Saskatchewan certainly gets the lion's share of media attention when it comes to big whitetail bucks. With the number-one Boone and Crockett contender calling this province home, certainly some of this attention is justified. What many hunters don't realize, however, is that the area where Milo Hanson shot this mega deer is off-limits to non-resident alien hunters, save for a very select area run by a local Native band.

Non-resident hunting is, for the most part, limited to the northern portion of the province. This is not to say that there are not big bucks running around this region. There are. It just means that you won't be walking in Milo's footsteps in your search for whitetails if you are from the United States or any other country but Canada. Non-resident Canadians can hunt the zone around Biggar, Saskatchewan where Hanson took his buck, but the Saskatchewan government has reduced the season to only one week in early December.

Jim and wife, Ann, first saw the buck on the second day of the hunt in the middle of a huge crop field. There was no way to approach close enough for them to get a shot. Rather than risk spooking the buck, the pair set up in a nearby stand of trees and began to rattle, with Jim several yards behind Ann. The buck came in almost immediately and Ann, who was closest to the buck, could see nothing more than the top of his head and the incredible antlers that adorned it. There was no chance for a shot and soon the buck disappeared, leaving them both shaking their heads in amazement.

Bolands had two more encounters with the buck over the next three days. Jim sheepishly admits that he had two shots at the deer while it was running across a field in front of him. In order to draw a good bead on the buck, Jim was forced to climb a barbed-wire fence and shoot from this precarious position. He missed clean both times, hitting just behind the fleeing buck. While most hunters would have given up and headed home with their tail tucked between their legs, content to sit around the fire recounting the story of the big one that got away, not Jim. It just made his resolve to get the big buck stronger.

They watched the buck head into another patch of bush to the east and quickly followed. Another hunter that was passing by also saw the deer and joined Bolands in their quest. While the new hunter on the scene followed the trail the deer had taken into the wood, Ann set up on point on a likely looking escape route while Jim made his way to the far side of the trees. For whatever reason, when he came upon a trail on the opposite side of the woods, Jim decided this was where he would make his last stand. Rather than setting up right on the trail and risk detection by the other deer that accompanied the big buck, Jim melted into the heavy trees adjacent to the trail.

He had barely settled in his makeshift blind when the sound of crunching snow alerted him that deer were on the way. Jim had only one small shooting lane, about 50 yards out. The doe came first and he easily tracked her progression and was certain he could make a shot through the small opening.

The big buck hung up, however, and seconds ticked by like hours and Jim's gun began to grow unsteady. Lowering the gun, he caught movement to his right. The big buck was on the move. As the 7mm met his shoulder, the crosshairs found the big buck's neck and Jim fired. The buck continued along the trail. Jim ran in a desperate attempt to get another shot at the huge deer. When he got to the trail, however, he realized there was no need as the buck was staggering from a well-placed hit.