Heavy 5

(2ndplace winner of the 2023 Mountain Hunter story contest)

I first met Daniel and Ashley Norton, owners of Robson Valley Outfitters, in August 2017 after planning a double one-on-one backpack mountain goat hunt with my brother. Part of what made it special was that Daniel and his brother Page were our guides and it was a dream trip for all involved. My brother and I were Dan’s very first clients as owner of Robson Valley Outfitters. It was a grueling but successful hunt and after seven days we were able to harvest two beautiful mature billies.

Fast forward five years and I had returned to the Robson Valley with Dan and Ashley a total of five times. At this point we considered each other family and dear friends. During these many visits, I’ve had many amazing adventures, but this last November I returned once again to the Robson Valley never anticipating what would be in store for us. Nor, could we have predicted that our most recent adventure would involve an impressive whitetail named “Heavy5” of which we’ve known for several years.

As I previously mentioned, I’ve gone on all sorts of adventures with Dan including hunting for mountain goat, moose, elk, black bear, and mule deer, but what has quickly become my favorite is hunting mountain whitetails in the big timber and river bottoms along the Fraser River. It has become such a special hunt that Daniel’s wife, Ashley, and I have a big buck contest each fall between one another. I grew up in Pennsylvania hunting whitetails, but part of what makes Robson Valley whitetail hunting so special is that these mature “timber-tails”, which live deep in the mountains for the whole year rarely seeing people, move down from those mountains for 3-4 weeks each November to breed. It is the most intense whitetail rut activity I’ve ever witnessed including many bucks chasing, fighting, scraping, rubbing, and grunting all day long. It is what has kept bringing me back year after year.

In 2021, I was able to harvest a very mature and large whitetail, never imagining this is where my adventure would begin with the largest whitetail I’d ever laid my own eyes on.

During our first night of that hunt in 2021, at last light, we watched countless does being chased and bucks fighting in what I can only describe as chaos. Hoping to hunt the same area the next day, Dan and I tried to sneak out of the stand during the frenzy. When I finally made it to the ground, I turned to see a 5x5buck standing in dark cold night. He was panting and I could see his breath billowing out of his panting mouth as he looked at me from only a few yards away. Without hesitation, he casually walked past me at arm’s reach as if I didn’t exist to join the breeding activity in the small pasture. This was my first meeting with “Heavy5”, and we would not see him again during that hunt. In fact, it was later that year after I had departed that Dan and Ashley finally captured him on a trail camera and he would earn his name. We were unaware that this was just the beginning of the adventure with this amazing animal.

Unfortunately, I was not able to return to the Robson Valley in 2022 for my annual deer hunting trip, but I was elated when one November evening Dan sent me a trail camera picture of a very large bodied and heavy framed 6×5 whitetail. I could not believe my eyes when we noticed a very familiar buck with characteristic mass and a split left brow tine. It was Heavy 5 now sporting a left-sided G5 but otherwise unchanged in frame size or length from his previous year. I was happy to see that he had survived another grueling year on the mountain but, as I was not scheduled to return until 2023, I could only admire the trail camera photos. That winter Ashley managed to find his sheds in the same pasture we had seen him the year prior, which I thought gave closure to the Heavy 5 chapter.

As the fall of 2023 approached, I grew very excited to return to the Robson Valley to chase timber-tails. Heavy 5 did briefly cross my mind as I daydreamed about what mature bucks might be around but I did not think much more of him. That was until October, only a few weeks before my scheduled return, when he remerged from his mountain hideout and Dan managed to capture a glimpse and photo of him as the rut kicked off. He had grown-significantly. What was once a slightly above average 6×5 whitetail the year prior was now a truly massive 5×5 who had grown in every way. His past sheds could now fit inside of his current frame. But he remained true to his name and still had amazing mass and his split left brow tine that made identifying him easy. There was one problem: I wasn’t the only deer hunter that year with Dan in the Robson Valley. Others had heard of this hidden gem. Although it wasn’t easy, I had come to terms that my history with this buck would likely end with him being harvested by another hunter in the weeks before my scheduled arrival.

I landed in Prince George, BC on November 19, 2023 not knowing what to expect and half expecting these field photos or even hold the rack of this impressive buck from some previous lucky hunter. On the car ride to camp is when Dan told me that he was still out there and after arriving at Dan’s home, I was able to hold his previous year’s shed antlers for the first time. It was also when Ashley showed me her monstrous entry into our 2023 big buck contest!

The following evening, with a new level of excitement and motivation, Dan and I slipped into the wooden tree stand in the timber and set up for our first hunt. It wasn’t even an hour before the action began. Immature bucks were chasing does, weaving in and out of the trees when suddenly Dan quietly and carefully pointed beneath us. Unbelievably, Heavy 5 had shown himself. It was my first time laying eyes on him since having that single close encounter two years prior. He was still, silent, and massive in every facet as he watched the younger deer and it was clear he was king of this domain. I was stunned. I never imagined that he would show himself so quickly but in a flash, he vanished into the thick forest to ensure the younger bucks knew their place.

That evening as I relived the hunt, I felt torn. Onone hand, I was glad he got away because I did not want to end the hunt so quickly, but I was also nauseous and worried that he may never show himself again as the rut was coming to an end and he would soon disappear, just as he had the two seasons before. We hunted three more full days in various locations without seeing him or any larger mature buck and my anxiety continued to build, knowing that the post-rut was beginning and these mature bucks were retreating back into their winter hiding places.

Before first light on November 24th, Dan and I quietly snuck back into the timber along the Fraser River where we had seen Heavy 5 the first day. I had just sat down and Dan had not even pulled his winter jacket out of his pack or sat down when I looked into the snow and moonlit clearing in the trees to see Heavy 5 standing directly in the middle. We watched helplessly before legal shooting light as he again vanished into the timber with his head down and nose in the air. We looked at one another and silently agreed that we were going to be here ALL day waiting for a second chance.

It was only two hours into the sit, when Dan and I were just starting to feel the chill of the snowy winter day, when suddenly we saw the shape of a large mature buck emerge from some thick underbrush not 30 yards from our stand. It was Heavy 5. But this time he made the fatal mistake of not immediately disappearing. He crossed directly in front of me and I quickly raised my rifle and, without thinking, I placed a shot behind his left front shoulder. He evaporated into the brush and the woods fell silent. Shocked by what had just happened, Dan and I stood speechless and still for what felt like forever. After processing our last few moments, we quietly and respectfully cheered and hugged. We quietly climbed from the stand and began following Heavy5’s trail into the timber. Finally we spotted his dark red and brown antlers in the brush ahead.

After three long years of watching him survive multiple hunting seasons, outwit countless predators and hunters (including us), and many cold winters, this titan was laid to rest. As we walked up to him it was the first time I’d experienced ground growth. The buck’s enormous body relative to his antlers made his level of mass and size difficult to appreciate until we finally held him for the first time. Even though we were beyond excited at this impressive harvest and table fare to share with our family and loved ones, we couldn’t help but also feel sad. Sad that this animal we’d known and pursued for so long was down and this chapter of our hunting lives with him had closed.

Once he was packed out and taken home, we found that his sheds sat inside of his massive frame and he was aged at 6.5 years old, weighing in at approximately 300 pounds. He was truly in his prime and we found peace in knowing that he had enjoyed many successful seasons himself, reigning over that portion of the mountain and river bottom.

I look forward to returning to the Robson Valley for years to come and one day getting to play this game of chess with his sons and grandsons. I thank Dan and Ashley for sharing their beautiful part of the Robson Valley with me and for the rest of my life, will never forget this animal nor the part they played in my being able harvest him.