After last season being a bust in the big-game department I decided that I would try and get out of state for a hunt at least once a year to better insure a freezer full of meat. I knew if we rationed I would get to October so we cut back on venison consumption and ate more fish and birds. I started looking for a trip and contacted Backcountry Montana Adventures who were listed as a RMEF supporter and began discussing options. Originally this trip was going to be Catherine and I doing a bit of whitetail doe hunting and looking in the mountains outside of Dillon for a mule deer buck. After planning the rest of our year Catherine decided against leaving Lira for a week so I switched the trip to be a whitetail only hunt and invited Christian along since he now had an empty freezer and had never been on a big game hunt before.
We put in for tags and amazingly both drew a buck tag for the trip and we knew we had the option for up to 4 doe tags each, this area has a serious whitetail issue. After spending some days at the range getting Chris used to my 270Win and me used to my new 6.5Creedmoor we were as ready as we were going to be by early November and I was seriously running out of meat. I had cut up the last elk roast into steaks to stretch it out and along with a few packs of steaks we had a tongue, a heart, some liver and one mule deer sirloin roast left in the freezer. I needed at least two deer to avoid a meat crisis for the year.
November 4 rolled around and we loaded up the Tacoma about as full as it could possibly get and did the long 10+ hour drive from Seattle to Dillon, MT. We arrived in Dillon after dark, picked up some doe tags, gassed up and headed to Sparky’s Garage for some BBQ and to meet the outfitter and our guide for the trip, Cody. After dinner we got to our cabin and unloaded in time to get a few hours sleep before we had to get up and start hunting.
Our first day was mostly about getting the lay of the land on the ranch we were hunting and to see where the deer were roaming around. In the morning we saw quite a few does and a few small bucks. In the evening we staked out in some hay bales and saw quite a few deer moving through including quite a few bucks. One buck in particular kind of wanted to get shot, he stood broadside for many minutes, moved and then came back and stood broadside. Cody was holding out for a bigger buck, this one was a young 4 point.
Wednesday morning was cold, temps in the upper teens with a bit of wind chill on top of that. We started out by a gate where deer had been moving through the night before and unfortunately as soon as it was light enough to see deer we saw many deer coming right at us in the truck so we couldn’t get out. As the deer passed we finally got out and walked through the tall grass looking for deer in the willows by the river. There we found a bachelor group of bucks ranging from spikes to a very nice 5 point buck. We set up on some posts around an irrigation controller and I had the big buck in my scope briefly but didn’t have a solid rest so didn’t feel great about the shot before he turned and went into the willows. Chris was set up on a few bucks and finally took a shot on one. The buck went down but then as we watched he ended up somehow scooting through the tall grass and into the river. He swam back to our shore luckily and Chris and I moved to within 200 yards of where he was and another shot took him down. Chris got his first buck, a young spike that would definitely be good table fare. We got the buck field dressed and as they dragged him up to the road I went and got the truck, flushing about a half dozen roosters along the way.
That evening we put Chris is a blind to hunt for a doe while I went off with Cody at the far south end of the ranch looking for bucks in the willows. We just didn’t see much of anything while posted up so we started working the edges of the willows. We first encountered a fawn and I dropped prone as the fawn approached within 50 yards, it just seemed very curious about me and kept coming closer pinning me where I was. Finally the fawn left and we moved a bit further but only saw deer at a long distance. As we headed back towards the truck we heard a shot go off and then had three nice does coming at us. I set up and had a solid rest as they approached but the deer all stopped short of a clean shot then must have caught scent because they turned tail and ran. No opportunity tonight for me but Chris got a doe at about 80 yards which we dressed under headlamps before taking it back to the barn to skin.
Our third morning was really cold, it was 6 degrees and well below zero with windchill. Since I was still looking to fill a tag I went out to sit in the tall grass in hopes that deer would filter through the gate where we were trapped yesterday while Chris and Cody went off in search of another doe. I saw nothing as it got light and repositioned myself and was able to stand in the grass to see a lot of deer at the south end of the field about 800 yards away and then noticed two does on my end of the field. I got in position when one of the does walked in the gap of the gate about 100 yards away and I took the shot and dropped her.
I then decided to move on the deer at the south end of the field. I got down by the river and below the bank moving south until I found an irrigation ditch. I got in the ditch and moved carefully up to the fence line and then hunched over and closed my distance until I was about 270 yards from two bucks. I watched the bucks, both small 4x4s and decided that the leftmost one was bigger and I wanted to take him. Unfortunately he kept facing directly towards me as the other buck kept giving me a shot. Finally the nicer buck turned and I shot dropping him. His buddy didn’t run but stood over him and then a doe approached and stood there. I got crosshairs on the doe and shot, the doe ran about 30 yards and piled up. My buck, of course, got up again on the shot but was struggling so I got a second shot and he went down. I waited about 15 minutes to be sure he wasn’t getting up again then set my tripod on the fence and headed back to tag the first doe. I followed the fence back to my tripod then headed out in search of the other doe and buck. I found the doe and followed the blood trail back to the buck. Three tags filled in about 45 minutes, it was a crazy morning.
We field dressed all three and got them to the barn to be skinned and quartered. I got the back straps and tenderloins from all and one quartered to work on the rest of the day while Chris went out again in the evening. The rest of the trip for me was butchering and that evening Chris got his second doe right at dusk with a 350-400 yard shot. Now we were going to be busy. Friday was all butchering, we got the remaining three deer quartered and then went back to the cabin to debone and process as much as we could. That evening we started packing up gear and getting coolers ready to go. In the morning we loaded up the seven coolers with ice and meat, finished loading the truck and did the long drive home.
What a successful trip. After another day and morning of processing I got all three of my deer done and pretty much filled up the freezer including two hides I want to tan.
Gear:
- Tikka T3X 6.5 Creedmoor – the rifle I used
- Tikka T3. 270 Winchester – the rifle Chris used
- Nikon ProStaff scopes
- Hornady GMX bullets – copper hand loads for both of us
- First Lite Clothing – definitely kept me warm enough to hunt in cold conditions
- Vortex Optics for binos