BuzzH
Well-known member
Last week my Dad, Brother, and a couple buddies spent some time chasing WT's in Montana.
The first day of the hunt, my brother Matt and I hit some pretty fair conditions for hunting w-tails. We hiked back into some excellent country and it wasnt long before we started seeing lots of deer. We saw some great bucks and about 11:30 am we spotted a doe running right at us. Right on the heels of the doe was a good buck. The doe ran past us and as the buck came into view, I stopped him with a grunt call. Matt didnt waste any time and promptly killed his best WT buck to date with a shot at 65 yards.
The weather continued to hold for the next couple days and we saw lots of bucks. Our best day we saw 26 WT bucks, most of which were 4 point or better. It seemed like each day we also saw a buck or two that were really exceptional but never quite got the right opportunity. Then with 3 days left to hunt in the MT season, the weather really went to crap. We got some wet snow and then everything turned cold, causing some really bad conditions for still hunting whitetails. But, Matt and I pressed on and despite the conditions on the 2nd to last day of the season we got a break. We were hiking down a familiar ridge when I spotted a buck standing in behind a thick screen of trees. I could see part of his antlers, which looked heavy through my binos. The only possible shot I had was to "thread the needle" between 2 large trees and shoot into an area the size of a playing card. I rested on the side of tree and squeezed the trigger. The buck took off running, but I was sure he was a dead deer. Matt and I walked down to where he was and sure enough, 40 yards away was my 2004 Montana Whitetail. I was about as happy as I could be with this one, he's an absolute grandpa of a deer, his teeth are down to the gums and probably the oldest WT buck I've ever shot.
I couldnt have scripted this hunt any better, taking an old deer at the end of a 9 day hunt.
Just a wonderful time hunting with my Dad and Brother.
The first day of the hunt, my brother Matt and I hit some pretty fair conditions for hunting w-tails. We hiked back into some excellent country and it wasnt long before we started seeing lots of deer. We saw some great bucks and about 11:30 am we spotted a doe running right at us. Right on the heels of the doe was a good buck. The doe ran past us and as the buck came into view, I stopped him with a grunt call. Matt didnt waste any time and promptly killed his best WT buck to date with a shot at 65 yards.
The weather continued to hold for the next couple days and we saw lots of bucks. Our best day we saw 26 WT bucks, most of which were 4 point or better. It seemed like each day we also saw a buck or two that were really exceptional but never quite got the right opportunity. Then with 3 days left to hunt in the MT season, the weather really went to crap. We got some wet snow and then everything turned cold, causing some really bad conditions for still hunting whitetails. But, Matt and I pressed on and despite the conditions on the 2nd to last day of the season we got a break. We were hiking down a familiar ridge when I spotted a buck standing in behind a thick screen of trees. I could see part of his antlers, which looked heavy through my binos. The only possible shot I had was to "thread the needle" between 2 large trees and shoot into an area the size of a playing card. I rested on the side of tree and squeezed the trigger. The buck took off running, but I was sure he was a dead deer. Matt and I walked down to where he was and sure enough, 40 yards away was my 2004 Montana Whitetail. I was about as happy as I could be with this one, he's an absolute grandpa of a deer, his teeth are down to the gums and probably the oldest WT buck I've ever shot.
I couldnt have scripted this hunt any better, taking an old deer at the end of a 9 day hunt.
Just a wonderful time hunting with my Dad and Brother.
