Post by: huntnphool on November 02, 2008, 04:05:43 PM
I have a couple other friends that I have taken over in the past that couldn't make it next week because of work but could go to hunt this week so I got them a map and marked out a couple of my honey holes ;) for them to check out when they got there. Well they got there a couple hours ago and stopped at the first spot I had highlited and in the first hour of being there Dina dropped her second buck in two years, a nice 5X4 with brow tines.
My friend Mike will send me camera pics tonight and only had this cell phone pic at the moment.
I was going to wait to start my 08 Montana post but thought some of you might like to see a happy hunter pic, enjoy.
Post by: skinzner on November 02, 2008, 04:10:48 PM
Post by: jackelope on November 02, 2008, 04:12:37 PM
good luck to you and the boys.
Post by: cld40 on November 02, 2008, 04:13:20 PM
nice buck...
Post by: wf70gonehunting on November 02, 2008, 04:14:23 PM
Post by: MAVsled on November 02, 2008, 04:17:32 PM
I have always wanted to hunt in Montana; mule deer and/or elk.
Been to NM, CO, WY but only for elk. Saw some monster muleys in WY.
Post by: M_ray on November 02, 2008, 04:18:02 PM
Quote
I will be hunting a friends ranch again and dragging WF70, M-Ray and another friend kicking and screaming the whole way I'm sure
Yeah I'll be screaming allright :chuckle: I'll probably pee my pants too!!!! :chuckle:
Post by: M_ray on November 02, 2008, 04:22:23 PM
Post by: Dmanmastertracker on November 02, 2008, 04:32:22 PM
Post by: wf70gonehunting on November 02, 2008, 04:33:31 PM
Post by: huntnphool on November 02, 2008, 04:36:46 PM
M-Ray has already been told that before he gets in the car for the drive he has to hand over all bullets. :chuckle:
Post by: wf70gonehunting on November 02, 2008, 04:40:28 PM
Post by: scoyoc5 on November 02, 2008, 04:42:02 PM
Post by: Swiftkid on November 02, 2008, 04:43:37 PM
Post by: M_ray on November 02, 2008, 04:47:24 PM
Quote
M-Ray has already been told that before he gets in the car for the drive he has to hand over all bullets.
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fsmilies.vidahost.com%2Fcontrib%2Fgeno%2F321.gif&hash=347f50b44736553a3ed65864b3c5a171060cc7ac)
Post by: Dmanmastertracker on November 02, 2008, 04:53:54 PM
Dman, I would welcome snow over there, the more the better. If you guys notice she is wearing a t-shirt, Mike said it was 75* there today. :bash:
M-Ray has already been told that before he gets in the car for the drive he has to hand over all bullets. :chuckle:
The issue with our hunt was our primary spot was at 7,000 feet and had over 2' of snow, the animals were hunkered down. We then hunted down low and at -12 our bolts froze up and not much deer movement. It warmed up to 25 degrees by the end of the week and we had some luck then, snow is good but that was unreal.
Post by: huntnphool on November 02, 2008, 05:02:24 PM
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fsmilies.vidahost.com%2Fcontrib%2Fgeno%2F321.gif&hash=347f50b44736553a3ed65864b3c5a171060cc7ac)Quote
No, sorry M-Ray not even one :chuckle:
Here is another pic.
Post by: Slider on November 02, 2008, 05:12:19 PM
Post by: huntnphool on November 02, 2008, 05:28:02 PM
Post by: WDFW-SUX on November 02, 2008, 05:30:28 PM
Post by: Dmanmastertracker on November 02, 2008, 05:31:23 PM
Post by: huntnphool on November 02, 2008, 07:06:01 PM
Below is a buck he passed today.
Post by: bowsandhose on November 02, 2008, 07:14:57 PM
Post by: cohoho on November 02, 2008, 07:31:08 PM
Post by: Wea300mag on November 02, 2008, 09:43:32 PM
Post by: callonetta on November 03, 2008, 01:58:00 AM
Post by: NRA4LIFE on November 03, 2008, 08:26:59 AM
Post by: MichaelJ on November 03, 2008, 10:05:43 AM
Michael
Post by: jadeball1 on November 03, 2008, 10:23:12 AM
Post by: eburghunter on November 03, 2008, 12:42:47 PM
Post by: kramman on November 03, 2008, 01:12:46 PM
Post by: Swiftkid on November 03, 2008, 07:58:56 PM
Post by: Dmanmastertracker on November 03, 2008, 09:12:06 PM
Post by: huntnphool on November 03, 2008, 09:18:08 PM
Post by: big_bucks on November 03, 2008, 10:27:29 PM
Post by: Wea300mag on November 05, 2008, 08:23:56 PM
I just received a report from some of our crew who went over to SW MT for the opening week, 4 elk down (1 OK 5pt, 2 rag horns, and a cow). They are in Broadus now with 17 deer/antelope tags and 3 turkey tags (note: some are locals and have multiple tags). I can almost smell all that powder burning now. Blacktail135 is with them, I hope he has a camera because I know the rest of them yahoos don't.
