Although unit 270 is said to have gone down hill the last two years, there are still some smokers to be had. Yesterday I was able to hang my tag on the trophy of a lifetime - a 215 inch muley that I harvested with my bow. After getting permission to hunt on a piece of property where I heard a big buck was hanging around I headed out to see for myself if there was a trophy hiding in there.
The area was open and the buck seemed to move to the fields down below after dark to feed. We started out on the top of a ridge by sun up but had only seen one smaller four point. We continued to stay as high as possible when a group of nine buck spotted us from a quarter mile away and took off. I got the spotting scope on them and saw the big buck with them. They were headed straight up the mountain and as wary as they were it was not going to be easy to close the distance.
I climbed/ran up the back side of the steep mountain where they were headed hoping to cut them off. As I crept over the top, I spotted the group of bucks below me 135 yards, but I didn’t see the big buck. I laid down on the hill to wait them out for about a half an hour until they moved out of sight. Once they moved I got up to close the distance and caught a glimpse of the big buck lower by a lone tree. As I circled down and around I saw the group of buck moving over a small ridge off to my left. I continued to stalk down to the tree to see if the big buck was there.
I got to 65 yards from the tree and saw a 3x4 bedded there sleeping. I decided to go see if the big buck was with the other deer before sneaking into the tree just in case he had joined back up with the group. Not seeing the big deer, I decided to stalk into the tree.
At about 20 yards away I spotted the bucks horn tips bedded just before he stood up. The 3x4 had known something was up but the big buck never saw me. He was tucked up under a pocket between the rock ledge and the tree nearly invisible. The bucks bolted out to the side hill across from me. I grunted and they stopped. I ranged the buck at 47 yards, drew back, released and let the air out of him. The buck’s body was the biggest I had ever seen. It was like shooting at an elk. He far out weighted the buck that stood next to him. He ran over the ridge and disappeared. I gave him a few minutes then went over to see if I could spot him. I found him, head laying down about 90 yards from where I shot him from.
It was definitely the biggest buck I had ever killed. His mass and tines were unbelievable. We took some pictures then packed him out. We ran a quick tape on him last night but it was just a rough score, it came out to 215 inches, with a 200 inch typical main frame. A super deer for a bow kill. After caping out the skull I was off again to chase elk for the evening. Although we only had a few hours we spotted one bull and had some elk respond to the calls.
This morning while out I called a bull into 40 yards but he never presented a good shot. Not many places you can kill a monster buck and get on a bull within 24 hours.
For more information about hunting in the trophy mule deer area check out http://www.montanaoutwest.com/muledeer.html
For information about our combo elk & deer hunts check out http://www.montanaoutwest.com/bitterrootelkhunts.html
The area was open and the buck seemed to move to the fields down below after dark to feed. We started out on the top of a ridge by sun up but had only seen one smaller four point. We continued to stay as high as possible when a group of nine buck spotted us from a quarter mile away and took off. I got the spotting scope on them and saw the big buck with them. They were headed straight up the mountain and as wary as they were it was not going to be easy to close the distance.
I climbed/ran up the back side of the steep mountain where they were headed hoping to cut them off. As I crept over the top, I spotted the group of bucks below me 135 yards, but I didn’t see the big buck. I laid down on the hill to wait them out for about a half an hour until they moved out of sight. Once they moved I got up to close the distance and caught a glimpse of the big buck lower by a lone tree. As I circled down and around I saw the group of buck moving over a small ridge off to my left. I continued to stalk down to the tree to see if the big buck was there.
I got to 65 yards from the tree and saw a 3x4 bedded there sleeping. I decided to go see if the big buck was with the other deer before sneaking into the tree just in case he had joined back up with the group. Not seeing the big deer, I decided to stalk into the tree.
At about 20 yards away I spotted the bucks horn tips bedded just before he stood up. The 3x4 had known something was up but the big buck never saw me. He was tucked up under a pocket between the rock ledge and the tree nearly invisible. The bucks bolted out to the side hill across from me. I grunted and they stopped. I ranged the buck at 47 yards, drew back, released and let the air out of him. The buck’s body was the biggest I had ever seen. It was like shooting at an elk. He far out weighted the buck that stood next to him. He ran over the ridge and disappeared. I gave him a few minutes then went over to see if I could spot him. I found him, head laying down about 90 yards from where I shot him from.
It was definitely the biggest buck I had ever killed. His mass and tines were unbelievable. We took some pictures then packed him out. We ran a quick tape on him last night but it was just a rough score, it came out to 215 inches, with a 200 inch typical main frame. A super deer for a bow kill. After caping out the skull I was off again to chase elk for the evening. Although we only had a few hours we spotted one bull and had some elk respond to the calls.
This morning while out I called a bull into 40 yards but he never presented a good shot. Not many places you can kill a monster buck and get on a bull within 24 hours.
For more information about hunting in the trophy mule deer area check out http://www.montanaoutwest.com/muledeer.html
For information about our combo elk & deer hunts check out http://www.montanaoutwest.com/bitterrootelkhunts.html
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That thing is ridiculous! The mass on the front forks!
ReplyDeleteCongrats Remi