Five Days in Montana (Story and Picture Heavy)

[X-Force]

Two weeks ago my family went on a little vacation. We have some relatives that live near Haver, Montana that invited my folks and their kids over for a week of shooting and relaxing. With nearly unlimited farming and federal land surrounding the coulee where they live wildlife was abound. During the five day trip my family shot over 3000 rounds of .17 hmr and mach 2 along with a couple rounds of 22LR, 22-250 and 223.

Thursday-Sunday:
My parents and little brother went to Montana without me because someone had to wait for the grandkids. My dad reported lots of Gophers and told me that my little brother got a badger.

The Drive:
I had the privilege of taking my nieces and nephew to Montana for a week of fun with their grandparents and uncles. The only downside to this through my eyes was the fact that I was going to be stuck in the car for 14hrs with 3 kids ages 6-11. To ease their pain and in doing so my pain; I had food, drink and DVD’s stacked up for what was sure to be a “long haul.” Instead of fighting and screaming I found the drive to be pretty fun. These kids had the attention span of a fly, but they still managed to be enjoyable road buddies. Instead of wanting to watch DVD’s they wanted to hear hunting and fishing stories. They also wanted to see wildlife and hear about the adventure in which they were about to partake. We ended up seeing a road kill moose in Idaho and a road kill bull in Montana. By the end of the trip we were all pooped and my nephew was the only one to get any real sack time. Arrival at my cousins 5:45 am. The munchkins and I crash.

Montana:
Grandpa and my little brother went out for a while Monday morning when we were asleep but my Dad could hardly stand “hunting” (if you can call it that) without his grandkids. By late afternoon the kids and I were almost back into full form. Our first trip wasn’t much of a success for the kids but they still had a blast seeing gophers, deer and pronghorn.

Each day was basically the same (not to say it was dual by any means.) The routine was wake up eat a hardy meal play around until 11 or so then head out until 6 shooting gophers. Day after day the kids became better spotters and better shots, by the end of the trip they racked up 43 kills between the two girls. Next year my nephew will hopefully be big enough to hold the gun on his own. He is getting excited about hunting with his uncles!

The highlights of the trip for me were the 3 coyote hunts and the one badger kill that I was involved with. We saw a badger a day but we only got three… I shouldn’t say we because my little brother was the badger slayer on this trip.

The one badger kill that I was involved in was a great little trip. My cousin and his son took my dad, brother and I out for a tour of the country. We covered 40 miles and drove most of the land they farm. The young badger happened to be digging his hole as we rounded a hill. Dead Eye Johnny spotted him and put one round right in its ear at 70 yard. The badger wasn’t large but my dad and I were still green eyed.

Coyote Hunt 1:
Johnny and I decided to go dog hunting Wednesday night. After a short drive from the farm we hopped out of the Honda and headed down the coulee. We set up 80 yards apart on the coulee wall with Johnny on a fence line while I set up facing down wind. Before going out my cousin told me that in that open country you have to sit perfectly still or these dogs would spook. It seemed easy enough but after the resent rain mosquitoes were thriving and thirsty. I’m not sure how much Johnny actually stayed still because when we got back to the car his arms had a couple of bites here and there but mine looked like pincushions. Anyhow, we set up and started blowing a distress call. Three calls into it I see this coyote 400 yards out, on a dead sprint. If she held her course she would have went out of site and hidden from me by the contour of the coulee. Instead she held up at 200 yards. She was situated just within sight on the other side of the contour. A couple squeaks and she started towards me again. She moved almost parallel to the slope of the hill until she was in full view at 120 yards. There I whistled, she stopped and then dropped. My brother unfortunately didn’t see her come in but it was still great to share that hunt with him.

Coyote 2
After our success on the previous night John and I decided to head out again. We decided to go out early to get some brother bonding time. Our first set up was in the hills away from the coulee. After 40 minutes of nothing John and I regrouped and jumped down into the coulee on the opposite side and about a half mile up stream from our set up the previous night. Once we set up John and I started glassing before we called. John spotted a yote 500 yards out and I spotted a badger making new holes. After our brief silence John started blowing a distress call. After two calls the coyote still paid little attention. John switched to a howler and this lonely coyote came right in. In fact he rushed in so fast that john didn’t have time to stop him. John missed with his first shot. After the miss John quickly regained his composure and let out a wounded coyote sequence. John had no clue that the coyote stopped just below the ridge line around the next knoll. Instead John stood up looked at me and shook his head. He was sure that he blew his chance. He then started to walk around the hill where the coyote had run. The young dog was standing there still lonely and curious. Johnny dropped him with an 80 yard shot.

We set up a couple more times that evening and even tried to get that badger but with no success. We are almost curtain that John’s coyote was the mate to the one I shot the previous night.

Coyote 3
Friday was the last day of my trip. My parents would stay for a couple more days but the kids missed their mom. Thursday night John and I decided to head out Friday morning for a last ditch effort to get another coyote. That morning John bailed on me, choosing instead to go out one last time with the kids. Little did I know he would get his third badger of the trip… Still I had the urge to go after a yote. I slept in to long and got a later start then I wanted. It was almost 6 by the time I started calling. After a short fifteen minutes I hear a bike coming down the road. It was my dad wanting to know if I wanted breakfast. I wanted to hunt; still he and I enjoyed a quick glassing of the coulee and reminiscences about the trip. When dad left I walked about a mile up the coulee to a big finger and set up. Dogs had been howling in this area the whole morning. I decided to start with a distress call. After no yote’s and 15 minute of sitting I switched to a howl; still no response; no sightings. A second howl brought a response from across the coulee as well as up the finger. I immediately let out a challenge howl because I was afraid that it may be getting too late in the morning for a howling series. The challenge was met with dogs howling in all directions. In less then a minute I had 2 dogs at 30 yard. They had hugged the side of the coulee and out of my sight. They were both to close for me to shoot with my bipod setup. Luckily the female caught a little wind of me and booked it out to 150 yards. I whistled and she stopped. The male still at 30 yards had no clue that I was in the area but he instead just stood their watching her. With a single shot from the .223 she dropped. The male coyote sprinted for the next ridge. I took a running shot and missed. After regaining my composure I let out a wounded coyote call. This brought no response or sighting. I sat there for a couple minutes thanking Natures God and just enjoying the hunt. On my walk down to the coyote I heard a lonely howl from the direction of the male I had just missed. Instinctively I ran half way up the hill that he just topped and let out a howl. I got no response but I just sat there. The grade of the hill was such that I could not set up the bipod. I let out a second and a third howl. Finally the male came into view at 250 yards. He was running the ridge looking down into the coulee. Because I did not feel comfortable with an offhand 200 yard shot I let him walk. I tried to call him in again but to no avail. That morning was pretty awesome for me. It was the first time I howled in a coyote.

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[saylean]

Looked (and sounded) like a great time. Wish I could of been there with ya. Maybe next year.

Wheres the badger pics?!

[X-Force]

And

[BLKBEARKLR]

looks and sounds like you had a great time, congrats.

[X-Force]

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[X-Force]

last ones...

[huntnphool]

Great pics, looks like a great time with the family.

[runamuk]

cool pics....love the fox den...looks like the kids were having a great time...

[bowhunterforever]

Awsome pics and story!

[Wanttohuntmore]

I hope thats the badger that ate the hams out of my muley!

[Pathfinder101]

super cool.  I am headed over this week too. 

[Tony 270WSM]

Looks like a good time!

[KimberRich]

Nice truck!!    I have the exact same truck with the same wheels and tires even.. Funny.