Crossbowguy
Well-known member
Awesome quality time with your young hunter!
2019 hunt journal, UT, WY, and MT
- Thread starter bowhuntmontana
- Start date
bowhuntmontana
Well-known member
Update on the Utah general elk hunt:
Day 1 (Friday)
The season opened Saturday, so I worked Friday, taking off a little early and heading up to the trailhead. One of my buddies had hiked in about two hours earlier and another was coming in later Friday night. The weather was cool, maybe 40 degrees with a stiff breeze. The hike in was chilly. I stopped a few times along the way to glass for elk. I ended up spotting two bulls together about 2 miles shy of our camp and in another drainage. They were in a spot where we expected pressure the next day. We passed the location on to my friend's dad who was planning on day hunting the area Saturday.
Arriving near camp, my other buddy had a nice little five point spotted below camp. We watched him until dark and he bedded down. We felt confident he would be there in the morning. We also spotted a nice bull with a dozen cows about a mile onto some private ground. Met a father-son duo backpacked in there who have been hunting that ground for a few decades. Super nice people. No bugles that night and cold. Went to bed around 9:00. Our third buddy got to camp around 11:00 that night.
Day 1 (Friday)
The season opened Saturday, so I worked Friday, taking off a little early and heading up to the trailhead. One of my buddies had hiked in about two hours earlier and another was coming in later Friday night. The weather was cool, maybe 40 degrees with a stiff breeze. The hike in was chilly. I stopped a few times along the way to glass for elk. I ended up spotting two bulls together about 2 miles shy of our camp and in another drainage. They were in a spot where we expected pressure the next day. We passed the location on to my friend's dad who was planning on day hunting the area Saturday.
Arriving near camp, my other buddy had a nice little five point spotted below camp. We watched him until dark and he bedded down. We felt confident he would be there in the morning. We also spotted a nice bull with a dozen cows about a mile onto some private ground. Met a father-son duo backpacked in there who have been hunting that ground for a few decades. Super nice people. No bugles that night and cold. Went to bed around 9:00. Our third buddy got to camp around 11:00 that night.
bowhuntmontana
Well-known member
Day 2: Opening Day
It was cold, like 20 degrees cold. Which usually isn't that cold, but it felt cold as it was the first 20 degree experience of the fall for me, we slept in tents in that cold, and there just wasn't a way to warm up. I am realizing I am not crazy about camping out in sub-30 degree temps.
We were up at 6:00 and headed up to a small glassing nob that would also put us in range of the bull from the night before. My buddy who spotted the bull was on the trigger and he set up a little below the nob with a good view. My other buddy and I were up on the nob and glassing in other areas as it was starting the get light. Spotted several deer, but no elk that direction. I snuck back over to the other side of the nob to see if that bull was in sight or any other elk. Nothing. The small group from the night before was right where we left them on the private, but for some reason, this little bull wasn't in sight. We watched that area for a few hours hoping the bull might step out. He didn't, we got cold, and eventually went back to camp. We made a small fire which made a big difference, had some hot breakfast, and made plans.
We elected to get up high on a ridge, work it back to the west, drop into a side canyon and still hunt a really nice aspen stand that holds elk all summer. We have also had other hunters bump elk from there in late October. We left one guy up on the ridge to watch escape routes and my other buddy and I dropped in. We still hunted through the aspens but no elk. We cut maybe 2 sets of tracks that were less than a week old. The elk had moved out of that spot. Not much feed. He and I worked our way back up the main canyon to camp, picking up a few trail cameras from the summer.
Back at camp, he and I sat out in the sunshine warming up, boots and socks off to dry out. After about 40 minutes, we spot our other buddy just dropping off the ridge coming down to camp. It's about 4:00. About halfway down the ridge, we look up at him and he is gesturing. We can tell he spotted a bull and he is pointing to the small aspen pockets just below camp. It is a scramble to put boots and gear back together. He gets to camp and tells us he saw a bull standing on the edge of the aspens just as he topped over the ridge. He has a photo on his phone. Quick plans are made to still have one guy watch behind camp where we saw the bull the night before, and I climb up the ridge to observe the aspen pockets where the bull momentarily showed himself just a few minutes before. We split up.
I find a sweet little sniper spot just below the ridge with a nice rock to shoot from, a pine and brush clump to hide in and try to get out of the wind. I spend the next three hours glassing the aspen edges below me. I see quite a few deer, but no nice bucks. Not feeling too bad about not punching my muzzleloader deer tag. No elk is spotted, not shots fired from my other buddy's location either.
At dark, I head back to camp and am happy to see a little fire winking at me through the trees. We decide the bull spotted this afternoon was likely the same bull as last night, and that he crossed from the top of one drainage to the other in the dark. Makes us feel better anyway and is pretty likely.
We go to bed warmer that night, but it is still cold.
It was cold, like 20 degrees cold. Which usually isn't that cold, but it felt cold as it was the first 20 degree experience of the fall for me, we slept in tents in that cold, and there just wasn't a way to warm up. I am realizing I am not crazy about camping out in sub-30 degree temps.
