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My Buck of a Lifetime
By: Stephen Gauthier
The chance to hunt the cold northern woods of Canada, chasing a monster whitetail had been a dream of mine since I fell in love with hunting as a young boy. Growing up into a family of die-hard whitetail hunters planted the passion for hunting in me; and has grown into what some would call a sick obsession. My Father who owns an archery pro shop in northern Michigan, called Hunter's Shack, gave me all the tools necessary as a boy to chase this dream; but probably the most important tool was his passion for whitetail deer. He not only taught me how to scout, track, shoot and kill, but more importantly he taught me how to respect the game, nature, and to be thankful for every chance we have to step into the woods. These ethics of hunting only fueled my fire deeper; to the point where now I live, breath, and dream whitetail! In the fall of 2011 my dreams where coming true. My father, two uncles, a close family friend and myself were heading to South Paw Outfitters in Alberta for a nine day whitetail hunt! My family had been hunting there for years prior to this trip, so the excitement was built. We knew the quality of deer that inhabited the area, and our hosts/owners Rene & Kelly Semple were dear friends that would stop at nothing to make this trip unforgettable. We were also blessed to have my aunt Sandie and her new husband Steve in camp with us; as he was a guide for South Paw Outfitters and she was staying camp, while we were there.

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To have the chance to spend such quality time with family and friends made the trip that much more meaningful. As we arrived in Alberta the temperature was unseasonably warm but a cold front was to be approaching in about three to four days into our trip. The drive from Edmonton to Alberta was breath taking and the anticipation of getting to camp was unbearable. We of course had to make a quick stop and fuel up and when I say fuel up I mean getting 15 handles and about 10 cases, lets just say my family likes to have a lot of fun! I will refer back to this point later in the story as it played a pretty big factor in my hunt of a lifetime. Arriving at camp I was greeted by Diesel and Belle, two German Shepherds that were a great addition to camp. I am a dog lover having two German Shepherds myself, so needless to say between having some buddies to play with and Kelly who treated me like a son, I felt right at home. Things seemed to be too perfect and to this day I miss all of them. Day one of the hunt temperatures were in the low 30's rising into the 40's by noon. I was sitting on the edge of a wood line with a small alfalfa field out in front, surrounded by hardwoods. About twenty minutes after sitting down I made a small grunt and a buck came crashing out of the woods. His left beam was broken off but it made a great start to the hunt. The rest of the afternoon things were slow, giving me time to pull out my video camera to capture the breath taking beauty of the country. On the third morning of the hunt we woke up to a cold front coming in from the north. The temperatures had dropped into the single digits and were expected to fall between -20 to 30 with five to eight inches of snowfall by day six. Our spirits were flying high knowing the big boys move when it's cold. The rut was in full gear and it was just a matter of time before someone got a crack at a buck.

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Around 9 am I heard a loud crash coming from behind me; I positioned myself for the shot and as I turned around to grab my gun I realized this animal had made his way out of the woods and was literally standing right next to my blind. I slowly turned inch by inch and as I spun my head around I was face to face with a large bull moose. Steam blowing from his nostrils he starred through me and pawed at the ground. Knowing how dangerous they can be, I sat as still as possible. I stared back into his eyes for what seemed like an hour. He finally turned and started making his way across the food plot, my heart was racing and my adrenaline pumping, I reached for my camera to capture the moment. That afternoon we decided to relocate and try another section of land; a 160 acre parcel with agriculture on two sides. It was a thick swamp with tight shooting lanes running the length of the land. Arriving at our new hunting ground, I immediately spotted a group of trees tore up from a buck. What was strange was that every tree was about three to four inches in diameter, shredded half way up and snapped in half about three feet off the ground. I knew in that moment I would be chasing this buck for the remainder of my hunt. After watching some small bucks chase does on the other side of the property, we decided that we needed to make a move and try to position better in hopes of a shot. We had long narrow shooting lanes with thick cover on both sides, so we decided to split the difference and have options both ways with a closer shot. That night we checked out the property on Google Earth and realized that there was another lane that split the property in half and connected to the lane we were sitting on. The plan on day five was for me to sit until noon and then we would make our way to another small field hidden in the center of the swamp. My guide would then move the box blind to the center of the lane and I would hunt from there on day six. At noon, when I arrived at the field I noticed another group of trees snapped in half and my adrenaline began to pump.

