# Meet me in Montana



## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

Well, yesterday we spent 14 hours in the van coming to Montana for the best hunting trip ever. So far, it has lived up to it save a couple minor hiccups but that is another story. As I've mentioned, this is my first trip with my sons - ages 12 and 15. And my Dad is out visiting, so I brought him along too. This is one year to the day that he had heart surgery and we didn't know how he'd come through but here he is in Montana with me to chase deer and pheasants.

We are camped on the Judith River, about 10 miles west of the town of Winifred, on my boss' ranch. The ranch house has high speed wireless so I've been able to get connected. Its our only connection, as there is no cell service. The ranch is all total, about 8,500 acres, with a couple hundred acres under irrigation by the river and the rest is mule deer heaven. Coulee after coulee, sage, grasses and pines intermixed. There are numerous mule deer, turkey, elk, and pheasant. The target of the trip are the mule deer and pheasants.

Its been about ten years since I lived in Montana and hunted here. It is night and day from Utah. For starters, I was able to buy three surplus deer tags about three weeks ago over the internet. The draw for buck tags was in March, and I missed that one. But at $75/each for doe tags and an excuse to take my boys out, I had to buy some. Each hunter was allowed to buy up to 7 deer tags this year in Montana. You've got to love that. 

Well, the plan was to head out at first light and pop a deer, and then pheasant hunt for the rest of the day. The plan held true. I woke at first light and awakened my 12 year old. He wanted bad to go hunting so he was so excited, he forgot to put on his socks. We got our coats, orange hats and vests and headed to see what we could find. Getting here so late last night, we did not have a chance to see what we had to hunt so we figured to just wing it. 

Within walking distance of the camper, is the hay field. That was a good start. We hiked up a little ridge next to it that gave us a good command of the area. No deer in the hay field, but the coulee behind it looked promising. So we hit the ridgetop and headed up the comb, where we could see the hay field on the west, and up a coulee on the east. As we neared one small peak, we looked over and down in the coulee inbetween some pines, we saw a deer. We dropped to the ground and got the glasses to check it out. It was a half decent 3 point buck - about 17-18 wide. Nice little buck but we didn't have a buck tag dang it! But this time of year up here, where there is a buck, there will be a doe. So we kept looking. 

Pretty quick, several deer came out of the pines. We watched them one by one as they came out. Another three point. Two forks. Spike. Another 3. Wait. There are some does! 6-7 does came out, followed by a very nice buck. He stopped and let me have a good look. Nearly semetrical 4x4 - I'm guessing at 27-28 wide based on how far past his ears the antlers extended. Not real heavy, as the deer around here don't get real heavy racks. But good looking buck. Anyway, he became the problem. Many times in my life, I've had a doe in the crosshairs wishing it would grow antlers. Now, its the other way around - I'm watching a very good buck wishing it was a doe! 

He kept circling the does, and kept the moving so I couldn't get a good shot. Then the other bucks were milling around and kept walking in front of the does - again -keeping me from a good shot. With my son on his first hunt, I wanted to make sure I made a nice, ethical shot. Not that I would push that envelope as its not my style, but today had to be extra good. Well, the big boy finally got behind a 3 year old doe and stood there sniffing her up long enough for me to line up the cross hairs for the shot. She tumbled right away - right down the steep slope the deer were standing on. A quick high 5 from my son and we headed down to get her. It was a great start to the day.

After dragging her back to camp where we hung her in the barn and got her skinned out, we switched the rifle for the shot gun and got old Trout (my springer spaniel) and took off for some pheasants. Well, that dog is on his first hunt too so I didn't know what to expect. he performed perfectly. 20 yards in front, covering all the ground, and not getting too far out. He flushed a pheasant - I lined up and "hen!" He gave me that look that every bird hunter knows. So down the coulee a little more. He jumped a rooster that flew low and straight away. I popped a shot but missed. And, I got another look from the dog. Well, we flushed a few more and I didn't get any more shots. But we did jump at least 8 different roosters so that is a good thing. We'll get after it tomorrow. 

After one day of hunting in Montana though, I am reminded just how great it is up here. I'll hope to get some pictures up tomorrow if I remember to take some. Just having these few days with my Dad, and my boys is the best ever. We topped off the evening with philly cheesesteak sandies made with the last package of elk meat from last year. Time for bed. Its been a very good day.


----------



## NHS (Sep 7, 2007)

Sounds like a slice of heaven. Be sure to take a lot of pictures. They will be priceless to you someday.