We were up at 6:00 and headed up to a small glassing nob that would also put us in range of the bull from the night before. My buddy who spotted the bull was on the trigger and he set up a little below the nob with a good view. My other buddy and I were up on the nob and glassing in other areas as it was starting the get light. Spotted several deer, but no elk that direction. I snuck back over to the other side of the nob to see if that bull was in sight or any other elk. Nothing. The small group from the night before was right where we left them on the private, but for some reason, this little bull wasn't in sight. We watched that area for a few hours hoping the bull might step out. He didn't, we got cold, and eventually went back to camp. We made a small fire which made a big difference, had some hot breakfast, and made plans.
We elected to get up high on a ridge, work it back to the west, drop into a side canyon and still hunt a really nice aspen stand that holds elk all summer. We have also had other hunters bump elk from there in late October. We left one guy up on the ridge to watch escape routes and my other buddy and I dropped in. We still hunted through the aspens but no elk. We cut maybe 2 sets of tracks that were less than a week old. The elk had moved out of that spot. Not much feed. He and I worked our way back up the main canyon to camp, picking up a few trail cameras from the summer.
Back at camp, he and I sat out in the sunshine warming up, boots and socks off to dry out. After about 40 minutes, we spot our other buddy just dropping off the ridge coming down to camp. It's about 4:00. About halfway down the ridge, we look up at him and he is gesturing. We can tell he spotted a bull and he is pointing to the small aspen pockets just below camp. It is a scramble to put boots and gear back together. He gets to camp and tells us he saw a bull standing on the edge of the aspens just as he topped over the ridge. He has a photo on his phone. Quick plans are made to still have one guy watch behind camp where we saw the bull the night before, and I climb up the ridge to observe the aspen pockets where the bull momentarily showed himself just a few minutes before. We split up.
I find a sweet little sniper spot just below the ridge with a nice rock to shoot from, a pine and brush clump to hide in and try to get out of the wind. I spend the next three hours glassing the aspen edges below me. I see quite a few deer, but no nice bucks. Not feeling too bad about not punching my muzzleloader deer tag. No elk is spotted, not shots fired from my other buddy's location either.
At dark, I head back to camp and am happy to see a little fire winking at me through the trees. We decide the bull spotted this afternoon was likely the same bull as last night, and that he crossed from the top of one drainage to the other in the dark. Makes us feel better anyway and is pretty likely.
We go to bed warmer that night, but it is still cold.
bowhuntmontana
Well-known member
Day 3
The plan is pretty much the same. Get up to the glassing point, glass all over, try not to freeze. Results are also the same, no elk spotted.
Something pretty cool from the morning. I was glassing deer about 2 miles away way up in a high basin by a peak. I had seen several deer scattered through there as I glanced back at them from time to time. Around 8:00 I glass back over there and notice 8 of the deer in a line working across the basin. They seem a little nervous, but not much. I look to their left and notice a lone buck headed to a small saddle between two parallel lines of ribbon cliffs. All of the deer are headed that way. Then I catch movement toward the bottom of my field of view. It is a mountain lion shadowing that buck but out of sight on one side of the cliffs. This is like watching Wild Kingdom. The deer moves into the saddle, the cat moves up the cliff line, peaking over the top a few times. They both reach the top at the same time and disappear. I am dying to know what happens. My buddies come up to where I am and I point out what I have been watching and they set up their glass. The rest of the deer approach the saddle and get near the top but all stop and act really nervous. After a few minutes they turn and head back the direction they came from. Suddenly they bolt and I see that mountain lion single out one of the does and chase her around the cliffs. It is a brief chase, maybe 20 seconds, and the deer escapes and we lose sight of the cat. A few minutes later we see it slink over the top of the ridge and out of sight. Pretty awesome show for the morning.
We go back to camp, eat breakfast, pack up, and head out. We take our time coming out, glassing some areas especially hard. Plans are already forming for next year.
I surprise the wife coming home two days early. Not enough elk stuff happening to convince me to stay by myself in the cold for a few more nights.
All told, we heard one bugle. Things had quieted down considerably and the elk had moved. I think the hard freezes had changed the food.
The plan is pretty much the same. Get up to the glassing point, glass all over, try not to freeze. Results are also the same, no elk spotted.
Something pretty cool from the morning. I was glassing deer about 2 miles away way up in a high basin by a peak. I had seen several deer scattered through there as I glanced back at them from time to time. Around 8:00 I glass back over there and notice 8 of the deer in a line working across the basin. They seem a little nervous, but not much. I look to their left and notice a lone buck headed to a small saddle between two parallel lines of ribbon cliffs. All of the deer are headed that way. Then I catch movement toward the bottom of my field of view. It is a mountain lion shadowing that buck but out of sight on one side of the cliffs. This is like watching Wild Kingdom. The deer moves into the saddle, the cat moves up the cliff line, peaking over the top a few times. They both reach the top at the same time and disappear. I am dying to know what happens. My buddies come up to where I am and I point out what I have been watching and they set up their glass. The rest of the deer approach the saddle and get near the top but all stop and act really nervous. After a few minutes they turn and head back the direction they came from. Suddenly they bolt and I see that mountain lion single out one of the does and chase her around the cliffs. It is a brief chase, maybe 20 seconds, and the deer escapes and we lose sight of the cat. A few minutes later we see it slink over the top of the ridge and out of sight. Pretty awesome show for the morning.
