RE: Alberta deer hunters & rattling
 

Still nothing, but the bucks are peeling off does steadily. I passed some bucks in hopes of my NT, but haven' t seen him since the weekend. I did see a very nice typical last night and would be happy in harvesting him just ran out of daylight[:' (]. With only 2 days of ML I am leary about all my eggs in one basket, so options are good. I do have rifle season but shutter at the thought of the road hunters[:@] and the opening of the PFRA(Community Pasture) that I have been hunting for the past 2 months with little competition[:o].

Fingers and toes are crossed that the muley gods smile on me the next couple times out[8D]

Hope you get a crack at your beast, maybe with the weather change he' ll be moving later vs early;)

Good Luck

RE: Alberta deer hunters & rattling
 

skeeter, any luck on the n.t.? I had my opportunity on a nice heavy 6X6 mulie and made a major mistake[:' (][:' (]. I had to shift my body in my stand as he was coming along a trail I laid a scent on. As he was walking I waited till he was almost behind a tree, I looked down at my feet so I didn' t fall off my stand and shifted my body. Well wouldn' t you know it he stopped and looked up at me before he hit the tree. I screwed up bad! He turned and went bye bye. I had a chance at a 4X4 at dark but when I drew I couldn' t see my pins so I let down. I did rattle the 4X4 in though and had up a scent bomb that he walked straight to, sniffing the air as he came in. Oh well one more weekend then it' s all over. At least I had an opportunity but I failed...can' t be mad except at myself. How was your weekend? JDinAB

RE: Alberta deer hunters & rattling
 

JD exciting none the less, hope you connect! Well I had a similar day on Saturday zagged when I should have zigged(murphy' s law) and blew my only real chances at the NT. I am going to have to hunt with the rifle as season has now ended for ML. On a positive note I found a nice typical living on private land where i have secured the only permission to hunt and he already has a nice group of does with him, 10 that I saw. I decided not to try for him as I was short on daylight. No reason for him to leave as he has cover, food and water...plus safety. Oh I will still be trying for the NT but he is leaving on Public land and come rifle who knows what will happen. He only had 3 does and 4x4 buck with him on saturday(which wasn' t bad but beside him looked like a dink, wouldn' t you know I could have took him!). I figure he' ll be searching for more does in the coming days & he may just become viewable(right now he is living in some tough terrain and moving very little). Worst part is wife is contacting the police for a missing person report, as i have been hunting this sucker at every opportunity and now has 2 weeks of rifle to contend with at every available moment and following that a week of Moose/whitetails in the bush[:o]. Keeps mumbling something about life as a hunting widow;) My response is usual but honey hunting only comes once a year and it only lasts for 4 months, than we have christmas and icefishing season. Wel' l have time to rekindle in March before spring bear & open water fishing opens:D!

Good Luck and here is to hoping I don' t have big lawyer bill to pay:D

RE: Alberta deer hunters & rattling
 

:D:DLOL! man that sounds all to familiar...I' m getting married and set the date for April since it doesn' t interfere with any of my hunting/golf trips. I think I' ll write up a pre-nup stating Sept-Nov. are off limits for any " plans" . I have told her already and seems pretty receptive but you know what they say, it all changes once you say I do;) Here' s hopin thats not true. Good luck and keep me posted on your quest! JD

RE: Alberta deer hunters & rattling
 

I have been MLing 4 a week now. I find the bucks are still hanging 2gether. A few days ago, from my stand I saw 2 bucks (out of range) pushing each other around.
I gave them a light rattle, hopping 2 draw them into range. They raised their tails
and ran llike hell. I would say it' s too early 4 rattling here in Manitoba.

RE: Alberta deer hunters & rattling
 

The weather is dropping this week and we have snow in the forcast[8D] After I rattled that one on the weekend I' m definately gona keep doing it. I found the scents are really bringing them in close. They are always sniffing the air hard and coming right for my scent bomb. JDinAB

RE: Alberta deer hunters & rattling
 

JD " I DO" is meant both ways, that is the real problem. I shouldn' t complain but this year with Elk, draw Mulie' s and the annual quest for a jumbo whitetails I have been a little preoccupied & busy, I guess I can see her point. Good luck on your marriage and don' t worry about her approval they always say yes with that sparkling diamond on their finger, just once that gold band gets on it becomes a little different...but worth it!

Yes I hear the weather is going to tank her as well, so here' s to hoping it makes the bucks more like mulie bucks should be and moving a bit more. I am going to try rattling come next week as well, found a couple of spots that should be perfect for rattling in mid day. I do however find this trophy mule deer hunting more grinding than whitetails & tougher than the last time I was drawn (my how one forgets so quickly:D).

Good luck and here' s to hoping our next updates are about the one that we got not got away[8D]!

PB, the whitetails for the most part here in sask are split up. The only grouped bucks are the smaller bucks, I saw several bucks last week on their lonesome and even a few trailing behind does...no rut is not here but I would say prerut is on in a big way for wt and mules. Rattling in prerut can be both good and bad. I much prefer rattling in late pre rut-rut-early postn rut. But light sparring sequences can prove to be a good tactic in prerut. Only way to know for sure is try, by the sounds of it if they are in early prerut and still sparring. If your seeing rub activities picking up that is when you want to start trying the low intensity & short duration rattling techniques. The country side here is being trashed on a daily basis rubs are evident everywhere, that is always a good sign and time to think about calling...just never know what may be listening and feeling curious. Good luck.

RE: Alberta deer hunters & rattling
 

Skeeter...hows the luck been? I' ve been going for pheasants the last couple weekends and the birds are plentiful this year. I' m heading out for my annual trip up north for a " monster whitetail" on tuesday till sat. I' ll show you the pics of my 170 class;) (keeping my fingers crossed). JDinAB

RE: Alberta deer hunters & rattling
 

Good to hear the white birds are plentiful and can' t argue against the taste...pure heaven![8D]

JD well the NT was promptly taken opening day by a ex-buddies brother[:@] but he never scored as high as we all thought, still nice but ended up netting 190' s;):D. I changed my plan of attack & chased a big typical I saw, but he never gave me a shot:(. I ended up eating the tag as my goal was to top the last mulie I shot and that never happened this time around. I passed up several good bucks but just couldn' t get the big one so its wait for 4-5 years and in the meantime chase them with the bow only tags. It ain' t easy going for bone but it is heck of a lot of fun, I don' t need the meat this year so no point shooting just to fill the tag.

We are off sunday am for the week for Moose and Whitetails. This year it is a 2 either sex deer zone where we hunt moose so still hope for some bone on the wall;). Either way just great to get out and see game.

Good luck on your hunt and waiting to see the pics??[8D]

RE: Alberta deer hunters & rattling
 

Well Skeeter I'm having tag soup this year:( I set my sights on a trophy and passed up about 10 bucks up North. To no avail the big one never came by. Our timing couldn't be worse, warm weather the week before, 6" of snow on the drive up, another 4" in the next 2 days (walking was hard) and brutally cold winds -35 at times. Too cold even for the rut! Thank God I had good boots and clothing, but in those temps you can only sit still for a couple of hours till you start feeling it. My other partners had to truck hunt for 3 days (they were not happy! I can't complain though...it happens when you want the big boy on the block. I will however, put in a draw for a muley doe next year so I get the meat out of the way and can concentrate on a booner after with no pressure. How did the rest of your season go?