Of all 30 specie
recognized in North America, the whitetail deer is by
far the most popular straight across the board. It is
the mature whitetail buck that has affected more of us
in the hunting industry than all others combined.
Consider the fact that
this extremely adaptable creature thrives in over 95% of
north America, from Mexico, to northern Canada, often
times in our back yards & within the city limits.
Yet it has been said (& I
for one agree) that a truly mature whitetail of trophy
caliper is one of the hardest trophies to obtain. Many
have lady luck plop one in their lap but to consistently
take trophy class whitetails, one must create their own
luck.
Novels continue to be
written on this subject, with more opinions out there
than Minnesota has lakes. In my 36 years of whitetail
hunting with a bow, muzzleloader, shotgun & rifle I have
come to the conclusion that all you can do is stack the
deck in your favor, the rest is up to luck & Mother
Nature. The following is a brief summary of what myself
& hundreds of my clients have done over the years to
stack that deck.
Creating the Mature
Whitetail.
If one
dreams of taking a mature whitetail, they must first
hunt where they exist. Sounds basic, but very over
looked by many.
Gentics, age (4-6 yrs old)
& nutrition all are important factors to consider,
without all 3, it is not possible for a buck to achieve
trophy status, and even then only a small percent will
ever reach that magic 150” class plus status. Keep in
mind, a trophy not only is in the eyes of the beholder,
but also varies greatly from region to region.
Midwest bucks can get as
big as anywhere, but often lack the opportunity due to
heavy hunting pressure. The sad fact is over 90% of the
bucks taken in the lower 48 are 1 ˝ yr old 4-6-8 pt
in-mature deer. Had these same bucks had the chance to
mature to 4-6 years of age, they could have been true
trophies. More & more sportsmen are realizing that
taking a doe is much better for the quality of the herd
than taking those young bucks.
Private ranches, large
tracts of private ground, park systems, as well as
suburbia offer the whitetail the sanctuary they need to
grow up. The most frustrating if not impossible angle in
hunting mature bucks in the lower 48 is securing the
property in which to hunt. After 30 years of these
frustrations I decided to invest my efforts in Canadian
whitetail hunting.
Any of the Canadian
provinces can & does produce big bucks, my personal
preferences have been Manitoba, Saskatwean, Alberta,
hunting each one of these areas multiple times has
proved to me that a man has a much better chance of
seeing & harvesting a mature buck in these regions. If
for no other reason, the sheer lack of hunting
pressure.
AL’S
PERSONAL HOT SPOTS
Manitoba
A popular destination for many from the
Midwest since they can drive to; 2 of my personal
favorite areas in Manitoba are the Riding mtns & the
Ducks mtns, both are huge provincial parks with the
needed sanctuary, excellent outfitters, personal
service, archery & muzzleloader is late oct, early nov,
rifle is 3 weeks in nov.
The most unique
wilderness whitetail hunt that I have experienced is a
horseback hunt, no motorized vehicles allowed within the
park that this outfitter has 16 tags grand-fathered in.
A 3 hour horseback ride will get you to his remote base
camp with all the comforts, dozens of elevated, heated
enclosed blinds overlooking some of the most beautiful
whitetail habitat you ever saw. 4 hunters per week, I
personally took 2 160-class whitetails in this region of
the duck mtns.
My son Jake can testify
that hunting the southern bow only zone can be awesome
as well in late cot. Moments after he zipped a broad
head thru a dandy 8pter, a massive non-typical over 200”
stepped into the same shooting lane.
Saskatwean
Much of
the popularity of hunting this region is the fact that
baiting is permitted. I have hunted in various corners
of this region with unreal success, plan on seeing more
bucks per day than you will the entire season hunting at
home. An avg day will produce 5-10 buck sightings & at
least that many does. A liberal 5-week season, all of
Nov & first week of dec. Huge tracts of hunting
territory, enclosed heated blinds. The biggest problem
here is knowing when to drop the hammer on a buck, most
clients will testify that they saw larger bucks while on
these hunts than they ever encountered from their home
land, if only we could convince everyone to let those 3
yr olds walk, the avg 3 yr old will have 8-10 pts, score
135-145”, but missing the mass, once a buck makes the
magic 5 yr plus mark he can produce antlers of trophy
caliper.