We go back to camp, eat breakfast, pack up, and head out. We take our time coming out, glassing some areas especially hard. Plans are already forming for next year.
I surprise the wife coming home two days early. Not enough elk stuff happening to convince me to stay by myself in the cold for a few more nights.
All told, we heard one bugle. Things had quieted down considerably and the elk had moved. I think the hard freezes had changed the food.
bowhuntmontana
Well-known member
Well, time to move on to state number two in my fall hunting adventures. Some family and friends will all be converging in central Wyoming for an antelope hunt. A friend and I first hunted this area 8 or 9 years ago. We were successful, but it was not an easy hunt. The area has difficult public access. A few years went by and OnX hit the scene and I kept thinking about that unit. Four years ago I made it back there and had a good hunt. It is not an easy place to hunt compared to many other antelope experiences. You can’t road hunt this place as there really isn’t much for road access to the few pieces of public. Once onto the public you can walk the oil and gas roads, but you can’t get a vehicle in there. We have found a few places the antelope seem to like to come back to and have been able to punch buck and doe tags with some good old hard work. I have seen my friend, his father, my brother-in-law, and a nephew all take their first antelope here. For two of them, this is where they cut their teeth on hunting.
We usually camp out on a small piece of BLM and have a nice time. However, it is 18 degrees there right now. Looking at the forecast a few days ago, we opted to get a simple VRBO. It is small, clean, and warm. It will also give us a chance to do some group meals and just shoot the bull, which has become the best part of antelope camp. I have a feeling that camping might not be as much a part of the camp anymore after this week. I am thinking we will like the simple accommodations. I have a mule deer barbacoa prepped with some rice and Brazilian black beans. We will also do steaks another night and a big breakfast Sunday before we all head home.
A few of us are headed out this afternoon and another will come in tomorrow. Looking forward to another adventure and putting some antelope in the freezer.
Here are a few shots from past seasons. Looking forward to going back.
A good buck for the unit from 2018:
Good times on a foggy morning ridge waiting for things to clear up.
The walk of shame after a doe gave us the slip a few years ago.
We always see a few of these. Probably won't this trip since it won't get above 45, but who knows.
We usually camp out on a small piece of BLM and have a nice time. However, it is 18 degrees there right now. Looking at the forecast a few days ago, we opted to get a simple VRBO. It is small, clean, and warm. It will also give us a chance to do some group meals and just shoot the bull, which has become the best part of antelope camp. I have a feeling that camping might not be as much a part of the camp anymore after this week. I am thinking we will like the simple accommodations. I have a mule deer barbacoa prepped with some rice and Brazilian black beans. We will also do steaks another night and a big breakfast Sunday before we all head home.
A few of us are headed out this afternoon and another will come in tomorrow. Looking forward to another adventure and putting some antelope in the freezer.
Here are a few shots from past seasons. Looking forward to going back.
A good buck for the unit from 2018:
Good times on a foggy morning ridge waiting for things to clear up.
The walk of shame after a doe gave us the slip a few years ago.
We always see a few of these. Probably won't this trip since it won't get above 45, but who knows.
Crossbowguy
Well-known member
Very nice Lope! you can keep the snake! great story!!!
bowhuntmontana
Well-known member
On the road. Hit up Little America for an ice cream pit stop.
jeremy.b
Well-known member
One of these times I'll have to slow down and stop there on my way through!
TheBenHoyle
Well-known member
That's a trophy right there. What's the Boone & Crockett score on a beast like that?
old man
Active member
That room looks as bad as mine.
bowhuntmontana
Well-known member
So, got back from Wyoming two weeks ago and have been slammed with work. Here is the update:
Thursday (travel day)
We loaded things up and left around 3:00 that afternoon. The drive was fairly uneventful. Snagged an ice cream at Little America between Evanston and Rock Springs. Listened to plenty of podcasts, read a little, and generally had a good time. Stopped for dinner at Taco John’s, which is always a taste of my childhood. Taco Tuesdays were a staple for me growing up in Great Falls, MT.
We got to our destination and my brother was already there. Unloaded, prepped for the next day, commented on the cold (17 degrees), and got to bed around midnight. Staying in the cabin/house is a good move. Plan on doing that again in future trips to this unit.
Thursday (travel day)
We loaded things up and left around 3:00 that afternoon. The drive was fairly uneventful. Snagged an ice cream at Little America between Evanston and Rock Springs. Listened to plenty of podcasts, read a little, and generally had a good time. Stopped for dinner at Taco John’s, which is always a taste of my childhood. Taco Tuesdays were a staple for me growing up in Great Falls, MT.
