2013 Deer hunting.....

[Stubaby]

Nothing turns my crank like a nice muley buck, so this year my friend and I got Utah archery deer tags because the season opened in the middle of August. The country we were in was awesome and STEEP.

Here are some pre-stalk pics of the deer we were chasing:

 

[Stubaby]

more hunting....

Here is a buck that we will be thinking about for a long time. We found him right at dark one night. He's only about 24" wide but would still gross over 190 with how deep his forks are. Some other hunters bumped him over the ridge the next morning. I'm sure they didn't see him, as they were zeroing in on a smaller buck way below this guy. Nonetheless he was over the ridge and gone :W:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xkqOM-z9DE A week after we got back to Montana I was emailed this link to youtube that was posted by a successful hunter in the same area that we were in. In the clip from 0:29-1:29 is live footage of this exact deer. It really shows how deep his forks are.
I don't know who this Sean Morgan is but he killed a great buck. He seems to have much more time to hunt than me. Kids and a mortgage will do that : ).

I'm just glad this big typical is still out there somewhere.....


Sorry for the grainy pics. They are all through my spotter with my cell phone. Below are some pics of the area and terrain we were dealing with:

 

[Stubaby]

more hunting....

Did I mention this country is steep. Below is an "on the stalk" picture. Even if the deer stayed in the same spot, once you got on the same playing field as them everything changes. Not to mention the noise you make trying to navigate the jack pines and dead fall.


Every time I would start a stalk, I couldn't believe how much elevation I had to climb in a very short amount of time to get to the deer. Twice, the buck on the hill was above the mountain goats.


Here's what my feet and elbow looked like after the trip. The feet because of all the side-hilling I had to do and the elbow I fell and smacked a rock. I guess it's called a "bursa-sac". All I know is that it felt ok sitting there, but it anything touched it I almost fainted in pain.




I threw a pic of the hunting rig in here as well. My dad's '71 chevy 3/4 ton that he bought new was our ride. He let us take his '93 Yamaha Timberwolves, but they stayed in the truck. There are parts of the unit that have some riding trails but we stayed in the road-less part. My 2yr old loves


It was a fun hunt. I'll throw up our Montana archery hunt that has a little more success when I get time...........

 

[1_pointer]

Very nice country and looks like you found some good bucks. Good luck on them next time.

 

[Art Vandeley]

Nice bucks, thanks for posting. I think Sean Morgan is an active member on a monster muley website just as an FYI.

 

[Randy11]

That looks like a blast. Going back next year?

 

[slamdmini]

awesome pics and story. even tho u didnt punch ur tag, id say u were still successful. beautiful country and some monster bucks. what zone were u in? im rifle hunting in the pine valley unit in a few weeks. looks like u were up north

 

[Stubaby]

Montana time...

I might go back to Utah later in the season and hunt "the Front" on the extended area. There is no better tag that's basically over the counter that has better deer than the "front".

Anyway here is a pic of a buck I put a 3 hour stalk on a few weeks ago here in Montana just south of Great Falls. This is a pretty good 3x4. He was under a steep cliff and the only way to get to hm was from below. On both sides of him were steep rock slides and shale rock.




In the pic below you can see me below him with my bow in my hand. I was 60 yards away. He saw me when I ranged him so I drew. As I drew he stood up. Just as I was setting that 60 yrd pin where I wanted it he snorted and bolted. One more second and I'd a had him for sure. Oh well......



Here are some bucks that I put stalks on just for fun but had no intention on killing:


More to come..................................

 

[DonDusart]

Just one word. Wow!!!

 

[slamdmini]

whats the "front"? cant wait to see ur pics from montana

 

[big28hunter]

Awesome pics!

 

[elk_hunter]

Holy smokes...incredible pics, ridiculously steep - just gorgeous country!

 

[putm2sleep]

Awesome thread Stubaby! Go get 'em man!

 

[Festus]

Awesome pics!
Thanks for sharing.
Someday.....................

 

[Stubaby]

the hunt goes on....

Here is a buck that I did not, could not shoot. Well, could have but chose not to. I think he/she/it would win the ugliest deer contest for sure..................



Here is a good whitey. I'm not really a whitetail guy, but this is def "A" tag worthy. I guess hm in the 150-155" class range. He was on private land. I tried to ask the landowner but they would not come to the door.....and I knew they were there



This pic here he is literally saying "neener, neener, pants on fire".......tongue out and everything:W: