Wildabeest
Well-known member
All over again...
First day of what’s hopefully becoming a tradition for my son and I to hunt MT the week of Thanksgiving. I didn’t do a full write up on our hunt last year, but did post about it on an existing thread.
We only had buck deer tags last year, and it was his first hunt ever, so pretty cool that we were both able to have bucks on the ground the morning of our first day.
Today was the first day of a 9 day hunt in MT. Unlike last year, we put in for more tags this year, so we both have Big Game Combo (any elk and buck deer) and Deer B (doe) tags. We are fortunate to own some property in MT that gives us access to two different sections of State Trust lands that don’t otherwise have public access. On the plus side, these tracts have very light hunting pressure, but on the negative side each is only 1 square mile so the critters are either there or they aren’t. Completely surrounded by private, so it’s not your typical “big country” western hunt.
I grew up stand and still hunting back east, and it’s something that I’m very comfortable with, and it turns out both of these public lands parcels are very well suited to that style of hunt. One of the parcels has had some selective thinning done on the timber, so it provides good cover for both predator and prey, as well as providing good opportunities to spot game close in before they spot you if you are meticulous with how you move through it. Last year our day 1 plan was to get into the public, then split off and he was going to work around it in a clockwise manner and I was going to work around counter-clockwise and see what happened. The hope was that one of us would see something and get a shot, or we would perhaps push some game towards one or the other. As discussed in the post about last year, that strategy paid off with my son taking his first deer less than 2 hrs in, then I took one as well while we were gutting his.
Last year...
First day of what’s hopefully becoming a tradition for my son and I to hunt MT the week of Thanksgiving. I didn’t do a full write up on our hunt last year, but did post about it on an existing thread.
Would you rather - Trophy solo or Shooter w/buddy
I think people today are afraid of being alone for extended periods. It's a great way to find out what you're made of. I'd take a doe solo. Just for the personal lessons I'd learn!
www.hunttalk.com
Today was the first day of a 9 day hunt in MT. Unlike last year, we put in for more tags this year, so we both have Big Game Combo (any elk and buck deer) and Deer B (doe) tags. We are fortunate to own some property in MT that gives us access to two different sections of State Trust lands that don’t otherwise have public access. On the plus side, these tracts have very light hunting pressure, but on the negative side each is only 1 square mile so the critters are either there or they aren’t. Completely surrounded by private, so it’s not your typical “big country” western hunt.
I grew up stand and still hunting back east, and it’s something that I’m very comfortable with, and it turns out both of these public lands parcels are very well suited to that style of hunt. One of the parcels has had some selective thinning done on the timber, so it provides good cover for both predator and prey, as well as providing good opportunities to spot game close in before they spot you if you are meticulous with how you move through it. Last year our day 1 plan was to get into the public, then split off and he was going to work around it in a clockwise manner and I was going to work around counter-clockwise and see what happened. The hope was that one of us would see something and get a shot, or we would perhaps push some game towards one or the other. As discussed in the post about last year, that strategy paid off with my son taking his first deer less than 2 hrs in, then I took one as well while we were gutting his.
Last year...
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