Alberta has been producing some fine trophy mule deer lately, and the main reason is that in some zones hunting pressure has been cut way back. Where residents used to be able to buy a tag over the counter, now they must draw a permit in a computery lottery to hunt some areas. The result has been that many bucks are getting old enough now to grow trophy-size antlers. The world record non-typical muley came from Alberta, so it will be interesting to see just what comes from the province in the next few years. Non-resident tags are also severely limited, but they are sold through licensed outfitters. We currently have access to two of the four mule deer tags in a zone about 40 miles north of Airdrie and two tags in the neighboring zone. A rancher/outfitter offers deer hunting on 3,000 acres of ideal private habitat. He owns two of the permits and leases the others. In the past two years he has had only two mule deer hunters on his property. One took a buck that would score in the 170s on the Boone and Crockett antler measuring system, and the other hunter took a muley with a non-typical rack that grossed in the 180s. Last year the rancher accommodated one whitetail hunter, who got a buck that grossed about 165 B&C. "We saw seven or eight dandy muley bucks last year on our place," the rancher said, "and nobody hunted them. We get bucks in the 140 to 200 class, and it's not too hard to find them 160 or better. It's pretty tough even for us to draw tags." The hunt lasts six days and includes lodging in a cabin on the bank of the Little Red Deer River. Hunt MD6860.