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Thought I would share our Montana trip with you guys. We left on the 19th to spend Thanksgiving at our house in Montana. Anyway, Friday morning we slept in and went out to make sure the rifles were still on, then off we went. We found a new area and figured it held promise because we saw about 10 bucks chasing does in the first 10-15 mins of being there. After glassing all the bucks and Katie(my wife) deciding that none of them were big enough for her, we drove to the end of the road and turned around. We were heading back and Jesse(my brother) and I will looking at a far hillside, Katie says, I would shoot that buck. We looked in the creek bottom and there was this old goofy horned buck. The first thing we noticed was the size of his body, then his goofy horns. I got Katie setup and we ranged the buck at 205 yds, she squeezed the trigger of the 7wsm and sent the 180 berger on the way. The hit was right in the pocket and he ran about 10 yds and fell over and rolled down the hill. We new he was big bodied, but not until we got up to him and saw exactly how big. She was extremely happy. The taxidermist says he is between 7-9 years old.
We saw a few more nice bucks that night, including a really nice 4x5, but looking at his face, he looked very young, so we decided to let him go another year. We also saw an offspring of Katies deer and was a 5x5 that was taller and wider, but since it was only the first day, I didn't take him. In hindsight, I should have shot him. We will definitely be looking for him next year. On to my deer.
On Sunday, we headed back up to our secret spot and decided we were actually going to get off the road this time. We hiked up into the "breaks" about 1/2 mile and starting seeing deer. We setup the spotter and began to look them over. All nice bucks, but just not what we were looking for. Jesse and I walked down the ridge to glass another spot and Katie starting clapping and whistling at us. We ran back up to her position and looked through the spotter at what she was so excited about. The buck was coming out othe creek bottom hot on the trail of a doe. When we first saw him, he was at 750yds. I thought perfect, no wind, perfect conditions, this won't be a problem. By the time I got setup...less than a minute, he was at 600yds and closing. He dissapeared in a coulee and then came out at 480yds. When he paused, I sent the 300gr SMK his direction. The shot hit right behind the shoulder and he ran 10-15yds and stopped. As soon as he stopped, another bullet was on the way dropping him where he stood. It was not needed as he was dead on his feet, but I didn't want he to fall back into the creek bottom. He is not the biggest buck we saw, but still a nice deer taping out at the 140" mark. I am happy as hell, especially sharing time with my wife and brother on the hunt.
We did get Katies on video, but had some technical difficulties on the camera for my shot. We did get 50 minutes of video on the inside of Katies coat pocket though
.
The equipment used:
Katies Rifle:
Phoenix Machine action
Rock Sendero contour barrel 26"
Manners T
Seekins bottom metal
Seekins base and rings
Leupold 6.5-20
DE Muzzle brake
Chambered in 7mm WSM....180 bergers at 2970
My rifle:
Remington 700
Broughton custom contour 3/8" fluting, 31" long
Manners T2
NF rings, and base
NF 5.5-22x50 NP-R1
DE Muzzle brake
Chambered in 338 Edge.....300gr SMK at 2900
We saw a few more nice bucks that night, including a really nice 4x5, but looking at his face, he looked very young, so we decided to let him go another year. We also saw an offspring of Katies deer and was a 5x5 that was taller and wider, but since it was only the first day, I didn't take him. In hindsight, I should have shot him. We will definitely be looking for him next year. On to my deer.
On Sunday, we headed back up to our secret spot and decided we were actually going to get off the road this time. We hiked up into the "breaks" about 1/2 mile and starting seeing deer. We setup the spotter and began to look them over. All nice bucks, but just not what we were looking for. Jesse and I walked down the ridge to glass another spot and Katie starting clapping and whistling at us. We ran back up to her position and looked through the spotter at what she was so excited about. The buck was coming out othe creek bottom hot on the trail of a doe. When we first saw him, he was at 750yds. I thought perfect, no wind, perfect conditions, this won't be a problem. By the time I got setup...less than a minute, he was at 600yds and closing. He dissapeared in a coulee and then came out at 480yds. When he paused, I sent the 300gr SMK his direction. The shot hit right behind the shoulder and he ran 10-15yds and stopped. As soon as he stopped, another bullet was on the way dropping him where he stood. It was not needed as he was dead on his feet, but I didn't want he to fall back into the creek bottom. He is not the biggest buck we saw, but still a nice deer taping out at the 140" mark. I am happy as hell, especially sharing time with my wife and brother on the hunt.
We did get Katies on video, but had some technical difficulties on the camera for my shot. We did get 50 minutes of video on the inside of Katies coat pocket though
.The equipment used:
Katies Rifle:
Phoenix Machine action
Rock Sendero contour barrel 26"
Manners T
Seekins bottom metal
Seekins base and rings
Leupold 6.5-20
DE Muzzle brake
Chambered in 7mm WSM....180 bergers at 2970
My rifle:
Remington 700
Broughton custom contour 3/8" fluting, 31" long
Manners T2
NF rings, and base
NF 5.5-22x50 NP-R1
DE Muzzle brake
Chambered in 338 Edge.....300gr SMK at 2900
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