2025 White Tail Season :
We have missed you all!
As you know, we decided that 2024 was a "leave them grow" year and we are excited about this year that starts NOW!
We have a small season .. only two weeks but we are hoping for lots of excitement in this short time span.
The weather has been extremely mild leading up to this. Today (Sunday, November 23rd) it got as warm as 34 degrees ... that's great except when you are hunting, you want it to be cooler and that is exactly what we are going to be getting this week --- cooler temperatures right on time! Each day will get progressively cooler -- great news!
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Monday, November 24, 2025 - Day 1 of Week #1
Its a beautiful morning here in Saskatchewan. Temperature: 14 degrees Fahrenheit.
Breakfast at 6:00 am and the guys are getting dressed.
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Trucks are warming up outside:
6:25 am .. final meet up in the shop!
EXCITING first morning!
6:30 am ... and they are off!
Good luck to Danny, Ron, Doug, John and Michael!
Walker - from Ron's stand:
The weatherman lied ... where is our cooler temperatures that we were supposed to get?
Every one saw deer but no-one saw anything that they wanted to take home today.
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Tuesday, November 25, 2025 Day 2 of Week #1
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Ron snapped a picture of Danny ready to head out to his blind this morning.
AND HERE IT IS! OUR FIRST DEER OF THE SEASON!
First views:
Walker attaching the seals
Loaded and heading home
Congratulations Doug ... he is a BEAUTY!
Nov 25/25 - Doug
Yesterday, Doug saw only does and fawns and one tiny buck.
This morning an 8 pointer came in and then this one ... Doug took the first shot that this buck gave him opportunity on!
Well done Doug!
This is Doug's 8th hunt with us!
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YOU ALL NOTICED THE DROP TINE RIGHT?
This buck weighed in at 252 pounds.... that's some real good eating venison right there!
Doug says:
"Steven -- do you remember this?
Ha ha ha!
Dick who is coming next week says:
"I'm ready!"
And Rick is chiming in too:
"I'm just about finished packing"
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Wednesday, November 26, 2025 Day 3 of Week #1
View from a treestand.
In the meantime, Doug is doing an excellent job cutting up his deer.
And here is our second deer.
Nov 26/25 - Michael
This is Michael's first time hunting in Saskatchewan ..
Good Job Michael.
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Michael had the honor of sitting in a new stand that we had just established. The name of the stand is called "Kroft" and it was named in memory of a client/friend who had been hunting with us since 2014. Sadly, this fall, John Kroft lost his battle to cancer. He brought to us his wit, his wisdom and his laughable antics. We laughed with him, we shared good stories with him, we shared sad or serious stories with him .... we knew him as a damn good hunter and a very special friend. He never bragged about how "decorated he was" and all that he accomplished.
We will forever miss him.
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Michael ... John would be proud to see "the next generation of hunter" breaking in "his stand"!
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I am posting John's obituary at the bottom of this page.
Thursday, November 27, 2025 Day 4 of Week #1
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HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL!
Winter wonderland look in the forest today with the Hoar Frost in the trees.
Friday, November 28, 2025 Day 5 of Week #1
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Dang! What a tough week! We had a lot of expectations.
Hats off to the 3 hunters that did not falter in their pursuits.
John, who is going home without a deer said "We are seasoned trophy hunters"
.. John saw several bucks but not what he wanted to take home.
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It's always frustrating when the deer slow down for an unknown reason. The conditions were good ... snowfall, cooler temperatures but not much bait pile action for a few days, and only 2 out of 5 hunters took home a deer this week. Nature has it's way of sticking a fork in your plans every now and again. We hope for safe travels for our incoming and outgoing hunters.
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Sunday, November 30, 2025 Dick and Rich on the way to Makwa River Outfitters:
Monday, December 1, 2025 Day 1 of Week #2
This is from Dick's stand:
Dick says "Two more years... "
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Tuesday, December 2, 2025 Day 2 of Week #2
Nobody shot today.
