MT Private Land BUCK Slayers

ignorethefringes

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 19, 2016
Messages
3,074
Formerly of MT Private Land Doe Slayers (with a surprise buck tag), and FL to MT 2020 (with buck and elk tags, but none injured), Dad and I headed back to Montana again in November with two Type A deer tags in our pockets and a lucky antelope tag for the area we'd be chasing deer for dad. Since thread is not actually live I'll (try to) go a little briefer than I have in the past.

My goals for this trip were as follows, in order of priority: kill my first mule deer buck, get dad a buck, fill that pronghorn tag. Same rules as the past, the spotter gets first choice to shoot or pass, and my eyes are still better than dad's LOL.

Y'all are familiar with the long drives we make. Since my move to TN last year the drive dropped from 40 hours or so to approximately 30 hours. Same as last year, we left east TN and drove to Sioux Falls, SD on the first day (+/- 16 hours). The second day we stopped in Billings, MT (+/- 10 hours) and the final drive on the third day took us into Havre, MT (+/- 4 hours). We left my house early in the morning on 10/30, missing out on Halloween and trunk or treat with my family (which will be held over my head for the next 12 months I'm sure) and arrived in Havre early/midday on 11/01.

Day 1: Kory, whose land we would be hunting, had told us in advance that none of his CRP property had been cut this year but that nearly all other properties around him had been cut in some way. Upon arrival, we found this to be true but that our expectations of higher concentrations of game on land we could hunt due to this information were false. The main parcels that we hunted our first year in MT lost a lot of game last year after emergency cutting of CRP for hay and they simply haven't returned yet. Our first day turned into scouting both the private land we had access to along with various small public parcels nearby.

Day one included this picture of us about to set off on our first hike, but not much else.

1668527428408.png

Day 2: The one property we didn't get to scout on day 1 was a family "farm" north of the rest of the parcels. I put "farm" as only a small piece of the property is still actively farmed while the remainder is basically sage flats and rolling hills. It is bordered Canada on the north includes a wholly surrounded (very small) piece of BLM and some decent topography for the area. We had seen bucks there last year after dad had filled his buck tag and knew no one was hunting there and the deer were unpressured. The goal today was to scout the northern property and see what was hiding out. In our search, we turned up and spooked a big group of whitetail does with maybe a little buck included. You may notice how bright and sunny the above picture is. Well, today was much colder, and way, way windier. The wind would make multiple appearances on this trip. The wind included snow and made it literally impossible to keep your eyes open for a decent picture to send the wife.

1668528069817.png

1668528127065.png

We made our way back to the bottom, heated up water to make soup, and spent some time glassing and warming up.

1668528260236.png

1668528294965.png

While glassing, I thought I saw a deer bedded up in a little bowl. My first instinct was to tell dad, "I'm just about positive I see a mule deer buck bedded way up there." This was followed by much doubt and going back and forth since our viewing angle was somewhat blocked by that tower in the picture. Eventually, we remembered that we had a spotting scope and, if we braved the wind and cold, we could get a better look. The spotting scope confirmed mule deer buck and, more importantly, mule deer buck I would shoot given the opportunity. Quickly we devised a plan where we could drive the truck and then make a hike get in position for a shot.

The buck was smart, and had bedded in a bowl that both protected him from the wind while also allowing him to view all of the ridgelines where something like us could try and sneak up on him. Additionally, the bowl was small enough that by the time we got within view of the buck we would be close, probably within 100 yards. Spoiler alert, the bucks planning worked out well for him. We stalked until we could see antler, and then got down and tried to crawl to where we could get a shot. The antler view confirmed that not only was this a shooter buck for me, but likely a shooter for both of us. He was a tall, heavy 4x4 with eye guards and was much bigger than I was expecting. Unfortunately, due to the slight slope we were working with and the bucks situational advantage, he caught glimpse of something he didn't like. A quick turn of his head turned into a fleeing buck (no muley look back this time) with no shot opportunity and disappointed hunters. Still, it was day 2 and we'd put a stalk on a shooter muley and were happy with our prospects despite the overall lack of game. The stalk plan generally worked, even if we'd blown it.

We ended up back at the house a little early but with a plan for the morning.

Day 3: We know knew that our best chance of getting to look at bucks would be at the northern farm and that's where we planned to be. Today was colder, but there was almost no wind which we expected had kept the deer down the last couple of days. We hoped that the combination of the cold but windless weather would have deer out and moving. If nothing else, the sunrise was beautiful.

