From: ketchum@cs.montana.edu (Steve White)
Subject: mule deer hunt in w. Montana
Organization: Dept. of Computer Science, MSU, Bozeman Mt 59717
Date: 29 Dec 92 09:30:46 CST
Originator: hunting@osnome.che.wisc.edu
Keywords: friend's first deer hunt a success

[Moderator's note:  this was posted on December 1 but a news glitch
might have cuased some problems so I am resending it.  tjr]

This is a hunting report in the area of Harlowton, MT on 31 Oct 92.
Harlo is northeast of the Crazy Mtns. which are well east of the Grt.
Divide.  The area is rolling hills with wooded draws with a few
scattered rocky ridges (uplifts?) and buttes.

On this particular hunt three of us stayed in a tack shed on the place
where my mom-in-law lives on a ranch south of Harlowton, MT. So we had
a nice place in out of the wind, with electricity, mice, dogs, cats,
etc. and running water close by in the house. Boy, we were roughing
it. :-)
 
We hunted on a ranch close by that consists of about 60 sections that
is open to the public as long as you obtain written permission. The
first day we walked a lot in mostly open hilly country looking for
antelope. (One of us had an either sex pronghorn tag. He was the only
one shooting.) We made a couple of stalks and Doug missed a nice buck
at about 70 yds after a good stalk. Apparently he didn't have the
muzzle of his rilfe up out of the high grass which probably deflected
the bullet enough that he missed even at that range. (Incidently he
was using a pre 64 Model 70 Win in a 6mm.)
  
Even though John and I just had deer tags we all hunted together, even
when we were after pronghorns. We all enjoyed stalking the antelope.
All that day we didn't see any deer until I split off from the others
while hiking back to the pickup. I went through a little area of trees
on a hillside and ran into 12 head of mulies. Only one was sporting
any antlers, which were small. I knew that there was a lot of deer in
the area 'cuz my wife and I had been there about three weeks before
when I filled my antelope tag, and we had seen bookooz of them. Seeing
the deer in the brush confirmed my idea of hunting the timber the next
(our last) day.
   
Dawn the next morning found us walking up some wooded draws towards
some distant wooded hills. We were commonly seeing deer. Some of them
were bucks but I was pretty sure that we could find better. I wasn't
looking to fill my deer tag since I had a freezer full of elk. I did
carry my bow along in case I got a chance at a biggun though.
    
This was John's first ever hunt as a non-observer. In 90 he
accompanied two professors on two different hunts where they were both
unsuccessful even though they had both gotten a few shots. John asked
me how many shells I usually went through on a hunt. He thought that
it was common to miss a lot. I told him that I usually took two shells
with me in case I lost one.  :-)
     
On one of those hunts he had shot a gun for the first time. It was a
.30-06 while leaning across the hood of a pickup. He wasn't coached
much and got scope cut. So naturally he had a phobia about shooting a
gun again. So a few weeks prior to the season we had gone out and done
some shooting. We started out with the .22 magnum. I shot several
times to show that it was nothing to shoot. He got pretty good with it
and obtained pretty good form. We practiced in several positions and
of course we went over safety rules well. Then I pulled out the wife's
.243 Mossberg and took a few shots with it.  He finally assumed that
it wasn't as bad as it sounded even if we did have ear plugs in. After
three or so shots he relaxed and started shooting pretty good. We
adjusted the scope a little and called it good.  Then we shot the .22
some more before it got dark.
      
Now all we had to do was find a buck. After the previous day John
thought that he would be lucky to get a doe even though I had told him
the previous week that I was confident that we could get a decent
buck. Well we passed up several stalking opportunities during the
morning. Doug was getting a little bored so when we got on the edge of
some antelope country I suggested that we take a look. Doug spotted
some and we worked out a stalking route.  During our stalk I was
keeping a look out for deer since we were sneaking around wooded
ridges and up draws. I spotted a buck bedded above a creek bank on the
side of a wooded ridge. We just had our heads peeking over a grassy
creek bank and the deer was about 250 yds away.
       
That was kind of a funny situation. I was telling Doug where to look
for the buck when he finally said that he saw it. He made a few
comments on it and it finally dawned on me that his description of the
critter wasn't what I was seeing. Finally I stuck my head up a little
higher & looked over to the right a little and there was the deer he
was looking at. The second buck wasn't any bigger but he had a few
more points. He looked to be a 5x4 while the other was a big 2x2. Both
had about a 16 inch spread and looked to be 2.5 yr old bucks.
	
The only one we had much of a chance at was the big forked horn buck.
So we crawled up the creek bed towards him. By staying flat against
the bank we could barely stay concealed. That made it more exciting.
We finally got up to within about 80 yds. Then the buck was almost
totally concealed by some limbs. So I crawled up a little to see if
maybe we could get a shot at the other one since the 2x2 wouldn't see
us if we did. I crawled a few feet and geeez there he was standing up
looking our way. So I told John to slither up beside me real slow
like. I took off my fanny pack and laid it beside me so John could use
it for a solid rest and get the muzzle up out of the grass. The buck
finally started looking on the ground for something to munch on. There
was just too many dead twigs and limbs in the way for a shot. So we
laid there waiting for him to move and present a shot. In order for
him to do that he would have had to come down hill about five yds and
I didn't see any reason for him to do that. Then all of a sudden
another buck stepped into view in the little opening that I was
wanting the other one to walk into. He lowered his head a little and
looked right at us. We must have been a little too visible. I told
John, who was ready by then, where to aim and reminded him to pick a
spot, take a breath and let it out slowly and squeeze the trigger. He
did and I saw that he made a good hit.  Well the buck turned a 180 and
had no use of a front leg. Since he didn't go right down John was
afraid that he had just broken his leg. About that time the other
standing buck saw his vulnerability I guess and locked antlers with
him. They tussled a few seconds and the three of them dropped over
into a little draw out of sight.

John and I trotted over there. When we were just about to look over
into the draw where I expected to see them I told him that if he saw
one standing with a broken leg to shoot it. We surprised them at 30
yds (my bow was back where John shot from). After a few seconds the
two we saw took off. John's was laying dead on the ground. I looked
back at Doug, who had never seen the third one, and he was standing up
pointing at them as they ran across a open hill 70 yds from him. I
pointed down at the dead one. He scoped them to see if he could see
any blood. He didn't understand why we weren't shooting since he
couldn't see the dead one.
	  
So John got his first deer, a 3x4, and with one shot. (Later Fish &
Game confirmed that it was indeed a 2.5 year old buck.) One of the
others was a 5x4 but he wasn't much larger, he just had a few more
points. It was a good stalk and he hit it real close to where I told
him to. We guessed it to be about a 90 yd shot. It was a good
experience for him. I wish that the buck had dropped a little quicker
but it didn't take too long. The buck was quartering to us so I had
him shoot where the neck attaches to the body so that the bullet would
come out behind the offside front shoulder. He shot about 2 inches to
the right and hit the distal end (socket end) of the scapula. That is
why he couldn't use his front leg.  The bullet continued onward
breaking a rib and ending up in the heart lung area.
	   
John asked all kinds of questions during the gutting, so I finally
asked him if he ever took any biology courses. He answered, "Yes, but
that was back in high school and this is a lot bigger than a frog."

Then the work began. 
We had about a 2.5 mile drag to the truck over numerous little hills
and gullies into a strong, cold head wind that had a little rain/snow
in it for the last 20 minutes. Great time. Doug went looking to stalk
the antelope while we did the dragging. The prongs had bedded down
amongst some cattle so he gave up on the stalk.
	   
It was a good hunt. The season closed yesterday. I've got a new recipe
to try on my deer tag..... if I run out of elk.

There is always next year.

Steve W.



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