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I quickly set up a scent bomb, made a couple circles with my drag line and got into my blind. I unpacked my gear and realized this blind did not have a heater, remind you it was -20 and dropping to -30 by nightfall. This was going to be a test of mental and physical strength. Two hours into the afternoon sit I heard some movement behind me; with all the fresh snow it was hard to tell what it was, but seconds later I heard some scratching on the back of the blind. I thought for a moment someone was trying to come into the blind, then in the blink of an eye a 4x4 mule deer stepped to the side of the blind and once again I was caught in a stare down. This buck was literally within a foot from my open window. The cold, combined with my adrenaline, hit me all at once and I began to shake uncontrollably. I held as still as possible and the buck finally moved out in front of me and began working a rub where I had placed my scent bomb. Not having a mule deer tag, I pulled out my camera and filmed him until he made his way back into the swamp. This was hands down the most amazing experience I have encountered in the wild. I stepped out of the blind to try and warm up; fearing hypothermia would set in, and I realized his tracks led him right to the back of my blind. The scratching I had heard were his antlers rubbing on the door while he smelled the scent that was on the bottom of my boots. I sat until dark and by that time I was frozen stiff. It took for what seemed like an eternity to make my way back to the truck. Another hour in that blind and I may have become a human Popsicle. Arriving back at camp I was not only eager to tell my story of this amazing encounter, but also excited for one of Kelly's amazing dinners! My uncle Scott shot a big buck the night before, so for dinner that night we feasted on his back straps along with plenty of other delicious side dishes. We were fed and treated like kings throughout our stay at South Paw Outfitters and between a good home cooked meal and a couple snaps, I was warmed back up and ready for day six.

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The next morning I was eager to get into the woods and see how the relocation of the blind was going to play out. As I made my way through the swamp I noticed two small scrapes on the far lane. We freshened them up and started a drag line to my blind. An hour into the hunt I had a cow moose and her calf come across the new lane I was looking down. A small eight point whitetail buck chased a doe and a few other small bucks made their way by. That evening as I walked out I made a mock scrape on both ends of the lane and hung another scent bomb. The bucks were starting to move and I wanted to catch their attention in hopes for a sighting the next day. Back at camp, the party was starting as my uncle Pat had shot a nice eight point that evening. Spirits were high! We had two bucks on the ground, three days of hunting left and more snow on the way! Now lets refer back to the beginning of my story when I spoke of us fueling up. It's now day six and Rene had to go re-fuel because of the celebration going on in camp that night. That night we were celebrating the harvest of two great whitetails and the brotherhood and bonds we had all made through our experience as sportsman. Morning came fast and we awoke to 4 more inches of fresh powder, I was late for breakfast, but our great cook Kelly never let me go without a warm meal. Breakfast was waiting for me on the table with a letter from Diesel, the letter wrote Steve please shoot a big buck today so you can play with me all day tomorrow. As I devoured my meal and raced to get ready I had a great feeling about this morning, followed by a not so good feeling from the damage I had done the night before. We loaded up the truck and were getting ready to pull out when Diesel, the German Shepherd, came racing up to the door. I stepped out to say goodbye, as we had established a pretty close bond this week, when I realized he had something in his mouth. It was my v-muff, I had dropped it when leaving the cabin and he knew I would need it. It was the coldest morning of the hunt.

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It was a rough ride to the property that morning; I remember there were not a lot of words spoken, but when we arrived at the property we both knew that it was going to be a great morning. My Uncle Steve told me good luck, we pounded fists and I headed into the bush. I wasnt on the trail long before last nights events began to sneak up on me. I started feeling very flush and warm; I set my pack down and begin to open up my jacket; I was hit by a wave of -30 degree wind and zipped my jacket back up pretty fast. As I stood there gathering and telling myself how stupid I was for jeopardizing this day, as I loaded shells into my gun I realized I was standing directly over a fresh scrape. I looked ahead and another scrape five feet in front of that and then another. I went from feeling like I was on the verge of death to a focused predator. I grabbed my scent line and started walking. When I arrived at the corner where the two lanes met, I spotted the mock scrape I had made the night before. This scrape was three feet in diameter the night before and now it was eight feet across. I reached into my pack to grab my scent and reload the bomb, but just from the time it took me to walk 500 yards it was frozen solid. I threw it next to the scrape and moved quickly to my blind. Again, my adrenaline began to pump. I was focused and ready to make this my hunt of a lifetime. Fifteen minutes after getting set up I looked down the right lane towards the mock scrape, there was a buck on it but he was positioned behind a thick shrub. I slowly moved to get into position but it was on my off hand side so it was taking longer than I had planned. I finally was able to turn and get him in the scope, all I could see was his left beam, he looked to have five on his left but I could not get a clear look at his right. This was the toughest decision in hunting I had ever made, he was definitely a shooter based on what I saw, the biggest buck I would have ever harvested, but I was faced with a neck shot only and no certainty of what his other beam was like.

