Gibson Tilley

Shoot or pass? 🤔

It’s late in the season, and your buck luck has been pretty meager so far this year. Late in the day, at the end of November - this deer gives you these two shot opportunities.

The question is: Do you shoot or pass?

ᨒ My 2025 Alberta Muledeer Buck ᨒ

When I pulled the trigger on 5 draw tags this year, I developed a bit of an unintended feeling of regret. Not in so much that I would be wasting priority points, but in knowing that my mind would be racing everyday until the last season closed.

With my Antelope and Moose draw tags already filled, I pointed the pickup south to the rolling grasslands of Southern Alberta in the last week of November, with a Muledeer buck tag in my pocket.

The next morning while hunting solo, I would be folding that tag on a Muledeer. It wasn’t until I sat down beside him in the bottom of that Coulee that it hit me - this was a pretty great hunting season which I will undoubtedly remember for years to come.

Photo by Forest, age 4 📸

I typically don’t talk much about what I do for work on here, but for the folks who’ve been around a while, and for those just showing up - thanks for riding along. Truth is, I have been earning a living as a freelance hand in the social media world full time since 2019.

A big part of that work involves telling the stories of the outdoor brands that I’m lucky enough to partner with. It means I get to support my family by folding content creation into the same wild and unpredictable trips that we find ourselves on.

It’s a rare thing to earn a living doing what you love. Rarer still to share those moments with your family. Sara and I have enjoyed explaining to Forest what these moments mean, and how they are a part of how we put food on our table. While it’s not always smooth sailing, when the sun does breakthrough, it feels pretty damn good.

While butchering a Bull Moose I took last week, Sara recovered the bullet from the carcass in excellent shape. We weighed it at 11.5 grams, which works out to about 177.5 grains, giving us roughly 98.6% weight retention - more specs below.

In comparison to the variety of lead core bullets I have been hunting with, monolithic bullets typically lose 0-5% of their overall weight where lead core bullets can lose up to 40% of their weight in fragmentation. Those fragments can end up in the meat you plan to consume (shown in photo 3), as well as the entrails left in the field which are subsequently consumed by scavengers.

Like we talked about last year, we have moved entirely to monolithic all copper bullets. The performance has been steady, predictable, and it’s good knowing there’s no lead when it comes time to put that meat on the table for family and friends.

Bullet: Barnes TSX 180 grain
Caliber: 300 WSM
MV: 2980 fps
Distance: 285 yds
Energy at impact: 2266 ft lbs
Target: Bull Moose
Shots: 1

When we crossed paths, she was the one.

Eight years as husband and wife, fifteen as partners. With countless stories of adventure, feral laughter, chaotic roadtrips and the kind of heartache that forges stronger bonds; I wouldn’t trade a moment.

Happy Anniversary to the woman who gave our family a son, who walks beside me in the woods, and who I am blessed to call my Wife.

Talent by

Brown Trout
Spray paint on canvas
Unframed 12 x 36 inches

A clearly talented friend dropped off a new addition to Forest’s art collection, and its right at home among the others. Pat’s work can be seen in several commissioned murals in Calgary, Banff, Jasper and Canmore, among numerous works in private collections.

If you’ve got a soft spot for wildlife art with grit and soul, take a minute to check out his Instagram. Some truly remarkable stuff in there.