Bearpaw Season - Fall 2013

[bearpaw]

Killmore was hunting with Nick and smacked this dandy Montana buck on the first day of the hunt. I was busy skinning another buck so I wasn't there to know all the story details but I know they looked at a bunch of bucks and right at the end of the day shot this buck. Nick said he checked the time and there was 30 seconds left before the end of shooting hours, a quick decision was made and Killmore smacked him. Congrats to Killmore!

[bearpaw]

I had to do some bookkeeping before leaving Washington so I was late at night getting on the road. Matt and Shannon Alwine were meeting me for another Montana hunt. I give them a call to see where they we at and learned they were already well into Montana, I figured I should get there about 8am. I drove most of the night except for an hour or so when I pulled over to rest my eyes. I finished the drive, dropped my stuff off at the room guide Nick was in and I went to meet the Alwines at their motel. Hunting was a little slower than usual the temp was 50 to 58 degrees most of the day and deer weren't moving as well as I expected. We passed a few smaller bucks but had not seen a real good buck all day. At about 3 pm we spotted a good buck with a doe, as soon as I put the binos on him I could see he was a shooter and Shannon got ready, the buck moved into heavy timber so we had to wait him out, eventually he moved back into view for a shot and Shannon smacked him at bow range with a 338 edge. He ran a few yards and did a nose dive to take a dirt nap. Matt and cameraman Zach got it all on video, you can see the hit vividly, don't miss the show when it airs next season. Congrats Shannon on another great Montana buck!

[bearpaw]

With 2 days left to hunt the whole ranch for just Matt he was definitely feeling pretty good about that. On the first day it was unseasonably warm when Shannon took her buck but overnight the weather changed. In the morning it was very cold and storming hard, we only had 100 to 200 yard visibility at times and many of the deer were bedded down all day. We did spot a buck every now and then but nothing that had wow factor. 

The temp slowly dropped from double digits to single digits as we hunted. We had visited with the horses the day before and they were all spry and running around, today the horses were snow covered and just trying to get through the storm. It's about 6 degrees and well below zero with wind chill when I snapped the second photo.

[bearpaw]

During the last hour of the day the deer started coming out in a major way. We spotted a really nice 4x5 heavy and tall, then we spotted another heavy tall buck that Matt really liked. We almost shot that buck, but decided to look a little more since we had another day to hunt.

You'll never guess the next buck that we saw.

First we spotted a few mule deer does, then we realized there were 10 does, next we saw the buck, it was the same mule buck that Mike kicked in the butt about 10 days ago after he had shot him in the neck, the buck got up and ran 50 yards then mike shot him in the backend and dropped him again, that time we got 10 yards from the buck before he jumped up, but Mike was out of shells so we had to watch the buck walk away then looked for several hours that night and the next day, but never found the buck. I was afraid if he lived that the coyotes would eat him anyway and he was as good as dead either way. In fact every time I have been in that area of the ranch I have been watching for birds that might be on a kill.

Well there that buck was, big and proud, and keeping those does together. Only now instead of 6 does, he had 10 does. We got video of him, you can see where he was hit in the neck and in the back end. That is one tough buck, he was knocked down, thought to be dead, kicked in the behind, shot again, knocked down, wobbled away from us, survived the coyotes, and now he has 10 does instead of only 6 does. I told Matt I wished I was half the stud that buck is.

We looked at him and considered taking him but Matt was really focused on shooting a whitetail so we let the mule buck walk.

It was only a couple minutes later and a whitetail came into view, we all agreed it was a good buck with lots of width, Matt asked "Should I shoot him?" I replied "I'm OK with him, shoot him if you like him!" This all happened quickly, the buck stopped a couple times then moved farther each time, he stopped one last time at nearly 300 yards before going out of sight, BOOM, Matt hammered him, I could see the hit, the buck reacted to the hit and took off as fast as he could run. We paused and then went to find the trail, there was plenty of blood and we followed the trail quickly for a short distance. "There he is!" He had run less than 100 yards. We had a quick photo shoot in the 3 degree windy freezing environment, then I gutted the buck quickly, we loaded him and headed for the barn.

In short order we skinned the buck, pieced out both bucks, loaded them in coolers, washed up, had dinner, and called it a day. Congrats on a successful hunt Matt, it was my pleasure hunting with you, Shannon, and Zach. I love it when a plan comes together. 

[Machias]

Nice!!

[bearpaw]

Our next 4 hunters from Hawaii arrived in Billings at 1:30 pm, they grabbed a rental and called when they were on the road. I told them to call again when they got to their motel and we could get in an evening hunt if they wanted. We had about 45 minutes to hunt but we had been seeing several good bucks so we knew right where we wanted to go.

Last Chapter - Montana Stud Muley
One of the guys said he would prefer a mule deer so I told him about the stud buck that had survived being shot in the neck and that I had seen him yesterday. He was intrigued so we headed to where I thought I would find that mule deer buck and Nick went to look for one of the bigger whitetail bucks we've been seeing.

We were only 5 minutes into our hunt and I heard a shot from Nick's direction. We had spotted a mule doe and so we worked in toward where we had seen her. We peeked over the rise and there was a group of mule deer does and the buck at about 80 yards. Mike commented "That's a big buck!" as Ryan got settled for the shot. BOOM, buck down and he stayed down this time. Ryan had shot him in the neck, just a couple inches from where the old wound was.