Post by: NRA4LIFE on November 05, 2008, 08:51:08 PM
At one point, even the NR's could get 6 or 7 doe permits in there this year. They were all gone by the opener though, wish I'd had a 2nd. There was a lot of them.
Post by: kirkl on November 05, 2008, 09:19:10 PM
Post by: NRA4LIFE on November 05, 2008, 09:47:30 PM
One of the bucks we shot last Thursday evening was awefully dark and stinky around the tarsals for that early. I'm no expert, just reporting.
N
Post by: kirkl on November 05, 2008, 09:56:50 PM
Post by: huntnphool on November 05, 2008, 11:25:57 PM
Post by: kirkl on November 06, 2008, 06:33:44 AM
Post by: big_bucks on November 06, 2008, 09:43:11 AM
Post by: Hornseeker on November 06, 2008, 09:52:38 AM
E
Post by: huntnphool on November 06, 2008, 10:57:22 AM
I am questioning my sanity elk hunting the perfect muley rut weekend
I am too, thats the whole point of applying for Montana deer isn't it? :dunno:
Post by: Ridgerunner on November 11, 2008, 06:23:36 AM
The buck that went down is a good one, they are having a blast seeing all the bucks out there.
Post by: Hunting Cowboy on November 11, 2008, 06:31:31 AM
Post by: bucklucky on November 11, 2008, 08:03:20 AM
Cool deal, glad to hear there is at least 1 buck down. Wonder if Rob had an itchy finger with all the bulls hed been passing on :chuckle:
Post by: Ridgerunner on November 11, 2008, 09:16:35 AM
Post by: buckhorn2 on November 11, 2008, 09:21:52 AM
Post by: rosscrazyelk on November 11, 2008, 01:37:16 PM
Post by: huntnphool on November 16, 2008, 07:49:48 PM
Had another awsome Montana experience and am looking forward to sharing the trip with you guys. It may be a couple days before I get a chance to sit down and post some of the hunt but I will get to it as soon as I can. I took 900+ pics but need to do a lot of converting before I can start posting any of them though.
Rosscrazy, we did run into Rougheye and his partner last Sunday morning. We were sitting glassing a group of deer of about 20 when a truck came and passed us going the other direction. I saw them stop in the mirror and a guy got out and walked up to my window. He told his buddy he knew the 3 guys in that car and told him to stop. Rougheye introduced himself and we chatted for a bit before we headed down the road to do more glassing. We ran into them again the next morning a couple miles from that location, one of them had taken a shot but we didnt stick around long enough to check it out.
Post by: huntnphool on November 17, 2008, 04:47:23 PM
After about 5 minutes on the dirt he was drooling :drool: and chomping at the bit to shoot something :mgun: We finally made it to the cabin and unloaded our gear after having seen several 4 point or better bucks, most of which would be shooters to many of you.
Sunday morning we had planned on targetting pronghorn since we had 3 doe tags and the season was ending that day. We left the cabin and drove down to the main road when we spotted a nice buck with several doe up in a bowl. We were glassing them when a truck drove by and it turned out to be Rougheye and Brian. In all the years past the lopes had been all over the ranch, 30,000 acres, and within bow range for the most part. For some reason this year would be different, they were nowhere to be found. We hunted the entire day and finally with about an hour of light left we spotted a group, the only problem was they were too far away to get to before dark. :bash: Of course we had been spotting deer everywhere and taking lots of pics, I will post a couple later.
The next morning we headed out in hopes of finding a nice big buck we had seen the day before. After looking at several groups of deer and passing on all of them we came over a small hill and spotted a nice heavy 4 that I told the guys "someones got to tag that one". I could tell the guys were not too impressed so I decided that he was going to be mine for 08. The buck was pushing a doe and before I had all my things ready they were a bit far off for a shot, knowing I could get a lot closer if I wanted, so we piled back in the car and drove to close the distance. We got out and headed over to a ridge to glass, Waid spotted them right away and Mark ranged at about 180 yards. I dropped to my knee and set the 7mm on my sticks. Quickly spotting him I set the crosshairs right on the bottom of his chest, my gun is about 3" or so high at 200. They spotted us right away and the doe took off with the buck starting to go as well. I had no intention of dragging up hill any more than we already had to so I squeezed one off. He did the mule kick and took off, Mark said he saw the hit and blood shot out the entrance hole as he jumped. He went about 40 yards and piled up ass over teakettle. We made out way down to him and found he had dropped in a 4 foot deep draw. We got him up and out and took a few pics before unzipping him. While Waid did the nasty a car drove up and parked behind my Excursion. The guys watched through binos and eventually one came meandering down the hill, asking if we minded him taking a pic :dunno: After some BSing he was back up and gone, leaving us to drag the big *censored* up the hill. Here is one of my pics, he ended up being a nice heavy 5X4 with fat brows.
