THE LAND OF GIANTS
The Mo of the Monsters
Editor’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?
MO:
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.
QUESTION:
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 clients
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
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