Brent was watching a decent buck today but chose to wait..
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Rich's last words to me were:
"I'm going to be done and bringing home a buck in the morning ... by 10 am ... no, maybe 10:30"!
Okay Rich ... lets see if you are right.
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Wednesday, December 3, 2025 Day 3 of Week #2
-20 degrees this morning ... I'm thinking this might be a good "buck morning"!
Message from Rich at 10:30:
"I said 10:30 didn't I???"
"Thank you so much! I love this place!"
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Yep .. he told me last night that he would be done by 10:30 this morning and he did it!
Rich - you are amazing!
Dec 3/25 - Rich
This is Rich's 9th year hunting with us and every single time he comes, the week is FUN!
Rich prefers a shoulder shot - but his guide, Walker explained a better placement and Rich took his advise.
Rich made the perfect shot, the buck walked just a few feet and Rich took a second shot just to make sure ...
AND HIS SECOND SHOT WENT IN EXACTLY WHERE HIS FIRST BULLET HAD GONE ... W O W ! ! !
AND ... we have another deer down!
Dec 3/25 - Dave
Congratulations Dave, on your first Saskatchewan buck!
Dave saw a lot of deer. He took his pick and this is the one!
Dave says he enjoys it all here .. "the buck is just the bonus"!
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Dave has been following Makwa River Outfitters and communicating with us since about 2004
when his friend Larry Murphy was hunting with us with his Dad Bob in those years. He waited A LONG TIME to "pull the trigger" and come to Saskatchewan!
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Unfortunately, Larry passed away from cancer January 21, 2025
It is always sad to find out
that one more of our friends
is no longer with us to share hunting stories.
This is Larry Murphy
with his buck from
Makwa River Outfitters
on November 16, 2005.
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REST IN PEACE DEAR FRIEND
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Thursday, December 4, 2025 Day 4 of Week #2
Rob's story this morning:
"I was quietly watching deer in front of me. I just filled up my heater with fuel and I noticed out of my side window that the branches of the pine tree beside me were moving and snow was falling off... there was something in the tree so I started watching it with calm interest.
Suddenly something came flying though the window and landed on me ...
IT SCARED THE HELL OUT OF ME!
I jumped up, bumping my heater so that some fuel splashed out....
now I have a small fire going on the carpet inside the treestand and a wild squirrel running circles around on the floor, trying to find a way out.
IT WAS LIKE A CIRCUS!
This kind of fire is easy to "pat out" but then bit of fire caught on my gloves so I shook it off and emptied my water bottle to finally getting it out.
At the same time, I was also trying to contain this hysterical squirrel!
I knew that there were wolves and cougars in the forest that I had to watch for but here I was dancing with a squirrel!!!!
It was a bit chaotic but the fire was now out (with no damage) and now I could get to the crazy little critter in my stand.
If someone could have captured this on video it would have been hilarious.... the tree stand was shaking as the squirrel and I battled it out!
Finally, I was able to get my boot on it, I got my glove back on, picked up the squirrel and threw it out of the window.
When it hit the ground, it didn't look back as it ran as fast as its legs could carry it away from me and the tree stand.
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And then this buck came out and I shot at 9:40 this morning!"
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HA HA HA ... good one Rob!
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Dec 4/25 - Rob
This is Rob's second hunt with us. He came in 2023 with his Grandpa.
His Grandpa had hunted many, many times with us!
This year, Rob came with his friend, Will.
Exciting news ... someone else just shot!
And its a real BRUISER!
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Rob texted me from the forest:
"What a day!"
Twenty minutes after Rob shot, Will shot!
Dec 4/25 - Rob & Will
Dec 4/25 - Will
CONGRATULATIONS WILL!
THIS IS AN AWESOME SASKATCHEWAN WHITETAIL TROPHY BUCK!
