Montana Deer - Most important hunt of the season

[DavidKeenan]

Cant wait to see the video. I love ole people Wisdom, and gut busting laughter. I'm sure you will have one of the pics up with the ducks you showed me.

 

[POk3s]

Absolutely awesome! Can not wait to see the episode!

 

[gman82001]

Awesome plain awesome good job Finn

 

[Brisco]

What a great day! Cant wait to see the episode.

 

[Summitthunting]

Congratulations Ole and Fin, sounds like a good time.

 

[Intothewindoutdoors]

Great story! And great buck! You cant beat those memories!

 

[JohnCushman]

That's awesome!! Congrats to him!!

 

[Big Fin]

Neil as in Neil Severinson?

Yup, the one, the only, Neil Severinson himself. One of my favorite hunting buddies and the most dedicated Ducks Unlimited volunteer I have ever met.

Upon Ole proclaiming it is not right to shoot more than one deer per day, he hands the rifle to Neil and tells him to get in the shooter's chair. Since the two hooligans in the blind are down to nothing but doe tags, Ole refuses to shoot until Neil has had some of the fun.

I let them sort out the details, which for two guys their age, both of whom still take pride in being the winner of an argument, takes considerable time. So, I indulge in a sandwich while they quibble.

Finally, I am given my marching orders. Neil will shoot. Ole will be the spotter and dole out ammo as needed. Ole orders me to start filling some tags with some expletives that have us all laughing. He is completely oblivious to the fact that with the camera right in his face, he has let lose one of the best strings of casual cursing I have ever seen. Too funny.

I offer that I will go all the way down the creek to the property boundary. There is always a good batch of does bedded in that thick stuff. I will loop around and try to bump them up the creek the to stand location. Ole makes me promise I will shoot if the option is available. Sure, whatever you say, elder statesman.

With that, I move off, laughing at the cackling and banter going on in the blind. This is about as funny as it gets. I can only hope that we are able to capture it on tape. Tough with only one camera.

I move down the creek and there are some deer bounding in all directions. Some ahead of me and some circling around me, back up the creek. I get to the property line and start to cross the creek, giving me a better path to bump deer up stream. I hear a shot from the stand. That is good. Only one shot. Man, those guys are good shots.

I continue across the creek and see a really good buck bedded with a doe. It was one of the bucks I saw yesterday and refused to shoot, knowing Ole was coming with his buck tag today. I only had my little Point of View camera, so the footage would be less than the quality we try to get for our show. But, this is not about me and my tags, but Ole and Neil, and they seem to making good progress toward the tag punching operation.

I will come back to this encounter later.

After my encounter with the buck and his bedded doe, I continue toward the stand. A few does bound ahead, but most of them are going to my left, a 90 degree path away from the stand. Dang it.

I come back to the stand and find some more bickering going on. Seems some funny stuff has unfolded in my absence. A nice doe came by. Ole had handed the rifle to Neil and told him it was loaded and ready. Neil should know better than to trust Ole, but he did. As the doe walked up to thirty yards, Neil drew a tight bead.

He steadied and took a deep breath. Ole covers his ears. Neil squeezes the trigger. CLICK. Ole laughs to the point where he can hardly stay seated in his chair. The doe is startled and bounds off. She then stops, presenting not much of a shot with the brush between her and Neil. The does starts walking off and gives Neil a quartering shot. He takes it and misses. Even more fodder for Ole.

I wish I had been there. Unfortunately, I was not. I can only relive it on tape and in the stories and harassing these two guys are giving each other. Neil gives his best, "Payback will come and it will be sweet" look. Ole could not care less about payback. This is his moment of victory. He relishes having pulled a good one on Neil, on TV being even better.

Now, they still have only filled one tag, in spite of a herd of deer having crossed their sights. I can only laugh. A miss can make better TV than a good kill shot.

I had shot a nice doe earlier, after Ole had shot his buck, so I told the guys I was going to get a ranch vehicle for retrieving the deer. They do not want you driving your vehicle around, due to noxious weed issues, so they allow hunters to use one of their beat up ranch trucks. I found the truck they want hunters to use and it had fresh blood in it, evidence that the other hunters of the day had made quicker work of their opportunities than we had.

I head down to collect the deer and when I get to Ole and Neil, they are standing out of the blind waving and laughing in big spirits. Seems in the time it took me to walk a mile and grab a vehicle, an unsuspecting doe made her way past the stand and Neil made the most of his chance. He must have loaded his own bullet in the chamber this time. It was a great doe.

So now these guys have filled two of their three tags. They are very excited. They are talking about who needs more meat, family members who want some, and other manners of dispensing the bounty of the hunt. This is all good.

We conclude we will come back in the morning. Ole and I have doe tags. Neil is filled out. Ole can fill his tag without violating his rule of only one deer per day. A rule I take exception with.

A picture of the truck loaded down with the deer of the day.

 

[jabber]

My math must be getting bad or the picture is lying!!!

Congrats on what sounds to be a very successful hunt all the way around.

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

Sounds like a HOOT! I must have bad math skills also.......it's all good! John

 

[Big Fin]

No bad math. One very nice buck added to the mix after those guys were done shooting. But this story is about their critters and our time together. They were egging me on, so it was fun to see the look on their faces and their excitement for me.

It was one of the bucks I had scouted the day before and had hoped to push to Ole. Yet I knew the first buck he saw would take a bullet. This buck was smart enough to let some other buck walk by Ole. And Ole was as happy with his buck a he would have been with the new world record. Which is why I am so happy for him.

Heading to the stand now. Two doe tags to fill and lots of stories to tell.

 

[IdahoBugler]

This is the coolest post I have read this year. I cant wait to see this episode.

 

[krshntr81]

Best post I have ever read on here! I can't wait to sit down with my dad and watch this episode!

 

[Oak]

Good stuff, Big Fin. Sounds like there woud be a whole lot more elk on the ground this fall if Ole was the gunslinger. Kill shots be damned!

 

[idnative1948]

Obviously a day you will remember and talk about forever.

 

[WFGinNM]

Randy,
That is Awesome. What a great post and hunt, thanks for sharing it with us. Made my day.

--Bill

 

[CABugle]

Can't wait to watch this one, sounds like a great time. That is awsome of you to take those guys along.

CABugle

 

[DavidKeenan]

MATH Im good at. Fin idk lol Maybe Paul Harvey needs to tell, "The rest of the story".

 

[AZ402]

That's cool! Congrats all the way around..

 

[Wally Dog]

Rotfflmao
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