1668529215898.png

Right off the bat, we were seeing deer. We bumped two small whitetail bucks in the dark as we pulled into the farm immediately got our hopes up for the day. We started our glassing from the bottom like we'd done the afternoon before and quickly turned up bucks moving up top. A plan was devised and put into action. Park, hike, find deer, reposition to get in range, kill deer. Initially, this worked out great before I was reminded of an ominous comment on my thread from last year. . .

@ajricketts I think I know a home in Maryville TN that needs Santa to bring a good range finder for future adventures in hunting!!

Glad you gents had a grand father son adventure.

Due to the lack of background land features. I was having a hard time getting a range on the buck. Dad and I both agreed that, due to past failures in similar situations, we'd hold dead on and hope for the best. I was shooting prone, laid across my day pack, rock solid. *Bang* . . . nothing other than deer confused by sound they can't pinpoint. I must have done something, pulled something. Breathe, relax, calm, *Bang* nothing. Okay, maybe the distance is off, go down a hash mark on the scope. Breathe, relax, calm, *Bang* nothing. Welp, I had one round left and no idea what to do with deer that were getting antsy.

I'll throw in here that we sighted in when we got to MT and we both dead on where we'd left our scopes.

I look at dad, who is further behind me and can't see everything but is getting confused. Hand and body gestures ask for a range and he gives me something like 217 which should be a dead on hold. His range finder has been consistent and reliable when we use it, so again, breathe, relax, hold dead on, *Bang* nothing. The bucks are moving off now, but actually heading somewhat in and to our left while dad sneaks up to me.

Dad: Do you want me to try? What happened?
Me: I'm out; I only had 4 in the mag. No idea, go for it!
Dad: Ok let me get set up move over.

At this time the target buck out of the group of 4 was lagging behind and still trying to figure out where we were. Dad got on the pack and did the breathe, relax, calm *Bang* and a "You hit him, but he's up moving to the left. Hit him again!" Dad's second shot was true and put the buck down within the next couple of seconds and we were rewarded with our first buck of trip, dad's first whitetail buck.

1668530658936.png

1668530676705.png

These pictures don't do it justice. The body was huge and he's a solid mainframe 8 with a kicker on each said making him a 10. My son holding it back at home gives a little better perspective.

1668530774501.png

I've actually be wondering if dad's buck is a hybrid based on a few thing. One, both sides have the kicker like it's looking to be a 4x4 muley style rack. Two, the nose seemed to be longer and the overall facial structure seemed a little different. Three, his body was just huge. Four, he wasn't quite as skittish as the other whitetails he was with. But, all that being said, his tail was full whitetail and all of the other bucks with him were whitetails.

More to come.
 
Last edited:
Continued, still day 3, lots of (too much) narrative incoming:

Before I walked over to Dad's buck to celebrate with him I walked back to the truck to get more ammo. Then I walked over to where I thought the deer was standing when I shot while he hiked towards his buck. And then I kept walking until I found his tracks (and lack of blood confirming complete misses). From there I ranged back to the front of the hill we were shooting from and got 330 yards over and over again. Figuring in the difference between the front and the peak of the hill, I figure he was at least 350+ yards when I was shooting and I was just under him. Oh well, buck down and time to celebrate.

We took some pictures, high fived and hugged, etc. Then I told dad I wanted to just peak over the top of the hill his buck died on since the other bucks didn't see too terribly spooked. We parted ways and he got to work. It wasn't long before I was back by his side. . .

Me: There are deer in the next two draws, at least one of which is a small buck.
Dad: Get over there, I'm good here for now!

Well, you don't ignore orders from your dad so I took off. Upon cresting the hill I glass and realized the small buck had moved off somewhere else and the closest draw was empty. However, up ahead of me was the small bowl the mule deer buck was bedded in yesterday. I slowly crept up the hillside, took off my pack, and eased over the top, and nothing. It was here that I realized just how protected the mule deer buck had been. Basically any entrance into the bowl would put you probably close to 50 yards by the time you got a shot, and he could be up and out of sight very quickly.

