RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

Good luck Rocky, looking forward to seeing some pics.

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

One of the family pets died yesterday. The deer were in the yard eating and dad said they all of a sudden all lifted up their heads so he knew they could hear something coming. They took off out of the driveway and one of them didn't quite make it and got t-boned by the grader opening up the road. I love killin them in season but i am a bit of a softy for the ones i feed in my yard. I don't know if it was a buck or not, he was going to haul it out today for the yotes. Sad but what do ya do. Very Very little traffic on my road as there is only one other farm on that road but i guess the chance does still exist.

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

Hia, that grader must've been moving at a pretty good clip to take out a deer!?

had another great weekend of shedding. saturday morning was relatively uneventful with the only find being this medium 4pt wt.

as it lay:


For the afternoon, I headed back up to the area where I picked up that droptine set last week. Right off the bat, I found this nice 5pt WT at the same grain pile as the one last week.

as it lay:




Most of the afternoon was spent looking for the match with no luck. With little light left, I headed for one last balestack before the truck and found these. They are the first matched set that I'e ever found together. They usually make me work harder for it.

atl:




to be continued...

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

...sunday found me in the same place as I started Saturday morning. After a few more miles of walking with no results i decided to give that place a rest for a few weeks. Lots of sign, not a lot of bone.

The dog was pretty much tapped out so I decide to just glass a few fields and call it a day. The first was full of mulie bucks that were all still packing both sides so I took note and headed for the next place. I parked the truck next to a shredded bale and took a look with the glasses. After a minute or so, I spotted what looked to be a curved mainbeam about 500yds out in the field. I figured it was most likely another of the 3 million piles of deer crap that i've glassed in the last few weeks but curiousity got the best of me and i strapped on the snowshoes. I made it all of 6 feet from the truck when I tripped on thi nice 4pt wt shed that was laying in a tractor track track next to the bale i'd parked at.:eek:So much for being proud of my eyesight[&:]

as it lay:




After photos I kept on after the suspicious "crap pile" in the field. After a few hundred yards i was clear that it was another nice 5pt whitetail shed.

as it lay:




The dog was near collapse so I took a roudabout path back to the truck. as I approached the trail I stopped for one more look around and spotted tines sticking up from a hay pile to my left.

as spotted:




While I was focused on the one I could see the pooch was sniffing at something in the hay pile. As I got closer, i spotted this nice 5 pt wt shed.

as it lay:


It turns out that the sheds from the hay pile are the matches to the other two I found. Not bad for a twenty minute walk.

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

Awsome pics and finds Sask! I am looking forward to heading back up to camp this spring and finding a bunch of bone myself!
As we say "Bone Me!"

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

Sask, those are some great pics and nice sheds as well. I can't get over the size of those "pellets".:DAre they big like that because the deer are gorging themselves? Deer crap is much smaller here in Pa.[&o]:D

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

Thanks guys,

most of those big pellets are actually moose turds. They will feed at the bales as well as the deer. I don't know about the other guys here but i've often found bales that only have moose crap at them even though there are plenty of deer in the area. I think they can be pretty ornery and will chase deer away from "their food" or at least the deer will avoid a bale stack that has a pile of moose around it

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

Thanks Sask, I just learned something, like I often do on this forum.I do have a facination with Alberta and the giant bucks that call it home.:)

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

Funny story about ornery moose from when we were flying that survey a few weeks ago. After spotting a moose you have to circle down on it with the helicopter in order to chase it out of it's bed and determine it's sex(the only surefire way to tell if it's a cow is to look for the white patch of hair on her "ladybits"). Anyway, most moose will get up and run but there was one that just stood up, pinned her ears back and looked at the chopper as if to say " I don't know what the h*ll you are but if you come any closer i'll kick the living sh*t out of you." Needless to say she won the standoff and we called her "unclassified":D

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

Way to go Sask, nice finds and pics. Thanks for sharing.

Yeah moose and elkcan keep deer at bay on such a hot find.

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

Here is a buck my buddy and I were hunting last fall in Sask. I wish I would have gotten a shot!

That droptine is 13".

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

Good job Sask!!! I've only been out once and called it quits as the wind was killer.
Dan...he's a pig, nice deer!

On another note my POL was up and challenged the exam to upgrade to a PAL. 100% written & 100% practical:DI wish school was that easy back in the day;)So it's off to send the paperwork and see how long this is going to take. Hopefully not too long as I'm primed to buy a .223 for gopher season!!!

