In 1993 I reported on a “tremendous” opportunity to hunt big mule deer in southern Alberta with the inception of a special season that allowed hunting for three days each week and limited resident hunting pressure. Records kept and published by the Alberta Professional Outfitter Society show that hunters have taken seven of the top 10 mule deer and two of the top non-typicals in this region since this special season opened. Now, Alberta has just extended the three-day season to four days for 2008, allowing hunting from Wednesday through Saturday during the November rifle season in the southern prairie hunting zones.
I checked in with a number of outfitters who still had openings for this hunt. The first was Gordon Burton of Double Diamond Outfitters, (403-931-3166; www.albertahunt .com). He has a couple of openings for this year at $7,500, and he is happy to give his booked hunters the extra hunting time. “We have had tremendous hunting in these zones,” reports Burton. “I discourage scoring because it leads to disappointment, but we do harvest 180-class bucks every year.” One hunter in 2005 got a 210 typical that netted 198 7/8. Some of these top bucks are featured on his web site....