Post by: Antlershed on November 17, 2008, 04:52:01 PM
Post by: 270Shooter on November 17, 2008, 04:54:10 PM
Post by: huntnphool on November 17, 2008, 05:01:18 PM
Post by: Antlershed on November 17, 2008, 05:09:16 PM
Post by: scoyoc5 on November 17, 2008, 05:14:24 PM
Post by: huntnphool on November 17, 2008, 05:15:48 PM
how did the rest of the guys do?????
I'm getting there guys ;)
Post by: MuleySniper on November 17, 2008, 05:18:07 PM
MS
Post by: jackelope on November 17, 2008, 05:30:23 PM
Post by: bucklucky on November 17, 2008, 05:38:08 PM
Post by: huntnphool on November 17, 2008, 06:01:21 PM
We loaded him up and went into town to hang it up in a meat locker. They charged me $25.00 to skin him out up to the head, keeping the cape in tact for mounting, removed all the excess fat, washed off all hair, washed off all blood and hung for the 5 days in cold storage also froze the head and cape for the drive home. :tup: We let them know we would be back with at least one more in the next few days.
On the way back in we spotted several more good bucks by most standards but nothing the boys felt like hanging a tag on. We hit an area we call "the flats" and spotted a big body in the short trees so we cut the engine and got the spotters out. It was a large buck with a very light colored coat, 4X4 frame but had a broken G2 and broken brow. We passed knowing there were a few days left to hunt and headed back to the cabin for dinner, drinks and to watch the next disk from "Band of Brothers"
The next morning we headed out again and hit a few spots but didn't see much as the wind had picked way up and the deer bedded very early. The whole day was a little slow so we hit the cabin until the evening hunt. I wasn't feeling too well so I tossed the keys to the boys and off they went. They spotted a buck we had seen the second day and Mark decided he would take a crack it him. Unfortunatly the does he was with spooked and took off taking the buck with him. (first pic is of the buck a couple days before) We named this buck the "Schoolhouse Buck" He was a solid buck with nice deep, wide forks and about 25-26" wide. After Waid dropped Mark off to go after this buck he drove up about a mile away to check out a different "honey hole". Right at dark he saw a couple big bucks cross the raod up in front of him headed to a field we like to glass. He put them to bed knowing we were the only ones hunting the land and they would be there the next day. After a few more drinks and another "Band of Brothers" disk we were fast asleep and looking forward to the next day.
We headed out to the area Waid had been the night before and spotted a bunch of deer working the field over. Looking through the spotter I told Waid "theres a good buck you need to go after" It had a non typ point sticking out and some crazy long brows for a muley. I told them we should go up the road and check out the public land section first before others got in there and got a shot at anything decent, again knowing nobody else could go after the non typ. There was a nice 4 point we passed before betting to the end of the road, where again we ran into Rougheye. They had spotted a nice buck and took a shot but were waiting to let the buck expire before going down to get him. We talked a bit and headed back down the road. Mark and I dropped Waid off and sat watching as he went up after his buck. The does took off after spotting him and the buck made for the bottom of the hill where Mark and I were waiting to cut him off. Waid saw the buck and headed down as well but couldn't get a clean shot before the buck shot off like a rocket. I started up the car to cut off the buck but he just kept running faster and faster. Finally at 40mph I had to floor it because he was actually pulling away. Mark said at 50 the buck cut right and shot right behind us and across the road and up into the opposite hill where he again found a hot doe and forgot all about us. Waid crossed and went after him, finally getting a 250 yard shot with his .243 and dropping the buck in his tracks. Here is Waid and his 08 Montana buck. Incidently we had spotted this buck the first day and glassing a long distance thought it was a 5X3, we didn't see that his left rear had a crab claw. Nice buck with lots of mass even though its hard to tell from the pic.
