Seaz Montana Whitetail (2020)

Share and Showcase your hunting success stories.
  • Advertisement

HB Store


User avatar
seazofcheeze
500 Club
Posts: 3860
Joined: Wed Sep 18, 2013 1:13 pm
Location: Billings, MT
Status: Offline

Seaz Montana Whitetail (2020)

Unread postby seazofcheeze » Wed Sep 16, 2020 4:10 pm

This story starts on Labor Day, September 7th. I decided to go on a deer hunt because the elk mountains were getting dumped on by an all day rain, and I am admittedly a wuss when it comes to hunting in the rain. It was an insane evening of hunting, at least by my usual standards. 200 yards from the truck and a good 1.5 miles from where I planned to hunt, I busted 4 or 5 deer, one was a 120ish 8pt whitetail.

500 yards later I saw three more whitetail bucks. The two little ones looked at me inquisitively from 50 yards away, but a great looking velvet 10pt had seen plenty and did not stick around.

1/2 hour later, I had a 110ish 8pt in full velvet at 85-90 yards. I made a loop to try and cut him off, but his straight line was faster than my loop, and I never caught up. I'd really like to tag a velvet buck one day, so that was a bit of a bummer. I was standing there checking the map for my next move when two bucks came charging out of a pothole swamp behind me. They went by about 50 yards out at about 25mph :lol:

I started working towards the original destination when I spotted a group of deer about 250 yards out. I pulled up the binos and O.M.G., 6x5 TANK of a muley. :shock: I closed the distance to 95 yards, but there was a big grass swale between us. I watched him feed for 10-15 minutes hoping he would work my way and then him and two does busted for no apparent reason. I was sitting down at this point with good back cover and the wind in my favor. I looked behind me and saw another hunter walking in the wide open. Ahhh, the joys of public land! The next morning, I got into the same area early, and ended up within 55 yards of the bedded muley buck. He stood and started working parallel to his bed. I got some inconsistent readings ranging him in the taller grass. I had a "now or never" shot opportunity, which I took, and missed clean over his back. While walking out later in the day, I actually got eyes on the muley again about 200 yards out. He saw me first, and he was bounding away over a mile from where I had missed him. "The jig is up, he's on to the next county," I thought to myself.

Bedded muley pic from the a.m. spot and stalk
Bedded Muley.jpg


Fast forward to 9/13/2020. Tbunao and I elk hunted 9/12/2020 and saw a cow and a calf in the a.m. and then a cow, calf, and a solid 6x6 bull in the evening. We closed to within 100 yards, but the elk's straight line moved faster than our loop, but just barely. Anyway, Tbunao had to head for home Sunday (9/13/2020) a.m., and I had a big muley and some redemption on the mind, plus, I was just beginning a two-week vacation.

I brought a treestand along this time, and set it up where I suspected deer movement based on the previous weekends observations (set up pic below). The weather man lied to me (I know you guys can all relate) :lol: and my stand was positioned horribly for the evenings actual wind direction. I did get a few short clips of a small buck and some does on the camera before the alarms started sounding. I got winded...a lot!!! I mean it sounded like a hundred whales purging their blow holes...epic fail :doh: :lol: I didn't see any of the target bucks, so I decided to leave the stand since I was confident in the location, just not the terrible wind for this particular evening. I have been busted by non target animals in the past and had a target animal show up the following day, so I will throw a second sit at a location immediately (the next day only) if conditions are still good.
20200914_234511.jpg


The morning of 9/14, the wind was still crappy, so I decided to skip the stand and do a ground pound for the first 2-3 hours of daylight, and then scout for an alternate treestand site if the wind direction didn't improve. I saw 7 bucks that morning, (4) 1.5s, (2) 2.5s, and a 3.5+ 8pt. I had a good idea based on their travel and map recon where they were bedding. I decided to walk the bedding about 75 yards downwind. I believe I am super aggressive when it comes to my in season scouting. When I get anywhere near suspected bedding (based on cyber scouting) my goal is move at a pace somewhere between still hunting and a slow walk. I want to bust deer, but I also want to be able to get eyes on them to see if there is a target animal bedding in that area, but also let them feel like they busted before being in too much danger (as opposed to being ultra stealthy and busting them at super close ranges). Once I bust a good one, I try and get all the details quickly. Where exactly was he bedded, and what's the best tree I can get in based on the wind for the evening hunt or the next morning.

