THE LAND OF GIANTS
Garden River Basics
 Editor’s
note: For five days, I watched white-tailed bucks around
me that would score from 110 to 130 points on Boone
& Crockett Scale as I sat in my stand with my black-powder
gun. I saw one buck that would have weighed well over
300 pounds, and every day I had a chance to take a buck
bigger than any I’d seen in my home state of Alabama.
But, when you’re hunting in the land of monsters,
near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in western Canada where
hunters regularly take 140 and 150 B&C bucks, you
don’t want to pull the trigger on a lesser buck.
This week we’ll talk to some other people who
have hunted with the same outfitters. The Mo of the
Monsters is Maurice Heisler, known to everyone as Mo,
who owns Garden River Outfitters, and has 200,000 acres
of crown land, 30-miles north of Prince Albert. For
15 years, Mo has taken hunters into the bush to take
the Saskatchewan monsters.
QUESTION: How do you determine where
to put your stands?
MO: Lots of walking, I’ve spent many, many hours,
days and months walking the bush to find the deer’s
bedding and feeding areas. I try to set up my stands
where each hunter can find an open spot to see and shoot
at the deer as they pass by.
 QUESTION:
Mo, you folks have some extremely-cold weather up here
with –20 below zero temps while I’ve been
here. I’ve been living with all my Heat Max heat
packs – both large and small in various parts
of my clothing. You have some of the most-unique stands
I’ve ever seen, Tell me about them.
MO: We’ve created 4 x 4 platforms that are 12-feet
off the ground. There is also a metal ladder allowing
hunters to climb from the ground to the platform. On
top of the platforms, are Ameristep portable tents with
zip-open windows in the front and on both sides of the
tent. These tents help keep you warm, and if it’s
snowing or raining, they’ll also keep you dry.
QUESTION: What time do the hunters
go out to the stands in the mornings?
MO: Breakfast is at 5 a.m., and we try to leave the
lodge by 6 a.m., to get all the hunters in their stands
before daylight. We pick the hunters up from their stands
and head back to the lodge by dark.
 QUESTION:
How many deer can a hunter take?
MO: Only one per year.
QUESTION: Mo, if a hunter stays on
a stand more than one day, will he see the same deer?
MO: Not usually, because we’re hunting deer in
the rut, so there are new bucks coming into the area
all the time.
QUESTION: Mo, Why do you bait the deer?
MO: Many people think we bait to try and lure the deer
to the hunters, but this isn’t the case at all.
We bait to keep the does coming into our area. When
the bucks are cruising, they know where to find the
does.
QUESTION: What’s the best day
of hunting you’ve ever had here at the lodge?
MO: A few years ago in the middle of November, six of
our hunters took bucks. Four of the bucks were B&C,
and two of them were over 150 B&C. That’s
never happened before or since. We were just really
fortunate that day.
 QUESTION:
What do the bucks in this section of Canada usually
weigh?
MO: Usually, the bucks weigh from 250 - to 400-pounds
each.
For more information on Garden River Outfitters, contact
Mo at (306) 978-2307, or you can write to him at Box
929, Martinsville, Saskatchewan, SOK-2TO.
You can learn more about Heat Max Products by checking
out www.heatmax.com or calling Howard Communications
at (573) 898-3422.
To learn more about Black Powder Products, Inc. (BPI),
the makers of CVA, Winchester and New Frontier Muzzleloading
guns and accessories, call (770) 449-4687, or visit
www.bpiguns.com
TOMORROW: MEMORIES AT GARDEN RIVER OUTFITTERS
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