Reader-Submitted Story
In Da' Club! Part 1
by Matthew Suian of Drayton Valley, Alberta
The 2024 season could not come soon enough, as the pre-season had shown some promising opportunities. I have been bowhunting for the last 25 years and have spent countless hours in every corner of Alberta chasing big game with family and friends. I wanted to introduce my wife and two sons (12 and 8) to the bowhunting world so everyone could experience the adrenaline rush and share memories on the same level. This past summer, I updated to a Bowtech SS34, outfitted the family with bows, and we made it a family event and started shooting every chance we got.
So, the season for me started September 8, as I had work commitments. I started off chasing mule deer bucks playing cat-and-mouse in the canola fields. One mule deer in the bachelor group was in the mid-160s and definitely showing some age so I decided to make him my target buck. I hunted him hard from September 12 to 16, having a few close encounters and even drawing on him only to be busted by a young buck and then watch them all bound away. I headed home that morning making a new plan for the evening hunt.
The wind was perfect that afternoon so I headed out early to set up in a draw to intercept the bachelor group, as they headed to their regular feeding spots in the canola. After a long hike in and setting up, I could hear machinery off in the distance—yup! You guessed it, the combines and grain trucks started rolling into the field.
Needless to say I had a couple hours of day light left and thought I might as well go check my local elk spots to see if I could pick up any tracks. As I approached my first location, I could see four calf elk pacing up and down a fence line trying to cross it, so I just sat quietly and watched them. With 45 minutes of light left, out came four cows from the quarter-section that I had permission to hunt on. The cows jumped the fence and went directly to their calves leading them back to the thick forest. Perfect!
That evening I went home and told my wife and kids about the experience and that the next morning I was going to sneak into the far corner to try to call a bull into range.
The next morning came quick and I found myself waiting on a field edge for it to get light enough to make my move across the field. As the sun was rising, I thought I’d better take a quick look along the tree line with my binocular to make sure I didn’t spook the elk if they were in the field. I was scanning along the field when I saw two whitetail bucks feeding about 400 yards away. I instantly could tell that one of them was a giant! I sat there in awe trying to see all the details but it was hard to tell as they were just about in the trees and the dark timber made it very difficult to see. Just as they were headed into the bush, a bull elk bugled on the other end of the quarter-section! Back to the plan.
I quickly made my way into some quack grass in a dried up creek bed and cut the distance in half. I settled in and bugled. The bull bugled again and this time another one bugles. I still can’t see them through the trees but I have a good idea where they are headed. I close the distance to about 150 yards where my cover runs out. I softly sent out a few cow calls and instantly got two different bugles back. Wow! To say my heart was pumping is an understatement. I thought right then that this might actually come together and happen. All of a sudden I can heard two elk fighting and their antlers smashing together! After about a minute it goes quiet so I cow call. Instant response from a bull and I hear some trees break with the sound of stretching barbed wire. Here comes a 5x5 80 yards away over the fence looking for a cow. I’ll never forget how vivid that bull looked with steam coming off him and bugling while the sun was coming up in the background.
I softly cow call and he looks in my general direction. Not seeing what he’s hearing, he looks behind him at his cows and decides that’s a better option. I watch him turn around, rejoin his cows, and head back into the bush. What an exciting morning!
I headed home with the adrenalin still flowing and told my wife of the morning events and that I saw a very large whitetail buck that we have to put on the hit list. We make a plan to wait for my 12-year-old son Tristen to get home from school so him and I could go and set up an elk decoy on the field edge in anticipation the elk would return.
I keep myself busy throughout the day but it drags on as I think about that 5x5 elk and wonder if my imagination is making that whitetail into something it isn’t. Not soon enough I heard the bus stop with Tristen and Ethen running down the driveway to see how the morning hunt went. I told them of the adventure and asked Tristen if he would like to do an evening sit on the elk trail and he responded, “Absolutely!”
We had an early supper, grabbed our gear, and were off to the elk spot with decoy in hand. It was really hot out but we took our time and eased into the far corner of the field where the elk went into the bush. We were definitely a couple of hours early but the setup was perfect and the wind was just right. We were set up about 10 yards off the field edge between a large spruce tree and a cluster of willows. With visibility limited left to right, but excellent everywhere else, we settled in and waited.
About 45 minutes into our sit, I let out a couple of soft cow calls with no response. Another 20 minutes go by and I repeat the sequence with the same response. As we sat there, Tristen was becoming a little restless and trying to get comfortable so I let out one more lonely cow call to cover our noise. All was quiet again so I leaned forward to look up and down the field edge and to my left was the biggest whitetail deer I’d ever seen looking at my cow elk decoy! My bow was on the ground behind me with an arrow nocked. I leaned back, lifted my binocular, then leaned forward and ranged him at 56 yards. He knew something wasn’t quite right and as I was ranging him he turned and started walking away to where he came from and was out of sight. I instantly turn to Tristen and said, “Did you see that giant deer?” He said, “No. There were too many trees in the way.”
I sat there in disbelief and kept telling him that it was the giant I had seen in the morning and it was a “deer of a lifetime”. Ten minutes go by and he says, “Dad! That huge buck is on that far tree line!”
I looked to our far left and there he was, about 150 yards away and slowly walking to the south and then turning back to the west on the south tree line. We watched him for almost five minutes in disbelief, as he made his way back in the direction of the field entrance. Once he was out of sight, we both were pumped and couldn’t believe the huge club and drop tines on his left side! Tristen said, “We have to get that deer!” I said, “Yes! He will definitely be the one we chase.”
Another 20 minutes go by with about 40 minutes of legal light left and no sooner did I tell Tristen that it’s “prime time”, the wind does a 180, now blowing our scent directly where the elk were going to come out. .
For the previous Reader Story, click here.
