Montana success 2013

[Coastal_native]

I was hoping to bring back a Joshua cup entry from my hunting trip in Montana this year, but no such luck.

I spent a lot of time during the off season trying to find fragmented blocks of public land where motor vehicle (ATV) access was minimal.  I downloaded the county parcel data on my survey grade gps I use for work, and planned out a few day hikes where I could snake my way through some contiguous blocks of state and BLM land that are surrounded by private.  I found one in particular that was about a 8-10 mile hike that would allow me to get dropped off at one end in the morning and picked up at the other end at dark.  I had a blast and didn't see another orange vest all day.  I saw quite a few deer and blew a couple stalks, but finally got close enough to a buck that jumped out of his bed in a patch of timber, about two miles from my pick up spot.  Put the boned out meat in game bags, hung it in a tree and came back and packed out the following day.  It was a little bitter sweet tagging out on a smaller buck the first day of the hunt, but I probably would do it again.  This is only my second year hunting Mule deer and I'm loving it.

[blackveltbowhunter]

I would have done the same thing Sounds like a great hunt, and nice buck to show for it!

[huntnphool]

Very nice Montana buck

[Widgeondeke]

Meat on the table. 
I've never tried to eat a trophy, but I imagine it would cut up the mouth.

Congrats on a very respectable buck. His neck looks huge

[whackmaster]

nice deer what cal was the gun how far was the shot looks like fun to me 

[Coastal_native]

nice deer what cal was the gun how far was the shot looks like fun to me 

.270 WSM tikka t3.  I went through 60 rounds the last three months practicing from 250 to 350 yds...ended up shooting him at about 50 yds. Go figure.  I was walking down a really worn down cattle trail on the ridge above him, so noise was minimal.  He jumped out of his bed and made just enough noise to catch my attention.  His curiosity in looking back to see what snuck up on him proved to be fatal.

[MLBowhunting]

Very nice buck 

[Dan-o]

Not sure I understand???

you said you were a little disappointed at shooting a smaller buck.

Perhaps you posted the wrong pic, because that thing does not qualify as a smaller buck in my book.

 

[pashok23]

 

[bowhunterforever]

Nice buck

[chukar58]

Congratulations on a successful DIY Montana hunt on public land.  Very nice buck!

[nw_bowhunter]

nice buck...small buck? Looks pretty good to me

[Coastal_native]

Thanks guys. By my standards it's a trophy without doubt.  I saw quite a few bigger bucks in the next couple days that I could've taken had I not tagged out. So when I say smaller it's only relative.   

It amazes me that I can hunt thousands of acres of public land, see lots of bucks, and no other hunters.  It's also nice to be able to put lots of cross country miles on your boots without even breaking a sweat.  It sure is different than hunting blacktails in western Washington.  I might even say easier 

[whiteeyes]

Congratulations, beautiful country.

[PolarBear]

That buck is a lot bigger than the bucks my friends are bringing home from Montana.