we took these boys in alberta this year.  my buck was down in the thick stuff and my buddy brought my pack down for me when i got him on the radio.  he thought my camera in in my pack, and when he got there, i was too lazy to go back to the truck for it.  two km uphill seemed like too much work.  i boned him down there and packed him out so i didnt get any field pics.  garys is just cool with the mass.  i havent taped either one yet.

dale

Not too bad at all.

they came from the N sask  river somewhere between edmonton and the SK border.  i really dont bother hunting whitetatils down here anymore.  i really only have one good area down here and its archery only.  there are some pretty good bucks here, but the true giant that i want just isnt available in the south.  there is too much hunting pressure, and the average lifespan of a whitetail buck is 18 months. 

i will try to get a tape on these things today if i get a chance, but for now im guessing somewhere close to 160 for both.  garys is one of those rare buck where mass will actually mean something on a scoresheet.  you hear lotsa guys say how light masss will hurt a deer or big mass will help.  an average mature buck will have around 36 inches, a nice one will be 38, and a good one will make 40.  the rare exceptions will get up into the mid 40's, and with the palmation on this thing, im guessing he will stretch to around 44ish.  thats huge mass....but still only 8 better than an average buck.  for comparison,im guessing mine has around 38.

Nice bucks! .........

hey axe...B&C is the best available.  it isnt perfect, but there hasnt been a better system developed yet.  ive heard a few guys pitch the idea that taking a circ measure on each tine at the midpoint would help fill in the shortfalls.  i dont hate it....but it would be a nightmare for all the racks already scored over the years.  whichever....ive never thought score alone is the ultimate judge of trophy quality.  its just a standard to convey the approximate size of a buck that we all understand. 


so if anyone else went to saskatchewan...did it suck for you too?  hmm...maybe thats another thread.

well i got these things scored up, and honestly im pretty surprised. garys buck goes 164 3/8 with 42 4/8 on his mass measurements.  mine only managed 156 even with 37 on the mass.  i guessed both to be right at the 160 mark, and actually i thought mine was gonna be an inch or so higher than garys.  im happy for him.  he deserves to have bragging rights over me once in a while for all the ribbing i give him about such things. 

my buck was actually the 3rd deer i saw on the first day of my hunt.  i guess him just over 150 on the hoof and let him pass.  i had two more chances to kill him and let him walk then too.  when he got up out of the weeds and jetted, i thought he was a different deer and laid him down.  as soon as i walked up to him i recognized the G2 shorter than the G3 on the one side and knew it was my new found friend.  he was better on the ground than i gave him credit for....but not as good as the deer i thought he was when i hit the trigger.  oh well, he is a fully mature buck that wasnt likely going to get any bigger, so a good deer to take home. i have already boiled them and cleaned them and i think i can make room on a wall somewhere for him.

garys buck earned the name batman.  we caught him out in the open and made a sneak to where he was.  we kicked him out of the bush and he would take 3 steps and leap and fly....hit the ground for a few steps then leap and fly.  i dont know how gary rolled him out of the air like that, but it was cool to watch. 

^^^ no eric didnt get up north this year.  he is in pre-dentistry in college and couldnt justify the time away.  well i couldnt justify it anyway,    he bought a tag and hunted around med hat a few days, but he couldnt bring himself to pop an 18 month old baby buck on the open prairie.  that kid has been spoiled with the amount of honker bucks he has seen in his few short years hunting.

robin spent some time in the archery blind, but blew an opportunity at a real beauty.  she shaved a couple hairs off him, but he is alive and well.  she never made it north either...too busy with her job.