EVERY WHITETAIL HUNTER SHOULD HUNT IN CANADA
Pat Reeve from Driven TV kills his fair share of big whitetails. Pat and his wife, Nicole spend endless hours each fall traveling across North America pursuing big game. Pat is best known as a Whitetail Fanatic and knows how to kill big bucks with a bow. We recently interviewed him about where his favorite place is to whitetail hunt. He said by far his favorite place to hunt is in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. “There are many reasons I love bowhunting in Saskatchewan. One of the main reasons is because the place holds many giant bucks. The bucks have giant racks and their bodies are enormous too,” Reeve noted.
Many places in North America hold large whitetails but according to Reeve, many of today’s top whitetail destination hunts don’t hold the number of record book bucks like Saskatchewan does. “I love hunting in my home state of Minnesota and other states like Kansas and Iowa, but since Saskatchewan receives so little hunting pressure, the bucks up there are allowed to really get old and mature. Pretty much the only people who hunt are hunters that are hunting with outfitters. Not many locals hunt. As a result, we can go up there every year and see and kill giant deer,” Reeve added.
Like it or not, another reason deer hunting in Saskatchewan is popular is because you are allowed to bait there. “Many people don’t like baiting, but when we are hunting backwoods bucks like we do in Saskatchewan, it makes finding the large bucks easier. Since there isn’t much hunting pressure in Saskatchewan, the big bucks aren’t super spooky about coming into bait.”
Another reason Pat and Nicole enjoy hunting in Saskatchewan is you can hunt from pop-up blinds. “As long as the blinds are put up in advance, the deer don’t really seem to be bothered by ground blinds which makes all day sits much easier.” When Pat and Nicole are hunting in Saskatchewan, there is typically snow on the ground and the temperatures are extremely cold. Being able to sit in a pop-up blind with a portable heater makes the hunting more enjoyable.
Saskatchewan isn’t the only place in the far north that Pat enjoys hunting. He likes hunting whitetails in Alberta and Manitoba. “Many of the Canadian provinces hold large bucks because there isn’t a lot of hunting pressure in Canada,” Reeve noted. “The downside about hunting in Canada is it can be expensive. American hunters must hire an outfitter and the cost of traveling so far north can be expensive, but if a hunter is seriously considering doing one bucket list whitetail hunt in their life, I tell people Saskatchewan or some other Canadian province is where they should go. The odds of success are extremely high and hunters will have the adventure of a lifetime.”
