Spot the buck(s)

mevertsen · Aug 5, 2020

should be pretty easy. 3/4 mile spot.

cahunter805 · Aug 5, 2020

SAJ-99 · Aug 6, 2020

Decision time. do you go after them, yes or no?

mevertsen · Aug 6, 2020

These three are in a very stalkable position. Evening stalk. Problem is there are 9 other bucks in the area. I had a "string of bucks" thread down below. These are those same deer. There is a road that comes over from the top and is 60 or so yards above the bucks, which is where i took the pictures from in that thread.

mevertsen · Aug 6, 2020

Plus 2 other bucks - a 3 or 4 point and a forkie that are not in this picture. I didnt realize these bucks were there the other day, and jumped them by accident. They were bedded in the same spot last night. We found them fairly easily.

Opening is Monday for my daughter. Plan is to go on the road we were on last night, spot the bucks feom below, then go around and try for a stalk.

She has never killed a deer with her bow but has a doe and two small bucks woth a rifle.

The pic below is the picture taken above where those bucks were bedded after i jumped them the other evening.

SAJ-99 · Aug 6, 2020

mevertsen said:
These three are in a very stalkable position. Evening stalk. Problem is there are 9 other bucks in the area. I had a "string of bucks" thread down below. These are those same deer. There is a road that comes over from the top and is 60 or so yards above the bucks, which is where i took the pictures from in that thread.

I think the picture says what a thousand word post would in describing western hunting. Posts from those that have never hunted in the west should look at that picture, as well as "which Scope", "How big a buck can I expect", "Hunting SE Montana", etc. Seeing those deer bedded down 3/4mi away leads the hunter to have to make a decision- stalk or keep looking, maybe even somewhere else. Any stalk is probably going to eat up 2 or more hours, especially if it is bow season and you need to get within 50yds. The hunter also needs to mark the targeted buck so it can be found after changing position. In open sage brush country it is very hard to do this with precision. Then there is the factor, as you pointed out, of probably being more deer than you noticed in the scope. If a hunter has some idea on the size of the buck they wanted to shoot when they started, the successful stalk may result in getting close enough to realize you want to pass or lower your pre-determined standard. But it is hard to give up the stalk as a sunk cost and then walk back to the truck to do it again somewhere else. The more you hunt the more you do these things instinctively, but it still doesn't guarantee success.
Cool pictures. Good luck on the hunt.