2015 MT Buck

thecrittergitter

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 24, 2007
Messages
2,427
Location
Bozeman, MT
Well, not a lot to tell on this hunt, pretty short and sweet. After last weeks hunt with Greg and having a great hunt, I figured I'd go out again with all the buck rut activity we saw. I sent ol Lawnboy a message and told him to pack his stuff and lets go deer hunting for a few days. Course, the poor ol sap doesn't get a lot of options this time of year due his second marriage of snow plowing duty:)LOL (Bart, if you think I'm hinting that you need to find different employment for the winter, your are correct;)):

Well, with a no from Bart, I packed up and headed out for the long drive to Mule Deer ground. Plus, without Bart, I might actually pull the trigger myself:) We were forecasted to get snow and a pile of wind which makes the hunting not near as much fun, but I figured I'd do what I could. I knew I couldn't kill one at home. I woke Wednesday morning to 50+ mph winds and snow blowing so bad, I decided to wait for a few hours to go anywhere as visibility was pretty much zero. That afternoon, the snow let up a bit and the wind dropped to about 30 which still sucks:) But I decided to head out to an area I studied on google earth and had never been to before. I figured with the winds so bad the last 20 hours, with it letting up a touch, they should be out moving and feeding. With my knee still not in too good of shape, I strapped on the knee brace and got geared up. I threw the binos up and started scanning this long draw. Immediately I saw some deer up the draw. about 7 or 8. I picked out a smaller buck and saw him acting a little cautious and looking right. I panned to the right and saw a buck that caught my attention. His head was down and he was on the trail of a hot doe as I saw him for about 3 seconds before he went over a ridge. I couldn't tell if it was a shooter or not but it certainly was something I needed a better look at. I restrapped the knee brace tight and took off for the ridge. About 30 minutes later I found him, back with the deer in the bottom of the draw. I threw up the spotter and watched him for about 10 minutes. I just had a hard time deciding whether to shoot or not. When he turned sideways, he didn't look all that great, but then when he would turn and look at me, he looked pretty good. I finally decided to pass on the buck and go look for a better deer. As I strapped the spotter back to the pack, strapped the gun on and turned to walk away, I did one last glance back in the binos a the buck and he was coming up out of a draw right at me with lip curled and ears back following a doe. Something about that look just sold me and I started thinking.........just maybe this deer is better than I think. I unstrapped the gun, unstrapped the spotter and looked one more time. Then another thought hit me.....with my knee in the shape its in, it would be pretty doubtful to find a deer better than this within one mile of a road I could drive on......Thus the decision was made, this deer is about to meet his demise:) Too bad you weren't there Bart, would have been your buck :D Ended up walking up on him being pretty happy with the decision.
 

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You almost let him walk? Damn! Wish I had those choices. Nice deer, congrats. Knee braces are a wonderful thing! ;)
 
Sorry you had to shoot it yourself but you can't depend on Lawnboy. Next time I would be willing to shoulder the burden of pulling the trigger. I'm there for ya man :D
 
Thanks for rubbing in my pathetic work schedule Matt :D Randy has been shaking his head at me for years for the same reasons. Someday I'm gonna ditch the snow gig.
Congrats on a great buck. I definitely missed this one on score but am happy that you got it all on your own. Next year you can let me be shooter ;) I still have a few days left but so far I haven't found but a couple bucks worthy of a gutting job.
 
Nice buck! I learned to be grateful for the ones close to the roads, they sure don't come very often for me, especially with the knee acting up. Congratulations!
 
Thanks for rubbing in my pathetic work schedule Matt :D Randy has been shaking his head at me for years for the same reasons. Someday I'm gonna ditch the snow gig.
Congrats on a great buck. I definitely missed this one on score but am happy that you got it all on your own. Next year you can let me be shooter ;) I still have a few days left but so far I haven't found but a couple bucks worthy of a gutting job.

I think we have next years shooter buck identified now don't we?? Maybe two;)
Better find a different gig by next season....
 
If that's one you would pass, I'd like to see one identified as a BIG buck.
 
Congrats on a great buck! You made the right choice, as I would take him everyday and twice on sunday...... well maybe once.
 
That is a stud Critter... Great job! I don't think you'll regret not passing him..


Ben
 
Very nice buck, I hope the part about trying to decide if he was good enough was a joke ........... but I'm guessing life in Montana might just be that good. Congrats!
 
Congrats on a great buck. Sometimes that second look is a killer look. I wouldn't pass on a buck like that but then again I've never hunted mule deer so anything would be great but that looks like a great buck, again congrats.
 
Seems like it all worked out great in the end. For everyone but LB that is :(
awesome buck, that thing would be on my wall!!
 
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