Post by: scoyoc5 on November 17, 2008, 06:40:25 PM
Post by: boneaddict on November 17, 2008, 06:48:02 PM
Post by: Slider on November 17, 2008, 07:05:20 PM
Post by: Hunting Cowboy on November 17, 2008, 07:54:50 PM
Post by: bucklucky on November 17, 2008, 08:10:06 PM
Post by: tlbradford on November 17, 2008, 08:22:37 PM
Post by: M_ray on November 17, 2008, 08:25:40 PM
Post by: bucklucky on November 17, 2008, 08:28:40 PM
Post by: huntnphool on November 17, 2008, 08:32:26 PM
Sorry Guy's this one's all Huntnphool ... he has all the photo's!!!
Been busy caping out heads :chuckle: I will get to "the rest of the story" after a quick bite to eat.
By the way, I have some capes for you Charlie ;)
Post by: M_ray on November 17, 2008, 08:32:46 PM
Quote
I think Mark killed a spike
not quite but I could have spit on a few! :chuckle:
Post by: bucklucky on November 17, 2008, 08:35:48 PM
Cant wait too see a picture of a bowl with Marks Montana tag soup :chuckle:
Post by: M_ray on November 17, 2008, 08:46:38 PM
Quote
Cant wait too see a picture of a bowl with Marks Montana tag soup
No not quite ... I will give you a sneak preview though after a couple of opportunities that didn't quite work out on a couple of BIG boys I shot a settle for deer on the last day!
Post by: bucklucky on November 17, 2008, 08:49:10 PM
By the way, I pulled your elk cape out of the salt and is drying as we speak. Whitetail also.
Post by: M_ray on November 17, 2008, 08:53:24 PM
Post by: huntnphool on November 17, 2008, 09:09:46 PM
Friday morning came quick and we woke to snow on the ground. Now we are starting to feel the pressure of tagging a toad. Another morning of good solid bucks including a very tall heavy 4 that just didn't have the width and also had crab claw fronts. We headed to a spot that we had spotted a good buck the day before to see if maybe he was still hanging around but alas he was gone. We headed back toward the cabin and hit the flats, right away we spotted deer and a good buck. Mark decided that this was the one and bailed out of the truck. Waid and I waited with the radios so as not to have too much movement to attract the eyes of the does. We waited with anticipation of the shot that seemed to never come when finally about an hour later we heard the bang. We grabbed the camera and radio and started following the footprints right to an open area where Mark was waiting for us. Waid spotted the buck right away laying in the snow and the congrats started. As fate would have it it was a buck we had passed on at the beginning of the week, the big bodied, light colored 4X3. It has a broken G2 and an "acorn" on one of his points, also a broken brow. He had obviously been a bruiser, he has a scar on his face too. All in all we did pretty good. For some reason the deer put all their growth into their bodies this year rather than antler growth. Even the guides and ourfitters we ran into over there agreed about that. :dunno:
The first pic is of our cabin, built in the 20's but every comfort of home. The second pic is of a shed I found while hiking in the area Mark dropped his buck. The other three are self explanatory. I'm sure I missed some details but Waid and Mark can fill in the holes. A great time was had and I can't wait to make the drive again.
Post by: bucklucky on November 17, 2008, 09:13:50 PM
Post by: huntnphool on November 17, 2008, 09:14:41 PM
Post by: jackelope on November 17, 2008, 09:18:41 PM
mark's deer has a HUGE body and looks to be an old geezer.
Post by: bucklucky on November 17, 2008, 09:24:27 PM
Great pictures Rob! Nice looking buck Mark :) Just kidding about the old timmer remark ;) Time to throw the cap away on the kill bottle :chuckle:
Post by: huntnphool on November 17, 2008, 09:49:39 PM
Post by: cohoho on November 17, 2008, 11:23:38 PM
Post by: Head-shot on November 18, 2008, 06:04:50 AM
Mark, That thing has got a huge body, it amazes me how big some of them get.
:tup:Well done boys
Post by: boneaddict on November 18, 2008, 06:35:24 AM
Post by: LongTatLaw on November 18, 2008, 06:50:27 AM
you boys did pretty well out there in Montana huh?
Ive never been but its definitely on my things to do list!
Maybe you boys can point me toward the public land near ya...it wouldnt take them boys to fill my tag :drool:
nice write up and great pics from a great group of hunters!
good job boys!
JEALOUS!
dave
Post by: M_ray on November 18, 2008, 07:33:37 AM
Quote
Time to throw the cap away on the kill bottle
No problem there gone allready! BTW I know where there is one at your house that will get it when I come and drop this cape! :chuckle:
Post by: M_ray on November 18, 2008, 07:40:24 AM
Quote
Unlike a fine wine, he gets uglier every year though........ Nice job MRay.
UH ... thanks , I think????
