Legendary Hunts by Boone & Crockett Club

Author:Boone & Crockett Club
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780940864764
Publisher: Boone and Crockett Club

Photo from B&C Archives

Typical Whitetail Deer, Scoring 199-5/8 Points, Taken by Don McGarvey near Edmonton, Alberta, in 1991.

Deer Diary

By Don McGarvey

21st Big Game Awards Program

AS A LIFELONG RESIDENT OF EDMONTON, ALBERTA, I WAS AWARE OF THE TROPHY WHITETAIL POTENTIAL OF THE AREA SURROUNDING MY HOMETOWN, EVEN PRIOR TO SEPTEMBER 20, 1991. ON THAT DAY, THAT TROPHY WHITETAIL POTENTIAL BECAME TROPHY WHITETAIL REALITY.

The area surrounding Edmonton, a city of 600,000 people, is a bowhunting-only zone and is comprised of farmland and woodlots. As a bowhunter for the past seven years, I was familiar with the area and had secured exclusive permission to hunt a certain parcel of land that I knew harbored a monster whitetail.

I had seen him twice during the 1990 season: once, in September, at 75 yards in a standing barley field; and another time in November, when I rattled him to within 12 yards. Unfortunately, the wily buck worked his way in behind the rattle to a position which afforded no shot. A brief change in wind direction allowed him to catch my scent, and he voiced his displeasure with my presence with an aggressive snort as he bolted away at top speed.

I have always bowhunted whitetails from treestands, usually placed at the edge of woodlots and along well-used transition routes between the bedding and feeding areas. My missed opportunity at 12 yards was the source of depression and frustration until the 1991 season began in September. Nothing was going to spoil another chance at the deer, or one of his brothers or cousins, which were undoubtedly in the area. I had seen many impressive whitetails in this area, but knew that I would have to play my cards right and be extremely lucky to harvest one of these tremendous bucks.

From the opening of the 1991 season, I had watched the whitetails intensely and used my detailed deer diary to determine which stand locations would afford the best opportunity of harvesting a nice trophy. Quite frankly, I had never expected to see the big buck again. No one deserves three sightings of such a magnificent animal, and I thought I had my last chance in November 1990.

With the use of the deer diary, I realized that the deer were favoring a route across a barley field and into an alfalfa field to feed. This forced the deer to cross through a narrow 15-yard opening in a treeline separating the two fields. The conditions would have to be perfect to avoid being detected, since I intended my treestand to face north, the direction from which the deer would be coming.

I waited for a steady northwest wind, and as I sat in my office on September 20, 1991, I realized that this could be the day. I was anxious at work and could not concentrate, so I left the office in the early afternoon, showered and went to speak with the landowner and solidify our relationship. After chatting briefly with the landowner, I made my way on foot to the stand location with small portable stand under my arm and a series of tree steps.

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