Anyway, I knew that there were, at least previously, deer in the next draw as well so I worked through the small bowl and eased up the other side. As I eased up, I found the small buck I'd see previously again. Glassing a little further I found that there was another slightly better buck with him. Dad and I have talked several times about how awesome it would be to tag out on the same day and I made the decision that I would shoot the bigger of the bucks if given the opportunity, but the primary plan became just to fill the tag with any buck right now.

I slipped back a little bit and grabbed my pack and started to crawl up to the crest again, only to catch ears on the close hillside. There was a whitetail doe working her way right towards me. The sun was directly at my back and the wind was in my favor, but any movement would be easily seen. I hoped a buck might follow her and tried to stay still but she obviously had me pegged, although not sure what I was. She ended up working to within probably 30 yards of me staring the whole time when I started to see antlers come up over the hill. I figure my best bet is to spook the doe now before the buck sees me and hope they don't run too far so I made a slight move to get on my rifle. Immediately the doe stomped snorted and turned off down the hill from whence she came.

I lowered the bipod, grabbed my pack and quickly crawled up to the crest of the hill and threw my pack down. I'd previously ranged the bottom hillside while glassing and knew it was just a hair under 200 yards. Quickly I saw that the doe and buck had stopped at the bottom. She was looking for me, he was looking at her like, "What in the world are you doing crazy lady?" Breathe, relax, calm, *Bang* HIT. I couldn't tell where at the moment but determined later a little far back. He took off in a short burst in pain down the draw which actually brought him a little closer. I remembered what I told dad earlier so Breathe, relax, calm, *Bang* and a solid hit. He made one last attempt to run uphill, turned, and went down. Quick sidebar, I was very happy with the Norma 308 150gr softpoint that I switched to this year. Super accurate and it performed very well. Recovered separate jacket and core in offside shoulder after breaking two ribs and taking out the top of the heart.

First thought is, "Can't believe we just tagged out on deer. He's not big, but big enough. This is awesome!"

Well, no ground shrinkage on this one for me. To say I was happy is an understatement. This is my first antlered buck since about 2004 and my best buck to date. Obviously didn't get my first mule deer buck, but I'm not complaining.

1668536333102.png

1668536190889.png

1668536761112.png

Also really pleased with the knife I bought with the $50 credit after signing up for GoHunt.

1668536226194.png

1668536266548.png

My son again for comparison purposes lol.

1668536822180.png

I only took the first picture before dropping my heavier jacket, putting my orange hat on an antler, and heading back over to tell dad. Of course, I tried to play it down but he heard the shots and was already getting excited. He kept working on his buck while I hiked back to the truck again. Being private land, we'd been granted permission to drive out to any deer we had down. After finishing the gutless method on dad's buck we headed over to mine and took care of it as well and snapped a couple more pictures.

1668536572193.png


1668536586180.png

Those pictures are a good face comparison between the two. My deer seemed older based on a couple things, particularly all the gray on his face, but dad's head is much bigger in general and noticeably longer in the nose. You may also notice he staged his head a little further forward in the picture with me so it looks that much bigger lol.

Not much later we were back at the southern farm garage eating some lunch with the game bags hanging to cool and dry.

1668536897845.png
 
Last edited:
Congratulations @ajrcktts on another fun adventure.

I loved that you circled back on to my range finder comment of previous years hunting report!
I've made a determination that a black Friday deal on a rangefinder is going to be my Christmas present to myself. I think I've earned it lol. Feel free to make recommendations in the sub $300 range or so.
 
Last edited:
I've made a determination that a black Friday deal on a rangefinder is going to be my Christmas present to myself. I think I've earned it lol. Feel free to make recommendations in the sub $300 range or so.
I have the Sig Sauer Kilo 1400 (discontinued?) which was a huge upgrade from my first range finder. GoHunt has the Kilo1600 for 299.99. Right up your alley!!

 
Day 4: We still had an antelope tag burning a hole in Dad's pocket. In prior years, we randomly ran into antelope on various parts of all of Kory's parcels throughout our trips. For whatever reason, this year we couldn't turn them up on the property to save our lives. We spent the last part of day 3 driving around glassing both private and public nearby. All of day 4 was spent doing something similar, with some time spent watching specific property lines where we'd seen some antelope cross occasionally during our scouting trips. No luck turning up huntable pronghorn. Shout out to @mtmiller for trying to help us even if we weren't able to capitalize on the help.

