mtlion
Active member
This season I had the pleasure to hunt with a good friend of mine from Germany. Martin and I met through our wives who went to school together and then later worked together. Before Martin and his wife moved back home, we spent a great deal of time hunting bear together in the Root. He had never taken a big game animal and I ended up shooting a bear when he wasn't with me, while his tag went unfilled. Since then we have been planning another hunt that might have more successful prospects and although everybody wants a big elk, I figured deer was the best target. I spent a great deal of time hunting before Martin came over with not much luck in locating any bucks and was getting a little nervous for our prospects. His first day out didn't produce any buck sightings (on huntable land anyway) but we saw some great country. That night however, the weather turned nasty and it got cold and started snowing. The next morning the snow and cold continued and we headed out on some block management I had never set foot on. Very shortly we located a herd of muleys with a nice buck in it but it was going to be a very difficult stalk in the cold and snow that would culminate in a 300 yard shot. We discussed it and it was decided I would attempt the stalk by myself as I didn't think 2 people could do it without spooking the deer out and 300 yards was pushing Martin's self imposed shooting limit. I snuck up on the herd as they were bedded. I could only see the tips of one doe's ears but knew the buck was close as I watched him bed nearby. I set up for a 300 yard shot and waited for him to stand. And waited, and waited. All in all I sat on my knees in the snow for 2 hours and just as the weather started to clear the doe stood and I knew it was time. Shortly after the buck stood up and my shot was true.
After getting my buck out we decided I needed some dry clothes and hot food for the afternoon hunt as it was bitterly cold and I got a little wet sitting in the snow. So we headed in to town and regrouped. After lunch we headed back out and a couple hours before dark we started to see some deer movement on the river bottom. As I watched a couple muley does through my spotter I saw a good whitetail buck ghost by along the tree line from a mile away. We figured there was no way we'd find him but there were a lot of other deer moving so we decided to still hunt along the edge of the trees and the field hoping to see something. After we had walked a half mile Martin tapped me on the shoulder and said there's a deer right there. I looked and saw the whitetail buck we had spotted from the truck at fifty yards and closing. Martin did not hesitate and set up on the shooting sticks for a shot. As the buck passed between two cottonwoods at 50 yards he dropped it in it's tracks with a high shoulder shot. I'm pretty sure they heard us whooping all they way in town after his shot. It was a nice 4 point with a split brow on one side and a damn fine first buck. He decided on a shoulder mount and it is destined to hang next to his northern pike mount from Peck that he caught on one of our ice fishing trips when he lived here.
As we had the bucks taken care of in one day we decide a little fishing and doe hunting was in order. I filled one of my muley tags but the whitetail does weren't cooperating for Martin as well as his buck had.
Here's a couple shots of the sunset on the last evening of our doe hunt.
After getting my buck out we decided I needed some dry clothes and hot food for the afternoon hunt as it was bitterly cold and I got a little wet sitting in the snow. So we headed in to town and regrouped. After lunch we headed back out and a couple hours before dark we started to see some deer movement on the river bottom. As I watched a couple muley does through my spotter I saw a good whitetail buck ghost by along the tree line from a mile away. We figured there was no way we'd find him but there were a lot of other deer moving so we decided to still hunt along the edge of the trees and the field hoping to see something. After we had walked a half mile Martin tapped me on the shoulder and said there's a deer right there. I looked and saw the whitetail buck we had spotted from the truck at fifty yards and closing. Martin did not hesitate and set up on the shooting sticks for a shot. As the buck passed between two cottonwoods at 50 yards he dropped it in it's tracks with a high shoulder shot. I'm pretty sure they heard us whooping all they way in town after his shot. It was a nice 4 point with a split brow on one side and a damn fine first buck. He decided on a shoulder mount and it is destined to hang next to his northern pike mount from Peck that he caught on one of our ice fishing trips when he lived here.
As we had the bucks taken care of in one day we decide a little fishing and doe hunting was in order. I filled one of my muley tags but the whitetail does weren't cooperating for Martin as well as his buck had.
Here's a couple shots of the sunset on the last evening of our doe hunt.
...I'll have Martin read it though. 
