With all the comments on the Hunt Talk threads recently that we don’t have to shoot an animal, or we don’t have to shoot the big one, to be considered a quality show, I guess we get to find that out this week, if guys really feel that way, or are just saying that.
We are hunting whitetails the last week of season in Montana. There are some deer around. Nothing real big. There have been lots of hunters on this ranch prior to our hunting, so what mature bucks are around, have been shot (or at least shot at), or have been pressured real hard. And, the sanctuary provided by the neighboring outfitted ranches is a safer haven for the deer to hang out on.
This hunt was with two very good friends, Hunt Talkers Jerreep and NV Longbow. They traveled from Nevada to join me in my annual “whitetail grocery gathering” session. The year before, they came up for some bird and deer hunting, and left with a freezer full of whitetail does, and we hoped this year would be more of the same. You will see one piece of footage where Longbow has his Subaru Baja loaded down with a chest freezer to keep meat from spoiling on the ride home.
Hunting to us is not all antlers and horns. I think this hunt will demonstrate that. You don’t see all the does we took, as it is hard to build a twenty-two minute storyline around a few bucks, let alone add in a bunch of kill shots of does. But, we took some does along with these bucks. And Longbow got to head home with the freezer full.
Longbow is a native Cornhusker, and when he sees groceries on the hoof, he is visually skinning and butchering it, before he even pulls the trigger. He has taken some nice animals with his archery tackle, but when venison comes by, his food gathering instincts take over, and antler size becomes somewhere below secondary, and quality of the meat is primary.
This ranch allows three types of access. They have an outfitter on about half the ranch. They allow limited public hunting on another portion of the ranch. And, they have some of the lower place enrolled in Block Management.
We had planned to hunt some on the Block Management portion and some on the limited public hunting section. Due to scheduling conflicts with producing other episodes, the guys had to come up from Nevada the last week of season, which is a hard week to juggle permission and access.
The first day was spent doing interviews about the Montana Block Management Program, and talking about how other hunters, resident or non-resident, could hunt Block Management properties. Unfortunately, our hunt had to end earlier than we thought, so we did not get to the Block Management part of the ranch. We hunted the limited public hunting portion, after thirty some other hunters had been there.
When the edit of this episode came out, I wanted to cut any references to Block Management, as the days we were scheduled to do that, did not happen. And, I did not want to make any references to anything that seemed to be inaccurate.
The production company, and feedback from other guys who saw the draft, convinced me to leave the Block Management segments in here, as it is very informational. But, I want to let people know that we did NOT get time to hunt the Block Management portion. Given the bucks we shot, maybe we should have.
For those of you who do not know how the Block Management Program works in Montana, here is a quick primer.
Non-residents are allowed to pay a higher priced fee if they want to be guaranteed a tag that allows them to hunt with an outfitter. Thus, they avoid the public drawing, are guaranteed the hunt, and the outfitter is guaranteed the business. This higher priced tag fee difference goes into an account that funds Block Management, along with smaller contributions by resident hunters.
These funds are then used to pay landowners for the impacts of allowing public hunting. Most of the hunting is for deer, antelope, or birds. Some properties are pretty darn good, especially if they restrict hunting to walk-in only. Some can be pretty bad, as they are trying to maximize revenues by allowing the largest number of hunters possible. Like most lands, you need to do some research and investigation to increase your chances of finding a better property.
In mid-August, the booklets come out that show the enrolled properties in each of the seven administrative regions in Montana. All you need to do is call that region, and they will mail you the booklet. It gives the contact information, species available, restrictions (if any), and dates hunting is allowed. You then call the number and make your reservation. Some of the properties do not require calling, but merely have a sign up box. Those are mostly the bird hunting properties.
I hope you enjoy this episode. The scenic shots are great, and we do take a couple bucks. It may remind you of times when you and your friends get together to gather some meat, and really not have any concern about antler size.
You will see some great marksmanship, sarcasm being at its highest as I type this. I shoot at a nice buck near the property line, and I hold slightly high, hoping to drop him in his tracks. Well, the bullet goes right over his shoulder. The buck looked around for a minute before running off. A check for blood or hair shows what I already knew.
Jerreep has a chance at a nice buck the second evening, and he makes what seems to be a great shot. The buck flinched, and we were sure it was a lethal blow. A month later, when we put the tape on the editing deck, we notice that Jerreep hit high, taking nothing but a few hairs in the process. But, he spent the entire last day of his hunt, hoping that he would find the buck, which is still probably running around out there, wondering what that loud noise was last November.
Longbow passed a few nice bucks, then suddenly, hunger took over, and – Well, I can’t tell all the details. Hope you enjoy one of my favorite hunts of the season, with some great friends, doing what we love to do.