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South Paw Outfitters thrives to shoot mature whitetail 4+ years of age, ensuring that great genetics stay in the area and bucks can grow. I decided to let this whitetail pass and live another day, a decision that was about to pay off tenfold. Five minutes later I heard crashing to my left, a small 6 point chasing a doe shot across the lane, minutes later a small 4x4 mule deer came through looking for the hot doe. I decided to hit a rattling sequence real fast to see if I could pull the buck that was on the scrape back out of the bush. I had my eyes pinned to my right looking at the scrape waiting for movement, knowing I had a hot doe cross the left lane I spun around to take a quick look and what I saw was something you only dream about. At the far end of the lane, 5 feet in front of where my blind originally sat, stood a monster Alberta whitetail. I had never seen something so magnificent, the buck stood tall and proud staring down the lane at my blind. I grabbed my gun and positioned for the shot, with the stock resting on the window of the blind I tried to get my cross hairs on his vitals. This was impossible, I was so nervous I literally was doing circles around the buck only seeing the white of snow in my scope. I took a deep breath tried to hold on him and pulled the trigger. Nothing, I flat missed this monster; fast as I could, I racked another shell into the chamber and at this moment realized I only loaded two shells when I was walking in. The combination of seeing the fresh scrapes and then having a buck on the scrape at day break caused me to forget to load more shells. I knew this was my last chance, I stood up and decided to take the shot free hand, the buck must have been confused by where the shot had came from. I took a deep breath and held it, still shaking uncontrollably and doing circles around the buck I was able to find his front leg. I raised the cross hairs, found his shoulder and pulled the trigger. The buck dropped! The buck DROPPED!

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I could not believe what just happened, I flew out of my blind and began sprinting down the lane while trying to reload a shell. Shells were flying everywhere as I was too cold to do this while running. I stopped about half way down the lane to load my gun and gather myself, the combination of adrenaline, cardio, and a sour stomach had me praying to the gods for a quick second. Realizing I needed to get to this deer I made my way down the lane, when I arrived at the buck I was shocked how big he was. His head was buried in the snow but his left g-2 was sticking up and it was all of 15 inches. I knew I needed to radio my uncle Steve so we could share this moment together. I sprinted back to the blind to get the radio. On the radio I remember saying the same thing over and over. I shot a monster! I shot a monster hurry! It wasnt a minute later and I heard his truck charging down the lane, he was arriving down the far lane where the buck had dropped, he pulled up, flew out of his truck and there the deer was. I came back out of the blind running and jumping in excitement, racing to give Steve the biggest hug, I almost tackled him in the process. Telling him the story of what happened that morning we both sat next to the buck in awe of how big he was, Steve pulled out his camera and we captured this historic moment in my hunting career. As he asked me questions about the hunt, I was so choked up I could barely speak, this was the moment I dreamed about, having the opportunity to harvest such a majestic whitetail. We sat out in those woods for what seemed to be an hour sharing a bond together that would never be broken or forgotten. We finally decided to load this buck and make our way back to camp. Arriving at camp with a mass of antlers hanging out the side of the truck quickly caught everyones attention. My father who had came down with the flu was not hunting that morning and was the first to get his hands on that bone, we were all amazed at the mass, and length of his G-2's.

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Mr. Bailey another guest in camp shot a moose that morning so Rene was on his way back to camp along with my uncle Scott. We decided to pull a fast one on Scott so we backed the truck into the garage and closed the door, we told him my father was getting worse and we needed to fly back early. Scott is a die-hard hunter so as he walked into the garage he was not very happy about the news; he looked up saw the mass of bone and did about three back flips in excitement. It was the best experience I have ever had, celebrating this deer with my family and friends made everything just perfect. After an hour no one could take it any longer and the measuring tape came out. I stood off in anticipation as they scored the antlers, however score did not matter to me, the hunt, the harvest, and the experience is all that mattered. When they finished everyone took a guess at what it may be, most people thought in the 170's, some thought 180's, final gross score...197 5/8 inches!! A typical 10 point that had a spread of only 17 inches and scored that high. That is a monster! The garage erupted; it started as hoots and hollers and then led into tears of joy. We as sportsman acknowledge how rare harvesting a buck like this was. It was truly a Buck of a Lifetime, emotions swept over me and tears started flowing. It was tears of joy, tears of hard work, and tears of thankfulness to all my family and friends for helping make this dream a reality. It is amazing when a whitetail can make 10 grown men cry. I am forever grateful to my father who introduced me into hunting, to my uncle Scott for his passion to hunt, Rene & Kelly for the opportunity, and my uncle Steve who put everything on the line to give his new nephew the chance to make his dreams come to life. I love you all more than words can explain and look forward to the day when we are loading that plane heading to South Paw Outfitters.

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