In 2014 my aunt and uncle made a life long dream come true. They bought 500 acres of whitetail heaven along the Yellowstone River in Montana. Many of you know my uncle Dean by his screen name of ChippewaPartners on this site. He grew up in the Big Sky country and has introduced it to me and my dad with their purchase of the property they call the Ghost Ranch. This would be my second trip I have made to their property 2015 and this year, man is it ever different then these mountains and hollers of Tennessee. It's surrounded for miles and miles of rough nasty hills and prairie's with noting but rocks and sagebrush. What makes his place so special is the alfalfa fields, they have spend thousands of dollars building and maintaining the irrigation ditches to water the fields Montana average is 13 inches of rainfall a year. Along with huge cottonwoods that grow along the river and Russian olive thickets and zero pressure 10 months out of the year, it truly is a deer hunters dream. Honestly all we had to do was buy our $675 dollar tag and 8 tanks of fuel there and back. We drove straight through from Crossville TN to the Ghost Ranch 25 hours and 1600 miles to say we where excited was a understatement. Dean had sent pictures of some big bucks from early August one being a big-framed 10 that my dad had talked about all summer and fall. I kept that in mind as we arrived to my family's place the day before rifle opener October 20 for our seven-day hunt, hoping he could wrap his hands around those particular horns. I didn't believe it till I saw with my own eyes just how many deer you can see each day easily 100. With multiple mature bucks the hardest part for this hunt is trigger restraint if you really want a top end buck. The frost had killed everything mostly and the deer where wearing the green alfalfa out. On the second evening I saw that big 10 my dad had talked about all summer and I smiled knowing that I would bring my dad in to that same tree stand. The following evening my dad and me did what we never do, sat in the same tree and I was going to watch my dad maybe get the shot of his dreams. At 4:10pm he stepped out at 185yds and he put one in the crease of his shoulder a 30-yard wobble and his quest was completed. The thing I am most amazed about the other 100 deer in the field never left, don't know if the sound just dissipated so quickly or what, but I had another hour and half of prime time left so I grabbed my gun and dad was watching me now. One hour of quiet high fives and smiles had passed, when we saw the tips of some ivory tines coming through the thicket towards the field. He stepped out and I looked through the Swarovski binoculars my uncle let me borrow and saw two drop tines, I said some choice words and shot all in a split second. He fell 50 yards from my dad's and we erupted with emotion it's a vision that will live in my mind forever. I still find it hard to believe my family owns that place wouldn't have been possible without ChippewaPartners and my dad's sister so thanks again Dean!! Most of all thank God!
-Pictures to follow.
-Pictures to follow.
