Dean Parisian
Well-Known Member
When a plan comes together all is good and 2009 will go down in my hunting journal as being great, maybe the best yet, having the luck to have my two sons with me on various segments of the fall campaign in such beautiful country. The planning and work to make this year happen started a couple of years ago and doing it myself is the only way I would have it. You see, I enjoy forging new relationships, meeting new people and learning along the way. For me, it�s not about showing up and shooting. It�s not just the harvest but the joy I get from putting in the work and making it happen. And yes, luck played a big part in this years success as you will see, but never forget, how one gathers, manages and uses information will generally determine whether they win or lose at whatever life they choose to lead. In my life and probably yours, the harder I work it seems the luckier I get. This is how the year unfolded.
After chasing antelope in Montana with my Hoyt bow in 2007, I decided to use my rifle this year. I just wanted less dirt and dust up my nose from crawling amongst the billions of grasshoppers in the Montana sage and prairie grass. I invited a great friend along who had never killed an antelope. We applied together and were �successful� in drawing buck antelope tags in east central Montana. We hunted both private and public land and took mature bucks. The antelope and whitetail deer population is not back to �normal� levels in this part of the state after suffering such a die-off in 2007 from EHD. Another years fawn crop should improve the numbers but the coyotes, cats and eagles take their toll along the way. I might mention that our family is a .243 caliber family. Both my son Hunter and I shoot Browning BAR .243�s. I love the light recoil, ability to get off multiple shots and �stay on� target. I have taken numerous elk, hundreds of deer, coyotes, cats, prairie dogs, fox and beaver with that caliber over the years and hope to tip over my first wolf if ever �successful� in getting drawn for a wolf tag in Montana. I grew up on a Remington Model 700 .243 that I purchased in the fall of 1969 with my first pay check from Garber Land & Livestock Company in Ismay, Montana. I love the Model 700 bolt action but find that the semi-automatic action is far superior in getting an animal on the ground both hunting in the East and West in a multiple shot situation which means missing the first shot! As a pursuit style whitetail deer hunter that multiple shot ability means a lot in getting an animal down. There seems to be a move in antelope and mule deer hunting circles to have rifles that are accurate to distances beyond 450 yards but that isn�t for me. Each to his own on how to fill your tag as long as it is legal and ethical but I know my limitations and shots at 400 plus yards are about what I can handle. One thing we do is practice shooting at distance. Practice doesn�t make perfect but practice is what counts, that and having good equipment when you need it to work in less than perfect weather.
Our annual fall trip to the Dakota�s this year was special for me. Having gunned waterfowl my entire life, this year found my youngest son, Jordan, at my side on his first trip with the �big boys� on our annual �Dakota Storm� trip. We usually hunt near Halloween and this year was no exception. Jordan took some time off from his great football season to join our team for some �trigger time�. I had applied to the great State of North Dakota and was lucky to draw a Tundra Swan tag. In all my years of waterfowling I hadn�t had a swan tag and it felt like this was the year to get it done. North Dakota is a changing environment for non-resident hunters and it appears the days of run-n-gunning are long gone if not over completely. The impact that deer hunting has had in the evirons of south-eastern North Dakota make it difficult for getting waterfowl gunning access near water. I have been shooting geese since the 3rd grade and a swan is the toughest bird to kill I have ever encountered. The heavy feathers on the neck make pellet penetration extremely difficult. I was very lucky to get this bird and a word of caution to anyone swan hunting. When and if you may get lucky enough to break a wing and bring one down, look out. They fall like a 747 and then the job of actually killing it begins. Have plenty of shells at the ready. We shot some geese, afew ducks and pheasants but the friendships and the fun were what it was really about. Here�s Jordan getting some �schooling� in the finer points of rural North Dakota!
