Elkwhisper
Well-known member
Don't get me wrong...... I am a BIG fan of the 9 months of the year I get to chase big game here in Montana. The opportunities we are afforded here are unmatched. I take full advantage, and spend 3 months each spring chasing bears..... kick things off in mid August chasing antelope and wrap things up in mid February with a few late season archery buck tags. I am rarely sitting at home wishing I could go hunting......
That said, after a BUNCH of days in the field this fall and quite literally 100s of bucks passed up, I can tell you with much certainty that VERY few bucks of the class I am really looking for exist here. At least on public land.
Often I find myself trying to compensate by swapping out my rifle for the bow.... handgun... or muzzleloader. In fact, I spent a good amount of time with the old stick and string in tow this year and came really close to closing the deal on bucks that would have made me happy several times.
As the season wore on and the clock kept ticking the pressure to fill my tag grew. I have committed to helping several kids and buddies get bucks and bulls over Thanksgiving week and my time was getting limited. So eventually I pulled out the rifle and knocked this one down. To be sure, this is a decent buck on the top end of what I was able to find this year, and I appreciate this one just as much as any other. Every animal I take matters to me... but after getting this one back to the house I was struck with a solemn realization...... I have killed literally dozens of bucks like this....... did this one need to die just so I could have some sense of completion.... of accomplishment? To be sure the meat was well taken care of and will be put to good use.... but so would the meat of a doe if I had chosen to shoot his girlfriend.
I enjoy the search... the chase so much, I am just not sure why after 30+ years of hunting, part of me feels the need to punch my tag no matter what. And my guess is that I am not alone in that feeling...... and that is why I am part of the problem. Who knows what this buck might have turned into in two years.... we will never know. And such is the case with hundreds, if not thousands of up and comimg bucks here in the Big Sky state. I know it shouldn't take laws and regulations to throttle these impulses.... but because I am allowed a buck tag each year and upwards of 12 weeks to fill it..through the rut.... you can pretty much bet I am not going home empty handed.
So long story short....I think I turned a page this season. From now on elk are for eating.....and one will find it's way to my freezer every year, but I will not pull the trigger on another Mule Deer that I cant genuinely be proud of. That isnt to say that I need one that will net B&C.... in fact I am not even sure it matters how big he is. And in MT, if B&C was my threshold I might never pull the trigger. I am much more interested in finding an experience that I find personally rewarding. That might be a much smaller buck with my bow..... or maybe one taken while hunting with a good friend or my daughter...or maybe one in just a cool ass place where it all feels "right". What I don't want to do is to shoot a buck.... just to shoot a buck.
A buddy of mine recently suggested a license structure that only allowed you a buck every two years. In theory you could hunt every year but if.you pulled the trigger you were done for 2 years. I know that is not in keeping with what MFWP is managing for... but can you imagine how the age class of bucks would improve if we took half as many bucks and were all more selective with our harvest.
I dont expect my musings to change anything with the regulations.... but for me, I am personally done being part of the mule deer problem in MT. That said, each year I end up helping a half dozen or so kids and buddies fill their tags. I dont expect them to have the same outlook on things as I do, and will be happy for them with whatever buck trips their trigger. So it is doubtful that I will have ANY net impact in the age class of of deer in my area.... but for me I am looking at things a little differently.
Not sure I'll feel the same next season....or the season after that, but for now I am going to do my best to not be part of the "problem".
That said, after a BUNCH of days in the field this fall and quite literally 100s of bucks passed up, I can tell you with much certainty that VERY few bucks of the class I am really looking for exist here. At least on public land.
Often I find myself trying to compensate by swapping out my rifle for the bow.... handgun... or muzzleloader. In fact, I spent a good amount of time with the old stick and string in tow this year and came really close to closing the deal on bucks that would have made me happy several times.
As the season wore on and the clock kept ticking the pressure to fill my tag grew. I have committed to helping several kids and buddies get bucks and bulls over Thanksgiving week and my time was getting limited. So eventually I pulled out the rifle and knocked this one down. To be sure, this is a decent buck on the top end of what I was able to find this year, and I appreciate this one just as much as any other. Every animal I take matters to me... but after getting this one back to the house I was struck with a solemn realization...... I have killed literally dozens of bucks like this....... did this one need to die just so I could have some sense of completion.... of accomplishment? To be sure the meat was well taken care of and will be put to good use.... but so would the meat of a doe if I had chosen to shoot his girlfriend.
I enjoy the search... the chase so much, I am just not sure why after 30+ years of hunting, part of me feels the need to punch my tag no matter what. And my guess is that I am not alone in that feeling...... and that is why I am part of the problem. Who knows what this buck might have turned into in two years.... we will never know. And such is the case with hundreds, if not thousands of up and comimg bucks here in the Big Sky state. I know it shouldn't take laws and regulations to throttle these impulses.... but because I am allowed a buck tag each year and upwards of 12 weeks to fill it..through the rut.... you can pretty much bet I am not going home empty handed.
So long story short....I think I turned a page this season. From now on elk are for eating.....and one will find it's way to my freezer every year, but I will not pull the trigger on another Mule Deer that I cant genuinely be proud of. That isnt to say that I need one that will net B&C.... in fact I am not even sure it matters how big he is. And in MT, if B&C was my threshold I might never pull the trigger. I am much more interested in finding an experience that I find personally rewarding. That might be a much smaller buck with my bow..... or maybe one taken while hunting with a good friend or my daughter...or maybe one in just a cool ass place where it all feels "right". What I don't want to do is to shoot a buck.... just to shoot a buck.
A buddy of mine recently suggested a license structure that only allowed you a buck every two years. In theory you could hunt every year but if.you pulled the trigger you were done for 2 years. I know that is not in keeping with what MFWP is managing for... but can you imagine how the age class of bucks would improve if we took half as many bucks and were all more selective with our harvest.
I dont expect my musings to change anything with the regulations.... but for me, I am personally done being part of the mule deer problem in MT. That said, each year I end up helping a half dozen or so kids and buddies fill their tags. I dont expect them to have the same outlook on things as I do, and will be happy for them with whatever buck trips their trigger. So it is doubtful that I will have ANY net impact in the age class of of deer in my area.... but for me I am looking at things a little differently.
Not sure I'll feel the same next season....or the season after that, but for now I am going to do my best to not be part of the "problem".