After moving through the entire bedding area, it was around 10:30 a.m. I stopped at the truck to crush some fluids and go scout for a new treestand location. I ended up walking for hours. In the course of my travels (7.5 miles of zig zagging), I busted another good bedding area. 4 or 5 whitetail bucks (two nice ones) and a few does busted out of a bedding area. I marked it down on OnX and checked the map. It made a lot of sense, an isolated bedding area with almost bulletproof protection on the backside of the bedding. I also found two twisted up licking branches with some fresh pawing in the dirt below them (pic below). It was getting too late for a treestand move, so I headed back to the truck, killed some more fluids and headed for another ground pound near where I had the encounters with the big muley the previous weekend.
20200914_105047.jpg


Around 5 p.m. a whitetail doe and fawn came out. The wind was predicted to be straight W at 5 p.m., switching to NW at 6 p.m. and then straight N by 7 p.m. Guess what? That's right, the weatherman lied again! The wind was blowing SW (straight S would be the worst, SW a close second). Anyway, the does started blowing and ran off. :snooty: I should also mention, the previous day was cool and windy, and no mosquitoes. This afternoon was almost 70 degrees, 2-4 mph wind, and I was getting absolutely murdered by mosquitoes. I would have done some unspeakable things for a can of Deep Woods OFF and/or a thermacell. 10 minutes later, the doe and fawn came back, and...surprise!!! They winded me and the whole snorting sound off started again. "This is ridiculous," I thought to myself. About 10 seconds and 30 mosquito bites later, I had enough and started bee-lining it for the treestand. If the wind switched to W/NW as predicted, I was golden.

I climbed into the stand late, it was already 6 p.m. and it felt kind of ridiculous to move locations that late into the evening...but it also felt ridiculous to stay where I was and keep getting winded by the doe and donate another pint of blood to the mosquitoes. 10 minutes into the sit, and I look over and spot a nice 10 pointer 75 yards out through some branches and leaves. I'm pretty sure its the 10 point I saw in velvet the prior weekend. I'm also pretty sure its one of the two shooter bucks I busted earlier on my scouting mission. My stand was only 300 yards from the bedding area from the morning. It looks like a 130s class buck, which would be my #2 or #3 buck...I probably can't pass on that. Based on what I had seen the previous weekend, I was only interested in shooting the muley or this 10 pointer as a solid #2 option. His body language looked a bit nervous like maybe he caught just a tiny bit of my scent and he started working away from me. He didnt bound off, but he didn't walk off casually, he kind of did the big buck move where they kind of sneak off like they are hoping they don't get noticed. I posted in the live from the field thread that I had a nice buck at 75 yards, and I had quite a bit of daylight left, but I honestly wasn't that optimistic.

A few minutes later, 3 does filtered in from the SE (safe area based on the wind that was now consistently out of the NW). About 10 minutes later, I look back in the direction I last saw the 10 pointer, and a few does worked into about 50 yards. I thought to myself if that buck held up just beyond my sight, there was a REALLY good chance he would come in now that the does were close and it looked like the coast was clear. It wasn't 10 minutes later, and I see what is obviously a buck body moving through the leaves and branches. I started ranging some distinct spots in the vegetation on what looked to be his travel path. I ranged two bright green spots of grass at 41 yards. Here comes the buck, I glass it, yep, its the 10pt and it looks like a really solid buck. I draw a few seconds later, and the buck stops right on the two bright green spots of grass. Settle the 40 yard pin, level the bubble, squeeze, CRACK! The sound of a solid impact! The buck wheels 90-degrees and starts bulldozing, his backlegs moving full speed, but he is on his "knees" on the front legs just plowing for a good 20 yards. He gets to his feet and makes it another 60-80 yards, stops, and through the binos I can tell he is looking rough. A minute...maybe two at most and he is down. I glass him for a solid 10-15 minutes as light starts to fade. No movement. I post an update on the beast and send out a few "impact" texts. I hadn't seen movement in over 30 minutes and its last light.

I gave Jmaas07 a call, and I tell him I'm 90% sure I double lunged him, but I am ALWAYS hesitant to celebrate until I have my hands on the antlers of a dead buck. Jmaas is pretty convinced its a done deal. We end up video calling after I get down, and I find blood not far from where the buck was standing. About 10-15 yards into the track job and I find the first part of the broken arrow. It's about 7" of the fletching end and its covered in bubbles, good sign! Another 10 yards and I find the rest of the arrow. The blood trail is decent, but not amazing (slick trick mags 125gr). When I get to the edge of the opening where I lost sight of the buck, I find him about 10 yards later. The entrance was in front of the front shoulder, and the exit was right next to the leg bone on the offside shoulder.

There was some ground shrinkage, but it's still a really solid buck by my standards. I actually told Jmaas earlier this year that I was done shooting anything below 120s class, because I have a lot more opportunity now, and I am ready to try and step up my game. Turns out, I just barely kept my word, as the buck grossed 121 4/8 :lol: It's my #3 whitetail and my #4 buck overall. I am pumped! :dance: And to close out the story, driving out of the public access road around 12:30 a.m., guess who crosses 40 yards in front of my truck?Yep, that's right, the big muley I missed the previous weekend. Based on where he was at, he almost had to come from the area I abandoned due to the snorting does :doh: Oh well, live and learn!
20200914_201127.jpg


20200915_155504.jpg
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.


