November 21, 2015

Opening day of NC rifle season, Iredell County NC. The rifle is my Tikka .270 winchester w hornandy new GMX 130 grain copper solid. Called this big  wide 6 pointer in with a primos doe bleated can call after I heard him and another buck sparring about 100 yards away in a thicket. Not much of a shot as he came into 30 yards looking for the "hot" doe...ie me. Thank you David for letting me hunt on your farm today.

9-25-2015 Day 9 of the Montana Hunt

 A special day! Indeed

 If you followed the blog post yesterday you know today is special for me as it is the anniversary of my marriage now of 27 years. To my wife who supports my pursuits I am indebted and grateful to be allowed the freedom to refresh my mind, body, and soul and return to my home renewed by the knowledge that "grace" has been shared with me for many years now.

 The morning dawned early again as we got ready to pursue the beauty of the MT wildlife and to share a final sacred communion with the land and its inhabitants . I dropped Andrew off before dawn and he descended into the Custer NF for one final morning hunt. As I was  leaving I stopped to watch the sunrise over the beartooth foothills. The scene I encountered reminded me of a quote  or two rom one of my favorite movies by Norman McLean  - A river runs through it.

 For my wife Samantha- on our anniversary!

 Norman to Jessi -his future wife - " As the moon lingers a moment over the Bitterroot's, before its descent into the invisible, my mind is filled with song. I find I am humming, softly, not to the music, but to something else, some place else. A place remembered. A field of grass where no one seemed to have been, except the deer, and the memory is strengthened by the feeling of you, dancing in my awkward arms.

 For Andrew-

Older Norman  "My candle burns at both ends; it will not last the night. But ah my foes, and oh my friends - it gives a lovely light."

The pursuit of deer continued up Happy Jack draw for a shooter. Andrew saw plenty of deer, just no mature buck from his stand location
.

Then we had a  great breakfast of  with eggs, bacon, grits and antelope loin an MT beer! Following breakfast we took down Andrews tree stand for storage.

  To town for fuel and a brief visit to Crazy Mountains Museum

9-24-2015 Day 8 of the MT Hunt
 Drew draws and connects ..keep reading

Up early again this morning ...actually over slept by a half hour. Didn't seem to matter except drew got no coffee.Deer movement was good just no shooters came by.

 Andrew got a great shot of a protein supplement feeder used in winter by a local rancher.

Then we took mom into town...Big Timber..and found her a place to " get her hair did" Window shopped some andxwent to Big Timber fly shop. Got new flyfishing shirts for both Andrew and myself. Sweet..Simms apparel. Also, found a quilt shop and took picture for my Aunt Melanie knowing she would have loved it.

Then it was back home for a late lunch of wild turkey breast nuggets. On the way into the ranch Andrew spotted a grouse and made a stalk to about 15 yards and took the grouse with his bow. Way to go Andrew. First MT blood drawn and the miss monkey off his back.

 After lunch we decided to wet a line and trout fish on the Boulder near the house. Only had about an hour and half but I caught and releases a decent 12 inch Yellowstone cutthroat and lost another one that appeared to be a rainbow. Caught drew in action!

Supper tonight was special with ruffed grouse fresh from the field grilled and served up country style. It was yummy good!

Andrew had  some luck seeing deer this evening but no luck connecting. He did however experience a gorgeous MT sunset. He said " it was the most beautiful hunting experience I have ever had" .

 Stay  tuned I've got a good feeling about tomorrow for Drew!!!

 Right about now missing my girls! Oh and by the way tomorrow will be our 27th wedding anniversary... I think...lord I hope I got those years right. Sammy Happy Anniversary!!! Thank you for supporting my hunting addiction all these years.  LYMI..Dad..

9-23-2015 Day 7 Montana Hunt and Fish Adventure

 The shot opportunities keep coming!

Today dawned again very early. Up at 0520 to have time to drop Andrew off for his morning hunt and to get me 15 miles to the ranch where I could antelope hunt before daybreak. Dropped Andrew off at the top of Happy Jack draw on the Custer National Forest the I headed for Big Timber and the ranch where I had spotted antelope previously and acquired permission to hunt.

Andrew saw a beautiful dawn as many deer were up and moving early through the draw he was hunting.  Andrew had a shot opportunity on a 4 x 3 Mulie at 62 yards, unfortunately the deer whirled at the shot and bound off. We searched for several hours for the arrow and sign to no avail, but that's hunting with a bow. It's plain tough sometimes!! Heck most of the time.

