Saskatchewan Mom Bags Two Monster Mule Deer in Four Years

Hunting is a family affair for the Lenius clan of southern Saskatchewan. Jason Lenius started hunting in his early 20s. When he met his wife, Lee Anna, they dove into archery hunting and focused primarily on that for 10 years. The couple found — and still find — great satisfaction in hunting together, so they began rifle and muzzleloader hunting, too.

Saskatchewan offers many hunting opportunities, including elk, moose, wolves, black bears, pronghorns, white-tailed deer, and mule deer. Jason and Lee Anna have found success with hunting all those species except wolves, which they haven't hunted.

Daughters Kirsten and Jaden are also immersed in the archery and hunting lifestyle. They joined a provincial archery club, and Jaden especially found great success shooting target archery. At one point, she took first place while competing against other 13- and 14-year-old girls at a provincial-level archery shooting competition. Jaden has moved on to pursue gymnastics, but sister Kirsten — she also competes in gymnastics — is thrilled to hunt whenever she can.

Four years ago, Lee Anna drew a muzzleloader mule deer tag. With the season open for two weeks, she and Jason hit the prairies in search of a world-class buck they knew inhabited the area. They soon spotted the deer, which was accompanied by five other bucks in some brush and tall grass.

After Jason and Lee Anna repositioned, the bucks walked by them at about 125 yards, and Lee Anna anchored the big one, which grossed 199-4/8 inches. The word giant gets thrown around constantly — often carelessly — in the hunting world. However, a mule deer flirting with the 200-inch mark is the real thing.

It typically takes Saskatchewan residents four years to draw the muzzleloader mule deer tag that Lee Anna slapped on that near-200-incher. That means she was due to receive one again this year. Sure enough, she drew the tag. You can probably guess where this is going.

Opening morning arrived, and we knew that a really big buck was in our hunting area, she said. We went out and started glassing once it was daylight. We happened to locate the buck shortly after 8 a.m. At first glance, we thought he was sleeping, but then as we stalked toward him, we peeked over a ridge and noticed that he was slowly walking toward some sagebrush, probably preparing to bed down for a midmorning nap.

Jason and Lee Anna flanked the ridge to get around and in front of the buck. When positioned, Lee Anna propped her Traditions muzzleloader onto her shooting sticks. Then, the couple waited for the buck to emerge from behind the ridge and within easy muzzleloader range.

When he appeared, he was about 100 yards away, Lee Anna said. He noticed us and stopped. I settled in and took the shot. I hit him really well, and he only ran 40 or 50 yards before going down. We knew that he was a really nice buck before I shot him, but when we approached him, he turned out to be even larger than we had originally thought.

If the draw odds remain the same, you can guess what Lee Anna will be doing in October of 2026.

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