Big Ones (OTC, Pic Heavy)

[The Hedgehog]

W
o
w
!

 

[Little Big Man MT Chris]

I’m going with greenhorn W O W !

 

[bigsky2]

This is a buck I found while antelope hunting with my dad on a big block of BLM land. I had my bow with me so I made a stalk on the buck. I got to about 90 yards while he was bedded and couldn't get any closer so I sat for a couple hours waiting for him to get up. Eventually some antelope hunters drove down the ridge above the buck and he took off. I was living out of state at the time so I was unable to hunt the buck again until opening weekend of rifle season. I knew my odds of ever finding him again on such pressured ground were slim to none but I had to try. I hunted hard all weekend and never found him. Then a few weeks later my relatives from Wisconsin came out to hunt deer. We went back to the same area and the first morning we spotted a buck as he was going over the skyline about two miles away. I could tell from the big front forks that it was the same deer. With it being so far away we couldn't tell exactly where he was going but my cousin and I went to look for him. About a mile into our hike we were skirting a really steep hillside and I looked over and spotted the buck bedded about 250 yards away. He had us pegged and with the hill being so steep there was no way to get a good rest. After about a minute the buck got up and took off over the ridge. Two days later we were back in the same area and I ended up spotting the buck about 2 miles from where we had bumped him. This time I knew right where he would be so my cousin grabbed his gun and we went after him. We crawled to within 150 yards and I sat beside my cousin as he shot the buck. He didn't even know it was the same deer until I told him while the deer was rolling down the hill. It was difficult letting him shoot the buck as it would have been the biggest mule deer I had ever shot at the time, but he was super excited and it was still fun playing the role of guide. Still the biggest front forks of any deer I have hunted.



No special story with this one but it involves the same relatives from Wisconsin. We had been hearing about a big buck in the area but had never laid eyes on it. We didn't have access to much of the area so it was just going to be a quick hunt and I decided to go hike a big piece of public that my dad had showed me while they went for their short hunt. I had a nice buck down that morning and spent the majority of the day packing it out. Just as I get into cell service I get a picture from my dad of my relative with a monster buck. They had got lucky and found the buck that we had been hearing about. Luckily for my dad's cousin, my dad had already filled his tag.



Here is the picture of my buck from that day, still a respectable deer but it was definitely overshadowed by the one my relative killed.

 

[BrentD]

Those are all beautiful, but that first one is as good as they get in my opinion. Congratulations, you know what you are doing.

 

[The Hedgehog]

Certainly not the caliber of “Big” as some of those above, but a couple nice public land general season MT muleys.

 

[Deleted member 20812]

Bigsky2,

Great bucks.

Greenhorn,

That photo in the snow is as cool as they come. Was the aforementioned battle with hypothermia the same night you spoke of a come to Jesus conversation with yourself?

 

[antlerradar]

I am going to second JLS on the photo. Greenhorn is not only constantly getting great animals and his pictures are spectacular. A talent I wish I had.

 

[The Hedgehog]

That snow pic was taken by my friend Jake. Jake is a pro with a camera. Www.jakemosher.com

I shot the deer with his rifle. We were elk hunting and he already had taken a deer so I got to shoot. Here’s a bull Jake shot on opening day a few years back, national forest, MT general license.

 

[TrumpkinTheDwarf]

I'll play! These aren't monsters to some, but they're my best, and on public OTC in MT.

My one and only longbow elk

I grew up busting forkhorns to fill the freezer, but I'm learning now. This buck is special cause I finally learned some patience. I passed a big 4x4 whitetail at 60 yards mid morning from the old road we were driving. Thought my grandpa was gonna have a heart attack that I didn't pull the trigger. I told him I'd wanted to hunt, and still wanted to take a mature muley. That afternoon I hunted alone and found this guy after a mile or two of sidehilling.

Hard to tell that it's a 4x4 in the photo, the sage brush hides a front fork, and he's busted off short on the back.

 

[davinski]

OCT Colorado 2017. Never seen brow tines that big with 5's and 6's so small.

 

[rtraverdavis]

Probably time to revive this thread. Anyone have anything to add from this year? (I don’t.)

Also, for those hesitant of posting pics with backgrounds that give away spots, you could always do what Theat did with his unlimited ram post from last year and blur/paint over the background with a photo editor...

 

[Focus]

Certainly not the caliber of “Big” as some of those above, but a couple nice public land general season MT muleys.

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Clearly you need to change your user name. I’ll take it, since the only photo I have to post is with a little forkie I shot in my 20’s.

 

[wyoboypt]

Sometimes you eat the bar, 6.25-ish square IIRC

Spot and stalk bear in Wyoming?

 

[Deleted member 16014]

Spot and stalk bear in Wyoming?

Yes

 

[BAKPAKR]

Idaho, National Forest

 

[wyoboypt]

Yes

Way to go man! Not too common in Wyoming. Although I hear they do it a lot in Montana. Looks like some steep nasty country. And nice bear!

 

[The Hedgehog]

Way to go man! Not too common in Wyoming. Although I hear they do it a lot in Montana. Looks like some steep nasty country. And nice bear!

Not too common in Wyoming?

 

[rtraverdavis]

Idaho, National Forest

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Wow. Calling @Randy11...

 

[Jape]

I will have to look later for actual harvest pictures later cause I’m being lazy but these are some of the most recent. All OTC tags in Wyoming.

 

[buffybr]

My best bull elk, MT resident general license, National Forest land.

One of my best MT antelope, Resident 700 area tag, Block management land.

My MT Unlimited rams, all DIY solo hunts.