Big Ones (photos)

[Buschy]

I have been blessed to shoot some nice animals over the years, but this is far and away the best trophy that has ever hit the ground. Watching my son drill his first big game animal with a bow is priceless! Two of the happiest kids on the planet and a very proud dad!

2011 WT

Parker Buckshot Youth Bow - 15 yards

 

[HUNTMAN]

here are a few of mine. lope 2011 78 5/8. Bull 06 285 whitetail 142 and blacktail 131.

 

[mconway951]

Took two great eastern turkeys two years in a row.
This is my MN bird 2010
25.75 lbs 12.5 in beard and 1.25 in spurs

 

[HUNTMAN]

A couple more . Best bear ID 10 yards 19 1/8. My lope not mine above. And a few of Dads. Buck 12 yards 155 bull 4 yards 308. My best steelhead to 41 nose to tail.

 

[AZ402]

That archery whitey of your dads is legit!!

 

[The Hedgehog]

An XL gopher taken by my son.

 

[sneakem]

Largest badger with a bow.. 30 yards peeking out of a hole...
on a side note, if you shoot a badger peeking out of a hole with a bow... more than likely he'll go back in the hole with your arrow and you have to get him out...lol

 

[The Hedgehog]

Boy's largest domestic cow to date.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Stirrin' the pot, stirrin' the pot.

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

Boy's largest domestic cow to date.

LOL, Was that one taken on the Rancher and his wife's place who you had a pissing contest with a couple of years back! John

 

[mtmiller]

Stirrin' the pot, stirrin' the pot.

Made me smile as well. Something or other....."tasted like roast beef".

Great critters everyone.

 

[krummholz]

My biggest elk so far, Scored 285". 2004 solo Colorado wilderness backpack hunt, OTC unit.
Highcountry Carbon 4Runner bow.
10 yd shot, 50 yd recovery and 5 mile pack down to the truck from 11,000+ft. Good times!

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

My son Travis has shot a few.....First Deer ever was a 138 Mainframe 8; 7mm-08 @ 50 yards when he was 10.

Here is a 10 point he shot a couple of years ago. I think it scored right at 130.

The same year he took the 10 point he asked off from work and I let him.....Big 9 point at 15 yards.

 

[hardscrabble]

I am not much of a fisherman but paddlefishing does not take much skill. 1995, if I remember righ it weighed right around 84#.

This pose is not as manly as mtmiller's

 

[hardscrabble]

AZ402, you WIN in my book. That bull is retarded big. 402" gross typical... not a whole lot more to say. Well done.

This is my most prized animal to date. 1994 once-in-a-lifetime ND moose. Wish I knew then what I know now about butchering a critter. They way we got him out of that river gourge was stupid.

 

[hardscrabble]

Best WT. 2007, grossed just a touch over150". I like to use my trusty .338 on any animal.

 

[krummholz]

My biggest Muley so far, scored 173" gross. 2008 ND badlands.
100 yd shot 7mm RM

 

[dexnrex]

Here are a couple of my biggest by default. I've only shot one of each.
Alaska 2008, spot and stalk while hunting moose.


Alaska 2010 first Caribou hunt, can't wait for the next. Spot and ambush.


Here are a few I worked up to.
2006 Before and after of my best archery muledeer buck. I had FWP send in a tooth, he was 8yrs.old and living on heavily hunted public land. Spot and stalk.



2008 This buck just edges out a couple others, and it is one of my favorite photos. I wish I had my buddy, Ron along every time I shot something. That guy can really take a photo.


2010 Not my highest scoring antelope, but my favorite. I looked for this buck for a month on a tip from BreaksRunner. Both horns are just over 16". Spot and stalk.


2010 I was looking for a lunker, but couldn't lay off this nice bull. Still a good day to take a personal best. I got within shooting range of a large herd and waited over an hour for this bull to give me a shot.

 

[Dinkshooter]

AZ402, you WIN in my book. That bull is retarded big.
View attachment 29049

Not the first time retarded has been used in the same thought as AZ402

 

[Carl]

Whitetail - 2004 - PA
Don't know the score. This was a few years before I moved to Montana, hunting out of our family camp in north central Pennsylvania. We mostly did drives, and I had a good spot on this drive, and shot this deer in the neck at ~15 yards. My pap (maternal grandfather) was the next one down the line, and we got some nice pictures I'm very happy I have. He still hunts, but a bit slower now that he's in his mid eighty's.

Bear - 2007 - MT
All my bears are about the same size, 5 1/2 foot or so. I picked this one as it was the first, and my first hunt as a Montana resident. Took it in the Swan on a solo three day hunt at ~ 50 yards. Learned plenty of lessons, like why you might not want to drag an animal several miles by yourself, and how the way hair hangs on bears can fool you into shooting too low. Drove back late at night flying pretty high, I remember it all quite well, including dodging crazy suicidal whitetail in the Swan and stopping in Bonner at 4 am, covered with blood and swamp, for Mt Dew and Nutter Butters.

Antelope - 2010 - WY
This one scored 78 and change, if I recall. This was my second antelope hunt, and the first in Wyoming. Also the first antelope hunt my dad was able to come on, though without a tag of his own. He was reluctant to offer much in the way of judging assistance, but had a good enough time that he's been buying antelope points we hope to cash in this year. This was also my longest big game shot, at 610 yards.

Mule Deer - 2010 - MT
Scored in the mid 150's if memory serves. Took the long way around backpacking into an area the day before the opener, and spotted him that night. Camped out in a bivy pretty close, and was waiting at first light at ~450 yards. 15 minutes in it was all over but the packing. Probably my favorite buck, though I've others similar in size, but only my second or third favorite buck hunt, as I was without my best partner.

Elk - 2011 - MT
Haven't scored this one, though I'm sure it'd score good but not great. Spent a good handful of weekends driving and hunting, culminating in about the coolest day of hunting I've had. Had some bullet issues I chronicled here, as well as a little frostbite. Some flesh on my toes did end up dying, but I was able to scrape it all off without a dreaded trip to the doctor, so big win there. It is my favorite trophy, and it won't be easy to get a similar one, but I'm sure fun will be had trying.