SE Alberta Whitetail
 

I have lived in SE Alberta my entire life, I have never seen a B&C whitetail outside of CFB Suffield or inside the City of Medicine Hat. I have seen a few cranker mules after the draw was implemented outside of CFB Suffield, The City and the Cypress Hills PP, but a never a whitetail. I have seen some really big framed three point WT, but not enough points to make 170. Has anyone else seen these deer in SE Alberta or are all the available spots to well known. I don't hunt deer anymore but am out for coyotes and pheasants a lot and am curious as to others experience.

I saw a buck that likely grossed in the 175-180" range out by Cypress...was a hell of a WT.

I’ve never seen a legit B&C WT in my life, let alone in that part of the province. I’ve seen a few cranker mulies over the years, but I’m not sure why there aren’t more WT around there. Not sure if it’s something to do with food, water, cover, hunting pressure, or something else.

Buddy of mine got a whitetail in the 180’s non typical, Hard to find a whitetail over 150, in order for one to get old enough to hit booner range you probably need a safe zone for deer to get old enough. Mulies get help with the draw system keeping them safe for a few years, don’t think there’s an appetite for that to happen with whitetail.

Couple SE Alberta deer both gross just over 180. Closest we've came
Seen 2 bigger and one was quite a bit bigger but also smarter
Daughters
Attachment 166517
Mine
Attachment 166518

FH

Something I’ve noticed about the deer in the south, they have light colored antlers compared to where I hunt in the northern parts of the province.

[QUOTE=Kurt505;4225204]Something I’ve noticed about the deer in the south, they have light colored antlers compared to where I hunt in the northern parts of the province.[


When deer rub their antlers on stubble they don’t get dark.....

Yep they don’t have the cover like in the heavy bush so I strongly believe it has a lot to do with the sun bleaching the antlers. Lots of time you see them just laying in the grass or a rock pile or on a side hill.

I think this is exactly why they’re light colored. Bush bucks have chocolate colored racks because they only come out in the open at night and on a rare occasion during daylight when the rut is in full swing.

Both from SE AB
 

These weren't taken by me but sent by a landowner who knew the guys who took them near his place. Never seen a WT this big, but they are out there....one day maybe

That first buck is a dandy anywhere in this province, thanks for sharing!

Like you I pretty much just hunt predators these days. But in the 80's there was a taxidermist on Allowance Ave. -- named Harley White. - in the same plaza as the current gun shop. I saw some monster whitetails mounted by him and some of the real bruisers were taken just outside Cypress Hills -- a few off the Jackpot-Rd. I'm assuming they were park bucks caught out of park boundary-- & some guys got lucky.

That first buck is a Saskatchewan buck!

I dunno about this one. I shot a buck the first week of September in 542, the earlyest I've ever killed a buck, and his antlers were bone white. People actually thought I cut them off of a deer that I found dead, and I was accused of lying about actually shooting that deer.

3 years later I shot one right on the tail end of the last week of November, one of the latest deer I've killed, less than a kilometer from where I took the light one... darkest antlers I have in the shed, almost black.

I've been convinced ever since that the antlers must pick up some color from rubbing, possible the type of trees they are rubbing would be a contributing factor as well.


Only complaint I have about southern deer is that they generally dont seem to have the same body mass as a northern one. On my stomping grounds you can shoot a 130" buck that will dress out at 200 lbs or better. Seen some impressive headgear from further south that was sitting on top of far smaller deer.

My understanding was the same, if you ever see Sitka Blacktails or Columbia’s blacktails they have auburn antlers from rubbing alders and other almost red coloured woods. Same with deer here, their antlers take the color of what they are rubbing on.

Im no biologist but I do know that every velvet buck I’ve seen had white antlers under the velvet. I shot a muley with bone white antlers while half covered in velvet as well.

That particular buck, the dark one, I know for a fact was rubbing quite a bit. I picked his track up in the morning, I followed it down an old skidder trail through some checkerboard cuts. Whenever he came to the bush checker he would make a loop off the trail and make a few rubs, then return to the trail and go to the next one.

Once I figured that out I quit following his loops and just stayed on the trail, eventually I hit a chunk of trees where his tracks did not return so I just sat down and waited. Eventually I saw a sapling start waving... and shot him while he was making yet another rub.

I can only speculate as to what he'd been doing the whole rest of the season, but that buck for sure made well over a dozen rubs before noon on the day I shot him.

They can be dark or light on the prairie. Mule Deer especially. The odd thing is that quite often the capes will match that tendency to a certain degree. I’m not sure if it’s a result of where they lay up and how much sun they are exposed too, or age, I’m not sure. Obviously, what they are rubbing on matters, but are they bleaching out as well?

When yo find a shed the bottom is always darker than the top so I’d have to guess that the sun is always bleaching to some extent.

Agree on that for sure with what I've seen with mulies. You can have two 180" bucks from the same zone and one will have dark antlers and often dark cape features and one will be lighter, often with a cape that matches. Pretty cool the differences actually, especially with bucks coming from the same drainage.

Guys saying its the type of trees are correct.

In 2005 hunting the rut in Blackfoot. I saw an young 4x4 whitetail, I swear his rack was green from rubbing on the Pressure Treated posts.
He rubbed 3 of the thinner posts in the last 20 minutes of legal light as I was watching. I was in the hilly less treed east portion of the reserve way far from the roads.

Antlers are bone, which is white in color.

Tannins from plants/trees and dirt is 100% responsible for the color of antlers.

UV light will degrade the tannins, bleaching antlers back to the original white bone.


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Alberta has two recognized subspecies of White-tailed deer.

Dakotensis and pockets of Ochrourus.

Agricultural practices over the last 100 years have helped Dakotensis to expand their range into previous Ochrourus strongholds.

I suspect areas in southern Alberta that hold smaller deer, such as the Milk River, are either an unrecognized subspecies or true Ochrourus.

If a buck begins rubbing his antlers before the velvet and blood have completely dried, the blood stains the antler and gives it a darker color. ... Pines allegedly cause darker antlers, likely from bucks rubbing on exposed sap after they break the tree's cambium layer

Yes, plant tannins, dirt, and blood too.


Cypress Hills has produced some Huge whitetails....

Having dinner with fourth and fifth generation ranchers is always pleasantly distracted by the monster whitetails on the wall. I've seen many over 200 and up to 250 that came from the Hills many years ago.

Pretty much everything I’ve read on it says otherwise.

Back to the question
 

Hunting Elk in Cypress Hills about 10 years ago, we saw a BIG one heading south along side the Bull Trail near the Grayburn Road, It was last light but I could see he was Huge, my huntin partner had the bino's and said he'd push 200 or better. I trust his estimate. They are out there, just real clever with good hide outs like the park

A couple of Southern Alberta prairie deer. The whitetail in the foreground and mule deer in the background were shot within two miles of each other. Both vastly different in colour.

https://i.imgur.com/69yS8d4.jpg

Well this sucks.. definitely will miss Chuck’s contributions..

Agree fully!

Looks like another case of covid. It’s the worst case I’ve seen so far, everyone else I know who’s had it has just gotten a bit of a head ache and lost their sense of taste for a few days. Sad to see him go.