Got away for a few days with my father, Fred, and visited some great family friends in northern Montana. Great dinners. Lots of laughs. World Series games on motel TVs. Chicken fried steak for dinner. And a couple nice animals for the freezer.
We went unguided in the broad expanse and that big, open country isn’t easy to hunt. But Fred managed to take a nice little four-by-four whitetail the last day after passing on some nicer bucks earlier in the hunt. And we chanced on to a cow elk that nobody would have believed to have been there. Our friend held a special cow elk draw tag in his pocket. We took him back into the woods where we located the elk and dropped it at dark. Cleaning an elk in some of the most grizzly-rich country in Montana, in the dark, was an adrenaline rush for sure. Left the animal overnight and then went in with two shotguns and a 7mm mag to retrieve our prize, at daylight, the next morning. No griz. No coyotees. No nothing but a beautiful cow elk, nice and cool and ready to make great meals with all winter long.
Ok, and then the big whitetail. I’d been looking for this buck for three days and wouldn’t have settled for anything less than this big dude. Stalked him for an hour in open country and finally was able to connect with a 250 yard shot, which is right where I had the .300 short mag zeroed in at.
Next time in this country it’s all about the fly rod and fishing some creeks that are off the radar and provide big trout. Until that time I’m going to think of big, open Montana and all of my friends and family who participated in that hunt…each time I make elk chili, or deer chops, or carne asada all winter long. Hope you enjoy the pics.