mdunc8
Well-known member
I moved out to Bozeman two years ago to start up graduate school at MSU and quickly found myself I fan of western hunting. Being from Virginia, I've hunted out of treestands in thick timber my whole life and have never had to take a shot over 60 yards. Needless to say, hunting out here is a bit different. I love still hunting, but I'm a big hiker in the offseason, so I quickly took to the spot and stalk hunting. My research for school is on the lower Yellowstone and gives me the opportunity to work quite a bit of hunting into my schedule in fall. I spent most of the bow season surrounding myself with giant elk seemingly every day and screwing up every encounter. It was definitely a neat learning experience chasing bulls and mulies around with a bow and figuring out just how much I could get away with. I was probably a little too cautious due to my whitetail background. Maybe I'll close the deal on one next year.
Anyways, I found this guy trailing a doe a couple hundred yards off. I stalked to within about 200 yards just before he and the doe got mixed up with eight other does. They were in a group of cedars, but the buck was so busy harassing each doe that he never gave me shot. Finally after getting boxed in the face by one of the does, the whole group turned and backtracked right to me. I had setup lying under a fallen tree waiting for a shot. Before I knew it, I was surrounded by does with two less than 20 yards away. Somehow I managed to escape getting winded and dropped the buck at 40 yards. I was hesitant to post this after seeing AZ402's monster, but I was stoked to get this guy. I guess I can raise the bar a little now that I've got one under my belt.
Anyways, I found this guy trailing a doe a couple hundred yards off. I stalked to within about 200 yards just before he and the doe got mixed up with eight other does. They were in a group of cedars, but the buck was so busy harassing each doe that he never gave me shot. Finally after getting boxed in the face by one of the does, the whole group turned and backtracked right to me. I had setup lying under a fallen tree waiting for a shot. Before I knew it, I was surrounded by does with two less than 20 yards away. Somehow I managed to escape getting winded and dropped the buck at 40 yards. I was hesitant to post this after seeing AZ402's monster, but I was stoked to get this guy. I guess I can raise the bar a little now that I've got one under my belt.
