lunch for the day.  Each day would also mean being dropped off well before daylight and picked up at dusk.  Mid day included a radio check by our guides Lee, Bob and Mick to see how we were doing and if we needed anything.  Keith and I had Lee for our guide and after breakfast he loaded us up drove us off into the bush on trails he seem to know extremely well, dodging all the major rocks and pot holes.  These vehicles really take a beating running the bush trails and Lee had become an expert at diagnosing and fixing problems caused by the abusive trails that we put several miles on each day.  After taking me to my blind and wishing me luck for the day, Lee continued on with Keith dropping him even further down the trail deeper in the bush. 

Even though it warmed up midday, the mornings were still cold and several degrees below freezing.  This morning a light fog covered the area and continued to hang until late afternoon when it finally burned off.  By daylight I began to see deer, only does and fawns but I immediately noticed the size of these deer were substantially larger bodied than those back home.  By late morning I had seen 5 does then I saw my first Saskatchewan buck, which was a nice little 6-point similar in rack size to those in Michigan but again the enormously large body.  An hour or so later a 5-point wandered through and I began to feel right at home with size of bucks I was seeing until the next one came out.  I spotted very large single deer come out of a thick willow slue.  I saw quickly without any optics that it was a good buck.  Pulling up my rifle I verified my sighting and began to count points and measure up the buck for size.  As thick as it is in the bush with lots of willows and dense poplar trees one needs to be better skilled than myself at judging quality bucks quickly.  I did, however, manage to determine from what I had heard on size to hold off for now on this one.  It had 10 points, fairly good height, but not much mass and not much spread.  But what a majestic animal and the way those big bucks carry themselves.  I got a real good look at him and figured he would score somewhere between 120 to 125 inches.  The rest of the day would only bring a few more does and Lee was there to pick me up. 

Accounts were pretty slow back in camp on the deer count the first day.  I calculated I saw more deer than anyone else had that day.  Tuesday, day two, back to the same blind brought similar results seeing does all morning long and bucks during midday starting with a little fork horn just after noon.  An hour later a good solid six point that had a nose to the ground beagle look trying to pick up the scent of those does in earlier in the day.  Then shortly after 2:00 PM from left came a buck carrying a nice tall rack.  Again visible without any glass I knew this would have potential and pulled up my rifle.  Only giving my profile, I knew it was symmetrical and it had ten points very dark colored rack.  I knew it was going to be a little light on the mass, but the G3 being taller than the G2 looked good to me and I would have to just gamble on the width.  I knew that if I got the shot I would take it.  Now all this calculation took place within about a 15 second stretch along with lot of other stuff running through my head like; how many hunts I have been on this year and warm weather has been detrimental to all of them, the other guys not seeing many deer the first day and tons of other thoughts. 

He finally stepped into my shooting lane and I steadied my Magnum Research 300 Wby Mag and I touched it off.  Instantly he took off like he was shot out of a cannon.  To my surprise he came toward me just off to my left where I knew I could get another shot off.  Conversations with Mike Wieck and his wisdom on shooting these big bucks from the previous night came back to me spontaneously to keep on shooting and then some.  I did get a second shot off just before he dipped out of sight into a valley that led behind my blind.  What hearing I had left after those two shots with a ported 300 Wby and no hearing protection, which I highly don't recommend, I thought I heard some brush crack behind my blind and then things went silent which is usually a good sign.  After giving it some time, half a sandwich and a couple of cups of hot chocolate, I headed out to find first blood. 

After getting to where I first hit the deer, I did find some hair but no blood, not a good sign.  Used to tracking lots of deer without snow I knew I need to take my time and work diligently to find that first blood.  With lots of trails cutting through my shooting lane I could not pinpoint or find one that showed any blood.  During this coarse I had Mick come across my radio and he advised me if I felt I didn't get a good hit not to push it.   I went back to the blind to determine where my second shot had occurred and went to that spot to find blood. When I got to that point it was very obvious that I had hit the deer very hard.  With all the blood on the ground I began to cautiously track.  I didn't feel like I was pushing any by the amount of blood on the ground and sure enough only about 30 yards from my second shot he laid.  From behind, it was one of those views of lots of antler sticking up in the air above a huge whitetail body.  It is that great sensation I always get when finding a deer after I begin to second-guess myself on the shot. 

Mick was there fairly soon after I found my deer to get him out to a good spot to gut out the animal.  After that there was a regular photo and video session to capture the moment.  The buck did turn out to be a good buck by my Michigan standards of ten points and 132 inches of gross antler and spread.  I was a happy hunter.  Back to camp that night was a great ride and I also anticipated someone else possibly scoring.  Unfortunately upon our return nobody else had gotten one.  But everyone was glad I got one and hopefully get things started. 

It did get things started.  Day 3, Wensday Jack shot an impressive 10-point with good mass and wide spread to total 145 inches.  This was followed Thursday by my first exposure to Muk Monsters.  Thursday produced 3 bucks, first Keith scored on 12-point heavy mass unusual buck that measured 156 inches.  Then Barry got a smaller 8 pointer, like me judging these bucks can be difficult if you are used to seeing smaller bucks all your life.  And then Mike Bergeron downed a Muk Monster as Mick put it.  Mike's big 12 point measured 173 gross inches of antler and spread.  The continuing theme also carried through on big-bodied deer with weights ranging from 270 lbs. to 320 lbs.

All of us except Mike Wieck had gotten our deer.  Although Mike had a couple of opportunities he chose to pass on some of the smaller bucks.  That's where the experience of hunting Saskatchewan and already shooting big bucks comes in.  I was still very happy with my buck but I began to understand why Mike could hold off the small ones to wait it out for that real trophy buck.

My struggle was much less now on being gone over the opener of Michigan's firearm season by seeing and experiencing truly big bucks "Muk Monsters".  I still missed the traditions of the opener with family and friends, so the challenge will be getting with Mick and Gail to schedule a hunt around our opener because I have got to go back.  If you are interested in a quality Saskatchewan whitetail hunt I would recommend contacting Mick or Gail at:

MUK MONSTER OUTFITTERS
Mick & Gail Manson
Box 214
Lloydminster, Saskatchewan
S9V 0Y2 Canada

306-825-9496
306-344-4879