My oldest son, Hunter, has a busy schedule in this, his senior year of high school so the Thanksgiving break was the only time we could break away and hunt together in Gods Last Great Place, Montana. Hunter has been accepted into Georgia Tech as a member of the Class of 2014 and between his rigorous academic schedule and his swim team participation it didn�t leave much time to try and get our elk and deer. We both applied as we always have for a special bull elk tag and low and behold, I was the lucky one to draw a tag in a very difficult unit to draw a bull tag. Our licenses allowed us to get elk, buck deer (muleys or whitetail) and antlerless (doe) whitetail. We hit the pine covered country hard. Real hard. It was our intention to try and fill our elk tags first and then get on to the business of satisfying my one and only addiction of killing big mule deer. In humping the timber I encountered this big bull who had met his match over the last couple of years and this is how I found him. Walking up a steep incline which isn�t really obvious in the picture he looked much smaller when I first glanced at the horns. I found one of his "ivory" teeth and the carcass bones hadn't been scattered widely which is the case when bigger predators are munching on an animal. I wonder if it were a lion kill, old age, another bull, an arrow, a bullet or a pack of coyotes that put him down. He was a majestic animal in his day and that bone still reflects the power and grace of bull elk.
Hunter tagged out on his cow first. We were working into the wind real slow in early afternoon in some fairly thick timber. I spotted a cow laying down on a ridge ahead and sent Hunter ahead to crawl and creep into a position to get a shot. Does it get any better watching your son crawl up ahead and Dad watching things unfold in the binocs? I laid back, watching and waiting. The wind was steady and was in our face. He fired once and missed which for him is a rarity. The kids middle name should be �ICE�. The cows bolted and low and behold they bolted right toward us and Hunter went to work, dropping a nice cow right in front of us. Lots of hunters will argue for days on the killing power of a .243. My retort is they never run that far with a heart blown up. Shot placement is key. Big cow down and the finest elk extraction team I know of went to work. Work being the key word.
A day or two later I finally found a bull in the binocs about a mile away and the stalk was on. I had several stalks that just didn�t work, either the bulls slipped out or I was winded in the thick stuff. The day was getting long and I had only spotted this one bull and the shadows were lengthening. I made it around downwind and had a shot on the nice bull with heavy front tines and he moved in the instant it took to get on him. I took a couple of steps and saw him again and hurried to get a good aim and fired without looking at the horns. The shot felt good but I didn�t hear the �smack� I expected and low and behold 2 bulls bolted up and out of the little coulee. I never imagined there were two bulls as I had watched one bull for some time and didn�t suspect another bull until the shot bolted two of them up and over the ridge. Hunter got around and I headed in after the bulls to see if I had put one down. I saw blood right away and topped the ridge only to see the bodies of both bulls on either side of some juniper. I couldn�t shoot because I didn�t know which one had been hit and I couldn�t see the horns of either bull. They heard me and both bolted with the big guy up front. I knew then that the lesser bull was hit hard and wasn�t going far. I had hollered to Hunter that I had blood and to sit tight. The bigger bull then proceeded up the ridge and came face to face with Hunter who had the most exciting moment of the trip with the that big bull boring right down on him. Twenty feet away blowing snot out of his nose was enough to get my sons undivided attention. The bull I hit was slowing down and took a final shot in the neck as the sun was still a tad above the horizon. After a couple of quick pictures the elk extraction team went to work and we were able to get him into the back end of our rental rig. At near the 850 pound mark it was no easy task getting the big boy up into the backend of our rig and without a come-along we might still be there grunting and heaving. We have always had permission from the landowner to use a vehicle to recover a downed animal off the established road system on the property and that of course really helped.
To give some perspective on the size of this bull here is another shot of him hoisted at Ed Ryans processing plant in Jordan, Montana.
Along the way I found another shed shown here which actually looked like a shed from the previous year of the bull I killed.
