John's Journal...

THE LAND OF GIANTS

The Mo of the Monsters

Click to enlargeEditor’s note: For five days, I watched white-tailed bucks around me that would score from 110 to 130 points on Boone & Crockett Scale as I held my black-powder gun. I saw one buck that would have weighed well over 300 pounds, and every day I had a chance to take a buck bigger than any I’d seen in my home state of Alabama. But, when you’re hunting in the land of monsters, near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in western Canada where hunters regularly take 140 and 150 B&C bucks, you don’t want to pull the trigger on a lesser buck. This week we’ll talk to some other people who have hunted with the same outfitter. The Mo of the Monsters is Maurice Heisler, known to everyone as Mo, who owns Garden River Outfitters, and has 200,000 acres of crown land, 30-miles north of Prince Albert. For 15 years, Mo has taken hunters into the bush to take the Saskatchewan monsters.

QUESTION: What makes this area produce so many deer?
MOClick to enlarge: We’re right on the fringe of the forest, and many of the bucks feed on the farm land at night, and then move back into the forest during the daytime. The only predators the deer have in this area besides hunters are the wolves. Most of the bucks in this area die of old age.

QUESTION: How large was the biggest buck taken on this property?
MO: The largest buck taken on this property scored 204 points on Boone & Crockett.

QUESTION: What size bucks do most hunters usually take?
MO: The average size buck taken by hunters on this property ranges between a 140 and 150 Boone & Crockett.

QUESTION: How far are the stands from your lodge?
MO: The stands are 3 to 50 miles from the lodge, and each stand is usually 1-1/2 to 5 miles from another stand.

Click to enlargeQUESTION: Mo, you put out bait for the deer, and what kind of bait do you use?
MO: We use barley and alfalfa because the deer seem to like those foods the best.

QUESTION: How many guides do you have?
MO: We usually have three to five guides on staff, including myself, plus there are a couple of cooks. We only hunt this area three to four weeks a year.

QUESTION: What are your prices?
MO: For $4,500, a hunter gets six days of hunting in a pristine area. This fee includes everything our hunters will need for six days like food, lodging, cleaning of the deer they take and transportation back and forth from their hotel to the lodge at the beginning and the end of their hunts. We prefer for our clients to fly in on a Saturday night, then we pick them up at their hotel on Sunday, and at the end of the hunt, we take our Click to enlargeclients back to their hotel the following Saturday night to fly out on Sunday. The only thing not covered in the $4,500 fee is the license, which is up to the hunter to obtain and purchase.

For more information on Garden River Outfitters, contact Mo at (306) 978-2307, or you can write to him at Box 929, Martinsville, Saskatchewan, SOK-2TO.

To learn more about Black Powder Products, Inc. (BPI), the makers of CVA, Winchester and New Frontier Muzzleloading guns and accessories, call (770) 449-4687, or visit www.bpiguns.com

TOMORROW: GARDEN RIVER BASICS


Contents...

Day 1: The Mo of the Monsters
Day 2: Garden River Basics
Day 3: Memories at Garden River Outfitters
Day 4: You Can Hunt Bear Too
Day 5: Guthrie Gets a Good ‘Un

 

Entry 329, Day 1