We got to our destination and my brother was already there. Unloaded, prepped for the next day, commented on the cold (17 degrees), and got to bed around midnight. Staying in the cabin/house is a good move. Plan on doing that again in future trips to this unit.
bowhuntmontana
Well-known member
Friday
I have hunted this unit five times and know it pretty well. We know the accessible pieces of public, have started to identify spots within those pieces the antelope come back to, and we know the boundaries really well. We went to our most consistent spot, which is a piece about a mile wide and four miles deep, with a few other parts and pieces of public attached to it. You can actually get back almost six miles on this piece if you work around some private. There is no vehicle access.
We got there a little after daylight and there was a truck with Illinois plates there and we could see two hunters walking down an oil and gas road. My buddy and I headed up on a high point we glass from where we can see a good three miles down this big sweeping valley. A little after we set up, we head a volley of shots and looked over toward the other hunters. They got into a band of antelope just half a mile in and had two down. The rest had moved onto the adjoining private. We continued to glass and located no antelope, but were confident we would find some. The snow wasn’t helping with the spotting, but it was due to melt off later in the day.
We gathered up the rest of our crew and headed in, taking the same path as the other hunters. We stopped and chatted with them. They had two bucks down and this was their first time hunting antelope. They commented that these were the first antelope they had seen on public. We congratulated them, helped them with some pictures and continued on.
Long story short, we covered every inch of that piece of public, glassed till our eyes melted, and couldn’t turn up any antelope on the public. We spotted roughly 60 on adjoining private ground. We also spotted several mule deer, five elk, and two coyotes. We packed out of that piece around 2pm and moved down to another piece that gets a ton of pressure because it has some vehicle access.
Arriving at the other piece, we drove out on a good glassing point. We spotted two bands of antelope, one squarely on some private and one that was gradually drifting toward a 1/4mile wide and 1 mile long piece that sticks out from the BLM we were on. It was worth getting closer to see if they were actually on the public. We made the stalk, got in range, but confirmed the antelope were about 70 yards into the private. They winded us and bumped off.
My brother stayed back to glass from a point and was surprised to find this guy basking in the 40 degree temps.
That evening we split into two groups and hit two other pieces of public to glass and hopefully locate antelope we could actually hunt in the morning. When we reconvened that night, one of our parties had spotted two bands that looked to be on the public that we could try for in the morning.
My brother-in-law and nephew arrived that night. We had a killer dinner of deer and antelope backstrap, potatoes, salad, watermelon, and other good-to-eats.
I have hunted this unit five times and know it pretty well. We know the accessible pieces of public, have started to identify spots within those pieces the antelope come back to, and we know the boundaries really well. We went to our most consistent spot, which is a piece about a mile wide and four miles deep, with a few other parts and pieces of public attached to it. You can actually get back almost six miles on this piece if you work around some private. There is no vehicle access.
We got there a little after daylight and there was a truck with Illinois plates there and we could see two hunters walking down an oil and gas road. My buddy and I headed up on a high point we glass from where we can see a good three miles down this big sweeping valley. A little after we set up, we head a volley of shots and looked over toward the other hunters. They got into a band of antelope just half a mile in and had two down. The rest had moved onto the adjoining private. We continued to glass and located no antelope, but were confident we would find some. The snow wasn’t helping with the spotting, but it was due to melt off later in the day.
We gathered up the rest of our crew and headed in, taking the same path as the other hunters. We stopped and chatted with them. They had two bucks down and this was their first time hunting antelope. They commented that these were the first antelope they had seen on public. We congratulated them, helped them with some pictures and continued on.
Long story short, we covered every inch of that piece of public, glassed till our eyes melted, and couldn’t turn up any antelope on the public. We spotted roughly 60 on adjoining private ground. We also spotted several mule deer, five elk, and two coyotes. We packed out of that piece around 2pm and moved down to another piece that gets a ton of pressure because it has some vehicle access.
Arriving at the other piece, we drove out on a good glassing point. We spotted two bands of antelope, one squarely on some private and one that was gradually drifting toward a 1/4mile wide and 1 mile long piece that sticks out from the BLM we were on. It was worth getting closer to see if they were actually on the public. We made the stalk, got in range, but confirmed the antelope were about 70 yards into the private. They winded us and bumped off.
My brother stayed back to glass from a point and was surprised to find this guy basking in the 40 degree temps.
That evening we split into two groups and hit two other pieces of public to glass and hopefully locate antelope we could actually hunt in the morning. When we reconvened that night, one of our parties had spotted two bands that looked to be on the public that we could try for in the morning.