So then we had an awesome brunch of MT sausage and gravy with biscuits. Yummy again!

Then we went scouting some more and spotted a flock of wild turkeys and thankfully I had gone to town and purchased my MT turkey tag for 55$ just the afternoon before. A quick plan was hatched for a stalk and Andrew went along to call out  yardage ranges if we could get close. The flock had moved to a draw along side the river and we quickly closed the distance to less than 50 yards. We slowly crept forward and a tom turkey stepped up on a fallen tree at 30 yards. Andrew confirmed it was a long beard as I drew and gave me a final range of 29 yards. I let the arrow fly and center punched the tom and he went down very quickly. High fives were exchanged as we celebrated. Again grateful to be hunting in MT a true hunters paradise


 Melagris Gallipova Merriama

 My first turkey ever and with my bow in MT.  Now you know why I am smiling so big!

Andrew hunted hard in the evening but had no shooters come in range. Tomorrow will hopefully be a better day for my buddy.

  Andrew's stand location and the evening sunset over the Beartooths

We are thankful to be in Gods creation regardless the outcome but sometimes the sweetness of his handiwork is all that is needed to bring joy to the heart.

Finished the day having dinner with Laury and Andrew in Livingston MT. Graduated HS with Laury in 1984 and this is our first meeting since then and out here in MT..go figure? She was just as I had remembered, sweet,  gregarious, and generous  with a wonderful sense of humor and a love for all things natural. Thanks for a great evening guys!

9-22-2015
 Day 6 of the Montana Hunt ( success is sweetest when it come through hard work and effort)

 From that comment as you can guess it was a successful hunt for me this morning. I spotted 3 antelope does just at sunrise at about 400 yards. I  was able to move myself and the antelope buck decoy into a position that peaked their curiosity along a grassy  fence line that I was able to use for cover. The antelope doe took about 10 mins to cover the distance to me and one presented a broadside shot at 49 yards. Once again the rage broadheads found its mark and the results were immediate and awesome. I was very thankful for the opportunity to hunt these incredibly beautiful animals!

The pack out was short and relatively easy as estimated weight was 115lbs . The rental car plastic taco method worked well once again.

Glad to have Andrew along to assist with skinning and caping out the antelope. Much appreciated assistance. Got to use my hand forged elk antler Handel caping knife preparing the antelope for the taxidermist as well as boning out the loins.

 The it was another delicious breakfast with peppered bacon and antelope tenderloin. Again Andrew proclaimed "tasty"  and best flavored wild game ever sampled. I would agree, maybe we were just hungry but it was really good. So was my brunch celebratory beer!!!

This evening Andrew hunted at the Engle Ranch where Robert Redford filmed the movie The Horse Whisper. Beautiful setting for a hunt and over 200 deer spotted but no shooters in range. Andrew say lets play " where's Andrew" in the first photo...and then the view from his blind location.

Also saw a flock of wid turkeys this evening during the hunt

Looking forward to another beautiful day in God's creation tomorrow. Now onto some trout fishing and relaxing.

9-21-2015
Day 5 of our Montana Hunt

Good morning Montana! Up before crack of dawn to hunt again. Mornings hunt went well with several animals spotted but nothing in bow range. Andrew also spotted some unique flora as well as fauna. Andrew had a great view of the alfalfa fields.

On the drive back from my morning antelope hunt I stopped by a few of the local historical markers. Can only imagine what Lewis and Clark would have seen and endured during the corps of discovery journey through this area.

it was onto more scouting and spotting.  The mountains in the Custer NF were amazing again today. Felt like the king of the world on top of the mountain. Vortex binos should use this pic of Andrew in their next add campaign. Me being goofy but it felt great.

 I spotted an antelope buck bedded so drew and I tested out the new decoy. Got us to 130 yards of one buck and 65 of another buck and doe bedded but got busted when standing for the draw. Gig was up ad the buck was quickly at 250 and still going. Decoy worked great as cover for stalking. Do it yourself self guided on state lands is tough but a challenge is what we signed up for. Full on camo for us both almost twinning the outfits.

 The evening hunt was unsuccessful in our attempt to harvest an animal, but was an astounding success at sights and making memories that will sustain us for a while till we can get back to big sky country again. A rain storm at sunset lead to a rainbow extrodinaire ( 2 views 15 miles apart drew the mine) and an astoundingly beautiful sunset in the west of the Beartooths, Bridget, and Crazy mountain ranges.

 Stayed tuned hopefully a BBD day tomorrow!  Not sure it gets much better than this! Feeling very blessed tonight again.