Shooting Day - A Lifetime Dream Fulfilled

If you have read my other blogs, you know what happened with my knee on that first day and how that set-back nearly altered my hunting trip.  Where I last left you, I was icing and resting that knee; so we shifted our focus to a new location -- one with fewer ups and downs but more protracted climbs and steeper slopes.  We headed off to the Beartooth Front in a national forest.

Day 3 of the hunt was a sleeping in day - I think my buddy Bryan did that just to let my knee relax a little more -- that shifting into packing and moving.  Once we left our prior spot, we would spend the rest of the time in this national forest sleeping in our little camper.  The closer we got to the location, well, let's just say the more snow we found!  Our spot was picked underneath a tree really close to a creek (see below), and this location was amazing because it really helped with sleeping at night.  This spot became our headquarters for the next several days.  We would leave before the sun rose and would return after the sun had set.  A picture of that creek is below!

Once we had set up camp (including digging the hole that would serve as our bathroom), we changed clothes and decided to head up the hill to see what, if anything, we could find.  It was overcast and somewhat chilly.  We were able to see quite a few white-tails but nothing large enough to chase - besides, I was primarily focused on mule deer.  The positive is that I was able to see the ascent in daylight knowing that I would have to face that same climb the next day in the dark.  It helped me pick out rest stops along the way to give me a regular progress check.  The picture below is deceptive as it does not show the ridge already climbed or the creek forded or the ridge yet to be conquered.  At this point,we had climbed up and over one hill and was about 1/3 of the way up the tallest one.  We reached the top and walked around before deciding to head down before dark.  This helped me practice the descent and then gave me some extra time to rest before the long, full day ahead.

Day 4 started really early for us, because we not only needed to be atop the tall hill but hoped to be midway across it.  That way, we could look ahead and behind to figure out a plan of action.  The problem was the prior day's rain and rising temperatures -- the melting that occurred refroze the night before meaning that every step was a resounding "crunch, crunch, crunch."

Whereas the day before was overcast, the sun was coming out for this full day hunt.  As the picture to the left shows, we made it atop that ridge and worked our way across the top.  We fell just a little short of our goal but were still in a wonderful spot to look ahead and behind.  The high ground afforded us the opportunity to peek into the various draws and determine the right path for the chase.  As much as possible, we avoided the snow and that meant walking not atop the ridge but down it a bit while pursuing paths along the contour.

 We really did not see much in the way of deer shortly after sunrise; however, the first batch that we saw were in a clearing.  We could make out 7 of them feeding on ground where the snow had melted; yet, we faced a daunting challenge -- the only way to close on them was across a white plain.  Not only would we stick out against that snow field but also our steps would reveal our approach.  Bryan gave me the bad news -- we'd need to backtrack, walk along the backside of another ride to conceal our movement and sound, deal with deeper snow drifts and pesky brush, move quickly because we did not know how long they would stay there, and then hope the deer were still there.  We did that and closed the distance but still could not tell exactly what we had -- could see 2 bucks but details about their antlers were missing.

When we finally closed to 400 yards, we faced a choice -- belly crawl in the snow to set up a long shot or continue on that ridge (but recognizing that the going was about to get rougher).  It was at this point that we discovered one of the bucks was a good 4x4.  We watched them for awhile unsure what to do; however, the decision was made for us.  That good buck disappeared down the ridge; so not being able to see him, we got to work on closing the distance even more.  We discussed our goal and disappeared behind the ridge again.  Thus far, our sound and our movement was not even being noticed and the herd was totally unaware.

We popped out at the chosen location but faced another issue -- it was flatter than we could see.  The only way to be able to view where they were was to move across it with the "crunch, crunch."  To mitigate that sound, we hopped from sage bush to sage bush to be as quiet as possible.  Finally, as we reached the edge....

