U.P. Grouse

[Dean Romig]

I'm still thinking about doing it. I think it would require a cape from Alberta or Saskatchewan, don't you?

[Marc Retallack]

I think you're on the right track thinking an Alberta or Saskatchewan cape would be the way to go with your mount Dean. Don't rule out a Midwestern cape as well ( if you come across one). I spent 6 seasons helping a friend's father in his butcher shop. I remember one Iowa buck I had to muscle onto the rail hook... it weighed 196lbs after I skinned it down!

Cheers
Marcus

[6pt-Sika]

I killed one in the Poconos in PA back in 2002 that had a cape big enough for this deer . He was just a normal 8 but with a huge body and neck . I had him mounted simply because the guys up there claimed he was pretty decent for something killed on public land .

When I had him mounted the taxidermist I used said he had to get a large whitetail form .

[Labowner]

Dean, we usually have two to five bucks that dress in the 240 lb. range from New Brunswick some have just huge necks ask Scott to post the cape I gave him to mount a set of antlers that where given to him.
These are young deer but do to severe winters they bulk up young.

[6pt-Sika]

Originally Posted by E Robert Fabian

Dean, we usually have two to five bucks that dress in the 240 lb. range from New Brunswick some have just huge necks ask Scott to post the cape I gave him to mount a set of antlers that where given to him.
These are young deer but do to severe winters they bulk up young.

That looks like some of the meatpoles I've seen pictures of that the "Benoit's" filled up !

[C.O.B.]

I don';t think you have to go to Canada for a cape, after all it was taken in your local hunting area of New England wasn't it?

I shot a big 8pt this past season, big in body as he dressed out 178 and hung over both sides of the tailgate. The rack wasn't huge just a nice mature Whitetail. I kept the cape as it was just to big to toss out just in case some friend might need one or if I came upon a set of antlers that needed mounting

[Dean Romig]

Hmmmm....

[TARNATION !!!]

Sonningdale Saskatchewan has many childhood memories for me. Five cousins lived on the farm two miles east. It is a tiny village. But, not everything in the area is small. World record typical whitetail B&C score 213 5/8. We continue to accept immigrants



Click here for the story

[Dean Romig]

Yup, I've seen that one... he sure is big! Beats mine by 27". Oh well, back to the woods for me but I sure hope Hanson isn't wasting any time trying to find a bigger one.

But, in all seriousness, it's the hunt, the good times in camp with good friends, time spent in the woods before dawn's first light watching the world come awake, and if the Red Gods smile on you - if you're in the right place at the right time when your line of travel intersects with his... you might have that rare chance to squeeze a trigger on him.
It is the whole experience of the hunt that we are after, not simply a record book rack. If we only hunted deer to lay claim to the biggest rack we'd surely miss all the important stuff.

[TARNATION !!!]

Ahh, yes the "red gods". Kipling, Buckingham, Romig - a good cast of characters for sure. Certainly the hunt is the entire experience, not just the squeeze of the trigger, which is but a moment. And... if there is known to be a big buck in an area, there will be many hoping to be the chosen one at the intersection you mention. There may be some whose goal is nothing but to break big buck records yet the records are fortuitously broken by ancient hunters or a youngster lucky enough to be at the intersection.

Now the Four-way Lodge is opened, now the Hunting Winds are loose —
Now the Smokes of Spring go up to clear the brain;
Now the Young Men's hearts are troubled for the whisper of the Trues,
Now the Red Gods make their medicine again!

Do you know the world's white roof-tree — do you know that windy rift
Where the baffling mountain-eddies chop and change?
Do you know the long day's patience, belly-down on frozen drift,
While the head of heads is feeding out of range?
Excerpt Rudyard Kipling “The Feet of the Young Men.”

He relates his appreciation of the full experience of the day, the mountain, the wind, the trees, the snow and the reason to be there - that big rack still out of range.

I have taken my share of game over the years, none of which would make the record books but every one of which is in my life's record book, which can be recalled without the turning of a single page. I am content to leave it so and enjoy the days afield for what they are - a gift freely given and accepted with grace.
Cheers,
Jack