Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Which would you prefer?

I've had a good buddy bugging me to go to Sask to shoot a big buck with him. He's taken 5 between 150 and 168''. The deer are also huge and the country is really wild. It sounds appealing at times but I can't pull the trigger on going yet. What I want to do is go hunt the Adirondacks in the snow and have a go at one of those big bucks. Anyways here is my question, and I am NOT fishing for an argument or to get people arguing, just want to get a feel for if I'm in the minority. Also keep in mind that I really and truly feel one is not "better" than the other.

Which would you prefer?

Situation 1:
Fully guided, fully included Sask where there are potential upper level record book deer.
Meals prepared, stands ultra comfort and baited. See between 5-10 shooters per day with days seeing upwards of 20.
Guide collect deer once you shoot it, meat is donated locally and you go home with antlers.

Situation 2:
On your own wilderness hunt in snow. Accomodations local hotel, meals are whatever you find around town and a sack lunch. You may see a deer a day or not, no big chance to shoot record book buck. You cover miles tracking, but know that you may be tracking a mature buck and that it is you against him in a battle of wits. Lots of miles, good chance of no deer. If you do shoot it, you're packing or dragging it out.

I'm in for #2 at this point in my life, but wonder if I'm the only nutjob that would pick one over the other.


God Bless,

MM

Please list the name of the outfitter where this is happening.

FWIW, I like both for different reasons - and, there's no saying that you can't have/do both.

I'd go with option two and use all that money i saved to buy a new rifle... But that's just me, I love diy hunts and buying new guns...

For me its #2, though for sure there are reasons to choose one or the other.

I would sure rather look back at pics of one I earned on my own (trophy or no), than pics of one I was "put on", is just one of my reasons...

Ask me in 30 years and I might say #1....

Hunt on buddies land and make extra morgage payments.

Wife and 3 kids says different, one trip per year for this guy. If you're serious I'll give you the name of the outfitter.

MM

MM,

I've hunted a fair amount in Canada, and, numerous times in SK. I've not encountered a place that saw 5 to 6 or more trophy-class animals in a day, so, heck yes, I'd be interested in the outfitter name.

Has anyone here actually hunted deer like in scenario #2, I've tried on an 8 thousand acre tract of wilderness we have in PA and it was fun but I didn't get too far without spooking him a few times, and he was no big old smart buck even then.

MM

I would rather look at a doe mounted on the wall that I did every bit of work for than a B&C that I paid for or that someone "managed". You only have to please yourself, but I am in the 100% do it yourself camp.

Ah heck no you're not the only one! Even if I had unlimited resources $-wise, I'd take #2 over #1; I like to feel like I did the hunting vs just shooting.

#2, that's hunting. Not saying #1 wouldn't be nice, maybe once, but I'm all for doing it on my own or with the help of hunting buddies. Anything worth doing isn't easy usually.

i like the idea of 2 it would a lot of fun


but if i had the opportunity of 1 i think i would do it especially if there is a lot of snow

#2 is what I do. Snow is great when I can get it but here lately it cannot be counted on. I tent it instead of hotel and dehidrated or canned food is what there is to eat. The track of mature buck is unmistakable and I know instantly when I cut ones track.

I have no desire to hunt? in the manner that you describe in #1, I'd be boared to death and wouldn't feel as if it were sporting.

I HAVE hunted the Dacks in the past. Cousin and I use to go up every year for about 5 years from ages 17-22 or so.

We did see some nice bucks...also got lucky enough to get doe tags the first year the gave them for part of the area up there.

We got a doe that year up there...don't see many deer though, that's for sure.

However, I'd much rather do that (save money, and do my own hunting).

Personally, I'd go with #1. I live in Vermont and the hunting here is pretty much the same as in New York. I would jump at the chance to see 5-6 "shooters" in week, let alone a day. I DIY every year here. Just getting crosshairs on a legal buck is an accomplishment in the kind of terrain in scenario #2. I would like to try the other way.

-Z

Both have their good points I suppose, if you have never been....I have been to Sask plenty of times and it is no longer on my "places to go"list.I really don't enjoy the baited,structured,aspect of the hunt,the laws are draconian and your hunting activity is over-regulated.

You sit on a baited stand for a week and sometimes freeze your ass off...Gawd forbid you are an intrepid type who likes to hunt on his feet and gets out of the stand to stroll around.This could result in loss of license or whatever other arbitrary punishment the local fish cops decide to administer(unless laws have changed since I have been there).


Having been all these places, I will take Alberta and Maitoba over Sask in a heartbeat.

Yes Sask has the big bucks....it's a great place to go kill a 150 or 160 or so....but I would bet on Alberta for something substantially bigger.

I guess the Adirondacks are like Northern Maine,NH, or Vermont...not many deer and you will hunt hard to see one.But the satisfaction is in the hunt itself,using your own skill sets to try to get one,working hard,and learning to "hunt".

Me, I'd go to the Adirondacks and save the sheckles for an Alberta whitetail hunt another year instead....Manitoba as a second choice.

They can keep Saskatchewan.JMHO

#1 here. I've been on DIY hunts many times and been on guided hunts many times as well. I think everyone should experience many DIY hunts, but after seeing both sides, I prefer to see more game on private lands when out of state personally. I'd rather spend 5k for a free range hunt and see a bunch of animals with many trophy ops than spend 2500 and bust my rear for nothing or get a dink. I hunt from Oct 1 to Jan 31 every year in my home state and good deer are very hard to get, few and far between. I call that my DIY hunting as it's definitely a challenge. Funny thing is I probably spend over 5k a year doing that and may go 3 years before bumping into a really nice buck. I can spend a few grand and go on two out of state hunts every year and sometimes see more nice bucks in one day than 5 years of hunting at home. It's nice to do both every year and I'm not ashamed of it one bit. I'll also add that a 120-140 class buck(depending on the area) at home is far more rewarding than a 160 class buck out of state, regardless of guided or DIY. The thing is that 160 could be a 1 in a million lotto type win from the most brutal DIY out of state hunt you could imagine and the home buck would still mean far more. I personally can't visit a spot once every so often and feel the true reward of a trophy animal even if it was very difficult to get as much as I could of a trophy animal in a place I've hunted since I was a kid for weeks on end every year for decades. Everyone has their own opinions....

Sask is my dream hunt. Though not if you're seeing 5 shooters a day, cuz then it's not a hunt it's a shoot.

I'm all in for a real Sask hunt though.

I hunt the big woods of MN enough to know I'd like to see more than 2 deer in a season every once in a while.

Free range regardless of if tracking in snow, sitting a trail or glassing and stalking. Don't do well with baiting but don't hold it against those who do. I'd do #2 or a variant of it as often as possible.

mitchell-

How about # 2 first THEN #1 second OR

#1 first THEN #2 second.

I would prefer Alberta but.....

regardless there are LARGER bucks (body & antlers) than are generally found in the Southern States.