My brother-in-law and nephew arrived that night. We had a killer dinner of deer and antelope backstrap, potatoes, salad, watermelon, and other good-to-eats.
bowhuntmontana
Well-known member
Saturday
Up at 6, packed into the two trucks, and off. We drive out to the piece where antelope were spotted the evening before. Sure enough, we spotted some moving east over a small rise in a spot where I had killed two does two years before. We knew how to approach and the stalk was on. Again, no road access to where these antelope were. We crossed a deep draw and worked up a finger on the other side. Near the top we spotted two does peri scoping down on us and we hit the dirt. We were 250 yards away and just saw necks, heads, and ears. They weren’t spooked and didn’t get a good look at us. They dropped out of sight and we started moving forward. We were hoping to get a sub 200 yard shot for my nephew. As we inched toward the top, we hit the dirt again when my buddy spotted antelope beginning to filter out down below us in the valley bottom. We were pinned down. Eventually two of us crawled out to where we might have a chance. The antelope were drifting toward the private boundary. They were strung out and there was one spot where they all passed through that offered decent visibility. I scooted to a high point and set up the bipod and rear rest. I looked at the two antelope on the high point, ranged them, and got my gun ready. Those two moved off and I was set for the next antelope….which never came. Those were the last two. The antelope drifted on the private and bedded in one of their favorite spots. We waited them out for about 30 minutes before we all got up and moved over the ridge and out of sight, bumping that band away to our west.
This was my view for 30 minutes hoping the antelope would come back onto the public. They are in that grassy patch past the telephone poles. They love that spot.
We had a fun time with that encounter and were simply happy to have seen some antelope on some public ground. My brother took some time to give my nephew some firearm instruction and practice shots. He is great at working with young people. We chatted a bit and decided to go check on the piece we had covered the day before. There are only a few options in this unit for accessible public and the antelope move around a lot, so it was worth a shot.
Driving the short spur road back to the county road wouldn’t you know there were two fawns right off the side of the road. We stopped the truck and the antelope went down into another big draw. We wanted my nephew to get a shot, but the antelope had other ideas. They dropped into the bottom of the draw over 500 yards away in no time. True to antelope hunting, I jogged down the hill and onto a small rise that was within 400 yards of the other side where I expected the antelope to come out. They did, I flopped down prone, tried to get my bipods settled, and got one of the antelope in my crosshairs. I rushed the shot, knew I missed right, and confirmed with my brother who was watching the shot. The goats then crossed onto private and over the ridge. I was upset for rushing the shot, missing, feeling like I blew the only opportunity we had, looking stupid, all the things. Oh well.
We headed down to the larger section of public, hiked up to the glassing point, spotted no antelope, ate something, felt better, back to the truck, and to the next piece where we had come close to antelope on Friday.
We spotted that same band drifting toward that same slice of public, dropped four of us off, and started making a stalk. It took some work, but we caught up to the band, confirmed they were on public, and crept up to a ridgetop to potentially get a shot. It was me, my buddy, my brother-in-law, and nephew. We ended up about 450 yards from the band of antelope, prone on the ridge, and the antelope didn’t know we were there. There were at least 30 antelope in the group and they were feeding downhill on the other side of the draw. My buddy deferred to me shooting at that distance. I was prone, bipods out and had my rear rest. I was rock solid. I ranged, held in the appropriate place on my bdc and put a doe down. The herd swapped ends and moved back onto private (seeing the theme here?). We hiked over. I should have held more for wind. I held just off the front of her but the shot still drifted back and hit her in the back end. Not awesome, but I was happy to have an antelope. I was also happy to be shooting monolithic bullets as I didn't have a ton of bullet fragmenting. The bullet smashed both hips and I had some bone damage to the meat, but nothing like I have seen with my previous SST bullets. We broke her down, and headed back.
Everyone’s spirits were lifted. We found some cool things on the hike out, small snake, cool petrified wood, a tiny 2pt set. Good times.
Does this mean we were "in the bone zone?"
We split into two groups again that evening. My brother, brother-in-law, nephew and I decided to go for a hail mary and go to a 2 square mile chunk of public several miles away and see if we could maybe get into anything. We saw tons of critters on the way there including a nice 170 mulie. Getting to the public piece, there was a young family just hiking out. They had been hunting deer, but reported seeing some antelope back a ways and over a big ridge. We figured we might as well give it a shot. We hiked in, spotted a big band but on private. I worked over to look into a big beautiful valley and was surprised to see a small band. I somehow ended up missing another doe offhand. Oh well. We hiked out in the dark, had a great dinner of mule deer barbacoa, and finished another good trip.
True to all trips like this, we are already thinking about next year. The plan is to be there for the opener, have a few deer tags in camp, stay at a house/cabin again, and give ourselves a little more time. This is one of our favorite trips of the year. This year was by far the most challenging hunting, but it was still a great time.