----------



## huntnbum (Nov 8, 2007)

That's a pretty good story GaryFish, I could never imagine Utah having enough Deer to be able to buy up to SEVEN EXTRA TAGS :shock: 

Hope you're Dad and boys are having a great time.


----------



## Al Hansen (Sep 7, 2007)

Good on ya Gary. Sounds like a great start to a wonderfull time with your Dad and boys. Chicken tomorrow night for dinner. :wink:


----------



## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

Al Hansen said:


> Good on ya Gary. Sounds like a great start to a wonderfull time with your Dad and boys. Chicken tomorrow night for dinner. :wink:


When we made the menu for our trip, we put down stuffed pheasant tomorrow night so I best get it in gear tomorrow or I'm in trouble! We'll have to settle for venison steak I guess. :wink:


----------



## caddis8 (Sep 10, 2007)

I expect a full report. I'm excited for you and your sons. Enjoy all the time you have out there. It ends too fast and you have to get back to work. 

Good job. Shoot another couple of deer and shoot a lot of pheasants.


----------



## xxxxxxBirdDogger (Mar 7, 2008)

Awesome!


----------



## Gumbo (Sep 22, 2007)

There's no better time spent with your boys than that!


----------



## Bergy (Apr 3, 2008)

huntnbum said:


> That's a pretty good story GaryFish*, I could never imagine Utah having enough Deer to be able to buy up to SEVEN EXTRA TAGS *:shock:
> 
> Thats because the whitetails arent established in Utah yet. Give them time.... There will be plenty of deer.


----------



## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

Montana hunting - Day 2.
Well, we hoped to repeat yesterday's luck with our hunt today. Like yesterday, I awoke my son at first light and we headed out for the deer. (FWIW- all deer around here are mule deer). Adjacent to our camp is a large hay yard. In addition to the hay stacks, it has several tall cottonwoods. As we passed it heading out to find some deer, we flushed 6 rooster pheasants. Too bad we didn't have the shot gun and I just not a good enough shot with the 30-06 to try that shot! Mental note though - the pheasants roost in the hay stacks at night. Remember for tomorrow.

Anyway, we headed up the same ridge we hunted yesterday hoping to find the deer. At almost the exact same spot, we jumped a nice buck right below us. He was a 4x4 - about 24-25 wide - not heavy but good looking deer anyway. He ran quickly up the coulee. We watched him go wondering where the does would be - hoping to get another shot. By the time we finally saw the doe that was with him, they were 600 yards up the coulee and moving fast. So, we continued our hike, up the comb, turn up the next ridge, and back down the coulee where we had dumped the doe yesterday. Nothing. So back to camp.

Remember that the pheasants had set up in the hay yard and cottonwoods, we traded the 30-06 for the shot gun and positioned our two shooters where the pheasants have flown every time we've flushed them out, and sent the boys and the dog in to scare up some birds. Well, they flushed one and we heard it coming when my son yelled out "hen!" So we let it fly by. That was it for the pheasant chasing today. Bummer since that was on the menu tonight. 

So, we had lunch - venison strogonauf, and then set up the shooting gallary. Before we came, the boys rounded up all the old happy meal toys they could find so we'd have something to shoot. We filled the empty pop cans with water and set up a nice little gallary for them to have fun with the 22. Well, two hours and 300 shots later, they had pretty much destroyed every last toy in the batch, laughing and having fun the entire time. 

Then it was time for the evening hunt. My Dad stayed in camp with my oldest son to make dinner - venison stew. My youngest son and I headded out for the deer. We had spotted some deer coming down into the hay field in the evening so we got in position to get a shot. We scoped and scoped and found the biggest doe in the bunch. We snuck along the edge of the field, hoping to get as close as we could without them getting too nervous. We closed in to about 200 yards. They would look at us, then go back to eating. Finally, one of them just stood there looking at us. So we dropped down and set up the shot. We put another one down just that fast. We've been using a polaris ranger to get around the ranch, so we drove up and picked up the deer. We made it back to camp before the stew was ready. We got it hung in the barn and skinned, then threw together a dutch oven apple cobbler and waited while the stew simmered and the cobbler baked. We just finished dinner and set out our plans for tomorrow. We are all headed to bed with full bellies and smiles on our faces. 

Having my Dad here along with my boys - this is a trip of a lifetime and one I don't know if I'll ever be able to make happen again. The hunting is nothing short of great - but that is only part of the experience. The blue skies as the sun is coming up over the ridge, the smell of simmering venison stew, the stories of the past coming alive again, as new stories are being born - there is nothing that compares. Now, if we can just get into those dog gone pheasants!