OK maybe not a fine wine but something like a jug of Carlo Rossi or a box of wine at least you gotta give me that!!! :chuckle:
Post by: tmike on November 18, 2008, 07:47:03 AM
:chuckle: That was funny. Great deer!
Post by: M_ray on November 18, 2008, 07:56:25 AM
Post by: Dmanmastertracker on November 18, 2008, 08:22:02 AM
Post by: WDFW-SUX on November 18, 2008, 08:23:58 AM
Post by: tmike on November 18, 2008, 08:43:49 AM
Post by: M_ray on November 18, 2008, 08:58:12 AM
Quote
Congrats on your first Montana buck Mark, nice one.
Thanks it's actually my second Montana pisscutter! :)
Post by: M_ray on November 18, 2008, 09:10:21 AM
Post by: huntnphool on November 18, 2008, 09:20:31 AM
Here are a few more shots. Mark found the rock while looking for his buck. There are names and initials carved into it dating clear back to 1928. Of course we had to add ours to the list.
Post by: M_ray on November 18, 2008, 09:24:16 AM
Amazing job on the photo's Rob! I need a disc of this hunt to put in keepsake!!! :)
Post by: rosscrazyelk on November 18, 2008, 09:31:27 AM
Post by: huntnphool on November 18, 2008, 09:35:01 AM
Post by: huntnphool on November 18, 2008, 09:36:49 AM
Nice deer ... rougheye along with your pictures convinced me to go next year
Unless you are hooked up with a landowner tag I would plan on going maybe the following year. ;)
Post by: tlbradford on November 18, 2008, 09:38:10 AM
Post by: huntnphool on November 18, 2008, 09:55:30 AM
Post by: huntnphool on November 18, 2008, 10:04:51 AM
Post by: buckhorn2 on November 18, 2008, 10:16:21 AM
Post by: Muleyslyr on November 18, 2008, 10:16:57 AM
Post by: huntnphool on November 18, 2008, 10:45:26 AM
Post by: huntnphool on November 18, 2008, 11:04:41 AM
Post by: Ridgerunner on November 18, 2008, 11:09:15 AM
Post by: huntnphool on November 18, 2008, 11:11:39 AM
Post by: M_ray on November 18, 2008, 11:41:16 AM
Good thing I wasn't along that 5x3 would have been toast, he's a beauty.
Ridge, trust me I had been there for 5 minutes and I was begging to SHOOT that buck!
All Rob could do was shake his head NO and Waid was laughing hysterically in the back seat while handing me the Pendleton and telling me to relax!
Post by: NWBrute on November 18, 2008, 01:05:55 PM
Post by: PacificNWhunter on November 18, 2008, 01:10:25 PM
Post by: huntnphool on November 18, 2008, 05:36:13 PM
Post by: huntnphool on November 19, 2008, 04:15:57 PM
Post by: huntnphool on December 09, 2008, 05:40:12 PM
Post by: rougheye on December 09, 2008, 05:46:04 PM
Post by: boneaddict on December 09, 2008, 05:46:16 PM
Post by: wf70gonehunting on December 09, 2008, 05:55:35 PM
Post by: bucklucky on December 09, 2008, 06:01:45 PM
Post by: huntnphool on December 09, 2008, 06:08:01 PM
Post by: bucklucky on December 09, 2008, 06:14:04 PM
Post by: mossback91 on December 09, 2008, 09:32:14 PM
Post by: huntnphool on December 10, 2008, 01:56:35 PM
Post by: bucklucky on December 10, 2008, 04:33:16 PM
Post by: mkcj on December 10, 2008, 04:47:42 PM
Post by: big_bucks on December 10, 2008, 10:22:44 PM
Post by: cohoho on December 10, 2008, 10:25:58 PM
Post by: huntnphool on December 29, 2008, 11:55:01 PM
Post by: big_bucks on December 30, 2008, 04:47:01 PM
I had a nice conversation with my friends over in SE Montana today. They have had a very cold last couple of weeks, single digits but only have about 4-5 inches of dry powdery snow. They said it has warmed up to the mid 30's the last few days. The deer and elk are in great shape and finding plenty of food. Lets hope it stays like this.
Good to hear b/c odds are good that I'll draw next year. Just got my little postcard reminding me to apply and that I've got a point in the general draw.
Let's hope for bigger horns next year!
Post by: huntnphool on January 16, 2009, 08:55:28 PM
Post by: huntnphool on January 16, 2009, 09:02:08 PM
Post by: huntnphool on January 16, 2009, 09:03:46 PM
Post by: huntnphool on January 30, 2009, 10:23:08 PM