Up at 6, packed into the two trucks, and off. We drive out to the piece where antelope were spotted the evening before. Sure enough, we spotted some moving east over a small rise in a spot where I had killed two does two years before. We knew how to approach and the stalk was on. Again, no road access to where these antelope were. We crossed a deep draw and worked up a finger on the other side. Near the top we spotted two does peri scoping down on us and we hit the dirt. We were 250 yards away and just saw necks, heads, and ears. They weren’t spooked and didn’t get a good look at us. They dropped out of sight and we started moving forward. We were hoping to get a sub 200 yard shot for my nephew. As we inched toward the top, we hit the dirt again when my buddy spotted antelope beginning to filter out down below us in the valley bottom. We were pinned down. Eventually two of us crawled out to where we might have a chance. The antelope were drifting toward the private boundary. They were strung out and there was one spot where they all passed through that offered decent visibility. I scooted to a high point and set up the bipod and rear rest. I looked at the two antelope on the high point, ranged them, and got my gun ready. Those two moved off and I was set for the next antelope….which never came. Those were the last two. The antelope drifted on the private and bedded in one of their favorite spots. We waited them out for about 30 minutes before we all got up and moved over the ridge and out of sight, bumping that band away to our west.
This was my view for 30 minutes hoping the antelope would come back onto the public. They are in that grassy patch past the telephone poles. They love that spot.
We had a fun time with that encounter and were simply happy to have seen some antelope on some public ground. My brother took some time to give my nephew some firearm instruction and practice shots. He is great at working with young people. We chatted a bit and decided to go check on the piece we had covered the day before. There are only a few options in this unit for accessible public and the antelope move around a lot, so it was worth a shot.
Driving the short spur road back to the county road wouldn’t you know there were two fawns right off the side of the road. We stopped the truck and the antelope went down into another big draw. We wanted my nephew to get a shot, but the antelope had other ideas. They dropped into the bottom of the draw over 500 yards away in no time. True to antelope hunting, I jogged down the hill and onto a small rise that was within 400 yards of the other side where I expected the antelope to come out. They did, I flopped down prone, tried to get my bipods settled, and got one of the antelope in my crosshairs. I rushed the shot, knew I missed right, and confirmed with my brother who was watching the shot. The goats then crossed onto private and over the ridge. I was upset for rushing the shot, missing, feeling like I blew the only opportunity we had, looking stupid, all the things. Oh well.
We headed down to the larger section of public, hiked up to the glassing point, spotted no antelope, ate something, felt better, back to the truck, and to the next piece where we had come close to antelope on Friday.
We spotted that same band drifting toward that same slice of public, dropped four of us off, and started making a stalk. It took some work, but we caught up to the band, confirmed they were on public, and crept up to a ridgetop to potentially get a shot. It was me, my buddy, my brother-in-law, and nephew. We ended up about 450 yards from the band of antelope, prone on the ridge, and the antelope didn’t know we were there. There were at least 30 antelope in the group and they were feeding downhill on the other side of the draw. My buddy deferred to me shooting at that distance. I was prone, bipods out and had my rear rest. I was rock solid. I ranged, held in the appropriate place on my bdc and put a doe down. The herd swapped ends and moved back onto private (seeing the theme here?). We hiked over. I should have held more for wind. I held just off the front of her but the shot still drifted back and hit her in the back end. Not awesome, but I was happy to have an antelope. I was also happy to be shooting monolithic bullets as I didn't have a ton of bullet fragmenting. The bullet smashed both hips and I had some bone damage to the meat, but nothing like I have seen with my previous SST bullets. We broke her down, and headed back.
Everyone’s spirits were lifted. We found some cool things on the hike out, small snake, cool petrified wood, a tiny 2pt set. Good times.
Does this mean we were "in the bone zone?"
We split into two groups again that evening. My brother, brother-in-law, nephew and I decided to go for a hail mary and go to a 2 square mile chunk of public several miles away and see if we could maybe get into anything. We saw tons of critters on the way there including a nice 170 mulie. Getting to the public piece, there was a young family just hiking out. They had been hunting deer, but reported seeing some antelope back a ways and over a big ridge. We figured we might as well give it a shot. We hiked in, spotted a big band but on private. I worked over to look into a big beautiful valley and was surprised to see a small band. I somehow ended up missing another doe offhand. Oh well. We hiked out in the dark, had a great dinner of mule deer barbacoa, and finished another good trip.
True to all trips like this, we are already thinking about next year. The plan is to be there for the opener, have a few deer tags in camp, stay at a house/cabin again, and give ourselves a little more time. This is one of our favorite trips of the year. This year was by far the most challenging hunting, but it was still a great time.
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Crossbowguy
Well-known member
Looks like Knife handles to me! Very nice muley bucks!!!!!
bowhuntmontana
Well-known member
Finally getting a moment to give the final update of my season. I am a Montana boy, living my entire life there until about 6 years ago when we moved to Utah for some family reasons (wife is from UT). Like BigSky said, you can take the boy out of Montana, but you can't take Montana out of the boy. I have been back to hunt Montana about every other year since moving, mostly to hunt elk. This year I was hunting whitetail does to fill the freezer. I remembered them tasting pretty good, especially compared to the mountain muleys I have been eating here in Utah. I had four tags in my pocket. I also invited a good buddy of mine from Utah to come up and experience a little bit of a Montana ranch hunt. He picked up a whitetail doe tag and arranged to be in the area for a business trip anyway. I was also looking forward to hanging out with my older brother for a few days and doing what he and I love to do.