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

Saska
Right on Sask,great exercise huh!I didn't get, out do to a conference that I forgotthat I gave my time to help out at. Now were getting snow again ,so I'll wait and see how much before I go for walks again to start shedding.Great pics Sask.
Rocky

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

There was a big kitty cat spotted just south of town the other day, bout 3 miles west of my farm. Lady was driving into work and saw the coug in the field, word got out around town and one of the guys went out there and found the tracks to confirm the 4 legged [8D]cougar. I have seen 2 in my lifetime in that area, the first being only 1 mile west of this sighting and the other one deep in the park. So the critters are definatley around just don't like to be seen too often. They are probably eating well this year with all of the snow.

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

Hey guy's...anyone know of any hunting stores in Canada that carry Nikon scopes other than SIR? I'm getting desperate[:'(]

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

JD
Try Wholesale Sports
Rocky

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

Ya that would be one option, but everytime i come out of that place i swear i watched the movie dumb and dumber in real life. I hardly darken the door at that place anymore. Check out Russell sports in cowtown, i do a bit of shopping there when i am in town. You also might get back to your ebay shopping for some possibilities. I haven't realy used ebay b4 but i rememeber you saying you have shopped there b4 so keep an eye out. Good luck. I have a 4-12 bushnell banner on my .17hmr i'll sell ya cheap.:D

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

FYI, Russell Sports and Wholesale Sports are one in the same. Wholesale bought out Russell last year.Darreld told me (former Dikon owner who sold out to WS here and still works with them) that Russells loaction will be no more once they open a new WS location in Cowtown. they just opened their new store here a couple weeks ago, haven't been in the place though but here it looks like a mini Bass Pro Shop, etc. They are apparently doing the same design chain wide.

JD, I have seen some Nikon Prostaff's and Monarchs in this shop here in s'toon.There website:www.northprosports.com

You may also try Bassproshop in Toronto. WhenI was there last they had a full line of Nikon Scopes.

Another to try would be ebay.ca. (I have bought optics from ebay and never had a problem. Though you must be price aware and get ship to costs prior to bidding - some are nothing short of robbery what they charge to ship north of the 49th).

BTW why not SIR?? I have had very good dealings with them personally, though not always the cheapest.

Hia, seen a lot of 2 legged cougars in Saskatchewan;)Hadthe4 legged variety at the in laws farm a couple years back, but all we could find wastracks no putty cats.
I call it NO SALE, not because of price but they rarily have what you want in stock and when you ask one of the gifted fellas behind the counter they all look at you like you have 3 heads!! IMO among the worst in CS...I hate having to give them money[:@]!

This year sucks rocks here, if the snow wasn't enough of a problem. We arenow facing bitterly cold windchills.Big damper on looking for bone

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

Hmm that russell bit is interesting info, did not know that. Last time i was in wholesale which was over the Christmas break one of the guys was telling me Cabelas is possibly opening a store in the Calgary or Edmonton area. Any of you guys hear anything about such a rumor? They had morrell yellow jacket targets for 80 some dollars in wholesale and i asked the youngin behind the bow counter why they were so expensive. He told me if i could find it cheaper someplace else then get goin there. I took his adivce, 40 dollars american at Cabelas:D.

Ya its colder than a mother inlaws heart out there. Dad said he saw a buck take a pi$$ in the yard this morning and it came out in cubes.:D

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

Dan
Cabela's will be opening in the spring in Cow Town. Skeeter, I tried ordering and even to get an email reply from them in Toronto was a no no.I tried their office in the states and they saidI would have to get that fixed with the Canadian Owners. So they lost that order from me.[:@]We got 4 inches of the white stuff yesterday and I was just looking at the weather networt and their calling for colder temps by the weekend again. Guess I can wait till a little melting before heading out for sheds. They'd be bariedwith the snow we got yesterday.
Rocky

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

Fellas...Wholesales/Russels don't carry Nikon, so that option is nul & void. SIR don'thave the model I want[:@]So thats where my desperation is setting in. I'll try the link Skeeter (THX). As for the bushnell Hia, thx but I'm not a fan of their scopes. It'll be either a Nikon or Loopy VXIII (maybea bush elite if all else fails). As for the Cabelas rumors, I've heard them all, including a Bass Pro near Balzac. Still no definate confirmation of where & when either of the big 2 will be coming. Wholesales store is almost done and they will be moving next month. Looks huge!! but probably the same old just a bigger pain in the a$$. E-bay has been iffy lately with scopes, I'm scared of getting screwed out of my $$ if it doesn't get passed the border. Most places are blowing out the old models so there are some great deals out there, just not for us Canucks! Thanks for the info guys!!

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

I was just kiddin bout that banner jd. It's the biggest hunk of junk i have ever used, got it for a song but i guess you get what you pay for.[&:] Pretty bad when you ain't happy with a scope and all your using it for is poppin beavers. On a different note i guess we had some different vistors at the feeder in the yard this morning. 11 elk were in the yard nibbling at 5am this morning and the last spiker left at 8 so they had some good eats. Won't be so cute once they start hitting the second cut round bales.

