The warm weather definitely had a lot more hunters out than we've previously experienced. On some days it was a downright "Gong Show" as my buddy Chris Senyohl would describe it. That's ok though because the rut was on and the bucks were on the move. One day I saw somewhere between 50 and 60 deer.
I saw LOT of small bucks this year and in fact the one below is the biggest one I saw the entire trip. Definitely worth going after though!
Spotted this buck from over a mile away and after putting the spotting scope on him I decided to put the sneak on him. He disappeared shortly after I spotted him and luckily he bedded down in a coulee not too far away. It took a long time to get into the main ravine where he was hanging out but I eventually jumped him at around 30 yards and killed him at 97 yards. One shot to the neck with a 165 grain Barnes X from the .300 winnie.
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After a bit of a drag I was able to load him on the Can Am "Buck-Mobile" which was parked on the road.
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Bucket made a 320 yard shot to get this buck the day before. Most of the guys shots were over 300 yards which isn't uncommon in the open country of central Montana.
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This year we took all of our deer to Sportsman's Game Processing in Great Falls who do a fantastic job. If you're in that neck of the woods and need a deer or elk processed I highly recommend them
After tagging out four of us loaded into the truck and spent an entire day scouting out new areas and talking to property owners. We ended up with a new pheasant hunting spot, a couple potential big game spots, and even had a landowner flag us down begging us to hunt antelope on his property. I saved his phone number for next year
If you've ever hunted in Montana you know how complicated it can be trying to find open ground to hunt. Having a GPS loaded with ONXMaps is an absolute must. The truck GPS is loaded with ONXMaps, my iPad is loaded with ONXMaps, and our handheld units all have ONXmaps loaded on them. There's no shortage of public and Block Management ground in Montana but getting to it can be a challenge. Those maps are the key to success...trust me!
That's all for now. Yet another great trip with a great bunch of people