Tomorrow morning instead of heading out after deer, we are starting on the pheasants. Hope that works. I'll let you know.


----------



## elk22hunter (Sep 7, 2007)

You do realize that one of these days you are going to have to wake up from this dream and face reality?


----------



## caddis8 (Sep 10, 2007)

If anyone deserves a dream hunt it is definitly you. Great story. Are you shooting the third deer with a smokepole?


----------



## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

Well, third day of hunting today, with one deer tag left. We decided to sleep in today, eat breakfast, and then see if we could roost the pheasants out of the hay pen and cottonwoods. We got in position sent in the boys and dog to jump them out but only one hen came out. I guess we were too late. Oh well. I spent the next couple hours cleaning up our camp, putting stuff away we weren't going to need anymore, and overall camp chores. The boys messed around and my Dad rested. About noon, we cooked up some steak sandwiches and started butchering the deer. We figured we could fill the final tag in the evening hunt. We decided that this would be our last day and we'd head home tomorrow. My youngest son about started to cry. I asked him why and he said he was sad we hadn't filled our last deer tag, and he felt like we had wasted the money. I told him we had more than $75 worth of fun though, and he agreed to that but was still pretty bummed. I promised him we'd try to get one tonight.

With internet, we were able to tune in the BYU-Air Force game and listen to it while we cut up the deer. With BYU behind at half time, my son - a HUGE BYU fan, was so stressed we decided we go out and see if we could find some more deer. We headed to where we shot the one last night and no luck. I thought we could just wait for the deer to come out but he was having none of that - just too nervous. We decided to head back and see how the game was going. By the time we got back, BYU had scored three more TDs and had a comfortable lead. So we finished butchering the first deer. 

The game ended and it looked like we still had enough light so we headed back out to the field in the little polaris ranger we've been using. Well, we headed to where we were last night and nothing. So I took it a little further down the field and we came around a corner and there were the deer - about 100 yards in front of us. I pulled up the binocs and found that the three on the left were all does. The one on the far left appeared to be the biggest. So I brought up the rifle and zoomed in. (Sorry Caddis8 - I kept with the '06 on all three - the smoke pole never came out of the case on this trip - maybe next time.) One shot made quick work of the deer. This was the best shot of the three. We gutted, loaded her up and headed back to the barn to hang and skin her. We got that done, and listened to the post game show while I got yesterday's deer butchered. Then dinner - venison steak and hashbrowns - and I finally finished butching the last of the venison about 10 tonight. I got the trailer all loaded, hooked up and ready to head home in the morning.

This has been glorious four days. The hunting has been nothing short of spectacular. We only had doe tags, but in all honesty, it would have been easier to fill them with bucks. We have had nice opportunities on several 4x4s and actually would have had easier shots. Really. It was a bigger challenge to shoot does. I know that sounds hokie, but the does are far more cautious right now than the bucks are.

But more importantly - my boys have had an amazing hunting trip, and my Dad along with them. It has been nothing short of spectacular. Now, the long drive home tomorrow. Thanks for letting me share this little adventure.


----------



## wasatchmtnbike (Oct 16, 2007)

Such a Dang Good story, and heartwarming! So good to hear of such a great experience you had with your boys and your Dad. My three kids went with me on the deer hunt this year, along with my older brother. I haven't hunted with my brother for almost 20 years. We had a great time.


----------



## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

Well, we made it back home just fine. A great trip all around. I decided it would be good to add a few pics. No dead animal pics - just does anyway - but a few to show the best part of the trip.

Here is our hunting camp.









We set up a little shooting range for plinking with the 22 one day. The boys had a great time. This was the first time my oldest son has ever shot so his style is a little unconventional.









The boys really had a great time with the dog, and made friends with the ranch dogs as well. 









This is my last/best picture of the trip. The boys, with the dog, and with my Dad. Three generations sharing the adventure made it the best trophey ever.


----------



## Poo Pie (Nov 23, 2007)

What a great story GaryFish, Thanks for sharing


----------



## Mountain Time (Sep 24, 2007)

Very cool. I feel like I just back from a great hunt. Thanks for taking us along :wink: 

Can't wait until my sons old enough to hunt.


----------



## BIGBEAN (Apr 16, 2008)

What a pricelss trip and that last picture is what its all about. 8)


----------



## InvaderZim (Sep 7, 2007)

Outstanding journey sir!


----------



## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

Thats what it's all about. Great story! Thanks.


----------

