Goodguy-Actually according to several sources the dakota whitetail is about equal in size to the borealis whitetail so it would not be reasonable to say that "body sizes are comparatively small".The dakota whitetail is found in alberta,saskatchewan and manitoba in locations that extend north of the area of ontario that you speak of so the north south idea would not explain why ontario deer wood be larger than western canadian deer.The dakota whitetail also has on average antlers that exceed the size of most other whitetail subspecies which is why they dominate the record books.So while our western canadian whitetails do sport larger antlers than most they also have body weights in the same class as any other in north america.One thing I would like to know is what your definition of dressed is.We never weigh deer field dressed and the only weight we normally see is at the butcher which is what we call dressed weight meaning all internals ,head,hide and legs are removed and the carcass is ready to be butchered.In this condition our local butcher has recorded deer weighing up to 206lbs with a few at 200lbs and many in the 160lb to 180lb weight.These weights are from deer weighed in at small village butcher shop(village of 400 people) and are by no means records for the province or even the region.

Like SJ has stated in our area weighing animals is usually only done a butcher shop in the fully dressed stage(ready to butcher). I have butchered my own game for years and do have a scale but really rarely use it. I have weighed deer out of curiosty and the average buck live weight I would peg at 250-300 for this part of the world, although I have seen deer fully dressed(ready to butcher) in the 250 range on occasion. In fact my wt last fall dressed and with one shoulder removed due to shot & rutting(fighting) damage tipped my scale at 228 lbs...the lost shoulder may have weighed 20 lbs or so if you figure 250 range of just meat and bones that is a pretty big wt. Add 40% for guts, hide, head and legs this deer would be right around 350 on the hoof,my biggest probably in weight wise for a wt but I have seen some bigger on the ground as well. Deer out west eat better than cattle with the cream of the crop in cereals and hay lands to feed from, throw in the fact they reach maturity due to less pressure and remoteness both big bodies and racks are a direct result. I will not say if we have the biggest body type but I would think we aren't losing much in that area. Different culture I suppose and we are pretty fimilar with seeing 250lb plus deer, so weight isn't really a big concern to most. We use terms like small, good(average), large, no neck just shoulders then head on him(meaning severely swallon neck-5 gallon pail is another used neck discriber) & antler size to descirbe the buck, since buck pole aren't norm and butcher only take fully dressed animals..most guys don't care or have no real clue what the weight is..it is a deer and I got 2 boxes of meat, so I am happy.

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I have actually found that in the area that I usually hunt, whitetails and mules are very close in body weight.In both cases mature bucks will usually weigh in the 250lb to 300lb range with some huge bucks of each species weighing up to 350lbs or more.In other areas the mules are slightly heavier than the whitetails.

Otis, I agree there isn't a huge difference in body size here either. One particular zone I hunt in the SW they tend to be on average about 10% larger than the wts but for the most part 250-300 lbs would be a close average for a mature mulie buck in Saskatchewan.

IN ONTARIO MOST HUNTERS WEIGH IN DEER. A LOT OF GUYS GUESS AT THE WEIGHT AND ARE SUPRISED TO FIND IT TAKES A HUGE BUCK TO WEIGH IN OVER 200. EVERY YEAR IN MY AREA LOTS OF BIG BUCKS DO WEIGH IN OVER 200. HEARD OF A 271LBS BUCK THIS YEAR. LOTS OF 220-250 FEILD DRESSES.

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Otis-Those are live weights.We have no reason to weigh a field dressed deer as we are not required to check them in.I have weighed a few deer before cleaning out of curiosity but I have never weighed a field dressed deer.300lb live weight deer are actually quite common where I hunt and a few much larger bucks are killed every year. You can't hunt mule deer in saskatchewan and in alberta you would have to hire an outfitter or draw a tag with a resident hunter which can take several years for the best areas.You can hunt whitetail in alberta with an outfitter or if you hunt with a resident.As a canadian resident you can hunt some of the zones in saskatchewan on your own for whitetail but your odds of success depends on how big a deer that you will be willing to take.I could easily kill a 140 buck every year but I am holding out for a 160 class deer and have not filled a whitetail tag in the last two years in alberta or saskatchewan as a result of being so selective..

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Otis-In all honesty I use the 7mmstw for deer because It was intended to be used for elk and moose as well.If I was to have a rifle built for deer hunting only it would probably a .257" caliber built on the 7mmrem mag or wsm case.I killed many deer with a 257wby mag and see no reason for a bigger bullet for any deer.As for the 7mmstw ,it kills just as well at 50 yards as it does at 400yards and works well in all deer hunting situations so I have no intentions of using something else..