User avatar
Lockdown
Moderator
Posts: 9957
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2014 4:16 pm
Location: MN
Status: Offline

Re: Seaz Montana Whitetail (2020)

Unread postby Lockdown » Wed Sep 16, 2020 5:03 pm

Sweet buck man. Nice shooting too... 40 yards isn’t a gimme!
User avatar
Dewey
Moderator
Posts: 36727
Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2010 7:57 pm
Location: Wisconsin
Status: Offline

Re: Seaz Montana Whitetail (2020)

Unread postby Dewey » Wed Sep 16, 2020 5:22 pm

Congrats. Nice buck. 8-)

So.......do you miss Michigan yet? :whistle:

:lol:
User avatar
Eddiegomes83
500 Club
Posts: 1741
Joined: Sat Oct 29, 2016 4:38 am
Status: Offline

Re: Seaz Montana Whitetail (2020)

Unread postby Eddiegomes83 » Wed Sep 16, 2020 10:59 pm

Awesome story. Congrats
"Am I the Only One" - Aaron Lewis

EGOutdoors youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UClk54pzxS6MsnSTCOtTvKJg
User avatar
BRoth82
500 Club
Posts: 906
Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2018 9:00 am
Location: Southern MN
Status: Offline

Re: Seaz Montana Whitetail (2020)

Unread postby BRoth82 » Thu Sep 17, 2020 12:19 am

That's a great write up thanks for sharing. And that's not a bad buck at all.
User avatar
Edcyclopedia
Posts: 12605
Joined: Tue Jul 20, 2010 12:54 pm
Location: S. NH
Status: Offline

Re: Seaz Montana Whitetail (2020)

Unread postby Edcyclopedia » Thu Sep 17, 2020 12:25 am

Spectacular!
Very Happy for ya!!!
Expect the Unexpected when you least Expect it...
User avatar
Hawthorne
500 Club
Posts: 6217
Joined: Mon Dec 15, 2014 2:13 pm
Location: michigan
Status: Online

Re: Seaz Montana Whitetail (2020)

Unread postby Hawthorne » Thu Sep 17, 2020 12:58 am

Nice job!
User avatar
jmaas07
500 Club
Posts: 2645
Joined: Sun Sep 22, 2013 3:21 am
Status: Offline

Re: Seaz Montana Whitetail (2020)

Unread postby jmaas07 » Thu Sep 17, 2020 1:15 am

Congrats again man, you're a stone cold killer :twisted:
User avatar
stash59
Moderator
Posts: 10077
Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2014 8:22 am
Location: S Central Wi.
Status: Offline

Re: Seaz Montana Whitetail (2020)

Unread postby stash59 » Thu Sep 17, 2020 2:29 am

:handgestures-thumbup:
Happiness is a large gutpile!!!!!!!
User avatar
PK_
500 Club
Posts: 6894
Joined: Tue Nov 20, 2012 5:10 am
Location: Just Off
Status: Offline

Re: Seaz Montana Whitetail (2020)

Unread postby PK_ » Thu Sep 17, 2020 3:26 am

Nice job man. Beautiful buck.
No Shortcuts. No Excuses. No Regrets.
Everybody's selling dreams. I'm too cheap to buy one.
Rich M wrote:Typically, hunting FL has been like getting a root canal
User avatar
Wlog
500 Club
Posts: 3642
Joined: Mon Dec 31, 2012 1:28 am
Location: Eastern Shore MD
Status: Offline

Re: Seaz Montana Whitetail (2020)

Unread postby Wlog » Thu Sep 17, 2020 3:45 am

:clap: :clap: :clap:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.
PaPublicLandHunter
Posts: 473
Joined: Tue Jul 30, 2019 11:08 pm
Status: Offline

Re: Seaz Montana Whitetail (2020)

Unread postby PaPublicLandHunter » Thu Sep 17, 2020 3:52 am

Congrats again, awesome buck and story
User avatar
NorthStar
500 Club
Posts: 1518
Joined: Thu Sep 15, 2016 6:43 am
Status: Offline

Re: Seaz Montana Whitetail (2020)

Unread postby NorthStar » Thu Sep 17, 2020 4:24 am

:clap: :clap: :dance:
“The lazy do not roast any game, but the diligent feed on the riches of the hunt.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭12:27‬ ‭NIV‬‬
User avatar
backstraps
Moderator
Posts: 10109
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2012 4:44 pm
Location: Tennessee
Status: Offline

Re: Seaz Montana Whitetail (2020)

Unread postby backstraps » Thu Sep 17, 2020 5:37 am

Awesome hunt,story,kill and buck!! Very nice and great job Seaz :dance: :clap:

Congratulations
User avatar
Birddog00
Posts: 105
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2016 2:12 pm
Location: Midwest Michigan
Status: Offline

Re: Seaz Montana Whitetail (2020)

Unread postby Birddog00 » Thu Sep 17, 2020 6:40 am

Congrats well done!! :clap: :clap: :clap:


  • Advertisement

Return to “Kill Zone”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 24 guests