With our elk tags filled we opened our eyes for mule deer and went into every nook and cranny we could find. The rut was on and every doe group had bucks on them, just not big bucks. Eastern Montana is a difficult place to find muley bucks at the 4.5 to 6.5 year age class and it seems it is only getting tougher. These are two of the largest bucks we saw on the property we had permission to hunt although we did see 2 bigger bucks on property very close to where we were hunting, which as you might imagine is usually the case. My buck we spotted mid-morning headed to water and Hunter and I got across a drainage and spread out and headed up into a CRP field. The buck had stopped and because the grass was tall we couldn�t� lay down or kneel so an offhand shot is all we had. And no tall shooting sticks with us. I started the gunfire off and the buck committed a costly error and turned broadside on the dead run. Hunter hit him first in the brisket and the sound was a huge smack which slowed him a tiny bit and I then spined him at 280 yards on my 4th shot which could probably be heard in Billings. Maybe some luck, maybe some good shooting. I�ve killed more than my share at that distance on the run and with no wind I just steadied and kept working my finger. Sometimes luck happens.
Hunters buck we spotted laying on a ridge above a spring and we snuck around downwind of him and I followed Hunter with the video camera. I am now known as the worlds worst videographer. I spent far too much effort on watching the story unfold rather than focusing on the video. Hunter put a great shot on this buck, hitting him in the head at 203 yards which is why his head is being held up with a yucca stem.
Time was winding down to get a whitetail doe and one finally cooperated.
This girl was killed on my second shot at 150 yards. A fat and sassy nanny for sure to complete the slam.
I spent more time behind my binocs than I ever have and making an investment in good binocs pays off in spades. This year I picked up a pair of Swarovski 8x32�s which I absolutely love. The amount of light they pick up is amazing.
All in all it was a great week. The eagle population seems to be way up and the rabbit population way down. For the week we saw 5 coyotes and interestingly came up on a high ridge and found a very peculiar rock formation. These 4 circular rocks were all laying like this. Who and when laid them out like this only the Creator knows for sure.
Out in the middle of nowhere we stumbled on an old DeSoto that Hunter piled in and I took his picture. Nothing like a nice sage brush for an engine!
Although my goal of a 30 inch mule deer didn�t pan out this year maybe next year. It is always fun to do the work and do it right, to give it 100% effort and have some luck or a lot of luck. May next year bring more time afield with my sons and friends and God willing, my ability to function with great health prevail. Doing it yourself in my book is the only way to go because after all, doing it yourself is the best way and going in light and coming out heavy is what it is all about.
After chasing antelope in Montana with my Hoyt bow in 2007, I decided to use my rifle this year. I just wanted less dirt and dust up my nose from crawling amongst the billions of grasshoppers in the Montana sage and prairie grass. I invited a great friend along who had never killed an antelope. We applied together and were �successful� in drawing buck antelope tags in east central Montana. We hunted both private and public land and took mature bucks. The antelope and whitetail deer population is not back to �normal� levels in this part of the state after suffering such a die-off in 2007 from EHD. Another years fawn crop should improve the numbers but the coyotes, cats and eagles take their toll along the way. I might mention that our family is a .243 caliber family. Both my son Hunter and I shoot Browning BAR .243�s. I love the light recoil, ability to get off multiple shots and �stay on� target. I have taken numerous elk, hundreds of deer, coyotes, cats, prairie dogs, fox and beaver with that caliber over the years and hope to tip over my first wolf if ever �successful� in getting drawn for a wolf tag in Montana. I grew up on a Remington Model 700 .243 that I purchased in the fall of 1969 with my first pay check from Garber Land & Livestock Company in Ismay, Montana. I love the Model 700 bolt action but find that the semi-automatic action is far superior in getting an animal on the ground both hunting in the East and West in a multiple shot situation which means missing the first shot! As a pursuit style whitetail deer hunter that multiple shot ability means a lot in getting an animal down. There seems to be a move in antelope and mule deer hunting circles to have rifles that are accurate to distances beyond 450 yards but that isn�t for me. Each to his own on how to fill your tag as long as it is legal and ethical but I know my limitations and shots at 400 plus yards are about what I can handle. One thing we do is practice shooting at distance. Practice doesn�t make perfect but practice is what counts, that and having good equipment when you need it to work in less than perfect weather.