Recently I spent
thanksgiving week up there; perfect timing, upon our
arrival it cooled down some, 3-4” of snow & the rut was
on. Saw a minimum of 10 different bucks chasing does
every day, 9:00 am on my 5th morning the stud
I was waiting for trailed a doe to the bait. Keep in
mind that these big boys rarely feed at the bait during
the rut, but they do hang out for the hot does.
Alberta
Awesome deer hunting from south to north, lots of
options from aug-dec, all weapons, 200” monsters taken
ever year. One of the more popular options is you can
hunt whitetail, or mule deer or both at the same time,
with both tags in your pocket, trophy class bucks of
each specie can be taken.
A few years ago while on a
9 day 2 deer combo hunt I decided to spend a couple of
days checking out the mule deer bucks in the foothills
of the Rockies, sure i saw 175” plus class mulies, but I
also ran into the largest whitetail i have ever seen
with a rifle in my hand. With a perfect rest on a calm
day, I should have dropped him cleanly even though it
was 400 plus yds, all I have to show for that shot was a
handful of brisket hair. Something about a large buck
can make ya make mental errors!!!!
Eastern
Colorado
One of the few areas in
the lower 48 I do get extremely excited about is eastern
Colorado, preference points are required for
muzzleloader or rifle but archery can hunt every year. I
strongly advise applying for preference points for deer,
which allow you to take mule deer(180-220”) or whitetail
(150-190. )
Mexico;
Without a question, this
is one of the most enjoyable whitetail hunts anywhere;
elevated blinds, warmer weather, baited food plots, plan
on seeing over 50 deer per day. These bucks tend to have
140-200# body weight, but still produce 140-200” racks.
We insist on placing a guide with all first timers, to
assist in trophy judgment. Can also take javelina,
bobcat, quail.
Personal observations
When I look back on my 36
years of whitetail hunting, 27 years of which was 100%
archery only, I can honestly say the only common
denominator factor for taking all my best bucks has been
patience, persistence, & luck.
We have all read a million
words on the latest techniques to harvest monster bucks,
and as far as I am concerned, none of them are
consistent enough to base our entire hunting seasons on.
I will say however;
whenever I am on a guided hunt I tend to spend 100% all
day in the field (all my best bucks have been taken from
10:00 am-2:00 pm), the same hours that few of us hunt
when we are hunting near home or up north at the cabin.
Timing is a controversial
subject at best, when rifle hunting over the last few
years I have leaned towards the later hunts, since 1997
with El Ninio, our winters have been slow to develop, I
feel the kiss of death in trophy whitetail hunting can
be warm weather. Just imagine yourself chasing ladies
all night long with your warmest clothes on, cooler
temps & some snow helps keep all deer on the move.
The lunar effect has been
a huge subject over the years, one thing for sure, those
bucks have to rut sometime, this year the full moon fell
during the peak of the rut. I personally experienced
good activity all day long, at least 50% of my best
bucks have been taken during the mid day hours during
the full moon.
In summary, in my opinion,
anyone wanting to take mature bucks need to get out of
the rut they have placed themselves in, schedule a
guided hunt where big bucks live, with a quality
outfitter, in a premium area? This is not to say they
cannot continue their local good old boy hunt with the
gang, most clients will agree that they learned &
experienced more in those 6 days than they could have
ever read about or watched videos on.
For a complete listing of
all the best whitetail hunts, contact.
Al Kuntz
"Al's Worldwide Adventures"
Website (6500 pages)
www.alsadventures.com
Preferred contact;
al@alsadventures.com
15261 pilar rd box 38 Scandia Mn 55073
1-888-331-5014 / 651-433-5366 / fax 433-4434
Professional Hunting Consultant over 30 years !!!!
