Spedray
Well-known member
Finally tried to figure out how to post on here! I had the opportunity to hunt 8 days out in eastern Montana this year. Showed up to an area we hunted last year, and had luck previously. First day was a windy blizzard with low visabilty. We tried hiking in to an area that was there furthest we could get from the road. Ended up seeing lots of deer and plenty of shooters but the wind or snow always seemed to blow the hardest and ruin any chance of taking a shot. My hunting partner did manage to get it done on a nice 5x6 muley in the worst place to pack out possible. We has to crawl hand over fist to get out of the steep terrain. 
After putting in 10 mile days for the next four days, my hunting partner had to head back home. I decided to head into a new area that we haven't hunted yet. I found a large herd of 20 does feeding on a hillside 1 1/2 miles away and pulled out the spotting scope to find the buck that had to be ruling over the large harem. I finally found a buck walking out of the timber and he looked to have a nice frame with four points on each side and a spread outside of his ears. I made a plan for the stalk and it would put me shooting distance, but i wouldn't be able to see him till I was directly on top of him. After an hour hike, I popped out right where I was hoping but the deer weren't anywhere to be seen. I started to hike a little bit lower on the ridge and suddenly caught sight of the buck pushing the doe right where I had last seen him. I ended up dropping him in his tracks and walked up to see he had a nice kicker off one side that I hadn't seen originally. He didn't end up being quite as large as I thought, but it was a fun stalk and well earned deer on public land.
It always impresses me just how many deer we see. I think we counted between 15-20 bucks every day and found a herd of elk with seven bulls, a monster bobcat, flocks of turkeys, and more praire dogs than a man could shoot.
After putting in 10 mile days for the next four days, my hunting partner had to head back home. I decided to head into a new area that we haven't hunted yet. I found a large herd of 20 does feeding on a hillside 1 1/2 miles away and pulled out the spotting scope to find the buck that had to be ruling over the large harem. I finally found a buck walking out of the timber and he looked to have a nice frame with four points on each side and a spread outside of his ears. I made a plan for the stalk and it would put me shooting distance, but i wouldn't be able to see him till I was directly on top of him. After an hour hike, I popped out right where I was hoping but the deer weren't anywhere to be seen. I started to hike a little bit lower on the ridge and suddenly caught sight of the buck pushing the doe right where I had last seen him. I ended up dropping him in his tracks and walked up to see he had a nice kicker off one side that I hadn't seen originally. He didn't end up being quite as large as I thought, but it was a fun stalk and well earned deer on public land.
It always impresses me just how many deer we see. I think we counted between 15-20 bucks every day and found a herd of elk with seven bulls, a monster bobcat, flocks of turkeys, and more praire dogs than a man could shoot.
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