Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada Saskatchewan Derr Hunt 2015

I understand from talking to guys that have a lot of experience hunting there that the winters have been the main culprit, the last few winters especially.

A few brutal winters in a row.

The herd can do it now in places, but its a low percentage thing at the moment. Much would depend on what the hunter considered a trophy. My son and I got a couple that grossed 160 and mid 150s (both netted low 150s) but we are hunting as locals in a premium area which I own and had all fall to do it. Ironically for all the time spent they were shot within minutes of each other. For a non resident I'd hang tight and hope for better times.
Picture is bit blurry and darkness caught us before we could get them together for the shot.

I just got back. LOTS of deer in the 115-130" range seen - with the biggest being around 145". There was nothing I wanted to shoot. To echo what others have said though, the numbers appear to be WAY down. I didn't see that as much last year as this year. THere were several nice deer killed out of our camp, but I never had the chance. There are still HUGE deer just like Model70Guy says but it's a percentage thing. You could go and kill the biggest deer of your life or you could go and see very few deer.

That being said look at this BEAST that was killed the day before I started. The gross score was 187", you have to see the mass to believe it, I couldn't get my hands around it until I got past the G4. The thing's spread is wider than I am.

Bottom line for me: I had a great time but I believe it will take several milder winters to let the deer heard recover before I will return.

Nice deer.

Mainly winters. Predation is very bad also. Mismanagement is normal here too. But, it's why we have these giant deer. Only the very strongest make it. This winter so far though is just what the doctor ordered. Next year will be better if the winter continues like it has.

I'm going to play odd man out here....and without questioning any one else's judgment. But I would not sit around waiting through good cycles and bad up there.

Life has a way of sneaking by and there are a million things that pop up, conspiring to eat into hunting time.

A Canadian giant is a rare animal to get a shot at in good cycles and bad. Killing one is rarely accomplished in a single, carefully calculated trip no matter how desperately we wish it.The overwhelming majority who go up there will never even see one,let alone kill it.Killing a buck like the one in Buzz's photo is akin to hitting the lottery for a couple of million dollars.

Even in Canada,where there a lot more of those kinds of deer, there are still not a lot of them.

What gives you the best odds of success is not simply up-cycle deer numbers,but your personal investment in time and effort. You go there not to see bunches of deer but a single very special one that you can kill. You can stay home, waiting for better population cycles,but you can't kill one if you aren't there.

The most important thing is to simply go....be there...regardless of the cycles. Every hunt you make increases the odds that you will bump into one.

Very good points you make. If you can swing it, go! If it a one time thing, then perhaps you look to increase your odds, but life does have a way of throwing us curves!

Sound Logic !

The trouble with the logic is its a big old world and there are other opportunities that are hot now. Most people's time and resources are limited, and for every trip that is taken there is another one that got passed up. Its sort of like fishing. You can go anytime and the big one might happen. Or, you can go where they are biting, when they are biting and fish for what is biting. Its easier to work with it than fight it.

I feel bad for guys who pay top dollar to freeze their ass off and look at dinkers, and the outfitters sure aren't going to warn them. On the other hand I'd like to see guys come up and hammer up the bears. We're crawling with them now.

M70: That's true.too....there are other options.

Me, if things look bad in Sask I would be looking in Manitoba or Alberta as alternatives....but I would be going if I could.

Alberta and Manitoba got hit hard too. Parts of Manitoba were changed to bucks only and there is talk of closures. There were recommendations of closures in Saskatchewan, but the G-men are so addicted to the revenue that they wouldn't hear of it. I talk to resident hunters that never even see a deer most days. There are pockets of good populations, and deer can be concentrated on good baits but it isn't good. The age classes of bucks that produce the trophies die first on bad winters. Next its the fawns and then the unborn fawns get reabsorbed. Right now there is a near absence of fawns of the year, and a shortage of trophy age bucks. Even if a old buck makes it through, being stressed during the winter will affect his antler growth the next year. Its going to be like the 70s if things don't shape up.

A new warm trip in Namibia, or a hunting/girl watching trip in Argentina would be a better use of funds for those with options. Me, I'll just leave my hale bales where they can find them and hope for the best. Field where they were growth works well.

We've already got enough snow for good snowmobiling, which is about a month earlier than was normal for many years. Throw a late spring on that and we'll have anther wreck.

Lots of good points made by many on this thread and this is one that I agree with fully. Sure there are STILL huge deer in Sask but there are other places you can go in the states that are many hot opportunities here.

M70 I do hear that things are not good in Northern Alberta,where I have hunted there...not good the past 2-3 years from what I hear.

I am glad I hunted Central Canada when I did!

Has anyone seen a picture of a buck with good mass (like in good years) taken in Canada since 2012, including outfitter websites?

I Think this fits the category
.

This winter is shaping up to be exactly what these deer need. Minimal amounts of snow and warm temps. All week it has been hovering around the melting point. If we had a lot of snow that would be bad, but that isn't the case. We are ahead of the last two winters by 4-6 weeks. Now granted, it will take a couple or three of these, but hey, it's a start. And don't kid yourself, along the way there will be some hogs shot. Mother nature has smiled upon us by giving us these genetically gifted deer.
Cheers.