The Canoe Buck: A Big Buck from the Ontario Heyday

Back in the early days of guiding, we discovered success left little time for us to chase bucks for ourselves. This was remedied by traveling to northern Ontario at the end of deer season here in Maine and hunting deer, generally in snow, in western Canada. This part of Ontario had a huge deer herd and big woods to track down trophy bucks. My second time traveling west, I shot a 225-pound eight-pointer. There is always a story to every buck you shoot and this hunt was no different.

I decided to pack up a canoe on a crisp calm morning and paddle across a big cove to an island we had killed bucks in the past. The still water and silent morning made for a picturesque ride. Bald eagles flew over me, as large pike scooted under the canoe in the crystal clear water. Though my mission was hunting deer, this peaceful ride at dawn was breathtaking. I reached my destination, while quietly beaching the canoe.

I was familiar with the island, having shot a big 12 pointer during a blizzard the prior season. There was a series of bluffs on the backside of the island where deer like to bed in the daytime. I only walked a short distance, when a doe and a lamb scooted across an old snowmobile trail. I froze up and watched their backtrack. A nice buck followed behind them. His body language told me he sensed something, causing him to bound away. They were headed for a narrow point at the end of the island. I trotted back towards where I left the canoe and found a pinch-point, I figured them to cross. My guess was right, as the three deer walked through a cedar swamp and along the lake. I had easy shot, but the buck was not that big for Ontario standards, convincing me to not shoot him. I saw a few other deer that morning, but no shooters.

Later on, the wind was picking up, making me think I might want to get back to the mainland before the weather owned me. I dropped a big rock in the bow of the canoe for weight and headed back towards camp. It was best to paddle along the shoreline to avoid the now whipping wind. I was making my way in the shallows, when I spotted a deer. It had its head down feeding in the raspberries at about 40 yards. I knew, when the deer lifted its head it would see me. I eased the paddle down and grabbed my muzzleloader. The deer picked up its head, displaying a nice rack. He never saw me and continued feeding. The canoe now had ran ashore, he still fed. I raised the smokepole and fired. The buck dropped in his tracks. I jumped out, crammed a load in the rifle and walked up to the fallen buck. He was a beautiful young guy, with 8 points. I had an extremely bad hip (full hip replacement happened 10 days after we returned home), causing me to paddle back to camp and get one of the guys to help load my buck in the canoe. 

 It turned out, Hal had just shot his huge “Rackasuras” buck that same morning. We filmed paddling in with my buck, then jumped in the truck, hustling to film Hal drag his monster out. What a morning!!!

 The change in weather had caused me to return to camp early that day. It also put a twist in this story, as I would most likely not killed that buck if mother nature hadn't change my plans. The good Lord was looking down on me that day, as he always does when we successfully kill a buck in the Big Woods. Remember, always keep your head up, your powder dry and good things will happen to you. GuideMike loves you all.....