Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada Sask deer forecast?

Nice deer but opening day...short trip. I did that once and had to drive around in the truck for the rest of the week while everyone else hunted. Really sucked actually....

quote=SAKO75]Bzik

It's a good thing this guy from the US went anyway to west SK.
Opening day of rifle....

[/quote]

Good mass, beams aren't too long, and weak forward G's. Mid 140's gross at the most. Too bad the hunter is so far behind the deer, trying to make the rack look larger than it is.

Well I'm going and hope to get one that nice. Course y'all are much more accomplished hunters than I

I wonder what the climate difference would feel like, Georgia, to Saskatchewan .

I don't think he is that bad at all...think ur under estimating him Joe. Not that he is a book buck but he is respectable. Just that first day....I like the trip to last somewhat longer....

I stand by my assessment. Well I suppose if the guy was happy that's all that matters. I've hunted whitetails in SK for 15 years in a row and know how to measure them up on the hoof and in the skinning shack. You're not going to shoot a Booner on the last day if you shoot a small one early on. I wish I had a dime for every deer that was "scored" by someone, only to find out it was 20 BC or so less when the tape went on the rack. Best learning experience was on my first hunt to Hudsons Bay area of SK when the guide looked at what I thought was a good buck on the ground and asked me "is this what you came here for"? My advice to serious guys going to SK for the first time is to study the BC measuring system for whitetails so you can rough measure him thru the scope before pulling the trigger. Fellows coming from US states are often overwhelmed by small SK bucks. But with all that said it's tough this year boys and with heavy snow up in NW SK now many outfitter guys will have you right off the road holding hands with other hunters. Second wk coming up.

Any reports from U.S. hunters who've been in Sask for deer this year ?

I'm drinking coffee in SASK now....
saw lots of chasing and many deer monday
yesterday was snowy and windy and none of the group saw as much activity as monday
Some nice deer have been killed here but the outfitter said it was a below average year
another US hunter i met here has been coming to sask for 58 years in a row! this year he dropped a 180 something inch buck
they are still here, just less than normal is my guess

Lots of hunters were b!tching up a storm in the airport about little deer and low sightings...some big ones were killed but numbers seemed alot lower than normal according to the people that go alot

I spent the week hunting of Mon 18th through Sat 23rd near Chitek Lake, SK
The typical day was viewing half a dozen does and two or three young bucks. The young bucks ranged from fork horns to 8 or 10 point bucks with antler widths less than ear widths. These would probably score smaller than 120.

The exception was seeing three bucks that were probably 3 1/2 year olds that had a bit more mass to their racks and with taller tines, but widths were within the ears, probably less than 140, so I didn't stop my hunt by shooting anything.

I'm not terribly disappointed that I made the trip other than feeling sad such a great big buck area has undergone such devastation for the older bucks.
I had a good time but don't feel a need to go back for at least three more years.
Happy Hunting

I talked to a lot of hunters at the airport...seemed the NY'orkers & N.East Yankees did well. They shot the sh*t outta 100" bucks all week.

I guess the Hansen buck probably did a lot to attract US hunters to Sask. We also had a bad thing happen up in my home area. And American hunter poached a deer that was pretty nice, and the publicity that it generated has our woods swelled with guys from Vermont, Connecticutt, Alabama, Wisconsin etc.

Worst thing they ever did was publicize that deer. It was shot after dark. Hard to find a decent area that is not full of "southern neighbours."

Same here, Mike. I got home about 10 minutes ago from my trip. I knew what I was in for and it didn't disappoint.

I still had a great hunt- 7 straight days - dark to dark. Saw a lot of bucks - lots of forkies and small baskets. Saw a handful 3.5 y/o. deer too. This was the best one of the group and I'm glad I wasn't just judging him based on his girth - he's a portly fellow.


I hunted the same camp as slg888, and his comments about our fellow Americans is spot-on. Many are certainly doing their part in ruining Saskatchewan hunting by needing to fill every friggin' tag with a dink.

Scott, I was hoping to see your luck and skill bring in a big one.

I was hoping the same from you.

Seriously though, I was appalled at the number of guys knocking down 1.5 and 2.5 y/o bucks. With the bad winter a year ago taking out the upper class and our fellow Americans taking out the younger class, it's going to take a long time to recover from this.

Canada, be it Alberta, Saskatchewan or Manitoba is my very favorite place on earth to hunt whitetails. This flat-out sucks for everyone.

It is really bad that hunters are harvesting younger bucks....its going to suck for years to come for hunters in search of mature bucks.

My father in law had several chances to shoot the buck in the pic i posted on pg 1 but passed him up...a young deer with lots of potential

Sad to hear that some of the guys just had to fill their tags , that really pisses me off. Why go through all of that to shoot a dink and screw things up long term. I have always thought that the outfitters that had fines in place for substandard deer were helping the overall cause.

Glad to see a lot of guys from here still went though. Its always been about the experience of hunting a new and exciting place and the thrill of the hunt for me. A big buck was a bonus. If tag sandwiches had calories I'd be a fat guy, but I could care less about that on a distant trip with the potential for a booner. I can meat hunt at home.

This, issue is one of a number in western-northern Canadian hunting that MUST be addressed and soon, given the severe declines in population numbers of some of our most sought-after game animals and one or two other major aspects of the entire situation.

I think that the province should immediately institute much stricter limits on SIZE, numbers available to "NR-A" hunters and also perhaps close hunting to all but Sask. residents in certain areas for a few years.

We need to do this here in BC, with sheep in some areas, Moose in the entire Kootenay Region and some other local situations.

However, I doubt that such enlightened game management will happen, the herds will be hunted to well-nigh extinction to grab that last $$$$ and, as always, there will never be sufficient staff on the management agencies to really enforce the regs. now in effect.

It is a bloody sad thing, as good management can and, IMO, would ensure some good hunting for many people for decades to come, but, the "quick buck" and the other major issue of "hunting" will probably wreck it for everyone.

It is almost impossible to get FACTS from BC Wildlife Branch staffers by phone or e-mails, they are in fear of their jobs, but, just the CBH sheep in "The Chilcotin" alone, show what is happening and how badly the resource has been dealt with.

I do not trust "outfitters" to manage game, I know of too many situations where an outfitter pulled off some slimy deals on clients and also knowingly broke the law for a quick buck, so, I support proper government agency management.

Yap, and I don't like judging other hunters, but when you get those guys that swear they'd never kill anything less than a 130" in camp, then during the last couple days they kill a 110" dink is what irritates me.

John Doe from New Hampshire.... "I'll go home empty handed before I shoot less than a 140 inch" (shoots a 100" dinker).

I understand deer quality/size is all relative to where you hunt, it's the bullsh*t talk I don't like.

I think that you and some other guys here, (NR-As) certainly HAVE the "right" idea, and I WISH we hunters WERE all so responsible and also willing to just shoot ONLY what is ready for harvest....but, I spent decades in resource work, am still somewhat active here in conservation and I do NOT believe that such will happen, anytime soon.

John Doe, comes to Canada, he spends $$$$ that he can BARELT afford, he WILL be mocked relentlessly on forums, his club and his wife will ask, "Could you NOT have at least shot SOMETHING",all of this IF he actually chooses to let the younger bucks live and grow.

So, I tend to favour limits to the size of the legally-shootable bucks, as we have for Mule Deer, here in BC and then, if ANYONE breaks these laws, wellll, tie em up "nekkid" at the kill scene in Dec. and leave them there......