I worked until noon on Thursday, then pointed the rig north and hit I-15. I made a few stops for gas, but made it into Great Falls around 8:00. Coming over the hill by the airport and seeing town spread out below me fills me with a lifetime of memories every time. I got to my brother's, caught up with him and his wife, and then got things arranged for the morning. I was pleased to hear my brother's new son-in-law would be joining us. I hadn't had a chance to even really talk to him, but my brother thinks very highly of him so I knew he must be a good guy.
Part of what I was really excited for was going back to a ranch that I had gotten to know really well in the 10 years before I moved. Many of you can relate, I am sure. It is a place that we have come to love just as much for the people there as the land or the game. That place has provided lots of adventures, laughs, and memories. The ranch management changed last year, but my brother was well acquainted with the incoming manager and it has been pretty seamless. We pulled into the ranch drive early and dropped one vehicle in the bottom of a deep draw. Then we drove partway up a two track until a deep crusted drift blocked the way. The three of us got out and climbed up to the top of the ridge.
We wanted to check off the back side to possibly spot some elk. There have also been a few good mule deer spotted back there over the years, and it holds a really deep brushy draw that is rumored to have big whitetails. My brother helped pack out a nice mule deer that I helped my niece take partway down that hole a few years back. He swore he would never pack another one out of there unless it was a booner. To me, the hole didn't seem nearly as bad. I think it has something to do with the 6 mile pack outs I have been getting accustomed to in Utah.
We glassed the back side and spotted dozens of muleys but no great bucks. We did spot a cow elk and made a plan. We made a mile look back around the ridge and then worked down the slope to where the elk had been. This took us to the edge of the brushy draw. The elk were gone, leaving only tracks and beds. We turned back, looking at a long climb to the top.
I decided to sit down and glass that brush hard. I put the binos on the spotted and quickly picked up a really nice whitetail bedded above a doe. My brother and his son-in-law had climbed up a bit and then took a break. I didn't think they would be interested in the buck on account of the potential pack out. My brother asked what I had seen and I said a 140-150 type whitetail. I pointed out where it was. He put up the glass and got excited. His son-in-law had never taken a nice whitetail. Seeing my brother a bit excited got me hopeful that we might actually take the buck. With a little coaxing, and a promise that I would pack at least half the buck out, we dropped back down closer to the deer. Eventually we were 280 yards from the buck, straight across the draw from him. The first two shots missed right, but after an adjustment, the next two hit home and just like that, the deer was down.
We worked up to him and there was a beautiful buck. We broke it down. I left a rear quarter for each of them and loaded the rest and headed up the hill. It took about 45 minutes for me to climb out of there, but it wasn't bad. My brother arrived about 30 minutes later and his son-in-law another 30 minutes after that. It was now 2:00.
I worked until noon on Thursday, then pointed the rig north and hit I-15. I made a few stops for gas, but made it into Great Falls around 8:00. Coming over the hill by the airport and seeing town spread out below me fills me with a lifetime of memories every time. I got to my brother's, caught up with him and his wife, and then got things arranged for the morning. I was pleased to hear my brother's new son-in-law would be joining us. I hadn't had a chance to even really talk to him, but my brother thinks very highly of him so I knew he must be a good guy.
Part of what I was really excited for was going back to a ranch that I had gotten to know really well in the 10 years before I moved. Many of you can relate, I am sure. It is a place that we have come to love just as much for the people there as the land or the game. That place has provided lots of adventures, laughs, and memories. The ranch management changed last year, but my brother was well acquainted with the incoming manager and it has been pretty seamless. We pulled into the ranch drive early and dropped one vehicle in the bottom of a deep draw. Then we drove partway up a two track until a deep crusted drift blocked the way. The three of us got out and climbed up to the top of the ridge.
We wanted to check off the back side to possibly spot some elk. There have also been a few good mule deer spotted back there over the years, and it holds a really deep brushy draw that is rumored to have big whitetails. My brother helped pack out a nice mule deer that I helped my niece take partway down that hole a few years back. He swore he would never pack another one out of there unless it was a booner. To me, the hole didn't seem nearly as bad. I think it has something to do with the 6 mile pack outs I have been getting accustomed to in Utah.
We glassed the back side and spotted dozens of muleys but no great bucks. We did spot a cow elk and made a plan. We made a mile look back around the ridge and then worked down the slope to where the elk had been. This took us to the edge of the brushy draw. The elk were gone, leaving only tracks and beds. We turned back, looking at a long climb to the top.
I decided to sit down and glass that brush hard. I put the binos on the spotted and quickly picked up a really nice whitetail bedded above a doe. My brother and his son-in-law had climbed up a bit and then took a break. I didn't think they would be interested in the buck on account of the potential pack out. My brother asked what I had seen and I said a 140-150 type whitetail. I pointed out where it was. He put up the glass and got excited. His son-in-law had never taken a nice whitetail. Seeing my brother a bit excited got me hopeful that we might actually take the buck. With a little coaxing, and a promise that I would pack at least half the buck out, we dropped back down closer to the deer. Eventually we were 280 yards from the buck, straight across the draw from him. The first two shots missed right, but after an adjustment, the next two hit home and just like that, the deer was down.