Due to the length of our drive, we always pay a lot of attention to the local weather and the weather projected for along our route. There had been a fair bit of snow, and much colder temps, coming on the last few days of our trip the whole time we'd been in town. Originally, because we had 2 buck tags we'd planned to give ourselves 6 full days of hunting plus the half day of hunting/scouting when we pulled into town on day 1. Now, with the deer tags filled and potential rough weather rolling in on days 5, 6, and 7 of hunting plus the day of our planned departure, we started talking about heading out early.

We'd actually always hoped to head out of town early just to give ourselves more time to process before we both had to fly out to FL for a family wedding. If we took all of our hunting days and pushed it as long as possible, we'd be pulling into hometown on a Thursday midday with dad flying out Friday and me flying out Saturday. Any time we headed out early would only. By the end of day 4 we determined that we should hunt the morning of day 5, but then head out for home.

Day 5: We figured we'd give it one more morning hunt checking local public parcels and private one more time before heading to the shop at the farm, gathering up the game bags, and hitting the road. Our hopes of finding antelope on land we could hunt were low, and our efforts were weak. We slept in late, made a good breakfast, and headed out after daylight was well underway. Our first several locations were unsurprising as no animals accessible. Then, when we were paying the least attention possible, checking the last location before hitting the shop, suddenly glassed up antelope. We were caught totally off guard and spooked them with the truck. But this time, they ran towards huntable property!

Based upon our success with the deer, we quickly devised a plan which included a 1+ mile sneak to get within 200 yards with the wind our favor. Oh right, the wind. I should mention that we found out later from Kory that the wind that morning was pushing 60 mph and we felt every bit of it. The quick plan we threw together "worked" in that we were able to get within shootable range. But the animals were clumped up and bedded so that there was no clear shot for ages. Eventually they grew tired of us being visible and started to mill around. With our position and the vegetation, dad was unable to shoot prone. He was kneeling instead and really struggling to get stable with the right to left cross wind. Unfortunately, the combination of difficulties resulted in a clean miss when the buck finally cleared the group ever so slightly. But we were happy to have at least had a stalk and shot at a buck so the tag wasn't totally unhunted lol.

We checked for blood and started the 1+ mile hike back to the truck directly into the wind. It wasn't long before we realized it might have been for the best that we missed that buck as the wind started to include some hail and then heavy snow right as we got back to the truck and shortly thereafter the shop.

We hit the road around 2pm for Billings, MT and throughout the 4-hour drive we drove through conditions that were probably relatively normal for y'all but enough for me lol. The wind had me cocking the steering wheel against it just to stay in the lane and keeping our speed a down. When trying to use the windshield washer fluid it would be pushed to the side 6+ inches before it even hit the windshield even though were doing about 60 mph lol. For a stretch the snow was coming down so heavy we could basically only see a bit of the road ahead of us, but then suddenly we broke the other side of the storm into bright sunny skies even though the wind didn't subside. On the drive we passed several tipped or rolled trucks pulling trailers, along with some abandoned fifth wheels.

Days 6+: Since we hit the road several days early, we took an extra day driving home. As noted above, we left Havre for Billings, MT on day 1, then Billings, MT to Omaha, NE on day 2 where we had a delicious steak dinner to celebrate our prowess and success as one does. Or, rather, my wife insisted that we eat steak because we were in Omaha and dad picked a fancy steak place off the map lol. My wife demanded pictures of the food so you're getting them too.

1668610879153.png

1668610867694.png

1668610962056.png

Then from Omaha, NE to Mt. Vernon, IL and Mt. Vernon, IL to home in east TN where aforementioned pictures of my son took place, along with this one.

1668611034342.png

Over the next couple days we got everything processed down and into vacuum bags for the freezer while also processing both current yield and some meat from last year into 10lbs of pastrami (still curing), 10lbs of Italian sausage, 2.5lbs of jerky (finished), and 23(ish) pounds of grind cut with 10% beef brisket fat trimmings.

Then one more quick trip for my sister's wedding in FL and finally back home for a reasonable stretch on Monday 11/14. During processing I noticed some back straps I'd missed from last year and was forced to cook them up yesterday for dinner. Marinate overnight, sear as a roast in cast iron, throw in 400 degree oven until desired temp, slice, eat with leftover rice that my wife makes which is amazing. Good way to tie up a story.

1668611432801.png
 

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
113,779
Messages
2,032,842
Members
36,327
Latest member
Indomitus
Back
Top