“This doesn't look a thing like Andy described” Bob thought as he gazed the snow blanketed forest. It was the first morning of his hunt with South Bay Outfitters in northern Saskatchewan and the outfitter had briefed each hunter early that morning about what to expect and where to keep an eye out. The blind and the surrounding area looked absolutely nothing like the description. As the morning wore on he couldn't help but wonder if he were in for another fruitless hunt. This was his third trip to Canada pursuing the legendary big bucks of the north with nothing to show. “ I hope Rusty's doing better in my blind than I'm doing in his he thought”. Bob bought this hunt for his best friend who refused to go back to Canada after a frustrating hunt the previous year.

Meanwhile, Rusty, while having similar thoughts, was excited about hunting Bob's stand. What appeared to be a huge buck passed so close to his blind he could almost touch it in the pre-dawn light and he was praying for another view once shooting light arrived. He knew he must be in the blind Bob was supposed to be hunting, but was determined to make the most of it.

Their guide Martin was confused about which hunter was supposed to go to which blind. One was supposed to hunt “South Lakeside” and the other “Dead End”. When he got to the first spot Martin asked who was supposed to hunt there and the hunters had forgotten the names of their stands. Bob volunteered to take the first spot and Rusty took the second and so the mix-up began.

By 11.00 am, after a long morning of no deer and being in the wrong spot, Bob was content just enjoying sitting in a deer blind in Saskatchewan when movement caught his eye to the right of the blind. A huge buck was cruising through with no intention of slowing down. Bob wasn't about to let the opportunity pass and quickly fired at the passing buck and watched him go down. Immediately he began hoping he hadn't made a mistake. It happened so fast. As he eased towards the fallen buck the rack looked bigger the closer he got. Now instead of worrying about a mistake, he started worrying about his buddy. Bob felt like he shot Rusty's deer.

That night, as all the rest of their friends arrived in camp, the good-natured joshing was almost intolerable. They booked the hunt with 6 other friends who , hunted out of this camp the previous year so everyone in camp joined in giving Bob a hard time for shooting his buddies buck.

True to his word a shot rang out early the next morning from Rusty's / Bob's? blind. The huge buck he saw the previous morning repeated yesterday's performance only about 45 minutes later this time. The 24” wide 5x5 hit the ground and he could only think, “wait `till Bob sees his buck”.

As if the hunt wasn't memorable enough, Gary Hart, another buddy in camp brought in an incredible buck later in the week. This was a special hunt for Gary for he had cancelled his plans to come this year at the last minute due to his mother in laws illness. Then only 2 nights before he was supposed to be at camp at the encouragement of a loving wife he re-booked his flights and came after all. He was rewarded with a beautiful buck, and he and all the buddies in camp will have memories to last a lifetime.