We worked up to him and there was a beautiful buck. We broke it down. I left a rear quarter for each of them and loaded the rest and headed up the hill. It took about 45 minutes for me to climb out of there, but it wasn't bad. My brother arrived about 30 minutes later and his son-in-law another 30 minutes after that. It was now 2:00.
bowhuntmontana
Well-known member
My buddy was just arriving at the ranch road. We met up with him and decided to head toward the main creek bottom. There were literally hundreds of deer within sight. The cold weather and snow had the deer on their feet and feeding, and they hay fields were full of deer. My buddy was a bit gobsmacked at all of the game. He couldn't quit smiling and pointing out all of the deer.
Not 3 minutes after picking up my buddy, we had a few does and fawns bedded just over a rise. My buddy could hardly believe this was happening this quickly. We eased out of the truck and made our way to a fence line. As we moved up we also spotted a doe in an opening in the creek bottom. I laid down there and set up on the doe in the creek bottom. My buddy moved up. The plan was for me to shoot as soon as he did. He moved up and was within 80 yards of the doe, but she kept facing him so he passed, realizing he would have other opportunities. He gave me the signal, I settled into my gun, and dropped my doe. One tag punched.
We headed back to the truck and decided to drop down to one of the hay fields that had a lot of deer in it. We parked the truck out of sight and worked up a draw. My buddy decided to work up on a few does a fawns. I eased up to the edge of the hay field and again set up on a nice doe, just waiting for my buddy to take his shot. It took several minutes for him to get into a position he was comfortable in and where he had a good shot. He fired. I squeezed off my shot and my second tag was punched. The deer in the field moved a little but not too far. I picked out another doe in range, settled in, and was a little surprised when I missed clean. She took a few steps and stopped again. I settled in, fired, and my third tag was filled.
My buddy put a finishing shot into his doe, and we worked out into the field. The deer moved farther down the field. As I moved up to my third doe, another doe and two fawns was bedded about 300 yards away. I got prone and steady. She stood up and gave me a broadside look. I took it and knew she was hit but was surprised to see her sprint for about 300 yards before stopping and hanging her head. I moved up through the field and finished her with a shot at 150 yards.
Just like that we had filled our five whitetail doe tags. Did I mention I love this place? I was grateful for the meat and for the experiences.
We cleaned deer and placed them in one of the barns for the night. The next day we were back out there and broke the deer down. We spent the rest of the day on a big loop through some of our favorite places on the ranch. We got on a really nice whitetail for my brother but he shot just under him. No big deal. He will be back out there later in the season.
All in all it was a great hunt. We already have plans for next year. I finished butchering the meat and have a nice full freezer. No horns at all for me this season and I could care less. I have a bunch of great memories and about 250 pounds of amazing meat my family will enjoy all year.
Not 3 minutes after picking up my buddy, we had a few does and fawns bedded just over a rise. My buddy could hardly believe this was happening this quickly. We eased out of the truck and made our way to a fence line. As we moved up we also spotted a doe in an opening in the creek bottom. I laid down there and set up on the doe in the creek bottom. My buddy moved up. The plan was for me to shoot as soon as he did. He moved up and was within 80 yards of the doe, but she kept facing him so he passed, realizing he would have other opportunities. He gave me the signal, I settled into my gun, and dropped my doe. One tag punched.
We headed back to the truck and decided to drop down to one of the hay fields that had a lot of deer in it. We parked the truck out of sight and worked up a draw. My buddy decided to work up on a few does a fawns. I eased up to the edge of the hay field and again set up on a nice doe, just waiting for my buddy to take his shot. It took several minutes for him to get into a position he was comfortable in and where he had a good shot. He fired. I squeezed off my shot and my second tag was punched. The deer in the field moved a little but not too far. I picked out another doe in range, settled in, and was a little surprised when I missed clean. She took a few steps and stopped again. I settled in, fired, and my third tag was filled.
My buddy put a finishing shot into his doe, and we worked out into the field. The deer moved farther down the field. As I moved up to my third doe, another doe and two fawns was bedded about 300 yards away. I got prone and steady. She stood up and gave me a broadside look. I took it and knew she was hit but was surprised to see her sprint for about 300 yards before stopping and hanging her head. I moved up through the field and finished her with a shot at 150 yards.
Just like that we had filled our five whitetail doe tags. Did I mention I love this place? I was grateful for the meat and for the experiences.
We cleaned deer and placed them in one of the barns for the night. The next day we were back out there and broke the deer down. We spent the rest of the day on a big loop through some of our favorite places on the ranch. We got on a really nice whitetail for my brother but he shot just under him. No big deal. He will be back out there later in the season.
All in all it was a great hunt. We already have plans for next year. I finished butchering the meat and have a nice full freezer. No horns at all for me this season and I could care less. I have a bunch of great memories and about 250 pounds of amazing meat my family will enjoy all year.