Our annual fall trip to the Dakota�s this year was special for me. Having gunned waterfowl my entire life, this year found my youngest son, Jordan, at my side on his first trip with the �big boys� on our annual �Dakota Storm� trip. We usually hunt near Halloween and this year was no exception. Jordan took some time off from his great football season to join our team for some �trigger time�. I had applied to the great State of North Dakota and was lucky to draw a Tundra Swan tag. In all my years of waterfowling I hadn�t had a swan tag and it felt like this was the year to get it done. North Dakota is a changing environment for non-resident hunters and it appears the days of run-n-gunning are long gone if not over completely. The impact that deer hunting has had in the evirons of south-eastern North Dakota make it difficult for getting waterfowl gunning access near water. I have been shooting geese since the 3rd grade and a swan is the toughest bird to kill I have ever encountered. The heavy feathers on the neck make pellet penetration extremely difficult. I was very lucky to get this bird and a word of caution to anyone swan hunting. When and if you may get lucky enough to break a wing and bring one down, look out. They fall like a 747 and then the job of actually killing it begins. Have plenty of shells at the ready. We shot some geese, afew ducks and pheasants but the friendships and the fun were what it was really about. Here�s Jordan getting some �schooling� in the finer points of rural North Dakota!
My oldest son, Hunter, has a busy schedule in this, his senior year of high school so the Thanksgiving break was the only time we could break away and hunt together in Gods Last Great Place, Montana. Hunter has been accepted into Georgia Tech as a member of the Class of 2014 and between his rigorous academic schedule and his swim team participation it didn�t leave much time to try and get our elk and deer. We both applied as we always have for a special bull elk tag and low and behold, I was the lucky one to draw a tag in a very difficult unit to draw a bull tag. Our licenses allowed us to get elk, buck deer (muleys or whitetail) and antlerless (doe) whitetail. We hit the pine covered country hard. Real hard. It was our intention to try and fill our elk tags first and then get on to the business of satisfying my one and only addiction of killing big mule deer. In humping the timber I encountered this big bull who had met his match over the last couple of years and this is how I found him. Walking up a steep incline which isn�t really obvious in the picture he looked much smaller when I first glanced at the horns. I found one of his "ivory" teeth and the carcass bones hadn't been scattered widely which is the case when bigger predators are munching on an animal. I wonder if it were a lion kill, old age, another bull, an arrow, a bullet or a pack of coyotes that put him down. He was a majestic animal in his day and that bone still reflects the power and grace of bull elk.
Hunter tagged out on his cow first. We were working into the wind real slow in early afternoon in some fairly thick timber. I spotted a cow laying down on a ridge ahead and sent Hunter ahead to crawl and creep into a position to get a shot. Does it get any better watching your son crawl up ahead and Dad watching things unfold in the binocs? I laid back, watching and waiting. The wind was steady and was in our face. He fired once and missed which for him is a rarity. The kids middle name should be �ICE�. The cows bolted and low and behold they bolted right toward us and Hunter went to work, dropping a nice cow right in front of us. Lots of hunters will argue for days on the killing power of a .243. My retort is they never run that far with a heart blown up. Shot placement is key. Big cow down and the finest elk extraction team I know of went to work. Work being the key word.
