Tag Stew-Full Freezer

[Gerald Martin]

I know most folks refer to the only dish you can make with unfilled tags as tag soup, but this year I have so many I expect I can make a full on stew. I pulled the trigger on my rifle twice this fall, once at an antelope I missed and once at an antelope I killed. Carried the gun myself only two days in rifle season, but I had a great year. Watching my children fill their tags took away any sting I might have felt about my tags going unused.

We didn't get to do a lot of archery hunting this year. My work schedule was tight and I sacrificed much of my available vacation time in Sept to join my brother in Colorado as a spectator/packer/caller. I had a little excitement in Montana with my oldest son Timothy getting his first shot at a bull. Unfortunately he missed high and just cut hair off the bull's back. Full draw, just before the heartbreak.

 

[FAIR CHASE]

Sweet photo!!

 

[noharleyyet]

Like the in the moment pic....

 

[Gerald Martin]

Early October found us in eastern MT for the antelope opener. We did pretty well I did eat humble pie after everyone else in my family connected on their first shot and I missed a relatively easy shot at a buck. Then the green decoy in my pack unleashed his activism on a rutting antelope.

 

[Addicting]

Very cool, good wholesome family activity right there.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Opening day of rifle season found us in a brand new area. Timothy drew a special mule deer tag in a unit several hours from home so we took a scouting/hunting trip for opening weekend. We didn't expect to see a lot of mule deer with the hot, dry conditions so we concentrated on trying to find an elk. Knowing the importance of being first in the woods and dealing with being tired from a long drive/fitful sleep in a motel bed, we hit the woods at the crack of ten a.m. If you are going to go late you better go prepared to hunt hard.... Didn't seem to deter the elk from getting in the way of my daughter. She dealt with the situation.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Sorry for the sideways pics. Still haven't figured out how to rotate them in this format.

 

[Addicting]

If you crop them and resave they will post correctly.

 

[Gerald Martin]

We made sure to take time to enjoy the fruits of our labor on the table. Elk meatloaf and roast wrapped in caul fat and grilled over charcoal. Delicious!

 

[Gerald Martin]

Thanks Addicting!

 

[Gerald Martin]

Olivia and I took a quick after work hunt at a local BMA to try and find a deer. B-tag notched!

 

[JohnCushman]

You are truly blessed. I am a better person for being accepted by your family.

 

[duckhunt]

This is great stuff.

 

[Gerald Martin]

We intended to wait till the last part of the season to get serious about Timothy's mule deer permit. That meant Gareth was up to bat. We passed several does and small bucks over the course of a couple days. Truth be told, he would rather duck hunt and killed two beautiful drake wood ducks for his first ducks. On Thanksgiving morning his patience came to an end and he filled his tag with great shot on a forked horn whitetail. After his big buck success last year he agreed that this buck was age appropriate.

 

[fishing4sanity]

Great story and photos, congrats to the Martin family! I've still got my fingers crossed for Timothy and awaiting updates.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Our main point of concentration for rifle season was Timothy's mule deer permit. I was hoping that the rut and some snow up high would concentrate the deer and bring the bucks out in force. Our first hunt was on the fourth weekend of the season from Thur.-Sat.

The bucks were cruising for does and not especially hard to find. We saw lots of little guys and some mediocre bucks. I foolishly left my spotting scope at home because the mounting threads for my tripod adapter were not working well. When we found this buck we didn't know what we were looking at until we closed the distance to 200 yards. As soon as we looked that time we knew he was a great buck but were not able to get the shot before he fed over the ridge. Just then the snow set in and we ended up bumping him from his bed as we tried to find him again.

 

[Gerald Martin]

There was a lot of hunter pressure in the area we saw the buck on Friday and up to that point we didn't appreciate just how big he was. We ended up hunting in a different area on Saturday and hit the rut fest on the X. We lost track of the bucks we saw but there must have been between 15-20. Four piqued Timothy's interest and we attempted to get into position for a shot. Several were trying to gain the attention of the same doe. The mix of small bucks, juniper, does, mediocre bucks and nice bucks made it difficult to get a good shot at the deer we wanted. Shooting a deer would have been very easy. Shooting a big one was not. Our first choice was this 5x4. We had him at 380 yards but in the time it took to determine it was him and get steady he crested the hill. We never saw him again. Out of a couple hours we spent watching this group of deer he only showed himself three times for a total of about a minute.

 

[elkduds]

The family that hunts together...




...keeps hunting together. Thanks very much for sharing the family tradition. You are well and truly blessed.

 

[Gerald Martin]

In midst off all the excitement with the doe this 3x3 joined the party. He would have caught a bullet had he come into range but he never made it closer than 500 yards. With bigger bucks closer than him we didn't go after him.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Two more bucks entered the fray.... the last one was tempting.... he was a wide 4x3. They came over the ridge into our basin in a hurry and gave us glimpses. They closed within 250 yards and Timothy was torn between the new buck and the 5x4 we were sure was still on the other side. The bucks disapeared for a bit then popped briefly into sight at 50 yards. The opportunity passed.


Then as if a switch was flipped stopped seeing the bucks. I think the hot doe must have gone out of our sight and the bucks with her.