Tuesday, September 21, 2010

New Country....chasing after big bucks this time...


Headed up to check out some old whitetail haunts from last year and saw quite a few nice ones...


While I intended to simply try and put a doe in the freezer; once there I realised I'd mistakenly purchased a doe tag from another district. Being ethical and lawabiding I decided to do the right thing and not fling any arrows at any doe till I got that straightened out. Kinda absurd really, not just me driving an hour to kill a doe when there's a half dozen in the pasture every morning, but not being able to shoot one here was a bit ridiculous too; since I saw well over 200 doe's in all.



This is the Sheilds River bottom and I figure the doe-to-buck ratio must be around 40 to 1. While this little guy was all alone, most of the bucks I saw were travelling in bachelor herds still and tough to get close too.


Had I snagged an antelope permit for this region these would have been fair-game and a tag would have been definately punched; considering I was very close with bow in hand at the time they were taken. Both the antelope and myself were surprised to find ourselves in such close proximity that I barely got off a frame. They didn't stick around long enough for another one though once they realised what I was and what I was doing there.


These two were on a BMA I have hunted before, but were not the caliber I moved to Montana for so I didn't even get out and sign in. They were with three more smaller bucks and all very nervous when I pulled to a stop to take their picture.


The colors were fantasic, even though the light wasn't. It was bit overcast and cool around 50 all afternoon. Perfect for deer hunting, but I just wasn't into it for some reason. I'd slept most of the day, not used to working five days a week, and even after having Monday off I was still dragging ass and not too intent on killing anything but time.


That is until I spied this guy and his friends!!! The one in front had me freaking out at how to circle on him in an open field and not be detected..?? Though they all were on a private piece, they couldn;t have been a few hundred yards from the public stretch I'd signed-in on at the time.


....It'd be near impossible, but was worth a try...


..As expected it was a bust, couldn't get within 400 yards. Still I have these pics as incentive to try again next week ...when I get another 'day off'.


Before I'd stopped to hunt I'd also spotted some promising grounds for taking the girls up after birds. I waved to a few local ranchers and even told a lady on an ATV where she could find four of her stray cows. I did all this so I could then go back next week and ask for permission to hunt their land. It probably wont work and they'll forget they ever saw me, but at least it was worth a shot.


It wasn't a total bust since I wasn't at work and got to drive back home thru Montana...

Moe