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

My bad Hia...:DLOL I've never been a fan of Bushnell, I hear good things about the Elite series though. I've made that mistake in the past too. You definately get what you pay for in optics...especially on high magnification. I've e-mailed 3 different companies and no one seems to get back to me. Hopefully theshopSkeeter put me on comes through!
Hia...By the way, are the elk still carrying bone??

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

Ya i guess there were a few spikers and a gaggle of cows. Usually elk tend to keep thema little longer than deer, have seen them packin bone close to april b4. We still have one buck packin but everyone else has dropped since the begining of January. I have an elite on my 7 and like it quite a bit but i have never looked through anything expensive so i don't know what i am missing, my bank account likes it that way.;)

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

JD, what Nikon Model are you looking for? And for what usage??

Elites are decent scopes, still in the good bang for your buck category IMHO. I have owned 3200 and 4200's, never one stitch of problems. Though I doubt I'd pay the extra slop for a 4200 anymore with the prices of Leuy's, Zeiss, etc falling.

JD I mentioned to you in the past re:optics from the US.Ithasbeen problem free for me. Other then some slow customs never a hick up. I make sure they'll ship itAirmail USPS or Fedex. I will not buy if they'llonly ship UPS, they are crooks.ThoughI understand your reservations.

YF, I have heard that BPS in TO could give to craps about out of store sales. When I was there over a year agoone of the sales peopletold me they were working ona Canadian Mail Orderbut apparently that was a cock n'bull line. To tell you the truth I wasn't wowed by the prices for the most part no different then wholesale,etc but they did have some selection that we don't normally see.GTO is the centre of the universe so no suprise they did not feel the needto replyto westerner!![:@]

We got 4" of the white stuff last night as well and -29 tonight before the wind.

Hia, baiting already for next years meat in the freezer:D!

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

Skeeter, I'm looking for the 5.5-15 or 6-20 Monarch UCC for my new.223. Heard good things about them and saw one at last years gun show. I'm sooo close to buying off E-bay but I keep hearing horror stories and don't want to be out $400+ bucks on account of stupidity. I'm looking at the weaver grand slam too, they sound like they are ok for the price.

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

Hey guys, looks like sheddin' is shut down for a little bit with all the fresh snow but here's some photos from last weekend's expedition.

I took a buddy from work out with me this time. He's never been sheddin' so I took him to the field where I found the two matched sets the previous week. I was pretty confident there would be more in the area and it was a wide open field so it would not be hard to spot antlers
I Picked up this nice 5pt first. I spotted the base sticking straight out of the snow from about 300yds. It was another one of those "moose turds" that nearly got ignored.

as it lay:



we were heading towards a pile of shredded bales on the far side of the field. As we got closer I glassed the stack and spotted a medium 4pt on the side closest to me, we'd only been walking for about an hour so we stopped to take a photo of the finds.



After taking the picture, my partner stepped back to take a leak and found these two little guys not 3 feet from where we'd walked past the bales to get the other antler :oops:



We split up again and not long after I heard Tyler shout that he'd found another. Turns out it was a small moose antler that had not been shed but broken off of the skull (possibly from a wolf kill) . Not long after that we cut several fresh sets of wolf tracks, we could tell they were especially fresh because the dog got pretty squirrely and refused to leave us :lol:
Next it was my turn and I spotted this nice 5pt shed a ways in front of me.

as it lay:



My sidekicks both came over for a look and we decided to split up and keep an eye out for the match. Tyler hadn't made it 100 yards when he found it and another little 4 pt.

matched set:

the rookie with a full pack:


We kept on for another hour or so with myself picking up one more small 4pt. At the end of the day we had a good pile of bone, 9 in total. The only down side is that the rookie beat me 5 - 4:lol:

Myself and hound:

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

Great pics Sask, and those were some nice sheds. Thatset your buddy got is real nice! :D

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

Good job Sask!! I might take you up on that offer to hunt for whiteys this year:Dseems like there is no shortage of bucks your way. I went for a little jaunt on Sat. only to come up empty (as usual). [:@]

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

anytime JD. Chin up, you'll find some. It's still early yet.

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

Awesome finds sask congrats, goin to be some nice deer around next fall. Well as i predicted theelk turned vicous. where there used to be 11 has now gone into the 30's in the yard. Dad was yelling at them this morning only to havem come back a few hours later. The man got problems now.[8D]

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

Saska your a machine. That is one productive hay scatter you've got there!! Congrats

Hia, doesn't dad know "feed them and come they will!!!":D

JD, wish you luck. Nikon just aren't that popular in our area it seems and if they do carry it is the big game scopes not varmit or paper punching. You might want to check out the VXII 6x18x40 if you don't have any luck finding the nikon. I have a Varix III 6x20x40AO on a22-250 (which essentially the same glass) and have been pleased.

