Montana 2019

[AT Hiker]

My granddad and I had another successful trip this year. Lots of memories made, cooler full of prairie venison and some nice antlers to brag about.

Late October weather is far from predictable. Nice tent and a buddy heater makes it comfortable-ish.

When temps dip and the wind blows a constant 30mph+ the deer adapt. They tuck into the coulees and blend in. Taking time behind your glass and picking things apart pays off. The fruits of your labor are rewarded and cold beer stays cold.

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[AT Hiker]

The badlands are just that but they are also beautiful in their own way. This mud butte sits just a mile or so outside some serious break type land. The terrain around it provides excellent wind cover for the muleys, roost for birds and a boneyard for dinosaurs that once roamed.

After a solid 1/2 day of just trying to find a deer we spotted several bucks tucked in and bedded out of the wind. We were able to get under 200 yards with the gusting wind in our face and use the butte as cover. My granddad, just turned 76, was able to climb up the butte a little ways. Thanks to the sub freezing temps the mud was froze. We picked out the biggest, which I thought was a giant 3x3, and waited. After a 1/2 hour we decided to shoot him in his bed. Anxiety is amplified when it's freezing and gale force winds.

He ended up being a great 4x3 that was super tall. I wish I had the phone on video record when trying to take this selfie. He must have cussed me for a solid minute. I couldn't get anything to cooperate, couldn't feel my fingers, wind blowing the phone...this picture literally is worth a thousand words, most of which are 4 letters.

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[AT Hiker]

The best part about cold weather and low humidity is the ability to hang your meat. The hard part is finding a tree in this prairie.

The first year we went we waited till mid Nov, temps never got out of the negatives. This year we were blessed with the double digits [emoji16]

Western beer is special. They power the beer factories with...beer.

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[AT Hiker]

The deer I killed was spotted over a mile away. As most of you know things tend to be broken up in square miles out West. I was glassing the hill sides trying to find bedded deer. Lucky for me I found a lone buck. Here is the vantage point from where my buck died. The clump of trees in the distance is about a mile away, I was parked just beyond them glassing. Super lucky to spot him.

Here he lays. See how well he blends in?

I'm super happy to have killed this buck but the smile on my face is from watching my granddad attempt to take my picture.

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[AT Hiker]

He got to he bigger one again and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I've hunted this ranch now for a while. I know it pretty well,thus allowing us to enjoy the hunt and trip without the stress of figuring things out. It's not easy by no means but I'm ahead of the learning curve. So, we take advantage of the trip. This time, we visited Devils Tower in Wyoming. No matter how many times you see this big alien rock you still question its existence.

And big horn sheep. You gotta swing through the SD Badlands and check these dudes out up and close.

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[Matador]

Awesome hunt and pictures. Congratulations to you and your granddad.

 

[bigtex]

Memories to last a lifetime!!
Congrats to you both on an awesome hunt.

 

[peleejosh]

Nice bucks! Looks like you two had an amazing trip.



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[Bucket]

Great pictures of an amazing time spent with your grandpa. And moose drool, of course.

 

[rstodd]

Very cool. I hope to do a trip like that some day.

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[AT Hiker]

Great pictures of an amazing time spent with your grandpa. And moose drool, of course.

I'm 100% positive that if we had Moose Drool on the PI hunt we all would have filled our tags. [emoji16]


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[tn24]

Congratulations. Really enjoyed the story and pictures.

 

[TNRifleman]

Congrats! Looks like an awesome trip.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Looks like a great trip. That Moose Drool is some good beer!

 

[gtk]

Good read.. enjoyed the pics/narrative

 

[bobbuck]

Sounds like an awesome trip! Lol about you granddad cussing you!! Sounds like some of my hunting buddies that are a little older than him.

 

[turk870]

Man that is great you got to experience that with your grandfather.

 

[Dean Parisian]

Grandpa is getting better with age! What a great hunt and congratulations all the way around! Nice eastern MT bucks.

 

[Deer Assassin]

great pics

 

[tasaman]

Awesome trip for sure.