Well, the boy and I found a couple good bucks this year. Hunting was tough as the hunting pressure was unreal around here... Tons of out of state hunters. Your folks up north are lucky you don't have to deal with that problem!!
The season started slow...we were seeing a lot of deer, but pretty much all does, fawns, and young bucks. I finally located a nice buck on the neighbor's place. To make a long story short, my son shot him on November 18 about 3:00 in the afternoon as he was chasing a little buck away from the doe he was with. He was just a 4X4, but had 8" brow tines and weighed 211 pounds...just a big old boy...
I'd spotted a dandy buck south of town the week before. He was hanging out on a farm that allows no hunting at all, but I have permission to hunt the farm that borders it and over the years I've learned that bucks there will slip up from time to time and follow a doe off the posted property. I got some photos of him one afternoon from a distance (on the posted property, of course). Oddly enough, he was chasing some mule deer does around when I took the photos. So, the cat and mouse game began. I would hike up a big coulee and hope he'd drop his guard and jump the fence. I did this every morning and afternoon for 10 days straight.. I figure I walked well over 50 miles during that time. He slipped up one afternoon and I missed him!!! He was standing in some plowed ground and my only shot was off hand at about 150 yards.. I think I got a little buck fever...yes, after all these years I still can get a little too excited at times!! At any rate, I flat out missed him and he ran off and jumped the fence into his sanctuary..
Finally on the 21st I spotted him with a doe in a grain field where I could hunt!! I put a stalk on him and after crawling the last 100 yards or so I had him broadside at about 250 yards. I shot and heard the "Kawump" of a solid hit but he really showed no reaction...he just walked out of sight into a little depression. The doe ran off but I never saw the buck leave, so I assumed he was down but wasn't sure. I made my way over to where I'd last seen him and he was laying dead..perfect double lung shot behind the front shoulder. I have no idea why he showed no reaction to the shot..
I walked back to my truck and called my son to come help me get him loaded up. By this time it was dark. When my son arrived we drove over to where I'd drug the buck and when he saw it he said, "Holy Cr*p...that thing is huge". I think he was more excited about it than I was!
We got it home and got it hung up in my garage and the next day my son came out and wanted to measure the buck. I haven't measured a buck in years and years and hadn't planned on measuring this one, but he wanted to, so I told him if we were going to do it, we were going to do it right and I found a score sheet on the internet and printed it out.
The buck is a 5X6. His gross green score is 178 0/0 and nets 172 6/8. He doesn't look nearly that large in the photos, but his circumference measurements total 41.5 inches. Back tines are 13 7/8 and 12 5/8. Both brow tines are over 7", etc. Spread hurts the score a little as he's only 14 7/8 on the inside. He weighed right at 180 pounds on the nose.
I've been fortunate to shoot some big bucks over the years. I don't know if this one is the largest or not, but he probably is. I shot my first deer when I was 9 years old.... 57 years ago! Hopefully I'll have several more years to chase these wonderful creatures around!!!
My son's buck.
My buck:
Our 2017 Whitetail Bucks - Montana
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