6 guys, pockets full of tags, 5 days: 19 deer down, 6 headed to families in need.
It was a good week in SW MT. We have a little ritual whitetail hunt in a tiny valley overpopulated with deer. The goal has always been to take out as many does as possible. We've hit years with numbers as high as 30, and a couple of early years where the numbers were only around 10. This year, access was very difficult due to a number of circumstances including some piss-poor behavior by hunters in the archery season and some downright poaching. Complicating factors was James Cox Kennedy planting a lot of food plots to keep deer on his properties. We've had problems with Kennedy in the past with his hired hands driving along county roads right at sunset trying to keep deer out of pastures we were hunting, or sitting right on bottlenecks keeping bucks out of their preferred cover. We canceled the event once and then at the very last minute, a couple of places came through. So while the group was decidedly smaller this year than years past, it was still a good time. Numbers are down overall, with a suspected mild EHD outbreak in one drainage. Some good bucks were seen, a few were shot at and missed (by me, the story of my season so far) and we even got disparaged by another party hunting the same place: apparently we were too effective.
One of my goals for the hunt was to take a deer with one of three rifles I inherited from my father:
The double is a Mortimer 450 3.25" Black Powder Express. It shoots a 350 grain bullet at about 2100 FPS. Terminal performance is dramatic. The doe I shot with it dropped in it's tracks at 150 yards. Her insides were liquefied. All of them. It was a tough cleaning. The gun was made in 1886 and it's still taking game. Too heavy for stalking or hiking, it fits in a blind very well:
Got to spend some quality time with RobG looking for something to hang our A-tags on after I missed a shot on a bedded buck at 270 yards (again, story of my season):
Hunted a fantastic Block Management Area that's in the foothills of a steep & deep mountain range. We were a couple hours shy of being on the elk. Hunters from two groups shot elk on the day we were there.
Stormy Kromer - best danged hat ever made:
A little love for Schmalts. This is the second season with my Theron Wapiti's. I love 'em. They're not Swarovski, but they're a class above their price range. Compared to Rat Fink's Swaros at first light, there was a difference, but not $1K worth:
A few minutes after missing a dandy buck (350 yards is a long enough distance from 250 to "miss it by that much"), Fink grabs my shoulder and whispers "Dude, you're not gonna worry about that buck when you see this monster crossing the road." Seeing only the top of the rack, he thought we were in for a booner.
Not so much:
Overall, even with the access issues, down numbers and consistent misses on my part, it was another successful hunt. Now, back to elk & trying to find something with bone on it's head dumb enough to stand in front of the rifle.
Oh such a perfect day...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYEC4TZsy-Y
God bless Montana, and keep it High, Wide & Handsome.
It was a good week in SW MT. We have a little ritual whitetail hunt in a tiny valley overpopulated with deer. The goal has always been to take out as many does as possible. We've hit years with numbers as high as 30, and a couple of early years where the numbers were only around 10. This year, access was very difficult due to a number of circumstances including some piss-poor behavior by hunters in the archery season and some downright poaching. Complicating factors was James Cox Kennedy planting a lot of food plots to keep deer on his properties. We've had problems with Kennedy in the past with his hired hands driving along county roads right at sunset trying to keep deer out of pastures we were hunting, or sitting right on bottlenecks keeping bucks out of their preferred cover. We canceled the event once and then at the very last minute, a couple of places came through. So while the group was decidedly smaller this year than years past, it was still a good time. Numbers are down overall, with a suspected mild EHD outbreak in one drainage. Some good bucks were seen, a few were shot at and missed (by me, the story of my season so far) and we even got disparaged by another party hunting the same place: apparently we were too effective.
One of my goals for the hunt was to take a deer with one of three rifles I inherited from my father:
The double is a Mortimer 450 3.25" Black Powder Express. It shoots a 350 grain bullet at about 2100 FPS. Terminal performance is dramatic. The doe I shot with it dropped in it's tracks at 150 yards. Her insides were liquefied. All of them. It was a tough cleaning. The gun was made in 1886 and it's still taking game. Too heavy for stalking or hiking, it fits in a blind very well:
Got to spend some quality time with RobG looking for something to hang our A-tags on after I missed a shot on a bedded buck at 270 yards (again, story of my season):
Hunted a fantastic Block Management Area that's in the foothills of a steep & deep mountain range. We were a couple hours shy of being on the elk. Hunters from two groups shot elk on the day we were there.
Stormy Kromer - best danged hat ever made:
A little love for Schmalts. This is the second season with my Theron Wapiti's. I love 'em. They're not Swarovski, but they're a class above their price range. Compared to Rat Fink's Swaros at first light, there was a difference, but not $1K worth:
A few minutes after missing a dandy buck (350 yards is a long enough distance from 250 to "miss it by that much"), Fink grabs my shoulder and whispers "Dude, you're not gonna worry about that buck when you see this monster crossing the road." Seeing only the top of the rack, he thought we were in for a booner.
Not so much:
Overall, even with the access issues, down numbers and consistent misses on my part, it was another successful hunt. Now, back to elk & trying to find something with bone on it's head dumb enough to stand in front of the rifle.
Oh such a perfect day...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYEC4TZsy-Y
God bless Montana, and keep it High, Wide & Handsome.
