Saskatchewan Stomper

When hearing the story of Andrew Greba's awesome Saskatchewan whitetail, a quote came to mind: The woods are full of Booners. We just kill them when they're young.

Take a look at the photo of Greba's whopper whitetail. With its heavy, chocolate antlers it's not hard to imagine that the buck was nearly as impressive a year earlier. In fact, he sported antlers a year ago that Greba suspects would have topped 160 inches. And yet he elected to pass him.

(My dad and I) had seen this deer many times at our bait sites and allowed him to walk, thinking that he scored about 165 that year. We had some others that we had gotten glimpses of that we figured were well in the 180s, and we wanted to hold out for them," Greba said.

OK, so maybe it is a bit easier to pass on 160-inch deer when you know there are bigger deer in the area. But, still, it takes a special type of restraint to hold off on a buck of that caliber. But Greba was confident he'd encounter the buck again. And in November of last year, he did. But it wasn't exactly the buck he was looking for.

I was hoping to take a buck that I had trailcam photos of. He's a big 5x6 with a dropper on his left side and we figured the deer would gross in the mid-180s. I sat from dark to dark for four days when the buck from the year before stepped out with a doe, Greba said. It looked like he had put on some more horn from the year before. I knew he was an instant shooter but I had thoughts of that buck with the dropper in the back of my mind.

I know, I know. How many hunters would have a buck they passed as a 160-incher in front of them - now looking to be in the 180s - and wonder whether or not they should take it? Well, as established, Andrew Greba has a special brand of restraint. And a special type of hunting pedigree. Hailing from Saskatchewan, Greba has grown up around huge whitetails and the big country they live in. His dad runs Log Barn Outfitters and they've put hunters on some awesome deer. Yet even with that experience, he's not immune to the impact a giant whitetail can have on a hunter's nerves.

I just didn't know if that big dropper buck would step out. But this buck was standing at a bad angle for about five minutes, and that was making a bit of buck fever set in, Greba said. As soon as he turned broadside, I let him have it, but he took off like he wasn't even hit. I thought to myself that there was no way I had missed that shot. Then I saw him skid to a stop down a game trail.

Greba headed back to camp to deliver the news to his dad. When he did, his dad had just one question: When are we taking it to the taxidermist? Greba killed his buck on Nov. 14 using a .280 Remington. The buck grosses 178 2/8 and is truly a classic Canadian stud with heavy mass, great beams, long tines and enough stickers to make things interesting. And, of course, it sports that beautiful chocolate coloration.

All in all he's my second-biggest buck to date and I'm glad I passed him last year, Greba said. Maybe this year I can get the buck with the dropper.

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