Steve Jr.'s Account

We arrived in Edmonton, Alberta, on December 8, 1998. Ron Sharky had been my guide last year so our reuniting conversation involved our hunt expectations. The lodge was excellent and the food was simply superb.

Day 1: Went into the area where I was going to still-hunt and was in my ground stand at daylight. Stayed there until 11:00am; I saw a couple of does, a small four-point buck and an elk. That afternoon, moved to a tree stand in another area. I saw a small six-pointer, an eight-pointer and four does. No big bucks today.

Day 2: Did the same area. It was snowing, saw nothing except a couple of does.

Day 3: Due to the wind I had to go to the opposite end of the area. I saw a buck chasing a doe. I caught a glimpse of a couple of deer disappearing into the woods. I didn't get a good look at them. That bothered me. At around 11:00am I went to meet Sharky. We moved to the tree stand. I saw a few does. Then Sharky told me my dad had killed a deer. He wouldn't tell me how big it was. I kept asking and he said it was a "meat" buck. I knew better. That night I went back and found out that dad's buck was an 18-pointer which scored 188 gross. At that point I knew our work was cut out for us in order to compete with my dad.

Day 4: Sharky put me in my ground stand, but due to the wind I went in the same way as days one and two. My guide told me to stay right at the very edge. I couldn't see the whole field from where he placed me so I moved up about 60 yards. I should have stayed where my guide placed me. First thing, a small 120-pointer crossed. Later a cow elk came out on my left, followed by a doe and then by a four-point bull elk. I looked back to where my guide had told me to be. There was a 10 to 12-point buck in the middle of the field. The buck and I looked at each other for a moment. I grabbed my gun to get the buck in the scope. He took off as soon as I moved. I shot and missed. I spent the rest of the day in that area seeing 39 whitetails but no bucks.

Day 5: We went back to the big buck's field. The wind was wrong for going in the easy way. I decided to listen to my guide's directions. It was snowing like crazy. In the dark I went about 300 yards along a fence, then 200 yards across an open field. I looked around, there were no deer present. I proceeded about 150 yards toward my ground stand. I was still about 80 yards away when I noticed two deer bedding down in the field. I sat down in the snow. The first deer was a doe. The second deer's ears looked weird, so I decided to wait. I waited and watched the deer while the sun came up. I still couldn't see how big it was then the buck turned his head. It was a good buck. I aimed, fired, and heard the hit. The buck got up and when five feet. I was ready to take a second shot when the buck disappeared. I followed the trail and found him. He was already dead. My guide had certainly done his job. I highly recommend Trophy Quest Outfitters.

All three were taken around 8:30am and all scored over 170 points.