Both of our mule deer bucks
Close up of my buck with my rifle
Another shot of our mule deer bucks
Well this was taken my second year hunting here in Montana. My first year was very much a learning experience, especially being new to big game hunting. I grew hunting with my father, but we only hunted waterfowl. To also further compound things, I had an unreliable vehicle, so I was very limited on how far away from town I could travel to hunt. That first year, I ate tag soup, but the guy I was hunting with that year, Nathan, had gotten a deer one of the days that I was work, so he was able to share some of the meat with me.
The second year was the year of my redemption. I had purchased a newer vehicle to allow me to travel farther. I spent months reading everything I could on big game game hunting, spent time looking at google earth, was looking over the block management areas (BMA) and I had purchased a GPS since I had won an OnXMaps chip for Montana. We had put together a plan, especially since the Nathan only had five days to hunt. We had to get it done.
The time came, it was the night before opening day and like every year since, I have issues sleeping the night before a hunt. My alarm clock went off, I don't remember the time but I am sure it was before 4 am. I jumped up out of bed and started getting ready. About 5 am, Nathan pulled up to my house to head out, since it was easier for him to pick me up, then it was for me to pick him up. We headed out to a BMA near town that we knew wasn't hunted very hard the year prior. We pulled up to the block management area, and spotted ten vehicles already parked there with people hiking in. This is why I have learned to love and hate opening days, love for the fact that it is hunting season, hate the fact that pretty much anywhere you go, you will bump into another hunter. This BMA was way too small for this many hunters, so we had to come up with a new plan.
We headed south towards the Little Belt Mountains. It was a long drive down a gravel road to get there, but it was are best bet that day. We show up at the parking area well after shooting light and see five vehicles there. I started glassing around and saw the other hunters up near the top of the mountains, so since every one went high, we will hunt low. Maybe one of them will spook some deer or hopefully elk, at least for me since Nathan didn't buy an elk tag due to time constraints. We hike in and set up on a small knoll that was about 1/8 as tall as the nearest peak, from there we had a complete view of the surrounding area as well as perfect view up the side of mountain in the sparsely wooded part. If any thing gets spooked our way, we would see it. Now we had hunted this area the year prior, but we couldn't see more than 50 yards away due to the cloud cover and snow fall. We had no clue how much it opened up under perfect conditions. We had also just missed a deer the year prior cause we went up a road that honestly under the conditions of the day, we just had no right to be on.
Just as our luck would have it, a strong swirling wind picked up. At that point it was more of hopefully we see them before they smell us. I put the hood up on my gortex jacket to block the wind on my head, but this had a adverse side affect. Nathan, who was sitting about 15 yards behind me and to my right was trying to get my attention, but I couldn't hear time due to the wind and the jacket hood. Next thing I knew he was grabbing my shoulder, which in the woods, not expecting it, scares the shit out of you. He tells me that he just spotted two bull elk in the trees. I move over to where he was and start glassing, and sure enough there was two nice bulls in a group of trees. We quickly pick up our bags and spotting scope and start to make a move so I could shoot my first elk. We started following the fence line and paying close attention to the GPS since we were on the border to public and private. We got on the side of this drainage, and tried to find our bearings to where the elk were. Yup, bedded down about 250 yards on private property. Such goes the life of a public land hunter.
We spent the rest of the morning there, but didn't see anything. We figured with how bad the wind was swirling that anything that had been near by, probably bolted out of the area. So we moved on.
We spent the the four days looking at as much public land as we could cover. The only bucks we saw were on private land, and the all the deer on public that we saw were does. After this many days, we were getting pretty frustrated. It was the last day of our and high noon and we were getting worried. We started driving a road that split a BMA checking the fields for any sign of life. We looked ahead and saw this hill at the end of the road covered with snow and trees. I checked my GPS and saw that it was state land. I asked Nathan to pull over so we could take a closer look. As I started glassing I saw a group of deer. Nathan just as frustrated as me turned and said "They are probably just does", so I got my spotting scope out to take a closer look. As I adjust the focus, the focus broke. So plan B, pull out a rifle and use the scope to get a better look. As I brought the group into focus, I count three bucks.
Nathan went from frustrated to excited in under a second as I called it out. We drove down the road so we could be up wind of the group. We hiked in and laid down on a hilltop to watch the herd and come up with a plan to make a shot. At this point the bucks were over 700 yards away. We laid there watching for what seemed like 30 minutes but turned out to be 3 hours. We decided to back down the hill and use the terrain to move up the hill to take a shot at them. As we started to move behind the terrain, I told Nathan to hold on so I could check on the position of the herd. As I looked over a cut in the rocks, the herd had moved. Not just a little, but majorly moved. The does in the group decided to feed towards us on the hill that we planned to climb up, with the bucks in full tow. They were now 200 yards away.
We had one big opening in the rocks, so I took the position of leaning against the rock as Nathan took the prone position. I aimed down on the larger deer while Nathan aimed at the smaller buck. Yes, these weren't trophy size deer at all but we weren't hunting for trophy. We wanted the meat. Nathan told me to shoot first and he would shoot after me. We tried doing a countdown but every time I got to one, the buck would turn giving me no shot. I had the buck broadside, so I switched off my safety, and pulled the trigger. As I found the buck again in my scope I saw it laying on it's side not moving. It dawned me on that I just killed my first deer and then I got the adrenaline rush kicking in. My hands were shaking. I was excited and humble at the same time. Nathan shot and hit his deer but his scope was slightly off, so he quickly reloaded and took another shot. His deer dropped.
The next couple of hours was spent dragging our deer down the hill. Once at the bottom we field dressed them to sun setting in the background and sound of tundra swans flying over making their way south for the winter. It was a wonderful time, and one that I will never forget. I got that 2x2 shoulder mounted so I could always look at him and remember my first big game animal that took. A constant reminder that one animal must give it's life for another to survive; why public lands are so important to the average hunter; why this heritage is so important to fight for and pass on to future generations.
See you next time!
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