A day or two later I finally found a bull in the binocs about a mile away and the stalk was on. I had several stalks that just didn�t work, either the bulls slipped out or I was winded in the thick stuff. The day was getting long and I had only spotted this one bull and the shadows were lengthening. I made it around downwind and had a shot on the nice bull with heavy front tines and he moved in the instant it took to get on him. I took a couple of steps and saw him again and hurried to get a good aim and fired without looking at the horns. The shot felt good but I didn�t hear the �smack� I expected and low and behold 2 bulls bolted up and out of the little coulee. I never imagined there were two bulls as I had watched one bull for some time and didn�t suspect another bull until the shot bolted two of them up and over the ridge. Hunter got around and I headed in after the bulls to see if I had put one down. I saw blood right away and topped the ridge only to see the bodies of both bulls on either side of some juniper. I couldn�t shoot because I didn�t know which one had been hit and I couldn�t see the horns of either bull. They heard me and both bolted with the big guy up front. I knew then that the lesser bull was hit hard and wasn�t going far. I had hollered to Hunter that I had blood and to sit tight. The bigger bull then proceeded up the ridge and came face to face with Hunter who had the most exciting moment of the trip with the that big bull boring right down on him. Twenty feet away blowing snot out of his nose was enough to get my sons undivided attention. The bull I hit was slowing down and took a final shot in the neck as the sun was still a tad above the horizon. After a couple of quick pictures the elk extraction team went to work and we were able to get him into the back end of our rental rig. At near the 850 pound mark it was no easy task getting the big boy up into the backend of our rig and without a come-along we might still be there grunting and heaving. We have always had permission from the landowner to use a vehicle to recover a downed animal off the established road system on the property and that of course really helped.
To give some perspective on the size of this bull here is another shot of him hoisted at Ed Ryans processing plant in Jordan, Montana.
Along the way I found another shed shown here which actually looked like a shed from the previous year of the bull I killed.
With our elk tags filled we opened our eyes for mule deer and went into every nook and cranny we could find. The rut was on and every doe group had bucks on them, just not big bucks. Eastern Montana is a difficult place to find muley bucks at the 4.5 to 6.5 year age class and it seems it is only getting tougher. These are two of the largest bucks we saw on the property we had permission to hunt although we did see 2 bigger bucks on property very close to where we were hunting, which as you might imagine is usually the case. My buck we spotted mid-morning headed to water and Hunter and I got across a drainage and spread out and headed up into a CRP field. The buck had stopped and because the grass was tall we couldn�t� lay down or kneel so an offhand shot is all we had. And no tall shooting sticks with us. I started the gunfire off and the buck committed a costly error and turned broadside on the dead run. Hunter hit him first in the brisket and the sound was a huge smack which slowed him a tiny bit and I then spined him at 280 yards on my 4th shot which could probably be heard in Billings. Maybe some luck, maybe some good shooting. I�ve killed more than my share at that distance on the run and with no wind I just steadied and kept working my finger. Sometimes luck happens.
Hunters buck we spotted laying on a ridge above a spring and we snuck around downwind of him and I followed Hunter with the video camera. I am now known as the worlds worst videographer. I spent far too much effort on watching the story unfold rather than focusing on the video. Hunter put a great shot on this buck, hitting him in the head at 203 yards which is why his head is being held up with a yucca stem.
Time was winding down to get a whitetail doe and one finally cooperated.
This girl was killed on my second shot at 150 yards. A fat and sassy nanny for sure to complete the slam.
I spent more time behind my binocs than I ever have and making an investment in good binocs pays off in spades. This year I picked up a pair of Swarovski 8x32�s which I absolutely love. The amount of light they pick up is amazing.
All in all it was a great week. The eagle population seems to be way up and the rabbit population way down. For the week we saw 5 coyotes and interestingly came up on a high ridge and found a very peculiar rock formation. These 4 circular rocks were all laying like this. Who and when laid them out like this only the Creator knows for sure.
Out in the middle of nowhere we stumbled on an old DeSoto that Hunter piled in and I took his picture. Nothing like a nice sage brush for an engine!
Although my goal of a 30 inch mule deer didn�t pan out this year maybe next year. It is always fun to do the work and do it right, to give it 100% effort and have some luck or a lot of luck. May next year bring more time afield with my sons and friends and God willing, my ability to function with great health prevail. Doing it yourself in my book is the only way to go because after all, doing it yourself is the best way and going in light and coming out heavy is what it is all about.
