Hey all,
Thought I would share my story of my 2024 MT deer hunt..
So I was lucky enough to draw a general combo deer tag for MT this year and decided to head over the week of 11/12-11/19. I went to a spot I’d been before with a good mix of BMA and BLM. I had my general tag and a B tag (which this year had to be taken on private property). Was a fun trip (I went solo). Always an adventure in MT. The hardest part for my area is when it rains. Man the muddy gumbo roads are no F’n joke! I had two solid days of rain during my hunt and man, I thought it was over. But the roads finally dried out a bit and I was able to get around again… anyways, I was hoping for a mule deer, but I glassed up this nice Whitetail on this piece of BMA so I had to at least try… he was bedded next to a huge field that had recently been baled with giant round hay bales. He was bedded next to one of these big bales on the back edge of the field. There were hundreds of these big bales in the field though. I had to hike around a smallish mountain to get the wind right and went I got around I couldn’t remember which bale he was under. Nor could I locate him at all. The grass was a bit taller than I had expected too It all looked so different from the backside. So I dropped my pack and rifle and ran back all the way around the Mt from where I’d originally glassed him from. I was able to relocate him and made sure to mark the bale he was under this time. Lol
So i ran all the way back around. Grabbed my pack and rifle and started the sneak. I didn’t realize he had a doe with him as well and she stood up to feed when I was about 600 yards away. Mind you there is now almost zero cover from me to them…. So I crept, crawled and slithered into 360 yards. The doe was still up feeding and that buck was bedded still. I could only see his face as he was facing right at me… so now I’m laying in the muddy snow with my rifle laying across my pack ready to shoot. And now I’m just waiting for him to stand up…. Well, an hour and 20 min later he finally stood up. I kept thinking, just be patient and it’ll all work out! I had to say this a lot as i was freezing and pretty wet now. I was soooo rock steady! When he popped up he was quartering toward me a bit and I put it right on the point of his on-side shoulder and squeezed one off. I could hear the thwack and he jumped in the air like a wild stallion and then just face planted! I was soooooo stoked! It had been a hard hunt and I hadn’t seen many bucks and the ones I did see where all small little guys… this was the biggest buck I saw the entire trip!
So this was about an hour before dark.. got him all butchered up and started back to the truck. I had to make two trips though as he was huge (giant body)!
By the time I got back to the truck with the first load it was pitch black dark. I went back for the head and the backstraps/tenderloins and wouldn’t ya know I couldn’t find them now!!! lol. It was so stinkin dark out! Haha. I couldn’t believe it!! Haha.
So i ended up going back right at first light the next day and found them pretty quick. Luckily it was just how I left it and it was plenty cold that night (18 degrees). I was a little nervous that night though. lol.
This was my 4th time hunting MT and it’s always such a crazy adventure. Ya never know how it’s gonna turn out, but for me it’s always cool and it always works out. I also filled my B tag on a nice BMA as well and again that was an entire adventure of its own. Lol. Maybe I’ll write that one up too… anyways, that’s my story. Of course there were all kinds of other cool stories and experiences.. I guess that’s why we go though right?! Thanks for reading .. sorry for the lack of photography. I was by myself and it was gettin dark fast. I snapped this quick pic and got to work with my knife.
