By By Jack B. Lyle

I have read many stories about the big whitetail bucks of Saskatchewan. Last spring I booked a black powder hunt with Bad-Habit Outfitters of Melfort, Sask., owned and operated by Ray and Connie Fredin, and never dreamed it would be the hunt of a lifetime. I'm from Pennsylvania and my buddy, Bill Staley, from New Jersey joined me to hunt these whitetails in the bush country of northern Sask. We arrived at Bad-Habit Outfitter's camp on October 28th, 2001 and was warmly welcomed by Ray Fredin, a shot stocky man with a friendly smile.

We sighted in our in-line black powder rifles that day and Ray drove us too our stands to orientate us with our hunting stands. Bill and I looked at each other, both of us were already excited, there were deer trails everywhere and many large rubs, up to 6" trees, around both of our stands. We scouted the perimeters of our stands and found many fresh scrapes and more large rubs. We could hardly wait to get on our stands the next morning. Long before daylight Ray woke us and we took a hot shower and had a hot breakfast. Ray got us in our tree stands each day before daylight.

The hunting was unbelievable. Bill and I saw 23 different bucks in four days of hunting. On Thursday morning, just at day break, a monster wide racked 12 point walked into view. It didn't take long for my in-line black powder rifle to place a sabot behind the shoulder. The big buck took off out of sight. I waited for Ray to visit my stand before I went after the big buck. It didn't take us long to find the big buck and what a buck. The buck had a beautiful, dark chocolate colored rack with 12 long tines and measured over 20" wide. I'm an official Pope & Young scorer and the buck grossed just under 160".

When my buddy Bill got back to the camp that night he couldn't believe his eyes. Not only did the buck have a great rack, it weighed 308 lbs. After Bill admired the buck, he said "Boy have I been screwing up, I've seen two bucks bigger than that and a few close to that size, the bodies are so large I just didn't realize how big the racks really were". Needless to say, Bill shot a mammoth 368 lb. "average" heavy racked 8 point the next morning. When Ray and Bill brought the huge buck back to camp Friday morning, Bill and I both spoke "It doesn't get any better than this".

Ray's great personality and efforts to accommodate each hunter and his knowledge of the bush country make this an added value hunt that is second to none!! Bill and I have both booked another hunt for this Fall and we are bringing two of our buddies. I'm going to bow hunt this year while my other three buddies hunt with their in-line black powder rifles. I truly believe I will have a great opportunity for a shot at a P & Y buck in the 140" to 180" range. Please call Ray and Connie at 306-752-8482 to book a hunt of a lifetime. Bill Staley can be reached at 586-461-6573 or call me, Sam Derugen, at 814-349-5726. Ray, thanks again for a great hunt!!!....