Messages sent from my wife & sweet little dog dutchess while on our MT trip.

All members of party safely home..you gotta see what will fit into one bow case..unbelievable.. and it still only weighed 38 lbs so could fly no problem..TSA went through it at airport somewhere.. would like to have seen them repacking it..lol...

Final leg of our journey home from MT ..food..yeah from Washington DC fish market..steamed shrimp, fried flounder, & and coconut shrimp..+ onion rings..awesome.

Our final day hunting in MT. What a way to spend a Sunday in a cathedral of the outdoors without comparison all from the hands of our creator and wonderful God. We are thankful to have recreated in this place , but more thankful to know we are re-created in Gods image through his son and our lord Jesus Christ.

Another great day here in Montana. Too much to tell so letting the pics do the talking... wolf tracks while antelope hunting, state land access, one of toms rainbows, Andrews sunset fishing, hanging a new stand setup ..Andrew the squirrel doin a great job hanging stands for Tom, beer for breakfast heck yes its MT..just carb loading..

Praise the lord Andrew finally pulled the trigger on a 4 x 3 MT mule deer. its back strap for supper tonight. Tom s still the fishing master.. more trout today..oh and the suns finally out..37 degrees this morning...65 now so perfect day..

Montana update for hump day. 7 days in now still no deer down but we are having fun trying. More rain, sleet, and even snow a little on is this evening , we need Mr. sunshine for sure. 48 degrees and 30 mph = cold dudes in the woods waiting em out this evening. Andrew got a great shot of the snow bow..rainbow near days end from his ground blind. rising early so till tomorrow.

Montana update for today..rain on and off most of day ..more on than we preferred but we made do..several nice bucks passed in range but for no shots taken yet..holding out for mulies...brown may be down tomorrow no matter if mulie or whitetail..Tom had another good day fishing..10+ fish for the fly guru..had some good sightings of wildlife as well.. Andrew and tom saw their first Hoary Marmot today...also scouted Engle ranch where we start hunt tomorrow..4 cow elk spotted at 300 yds.Chef Howell made sausage and gravy, biscuits,fried fresh squash, & tater tots to finish off the great day...oh and the moose drool beer is running low may mean a trip to town. go figure.

Chef Howell meal from last evening..chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, buttered corn, mixed veggies w cheese sauce...we ain't suffering too much....oh yeah and moose drool brown ale ..

Monday afternoon update....the boys killed the trout on the Bolder River this afternoon...3 hr tour netted 30 + trout ...browss and rainbows...Andrew lands his first MT trout ..18 inch rainbow on dry fly hopper...Tom is a good teacher...got drew on em...

catch up post..this is the farm we stayed at and hunted in Absarokee MT..wide open big sky country...

 farm to fork dinner set up ..old plow now a barbeque grill & stew pot

Sorry haven't updated for a few days. too busy having fun in MT. No deer or antelope harvested yet. its gonna happen soon though. we see tons of game..just no shooters yet in the right spot.
 Fishing on the Stillwater river..

 My view on stalk hunt at 0800 this morning..more to come later..

Now this is what I call a Montana alarm clock fit for the true sportsman ..wild turkeys clucking to welcome the new morn just outside bedroom window. Sweet...

as Andrew says

MT is an awesome state for a sportsman to come to. We had 6 tom meriams turkeys walk within 10 yards while sighting in bows early today..then we were off to scouting th

e new areas around Absarokee MT. We were able to meet with block management rancher and he put us on areas for antelope as well as mule deer. We glasses up approx 30 antelope and then went deer hunting..no shooter bucks in bow range however Andrew had several whitetail does at less than 20 yards and I saw 2 shooter mulies at about 250 yards..unable to stalk in range due to location..tomorrow we got a plan..more then..

Mt hunting trip has officially kicked off. we made it into billings just after noon..then picked up rental from hertz then off to cabelas in billings for some last minute supplies/ fishing gear. Grabbed a quick lunch at Mickey D's across street from cabelas then headed to Clyde park/ bracket creek to get the deer stand, and other supplies stored for us. Got the gear and then off to grocery Albertsons in Livingston. left livingston just as sun was setting and saw an awesome sunset over Bear tooth Mtn Range. The reflected light of sunset on the Crazy Mountains was spectacular. Game sighted / species while driving etc. on our first day..whitetails(300+),mule deer(250+), antelope(500+), elk herd(50+ & a huge 6x6), sandhill cranes, merganser ducks, golden eagle, and lots of black Angus cows(yep its Montana). Bows ready and will be sighted in in the morning..the were off to see if we can find a" big un". Thank you lord for a safe traveling  experience and for the gifts you give of your creation.

This evening we made our way from NC to Washington DC as we fly out early tomorrow for Billings MT. Tom provided Andrew and I with a much appreciated first meal of our adventure at the Capital Yacht  Club. A burger never tasted better to 2 hungry souls. Gotta get some shut eye for a long day of travel tomorrow. More updates to come.

Montana trip preparation

Hi to all who may be following this blog. My name is Mark Howell aka ncbowhntr and this blog is being established to hopefully document my hunting adventures this 2013 season. Good news is that we have been drawn for a Montana deer and antelope tags and have put in many hours of work and research to make this "do it yourself" hunt a reality.  We leave for MT on Sept. 11 so this post finds me in the throes of final preparation.Today I completed construction and fabrication of the new cow decoy that will hopefully gets us on bow range of some speed goats. I will try to update here as the hunt and adventure progress over the next two weeks.