Shooting a mule deer buck in open country during the rut with a high powered rifle is not hard. It’s borderline unsporting.
Planning for an Eastern Montana mule deer hunt
- Thread starter Jpopejoy1980
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Southern Elk
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I never understand why people argue with folks who live in eastern MT and have seen the decline first hand.
Nick87
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Did it once, I can attest. Dumber than a day old chicken.
Cheesehead
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Exactly.
That’s why it’s ridiculous to me that people are 24 pages into bitching about how tough / ruined it is.
It sure looks like the closest thing to shooting fish in a barrel outside of pronghorns and you all complain endlessly.
It’s because we are actually lying about it. Just a bunch of whiners is all
So are we just suppose to accept it?
Nick87
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Ignorance is bliss.
EYJONAS!
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This thread is f'n awesome. In honor of our own local biologist I wanna bring this little note back to life. Just to make sure everyone knows who's got the real mule deer handle on things.
The people complaining could most likely shoot a legal buck in 1-2 hours of hunting maybe less. Wisconsin people it sometimes takes a week or more. Some of us like to see wildlife on the landscape and healthy deer herds. Nothing about the opportunity to harvest a fork horn although that may be where things are headed.
Cheesehead
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I have seen umpteen threads from this Montanan-centric crowd on this forum bitching about the state of their mule deer herd.
I’ve rarely if ever seen a call to action to do anything about it.
I’d happily send an email to a Montana state rep or senator for better management. Let me know what to do. Seriously.
(Speaking beyond just deer here) I think Montana should take best practices from ID/CO/AZ/WY. They have a lot of good ideas to steal. Tags not guaranteed to anyone R or NR, random draws, a decent 90/10 split with no bullshit outfitter/come home to hunt/native Montana garbage tags, mandatory unit by unit harvest reporting. Get rid of your objectives which seem nonsensical, eliminate the ridiculous complexity your silly state has with preference / bonus points.
Appropriately fund your state wildlife agency to have the right data and hold them accountable to do the right thing. Sixteen dollars for a deer tag? Twenty for an elk tag? GTFO
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Shangobango
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You had a like until this edit.
I get what you said about the hunting and ease of finding and killing deer being a cakewalk compared to hunting whitetails in the jungle. What folks in the west call pressured public ground makes me triple check to make sure the season is really open. But that is kind of the point and it is what these folks are trying to say. The deer or more vulnerable and the folks setting the seasons should take that into account.
Nick87
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My old man used to say "if you give give calf enough rope he'll hang himself." Watching it unfold as we speak.
antlerradar
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The problem in Eastern Montana is almost all of the bucks will be within a 100 yards of a road multiple times during November.
Cheesehead
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Thanks. I get it.
It appears to be insanely easy hunting because it is. I’ve seen mule deer in the rut off of roads. They’re dumb. It also appears to be crack for Montanans else they would have made mature management decisions prior to now.
Until then, I’m headed up to dump a forky
Many of us would if we could. You cemented my thoughts on Wisconsins thanks.Thanks. I get it.
It appears to be insanely easy hunting because it is. I’ve seen mule deer in the rut off of roads. They’re dumb. It also appears to be crack for Montanans else they would have made mature management decisions prior to now.
Until then, I’m headed up to dump a forky
Cheesehead
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Sounds like a great time to drive out to Montana!
Nick87
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My step son shot this Wisconsin buck after it walked off a public dnr tract of public about 160 acres onto the private we were on. Took longer to drive there than it did to kill the buck. That tract is open to anyone to hunt. Took all of 20 minutes to pick that spot
♂.
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EYJONAS!
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I write the fwp every year for the last 8. I submit letters to regional offices, commissioners, talk to biologist and I get the feeling it never goes anywhere. It's unfortunate as hell but, those are the cards we're dealt at the expense of the state of wildlife. It's bullshit we can't ever seem to get any traction with it. What do you expect though with outfitters and businesses basically controlling the outcome of every decision because it always ends with ..... another opportunity and they view it as a success. Only problem is the success heavily favors their views.
It ain't rocket science you can't have a 12.5 week, free for all shit show for everyone to participate in.
I'm great with higher tag prices and adjustments to almost everything. One thing is for sure, my kids right now will probably never get a better opportunity than right now, to "hunt" mule deer and that's sad as hell to say.
Cheesehead
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Montanans hate me now for telling them, objectively,
how much they appear to suck from an outsiders’ observation. How limp-wristed they appear from afar. How poorly managed they are vs their peers, how their own self-absorption/bitchiness quotient far exceeds anyone else.
It’s a good impetus for me to get after it.
And hopefully for you Montanans as well.
Talk soon, and signing off. Peace.
how much they appear to suck from an outsiders’ observation. How limp-wristed they appear from afar. How poorly managed they are vs their peers, how their own self-absorption/bitchiness quotient far exceeds anyone else.
It’s a good impetus for me to get after it.
And hopefully for you Montanans as well.
Talk soon, and signing off. Peace.
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