Art Vandeley
Well-known member
Thought I would share some pics from my 2016 Antelope/Deer/Elk hunts. All public land DIY/BYOB hunts.
First trip was to Wyoming and had a great weekend hunt with some good friends.
Next up was Montana Antelope. I had another fun weekend hunt by myself this time.
Opening weekend of the Montana rifle season, I was on some nice bulls at first light. They were rutting like nothing I had never seen before. It was an awesome morning. Long story short, between the rut fest going on, cow hunter moving in on the elk, and just the pure chaos of opening morning, I was never able to take a clean shot at one of the big bulls in the group. There is no doubt I would have killed on of the bulls had I gone into this spot once before in the daylight to learn the best path in. Stumbling around in the dark on opening morning trying to get to the elk is frustrating. Lesson learned. I was able to fill my B tag that afternoon on a nice young cow with a 75 yard shot.
The next morning I was able to glass up a whitetail buck at first light. He was undisturbed and it didn't seem as if there were any bulls around, I thought what the heck. I was able to sneak within 100 yards and he never moved out of his bed. This is the first whitetail I've ever killed.
I am already realizing that these pictures are coming to come out sideways, I cannot figure it out. I've rotated them both ways on my computer and they still show up wrong in the post? If anyone can rotate them or tell me how, it would be greatly appreciated.
The rest of the season was very fun and frustrating. I passed on some bulls and saw some real good ones. I had many hunts screwed up by the large landowner in the area pushing elk away and or off the public lands. Video below is an example. I have contacted game wardens and they now have my videos.
https://youtu.be/47LzF7oM6d0
I passed up a 300ish? 6 point bull 2nd to last day of season thinking I could turn him up again the next day if I desired. That was not the case, did not see a single elk on the last day of the season. Still had fun and can't wait to do it again next year!
First trip was to Wyoming and had a great weekend hunt with some good friends.
Next up was Montana Antelope. I had another fun weekend hunt by myself this time.
Opening weekend of the Montana rifle season, I was on some nice bulls at first light. They were rutting like nothing I had never seen before. It was an awesome morning. Long story short, between the rut fest going on, cow hunter moving in on the elk, and just the pure chaos of opening morning, I was never able to take a clean shot at one of the big bulls in the group. There is no doubt I would have killed on of the bulls had I gone into this spot once before in the daylight to learn the best path in. Stumbling around in the dark on opening morning trying to get to the elk is frustrating. Lesson learned. I was able to fill my B tag that afternoon on a nice young cow with a 75 yard shot.
The next morning I was able to glass up a whitetail buck at first light. He was undisturbed and it didn't seem as if there were any bulls around, I thought what the heck. I was able to sneak within 100 yards and he never moved out of his bed. This is the first whitetail I've ever killed.
I am already realizing that these pictures are coming to come out sideways, I cannot figure it out. I've rotated them both ways on my computer and they still show up wrong in the post? If anyone can rotate them or tell me how, it would be greatly appreciated.
The rest of the season was very fun and frustrating. I passed on some bulls and saw some real good ones. I had many hunts screwed up by the large landowner in the area pushing elk away and or off the public lands. Video below is an example. I have contacted game wardens and they now have my videos.
https://youtu.be/47LzF7oM6d0
I passed up a 300ish? 6 point bull 2nd to last day of season thinking I could turn him up again the next day if I desired. That was not the case, did not see a single elk on the last day of the season. Still had fun and can't wait to do it again next year!
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LOL