...the deer were gone.  We stood there defeated and plotting out path out.  In fact, I joked to Bryan and told him that we would use the road to hike back out.  He laughed but then got really serious really quickly.  From the bottom of the opposite ridge, he saw movement -- does were moving from the bottom up that ridge.  He wanted me to set up for a shot and to use the barbed wire fence as a rifle rest.  With it being too wobbly, I jumped the fence and set up between sage bushes.  He counted doe after doe after doe that came up the ridge.  He said the buck would be last and started naming distances of specific trees.

I saw a solitary and large figure in the bottom -- thanks to the snow -- slowly start up that opposite ridge.  As I was locking into a shooting position, Bryan took his pack and let me use it as a platform while I used my pack to brace my right elbow (had no idea he was taking these pictures).  The buck walked straight up the ridge and was not giving me much of a view of his antlers or any semblance of a shot.  He finally turned his head and I saw he was, what a friend would say, a "typical Montana 4x4."  I could tell he was wide and called him a shooter.

He turned to give me a quartering away shot, and I started counting -- 1, 2, 3...Bryan thought I was naming antlers, but I was making sure I used the right dot on my Nikon BDC scope.  When I hit 3, BOOM!!  The buck bowed and walked slowly.  I racked another round but missed my second shot.  As I prepared to send the third, he laid down.  This mule deer had only walked 30 yards!  Then, the shakes began and Bryan started to laugh.  We knew he was down but wanted to hold our position in case he somehow got up.

During the time of waiting, Bryan made a statement that caused me to laugh out loud -- "so much for being concerned about my hearing!"  Earlier in the day, he remarked about using his shoulder as a shooting rest and I told him that I'd never do that because it would destroy his hearing.  Well, remember above where I was counting my scope dots to pull the trigger?  Yeah, I gave him no warning about shooting and he was right beside me.  We both had a good laugh.  After about 30 minutes, we decided to move and Bryan - who is the best shot I've ever seen - put an insurance shot into that buck so that we did not have any surprises as we would lose sight of him as we climbed out of the bottom.

The pictures below will tell the rest of the story as I shot the biggest buck of my life....

 

That last picture says so much to me -- friendship, success, teamwork, opportunity cost (remember I passed on a deer the first day at 165 yards to shoot this one at 320 yards), possibility, and, of course, more work to come.  This trip enabled me to scratch several things off my bucket list:  visiting Montana, hunting in the snow, shooting a mule deer, and dropping something over 300 yards away.  This day also included another "first" - when cleaning the deer and separating the meat from the bones, we just laid the meat down on the snow.  Have never had the opportunity to do just that; yet, that was nicely convenient!

In closing, I have to turn around and give some big "thank you" shout outs:

• My wife helped me plan and save for this once-in-a-lifetime type of trip.  She also let me go over Thanksgiving to be away from home for 9 days.  Then, here's the big one -- when work made me go somewhere else when I was slated to return home, she was patient and flexible to adjust to even more days without me at home.
• My buddy Bryan did his job of getting me to come to Montana, guiding me on shooting the one that I wanted, putting me in the spot to pull the trigger, and sharing in the joy of this success.  He is truly one of the most unselfish people that I've ever seen because the focus, up to this point, was me getting a mule deer and not him. 
• My Savage Trophy Hunter XP .30-06 did its job flawlessly in being lightweight, functional, rugged, and accurate.
• My Nikon BDC Scope in 3x9x40 was dead on.
• My King's Camo that I wore just about every day while hunting in Montana but especially on this day. 
• My Frogg Toggs that accompanied me every day.  I never knew that rain gear would be such a wonderfully effective barrier to the wind.
• My trainer +Fit To Hunt had prepared me better than I expected.  Yes, I still hate pistol squats but they did the job.  I would never have made it up there and back without them.  

As a teaser, there are more blogs to come about the Montana trip.  The events of Montana's last day of hunting are well worth another blog even though it is primarily about Bryan getting to fill his buck tag in one of the strangest ways I've ever seen.