I have a buddy who moved to Montana for college and never left. Once out of college we've made it a mission to try and figure out some of Montanas big game hunting. The first couple years we headed way north to the Flathead National Forest. We killed one buck each year and decided we should keep exploring.
This year we both turkey hunted eastern Montana and saw plenty of whitetails. Beings as I live in Wyoming, and he's from Wyoming, the mule deer of Montana don't interest us as much. Although if we can find some places with bigger bucks that could change.
We both hunted our way to our predetermined camping spot and I actually did see whitetail. Some far off, and some close but just over the fence into private property.The first morning we got off to a slow start. We hadn't seen each other in 6 months, so the "campfire rituals" went ab bit long the night before. After dropping off Preston, my buddy, I went up the road a ways with plans to meet him back where I dropped him off. There was a truck where I wanted to park so plans were changing in a hurry. I parked where I dropped him off and headed the other direction. We both found deer that morning but only had fleeting glimpses of white flags.
After meeting back up I mentioned I wanted to check the spot I was too late to that morning. If nothing else just to see what it looked like in real life and poke around for some sign mid day. About 200 yards into our walk I saw two does sneaking through the brush. I had my rifle, while Preston had his grandpas 30-30 since this was just a mid day scouting mission. We both had doe tags and I got prone figuring this was a great time to fill it. I dumped the first doe while the second ran straight at us. I heard the 30-30 bark to my left as the second doe turned inside out on her escape.
As I watched that doe turn, the woods came alive farther to our left. I saw a good buck stand up and dumped him where he stood. My exact quote was "I hope he's as nice as he looked when he stood up!" Preston agreed that for the split second he saw him he looked nice as well. We both were excited as we walked up to him and realized he was a very good public land deer! The biggest we had ever had in our camp. After retrieving my doe and making sure prestons shot missed the mark we all of the sudden had the better part of the day getting some pictures and breaking down a couple deer. Maybe next year I'll have a little more time to hunt and not fill both tags 6 seconds apart!!!
Preston was able to fill his buck tag two days later only 200 yards from where my buck's carcass laid.
In the third image there's obviously a third guy. I had a friend move away in middle school. He now lives in North Dakota and was nice enough to come down and spend camp with us for a few days. He was in the navy for a while and the first time I saw him was over my deer carcasses and on Veterans Day!!! After about 3 phone calls he was able to track me down in the middle of no where hahaha. It was a sweet moment!
This year we both turkey hunted eastern Montana and saw plenty of whitetails. Beings as I live in Wyoming, and he's from Wyoming, the mule deer of Montana don't interest us as much. Although if we can find some places with bigger bucks that could change.
We both hunted our way to our predetermined camping spot and I actually did see whitetail. Some far off, and some close but just over the fence into private property.The first morning we got off to a slow start. We hadn't seen each other in 6 months, so the "campfire rituals" went ab bit long the night before. After dropping off Preston, my buddy, I went up the road a ways with plans to meet him back where I dropped him off. There was a truck where I wanted to park so plans were changing in a hurry. I parked where I dropped him off and headed the other direction. We both found deer that morning but only had fleeting glimpses of white flags.
After meeting back up I mentioned I wanted to check the spot I was too late to that morning. If nothing else just to see what it looked like in real life and poke around for some sign mid day. About 200 yards into our walk I saw two does sneaking through the brush. I had my rifle, while Preston had his grandpas 30-30 since this was just a mid day scouting mission. We both had doe tags and I got prone figuring this was a great time to fill it. I dumped the first doe while the second ran straight at us. I heard the 30-30 bark to my left as the second doe turned inside out on her escape.
As I watched that doe turn, the woods came alive farther to our left. I saw a good buck stand up and dumped him where he stood. My exact quote was "I hope he's as nice as he looked when he stood up!" Preston agreed that for the split second he saw him he looked nice as well. We both were excited as we walked up to him and realized he was a very good public land deer! The biggest we had ever had in our camp. After retrieving my doe and making sure prestons shot missed the mark we all of the sudden had the better part of the day getting some pictures and breaking down a couple deer. Maybe next year I'll have a little more time to hunt and not fill both tags 6 seconds apart!!!
Preston was able to fill his buck tag two days later only 200 yards from where my buck's carcass laid.
In the third image there's obviously a third guy. I had a friend move away in middle school. He now lives in North Dakota and was nice enough to come down and spend camp with us for a few days. He was in the navy for a while and the first time I saw him was over my deer carcasses and on Veterans Day!!! After about 3 phone calls he was able to track me down in the middle of no where hahaha. It was a sweet moment!
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