It was cold, only 6 degrees and the wind made it well below zero, so we took some quick photos, gutted and loaded the buck, and headed for the barn. When I skinned him I was amazed at how fast he was already healing up from his previous neck wound. When you consider that less than two weeks ago we had kicked that buck in the butt thinking he was dead and he managed to run off, then we find him with more does than he had before! I told the guys I wished I was half the stud that this buck was. 

Best of all we had completed the final chapter on the Montana Stud Muley with a positive ending. Congrats to Ryan! 

(Note: Today I saw that a big young fork horn has taken over the harem.)

[bearpaw]

Nick and Leighton had spotted a nice tall 4x4 and Leighton had hammered the buck with 1 well placed shot, the buck crumbled in his tracks. So we had this buck and the mule deer down in about 10 minutes.

I love it when a plan comes together. Congrats to Leighton on a dandy buck! 

[BOWHUNTER45]

Some fine looking whitetail  Alwines  were made to have their pictures taken  Good job Matt & Shannon 

[bearpaw]

Hawaiian Hunt Continues
Today was a bit slower, I only spotted 21 bucks today compared to 31 bucks yesterday. The rut seems to be slowing down some, but we still saw several bucks with does and other bucks tracking. One buck tonight had been running so hard to keep his doe that he was panting like a dog that just ran 10 miles. Another buck was rubbing a good sized tree and scraping. Yesterday we had watched two small bucks in a hard fight, they were bloody, we even walked within 30 yards of them as they were fighting, just as we got close my video battery went dead. But I got some photos at only 30-40 yards of the fight. We must have watched them for 10 minutes from the time we first spotted until finally one of them run the other off.

We saw two bucks today that were hard to pass, a heavy 4x5 and a good 5x5, but Mike (my remaining hunter) is holding out for a buck that catches his eye. He's not sure what type of buck yet, but said he will know when he sees it. He said that last 5x5 was really tough to pass. Tomorrow is the last day of the hunt, so I expect him to pull the trigger tomorrow on one of the bucks we see.

We had just finished looking at some mule deer today when Nick and David spotted a nice 5x5 they had seen the day before but had slipped away. David was able to make a fairly long shot and put the buck down. Unfortunately most of the g-4 on one side is broken, but that can be repaired if he wants it repaired. David is 71 and this was a special hunt for the group which includes 2 of his sons and a good friend. Congrats to David on a dandy buck! 

[elkhunter1977]

great job Dale!... Sure are some happy hunters!.. See ya next weekend.

[Machias]

Look at the tine length on that one second from the bottom, wow!

[bearpaw]

One Eyed Willy & The Last of the Hawaiian's
Two days ago we had three of the four Hawaiian's filled out with a mule buck and two whitetail bucks. The last Hawaiian, "Mike", already has a 160 whitetail on the wall so he was looking for something similar or possibly some old buck that had character. As the hunt progressed we passed a multitude of 4x4's, 4x5's, and a 5x5 buck that really could use another year to reach their prime, at any rate they weren't close to being 160 class bucks so we kept holding out looking for that special buck.

Yesterday we spotted a really heavy horned and tall 4x4 that ran into a woodlot, we tried to find that buck all afternoon but failed. We named him the "Ghost Buck of the Dark Timber" because he just seemed to vanish into the thick pine woodlot. By dinner time he had become sort of an obsession with us because we simply had no idea where he went. 

Nearly a week ago we had seen an old buck cross the highway on the way to the ranch. This old buck only had one eye and a big piece is missing from one ear, we assume from fighting during the rut in a previous season. The other noticeable thing was that his antlers were obviously those of an old buck that had seen his prime and was declining, he only had 3 points on each side. As luck would have it "One Eyed Willy" as we had aptly named him had showed up on the ranch several days ago. We had passed him several times and saw him again last night but let him walk away. Last night during dinner Mike said if we didn't find the "Ghost Buck of the Dark Timber" in the early morning that he would like to shoot "One Eyed Willy" if we saw him again.

This morning two of the guys stayed at the motel. Mike and Ryan jumped in with Nick and I and we headed for the ranch. We spotted several does and small bucks but did not see the "Ghost Buck of the Dark Timber" or "One Eyed Willy". In fact it was one of the slowest mornings of the season, the rut is definitely slowing down. Suddenly we spotted a buck at about 350 yards, it was a heavy horned older looking fully matured buck so Mike opted to take him, BOOM, he missed. The buck and two does headed over the ridge, we followed hoping to catch another glimpse. Sure enough we topped the ridge and soon spotted the two does in the timber. We kept looking and hoping the buck had stayed with them, suddenly Nick spotted the buck, Mike quickly got on him, the buck turned to run, BOOM, the buck only ran a few yards and dropped, Mike had made a perfect shot as the buck whirled around to escape.

We approached the downed buck and was surprised to find out that it was "One Eyed Willy". As quickly as everything had occurred we had not realized that it was one of the bucks we were looking for, what a great surprise. We took photos, gutted "One Eyed Willy", headed to the meat cutter, donated the meat, and the Hawaiians headed to Billings for their trip home. I love it when a plan comes together!

ALOHA

[bearpaw]

Here's a photo of old "One Eyed Willy" one of the times that we passed him, a couple days before Mike got him.

[bearpaw]

Brotherhood Outdoors TV traveled to Idaho for an elk hunt last week and Harlyn Barnes pulled the trigger on this nice bull. There is a sad but touching family story within this show which will air sometime after the first of the year. We'll post the show date when we find out, don't miss it, sorry no more details till the show airs.

Julie McQueen called and said the show will air on Jan 5 when their new season begins. Watch for Brotherhood Outdoors on the Sportsman's Channel, January 5th.

[BOWHUNTER45]

nice one ...