As my wife, Lori, and I crossed the border north of our Montana home and headed across the lonely Alberta prairie, we drove right into a nasty little weather front that put the ceiling down on the deck in freezing rain and lashed the grass with winds gusting to 50 knots. At first I felt sorry for our old friend Jeff Lander, who had already spent a week in deer camp ahead of us while Lori and I finished up some wing-shooting assignments at home.

Jeff Lander with a fine muley buck.

I knew that Jeff would be out in the thick of the weather somewhere, trying to stalk one of the big mule deer bucks for which his area is renowned. Then I realized that we were looking at ideal conditions for one of the most difficult tasks in North American bowhunting: putting an arrow through a big muley on the open prairie. I knew Jeff would trade creature comfort for a shot at a big buck any day.

An hour out of camp, Lori placed a call to Jeff's cell phone to let him know our position and ETA. We were driving through the middle of nowhere, and cell coverage was erratic at best. After several attempts, she finally got through only to receive a garbled response to her greeting: (gobbledygook) Just arrowed… (gobbledygook) big hog! (gobbledy, gobbledy… click).

The excitement in his voice came through more clearly than the words, and I knew that Jeff had spent too much time around big deer to get that worked up over nothing. I felt my right foot weighing involuntarily on the gas pedal as we sped on toward the explanation for the mysterious message.

Bowhunting Alberta Mule Deer Well known for its giant whitetails, Alberta is also home to some of the best mule deer genetics around. Primitive Outfitting conducts hunts in the prairie terrain of southeastern Alberta. Except for a brief firearms season by drawing for residents, this is an archery-only area, which helps explain the size of the deer. Hunts run from mid-September through late October. Hunters may encounter weather ranging from sweltering to frigid and should pack accordingly. Tag out early? Buy a whitetail tag, hunt waterfowl and upland birds, or work out on the area's truly amazing coyote population. For more information, contact: Murray Matthews, 58 Blueberry Crescent, Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada T8H 1R6; (780) 504-7891; mmatthews@mcet.ca; www.primitiveoutfitting.com.

Lori and I had just unloaded our gear when Jeff rolled into the driveway with Murray Matthews, his partner in Primitive Outfitting, and Colorado bowhunter Chris Kennedy.

Since Jeff wasn't guiding this year, he'd been able to hunt all week, and he'd put the afternoon's ideal stalking conditions to good use. After spotting a good buck bedded in the lee of some brush, he'd made a patient crosswind approach to within recurve range, nocked an arrow, and waited for the buck to stand -- for nearly three freezing hours. A 15-yard, quartering-away shot eventually rewarded his patience, and he watched the buck fall in sight.

As he retold the story over dinner, he almost managed to make it sound easy. But I had hunted this country before, and I knew better. Big mule deer are a challenge under any circumstances; on the open prairie they sometimes seem all but impossible. Besides, if it were easy, everyone would be doing it, and there wouldn't be any big mule deer.