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Montana Hunt: JerryBobCo and MHS edition
So, JerryBoBCo and MileHighShooter decided to pull the trigger on a hunt in Montana this year. They opted to go opening weekend, renting a camper and setting up on a stretch of public land that I recommended as a their operating base. In preparation, they asked me to come up and help get them oriented in unfamiliar territory, and were kind enough to provide both food and camper space for me to join them. I was happy to join them and try to steer them in the right direction for a few days before heading out with my regular group in mid-November.
I don't want to go into too much detail because I want to let them tell their own stories, but let's just say that the whole affair was a remarkable success. In the 2 days that I was with them, they dropped 4 deer and a turkey.
MHS after filling his whitetail doe tag with a 6mm Creedmoor:
...and his buck tag with his...*gulp* .270 Win on a mule deer the very first morning out:
MHS with his *first ever* turkey! A Merriam's bird shot with my Benelli Super Black Eagle 3 and Winchester Long Bird XR 3", #5 loads:
Jerry after filling his whitetail doe tag with his .358 Win on the first evening hunt:
Jerry also scored a whitetail buck, but we failed to get a pic of it. He was tagged out on the first night!
I'm also holding a whitetail doe and mule deer doe tag, but I realized that it made no sense to shoot a deer with no time to have it processed. I'll hold off on shooting those until I return in November for my regular hunt.
In the meantime, I snuck off during their first evening hunt to bag a turkey of my own, and get first blood on my Black Widow PCH-X. I got it with a Magnus Stinger 150 gr. fixed blade broadhead:
We also went on a little sharp-tailed grouse excursion, in which I bagged one bird, but again...I forgot to take a pic. It was great fun though, as they got to see a good number of birds (not as many birds I saw as last season) and Jerry took the bird's hide and feathers to use as fly tying material.
Yeah. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that they had fun.
I don't want to go into too much detail because I want to let them tell their own stories, but let's just say that the whole affair was a remarkable success. In the 2 days that I was with them, they dropped 4 deer and a turkey.
MHS after filling his whitetail doe tag with a 6mm Creedmoor:
...and his buck tag with his...*gulp* .270 Win on a mule deer the very first morning out:
MHS with his *first ever* turkey! A Merriam's bird shot with my Benelli Super Black Eagle 3 and Winchester Long Bird XR 3", #5 loads:
Jerry after filling his whitetail doe tag with his .358 Win on the first evening hunt:
Jerry also scored a whitetail buck, but we failed to get a pic of it. He was tagged out on the first night!
I'm also holding a whitetail doe and mule deer doe tag, but I realized that it made no sense to shoot a deer with no time to have it processed. I'll hold off on shooting those until I return in November for my regular hunt.
In the meantime, I snuck off during their first evening hunt to bag a turkey of my own, and get first blood on my Black Widow PCH-X. I got it with a Magnus Stinger 150 gr. fixed blade broadhead:
We also went on a little sharp-tailed grouse excursion, in which I bagged one bird, but again...I forgot to take a pic. It was great fun though, as they got to see a good number of birds (not as many birds I saw as last season) and Jerry took the bird's hide and feathers to use as fly tying material.
Yeah. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that they had fun.
Accuracy: because white space between bullet holes drives me insane.
Replies
I miss Montana.
One of the biggest upsides to so much shooting in such a short time, i really got a good hold on my adrenaline when lining up a shot.
It was a pleasure hunting with you guys and I’m glad you have enough meat to last a while.
I have had similar results with Sierra GameKing/Pro-Hunter offerings, but standard cautions apply when hitting bone with a traditional cup-and-core bullet. The advantage is they are damned near half the price of Barnes and incredibly easy to load tune.
This is now the 2nd time I've hunted with Six and Jerrybobco, but 1st time we all hunted together. We all met each other the same weekend over 15 years ago at a forum group shoot along with my late brother, Sakodude and another former member. Its amazing the friendships this small patch of the interwebs has created. Ive also hunted twice with Chiro, once with JBOhio, and I meet up with Sakodude every few months, have shared dinner and a beer with Jeff from Tx, had several meals with our lone Democratic poster Alphasig, and have plans to see DanC in a few weeks. Im a member of several other hunting forums, most of which are more serious and not friendly casual like here, but ive never shared a meal or a hunt with them.
This is truly a special place, from the Florida off topic days, through Outdoors Best, to now. I can't wait to enjoy hunts and memories with ya'll for years to come.
Jerry dropped by the house today on his way back to the grand state of Texas. He graciously left Thanksgiving and Christmas (and many more) dinners behind.
Thank you, Jerry, for sharing the bounty. Knowing the effort entailed, Machell and I appreciate it more than you know. I haven't popped a deer in so long we've both forgotten what it tastes like, (I do know it's better than buffalo....LOL).
Venison chops sprinkled with lavender pepper on the flat-iron griddle are Saturdays' plan.
Mike
N454casull
Spending time with friends in a new state was the best part, but a mighty close 2nd was the result! Really glad I got a 3rd freezer last month.
Life member of the American Legion, the VFW, the NRA and the Masonic Lodge, retired LEO
"The Un-Tactical"
I re-read my post and realized that I may have sounded negative about the Sierra offering, but they have done really well. The SSTs I have seen shot extremely well, but for big western stuff (elk, specifically), I have seen issues with them holding up. The cow that my friend shot in Colorado took one to the shoulder, ran and never went down. For deer (mulie and whitetails), they are and excellent choice. Great expansion and easy to tune.
Mike
N454casull
Knowing all of you guys personally, I can only imagine how much fun was had.
Montana was indeed great. Kudos to Luis for finding great places to hunt and knowing just where to put us to get our deer. Both he and Dan are great hunting buddies.
I was especially glad to bloody my 358. As expected, a small whitetail doe at less than 100 yards is no match for it. It wasn't quite bang flop, more of a bang, stagger for 2-3 seconds, flop and try to get back up for a few seconds. By the time I reached her, she was dead.
Now I just need to figure a way to make Montana closer to Texas. I spent more days driving than hunting..
Gun control laws make about as much sense as taking ex-lax to cure a cough.
Mike
N454casull
Gun control laws make about as much sense as taking ex-lax to cure a cough.
First, if you hunt with Six-Gun, bring your A game. The man's motor doesn't stop. He truly loves to hunt. Or maybe he lives to hunt. Either way, I couldn't stay up. Hunting with two guys 25-30 years my junior was a humbling experience.
Second, on our way up, we drove through the extreme northeast corner of Wyoming. The route took us by Devil's Tower (think "Close Encounters of the Third KInd"). That by itself was awesome. While we didn't see any UFOs or aliens, we did see tons of deer (mulies and whitetail) and antelope. I don't know if there's much public land there, or the regulations, but it's worth checking out.
Gun control laws make about as much sense as taking ex-lax to cure a cough.