Here is the thread posted in Hunt Talk, telling some details of this hunt. Montana Whitetail.
We are hunting whitetails the last week of season in Montana. There are some deer around. Nothing real big. There have been lots of hunters on this ranch prior to our hunting, so what mature bucks are around, have been shot (or at least shot at), or have been pressured real hard. And, the sanctuary provided by the neighboring outfitted ranches is a safer haven for the deer to hang out on.
This hunt was with two very good friends, Hunt Talkers Jerreep and NV Longbow. They traveled from Nevada to join me in my annual “whitetail grocery gathering” session. The year before, they came up for some bird and deer hunting, and left with a freezer full of whitetail does, and we hoped this year would be more of the same. You will see one piece of footage where Longbow has his Subaru Baja loaded down with a chest freezer to keep meat from spoiling on the ride home.
Hunting to us is not all antlers and horns. I think this hunt will demonstrate that. You don’t see all the does we took, as it is hard to build a twenty-two minute storyline around a few bucks, let alone add in a bunch of kill shots of does. But, we took some does along with these bucks. And Longbow got to head home with the freezer full.
Longbow is a native Cornhusker, and when he sees groceries on the hoof, he is visually skinning and butchering it, before he even pulls the trigger. He has taken some nice animals with his archery tackle, but when venison comes by, his food gathering instincts take over, and antler size becomes somewhere below secondary, and quality of the meat is primary.
This ranch allows three types of access. They have an outfitter on about half the ranch. They allow limited public hunting on another portion of the ranch. And, they have some of the lower place enrolled in Block Management.
We had planned to hunt some on the Block Management portion and some on the limited public hunting section. Due to scheduling conflicts with producing other episodes, the guys had to come up from Nevada the last week of season, which is a hard week to juggle permission and access.
The first day was spent doing interviews about the Montana Block Management Program, and talking about how other hunters, resident or non-resident, could hunt Block Management properties. Unfortunately, our hunt had to end earlier than we thought, so we did not get to the Block Management part of the ranch. We hunted the limited public hunting portion, after thirty some other hunters had been there.
When the edit of this episode came out, I wanted to cut any references to Block Management, as the days we were scheduled to do that, did not happen. And, I did not want to make any references to anything that seemed to be inaccurate.
The production company, and feedback from other guys who saw the draft, convinced me to leave the Block Management segments in here, as it is very informational. But, I want to let people know that we did NOT get time to hunt the Block Management portion. Given the bucks we shot, maybe we should have.
For those of you who do not know how the Block Management Program works in Montana, here is a quick primer.
Non-residents are allowed to pay a higher priced fee if they want to be guaranteed a tag that allows them to hunt with an outfitter. Thus, they avoid the public drawing, are guaranteed the hunt, and the outfitter is guaranteed the business. This higher priced tag fee difference goes into an account that funds Block Management, along with smaller contributions by resident hunters.
These funds are then used to pay landowners for the impacts of allowing public hunting. Most of the hunting is for deer, antelope, or birds. Some properties are pretty darn good, especially if they restrict hunting to walk-in only. Some can be pretty bad, as they are trying to maximize revenues by allowing the largest number of hunters possible. Like most lands, you need to do some research and investigation to increase your chances of finding a better property.
In mid-August, the booklets come out that show the enrolled properties in each of the seven administrative regions in Montana. All you need to do is call that region, and they will mail you the booklet. It gives the contact information, species available, restrictions (if any), and dates hunting is allowed. You then call the number and make your reservation. Some of the properties do not require calling, but merely have a sign up box. Those are mostly the bird hunting properties.
I hope you enjoy this episode. The scenic shots are great, and we do take a couple bucks. It may remind you of times when you and your friends get together to gather some meat, and really not have any concern about antler size.
You will see some great marksmanship, sarcasm being at its highest as I type this. I shoot at a nice buck near the property line, and I hold slightly high, hoping to drop him in his tracks. Well, the bullet goes right over his shoulder. The buck looked around for a minute before running off. A check for blood or hair shows what I already knew.
Jerreep has a chance at a nice buck the second evening, and he makes what seems to be a great shot. The buck flinched, and we were sure it was a lethal blow. A month later, when we put the tape on the editing deck, we notice that Jerreep hit high, taking nothing but a few hairs in the process. But, he spent the entire last day of his hunt, hoping that he would find the buck, which is still probably running around out there, wondering what that loud noise was last November.
Longbow passed a few nice bucks, then suddenly, hunger took over, and – Well, I can’t tell all the details. Hope you enjoy one of my favorite hunts of the season, with some great friends, doing what we love to do.
Here is the thread posted in Hunt Talk, telling some details of this hunt. Montana Whitetail.