Will"s story:
"At 9:30 there were 2 doe hanging out at the feed in front of me. It was cozy in the treestand. I continued watching the forest looking for movement.
At 11:00, I casually looked out of my side window and I could see this buck 10 yards behind my stand ... I have no idea how long he had been there.
I knew this was a good buck but there is no way that I was going to be able to get a shot off when he was behind me.... so I waited, hardly breathing.
So that I could stay as quiet as I could I looked straight forward and using my peripheral vision to see what he would do next.
Finally, from the opposite side window, I could see him slowly moving towards the bait. As he came even with me through the side window, he stopped and looked up towards me ... he knew I was there ... he just didn't know what I was. If he was going to run away, this would have been the moment!
It was like an eternity that he stood there, analyzing the situation but then slowly started to move forward.
Now I was staring at him down my barrel!
He walked up to the bait and started eating.
Patiently I waited for my opportunity and when he took two steps to the left, there it was!"
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GOOD JOB WILL!
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There will be celebrations tonight!!
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Friday, December 5, 2025 Day 5 of Week #2
Dick and Brent are going home without a deer this year.
This is Dick's 9th year hunting with us ... he knows what he wants to take home and although he saw bucks, he did not see what he wanted to harvest.
See you next year Dick for your 10th year here.
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This is Brent's fourth year with us and was here to "trophy hunt". He showed me a picture of one particularity nice deer, but he knows that next year he will be even better. Thank you Brent.
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Saturday, December 6. 2025 End of the season.
Another hunting season is done.
We still have the herds here but bad winters a few years ago did knock down our best bucks and so their offspring needed a year or two to mature.
Last year, we did not hunt at all.
This year we brought in only 11 hunters, and we are pleased with what we saw ... no, not everybody took home a deer and it was certainly tough hunting but we know that there are still big bucks out there and every year that we continue to hunt conservatively, it will continue to improve. The main point to remember is that we did not lose all of our bucks and the ones out there continue to grow and thrive. We only took 6 deer in 2025 and none in 2024 .. we thing 2026 is going to be really great!
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I have to tell you ... the hunters that we had this year were AMAZING!
We had SO MUCH FUN with you all!
Now that you are all gone back home ... "back to reality", it is so quiet here but the walls still echo the sounds of the laughter and the good times.
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As I heard a few times this season ... "the buck is just the bonus here!"
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See you all next year!
GOODBYE DEAR FRIEND!
John M. Kroft, 68, of Hillsgrove Township, passed away on Saturday, October 18, 2025, at The Gatehouse of Divine Providence Hospital. He was born on November 20, 1956, to the late John I. and Evelyn L. (Seitzer) Kroft.
He attended Jackson Elementary School, Roosevelt Junior High School, and Williamsport High School. After high school, he attended Penn State University where he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Engineering. He later attended and received Master’s Degrees from the University of Rhode Island and the Army Command and General Staff College.
He served 25 years as a Naval Surface Warfare Officer, attaining the rank of Captain and was awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (2 awards), Navy Commendation Medal (3 awards), Navy Achievement Medal (3 awards) as well as numerous other individual and unit citations.
Following his retirement from the Navy, he joined the U.S. Department of State where he worked with numerous foreign governments and was awarded by the President of the Republican of Poland, Poland’s highest award given to a foreigner, the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit, making him a Knight of the Republic of Poland.
After 9-11, he began work for the Director of National Intelligence as the Deputy Director of the National Counterproliferation Center where he was promoted to the Senior National Intelligence Service (SNIS).
He is survived by his daughter, Ramsey E. Chalmers, two sisters, Gloria Powers and Candace Hodoba, as well as numerous nieces and nephews. He had many good friends and family that supported and helped him through the later stages of his fight with cancer.
A memorial service will be held for close friends and family at his residence at a later date.
Arrangements entrusted to Knight-Confer Funeral Home.
Online condolences may be expressed on John’s memorial page at www.KnightConferFuneralHome.com
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