Montana Scout About

[Little Big Man MT Chris]

Saw a big chunk of BLM last deer season , wanted to explore it this year for a possible future deer hunt some day , I did 7.1 miles today

1.7 miles in saw 8 mule deer from here and that was 3 hours after sunrise


I’m gonna hike down to the river over yonder way


Finally made the bottom drainage to the river


3 miles from the truck , I made the river


A view of the river bottom hiking out a different way


There’s probably a decent buck or 2 in here but it’s gonna be a 2.5 mile pack out or longer, if you want one that bad

I do enjoy hiking new country I’ve never been in , I’ve done 12 miles in 2 hikes in this area this May

A few highlights from the 1st hike 2 weeks ago

Wanted to get to the river but got a late start and had to turn back, did a little more map work and found a quicker way to get there today , but ain’t nothing easy in this country




Got my 1st Big Montana Rattlesnake on the 1st hike.

 

[Wildabeest]

You had me up until “rattlesnake”. Makes it damn hard to belly crawl up onto a group of pronghorn knowing that there could be one laying in any of the dozens of sage bushes along the way.

 

[Little Big Man MT Chris]

You had me up until “rattlesnake”. Makes it damn hard to belly crawl up onto a group of pronghorn knowing that there could be one laying in any of the dozens of sage bushes along the way.

Ha ha ha , I’ve had 3 Rattlesnake encounters hiking now in my 16 months here , i’m 2 for 3 on snakes , I did see a pronghorn buck today close to my park point


This was #2 only the first one got away

 

[Wildabeest]

Ha ha ha , I’ve had 3 Rattlesnake encounters hiking now in my 16 months here , i’m 2 for 3 on snakes , I did see a pronghorn buck today close to my park point


This was #2 only the first one got away
View attachment 276721

What elevation are seeing them at?

 

[Little Big Man MT Chris]

Low elevations , the one in the second pick was just 20 yds from the Yellowstone river in the shade in a tree covered area

The other 2 were by rocks they could hide under on grassy plateau type terrain, more or less the same elevation as Billings MT 3100 ft elevation

I went on ONX, 3700 ft was my highest encounter so far

 

[Wildabeest]

My place in UT is just under 7,000 ft, and we have quite a few Great Basin rattlers around.

 

[Unlucky]

I would scout and buy points in wy

 

[Little Big Man MT Chris]

I would scout and buy points in wy

I don’t get fired up enough for mule deer to chase them next door , I have a young 4x4 muley , someday I might go after a bigger one but I don’t have a whitetail on my wall yet, that’s my mission.

Part of my running around the hills is seeing what’s what in my new area , and learning some dirt for possible future hunting spots

 

[Little Big Man MT Chris]

Did a 4 mile trip this morning back into the spot I’ve been exploring, saw 4 whitetail on the bench above the river , and almost stepped on a giant rattlesnake at the start , it was in the mid 50’s this morning so the snake was so cold it couldn’t move or rattle

Looking down as you step and seeing the top of your boot 2-3 inches in front of a big rattlesnake adds to the excitement!!! Fun hike this morning

After almost steeping on this one , I realized he was harmless because he was so cold in the early morning, I outlined my boot print


My 3rd snake, skinned this one and took him home


The bench we bumped the Whitetails on


Pretty country


My friend Drew from my CrossFit gym came and brought his dogs, was fun to hike with someone, since I’m usually flying solo

 

[FairWeather]

Did you eat the snake(s)?

 

[Hunting Wife]

Why do you kill all the snakes? Just curious.

 

[treedagain]

Why do you kill all the snakes? Just curious.

Well? Most people dislike snakes and get a dirt nap.

 

[Little Big Man MT Chris]

Why do you kill all the snakes? Just curious.

I collect the rattles and I skinned this one to experiment with tanning the skin, if I can find someone local that can make a hat band , I’d like one for one of my cowboy hats

I was trying to skin this one with the rattle attached, thinking about having a long one framed in glass with the rattle attached for the man cave. But this one tore as I skinned it I was going to fast

And they can be very dangerous, most folks round here I talk with since moving to this area kill them on site , one of my friends from work opened here door to let her kids and dog out and at the last second pulled her daughter back as she saw a rattlesnake had climbed up and curled up around her electric box by the side door and wacked it a garden hoe ,

There everywhere around here I when I get one I think that’s one less snake to bite a hunter or hiker someday

This one came out too dry, a guy from work who does tanning told me how to do my next one, so I’m gonna buy the stuff this weekend for the next time

 

[Little Big Man MT Chris]

Did you eat the snake(s)?

I want to try one , eventually and try to learn how to cook one, I’ve heard there good

 

[FairWeather]

I want to try one , eventually and try to learn how to cook one, I’ve heard there good

I’ve always wanted to try snake, ever since seeing that dude eat one in Operation Dumbo Drop haha.

 

[thomas89]

I want to try one , eventually and try to learn how to cook one, I’ve heard there good

I’ve grilled several prairie rattlers when I was working in the missile field.

Wasn’t bad tasting at all, just really not as much meat on them as you’d think to make it worth it all the hassle of cleaning them.

 

[Wildabeest]

I’ve grilled several prairie rattlers when I was working in the missile field.

Wasn’t bad tasting at all, just really not as much meat on them as you’d think to make it worth it all the hassle of cleaning them.

I’ve had it at restaurants. “Tastes like chicken”. Nothing special.

 

[JLS]

And they can be very dangerous,

Far less dangerous than most folks make them out to be.

 

[MTLabrador]

I’ve killed a lot of them years ago, but the only time I would now is if they’re around a house or camp and I have my dogs with me. They’re pretty cool critters.

 

[PaulRevere]

#mtrookie