If you haven't looked through an Elite you should at least compare it, as mentioned no quams with either elite modelsfrom my experience.

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

Skeeter, I looked at the VX-II at a gunshow last month and let me tell you it sucks!! Absolutely no comparison to the VX-III. I would love a III but just too damn pricey for a gopher gun. I want to stick to $500 max and I'm looking used too. As for the VX-II, I was surprised since the specs seem the same but quality was definately poor. I compared side by side to a Burris and it blew the Loopy out of the water. I was surprised too, I was ready to purchase one until I looked through it. Well I've got a ton of feelers out there and actually found a dealer. Just waiting to hear how much it's going to cost me now.

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

REALLY...good to know. I was under the impression the VXII was the same optically as the VarixIII, a scopeI favored (until the Conquest entered my life:D). Glad you have a lead.

If you haven't already, may what to check out the 6x24x40 Elite 4200 - WS sports list it at 550.00.

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

Ya I was surprised too...check it out yourself and let me know if I'm blind:eek:. I'm going to p/u my .223 tomorrow and the guy selling it to me has an Elite, Conquest, VXIII & Simmons (all good scopes) mounted on some of his other rifles. I'm going to look at the Elite since I looked at all the others at his place last time. If it's decent, I have a used one someone is looking to sell. I asked the guy selling me the gun his favorite scope (he's strictly a bench rest shooter) of the bunch and he said the Loopy. It had the varmint reticle and was sweet! I just can't justify dropping a grand on gopher gun glass[:-]. I'm keeping my eyes peeled on E-bay but all pretty high priced still. I did see a decent sale on Weaver Grand slams but I'd like to look at one first. WS has those and I hear good things about them. I'll keep ya posted!!

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

JD I haven't looked at loopy's for a while, but now I have reason too. I assumed it would be as good as my Varix iii'ssince theVXIIis supposed to have the same glass???While vari xiiidoesn't have the resolution or bright image thatI see through myConquest, Idon't classify them as bad either.

BTW what rifle did you buy?

Best of luck and enjoy your new toy.

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

I got a used Ruger 77 MK II in mint cond. incl. 2 stocks (wood/syn.) $550. It was in my price range and I love Rugers. Can't wait to scope it and evaporate some gophers.

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

Good stuff JD. I looked at a ruger myself today chambered in a 2506 rem. Ruger #1 ss/pepper laminate 26" tube A+ condition 675.00. Nice gun and feel but not sure about a single shot.Thinking about getting WS tobring me in a M77 SS/Laminate LH 2506 to handle as well. I don't really need it so I keep talking myself out of it. Then again when did need have anything to do with it!!:D

Hey ? for you. How far in advance did you get your renewal or did you? I heard that guys are not getting renewal notices but you still need the card to buy. Mineexp in Sept and am wondering if I need to do anything.

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

Ya...need is really optional when it comes to guns:DIt's really always a want thing, but what the hell I say!
My POL was to expire this Sept. also, I never trust the gov't when it comes to renewing and expecting them to "remind" you. I'd get on it now to be safe (at least thats why I did it now). I'm hearing horror stories too so I hate leaving stuff like this till the last minute. I figure better safe than sorry, especially when my hunting season is involved. So I went to Russels and looked at the Loopy VX-II again against the Browning & Bushnell Elite 4200. It looked better than the last time I looked at it, mind you it was not being compared side/side to the Burris. It definately was better than the Bush/Brown. (same thing) and the guy at the counter was definately not a bush. fan. I might have a Nikon lined up though!!

RE: 2006 Canadian Whitetails - Get' em!
 

JD what Burris did you look at?? I had a sign series it was slightly better then my Vari XIII's and not quite as clear or bright as my conquest(to my eye). I didn't like the stiffness of my power ring but other then that it was good. One of the hunting elk boys has FFII and it is pretty decent, same thing stiff power ring but he's pleased.

Thanks I will be calling them to find out about a replacement PAL. About the only think it would effect me is buying a firearm. Here I haven't been asked for it when buying components(bullets, powder or primers).

The M77 is out according to my smith, need at least a 26" barrel to gain anything ackley benefits. He actually suggest a 26" tube for the standard 2506 so if I could rap my head around a single shot CF it would be the best choice of these 2. I am leaning towards looking for a LH donar action and building again. That or totally doing a flip and buying a RUM in LSS. Always liked the looks of the LSS and their are some floating around NIB at reduced prices due to being disconitued. WS has 338RUM in stock here but i need that like a hole in the head!! Apparently the other stores have the 300RUMs though.Dealer said he is getting a lss 300 rum on trade in a couple weeks that is basically new, bought it for a NW territory Moose hunt that never happened and he doesn't reload!!! We'll see

Good Luck on the Nikon.