I didn't put this on the mule deer thread since there is a WT in there too. Also, because I'm long winded and like to post pictures.
So my hunting partner and I headed to eastern MT for our first western hunt on 11/13. We both worked and hit the road together around 7pm for the 10ish hour drive. The good weather made for easy travel and hitting deer was more a concern than the road conditions. We made good time and around 3 am in western ND I had a monster muley buck cross I-94 in front of us. Neither of us could sleep after that, even though it wasn't a close call, seeing those antlers had us both tuned in.
Day 1
I had done a lot of google earth scouting over the summer and early fall and had us booked on a couple of type 2 BMAs early in the trip. We drove straight through to the first and arrived at the parking area just before shooting time. Some rearranging of an already full truck was needed to get ready to head out on the hunt. We had both gotten a fair bit of new gear and were excited to see how we liked it let alone mule deer hunting for the first time.
We hiked into a pasture that gave way to some tall badlands type hills (we consider them mountains) and immediately flushed a covey of huns in the early morning darkness, that got the blood pumping. Not long into our hike we looked back toward the road and wouldn't ya know, there were two bucks lightly chasing a doe on the ridge of private land next to the road. A broke up half rack and a mature but not too big 4x3. Good sign we figured. We hiked further into our BMA and to a glassing spot. As my partner readied his spotter to look back at the bucks across the road, now well over a mile away, I spotted a group of does down in a valley being pushed around by a bigger deer. We turned our glass and saw a nice looking 4x4 rutting hard with a group of does. We looked him over and decided he deserved a closer look.
We had a rule that we would take alternating days being the first shooter on mutually spotted deer, but always would have right of first refusal and deer we spotted ourselves. We made good time using the terrain to cover our approach. Anticipation was high as we crept up to a rise to look down into the shallow valley the deer were in. As we gained view over the rise we could see the buck, his neck was heavy and he looked rutty. There were actually around 7-8 does he was with. There were two in particular he was pushing around with some vigor. He stopped to thrash a sage bush with his antlers and my partner ranged him at 263yds. I had my gun on my pack on the crosshairs on the buck. He was not particularly heavy, and had shallow back forks. I was also not impressed with his main beam length. It was a tough decision, but as some of the does started to get wind something wasn't right, I asked my partner if he wanted a crack at him and we both decided to pass. He was a nice buck, and we may have under judged him, but it didn't feel right to punch the tag less than two hours into our first western hunt. We hadn't even climbed a hill.
Those deer moved off and we followed a similar path up into the badlands, glassing new angles on valleys. We quickly learned that if you follow deer up over a ridge, don't count on seeing them again.
We spent the rest of the day as two sleep deprived hunters, climbing steep badlands and glassing endless valleys. We did a lot of climbing and probably some questionable footing. When we got up very high we enjoyed the nearly 60 degree weather, some soup and a nap. We could see a ton of country, but only managed to glass up another small 4x4 or 3x3 bedded way high up on a hillside (may have been the same buck, if so, he was not a shooter), a couple forkies and some does. The bucks were clearly not interested in rut during mid day.
We headed for the truck after 9.3 miles on the boots, seeing some awesome country, getting really high (for us), and passing on our first muley buck. We were both a little worried about passing, and breaking the cardinal rule of not passing an animal on the first day you'd shoot on the last, since he was a for sure last day shooter. We saw a lot of deer on the way to our lodging, and even passed a heavy 3x3 on some state land right next to the pavement. Again, shooting one in an orange vest and slippers right near the road on the first day didn't seem right. We did see a really impressive 2x2 on some private land near our BMA as well.
So my hunting partner and I headed to eastern MT for our first western hunt on 11/13. We both worked and hit the road together around 7pm for the 10ish hour drive. The good weather made for easy travel and hitting deer was more a concern than the road conditions. We made good time and around 3 am in western ND I had a monster muley buck cross I-94 in front of us. Neither of us could sleep after that, even though it wasn't a close call, seeing those antlers had us both tuned in.
Day 1
I had done a lot of google earth scouting over the summer and early fall and had us booked on a couple of type 2 BMAs early in the trip. We drove straight through to the first and arrived at the parking area just before shooting time. Some rearranging of an already full truck was needed to get ready to head out on the hunt. We had both gotten a fair bit of new gear and were excited to see how we liked it let alone mule deer hunting for the first time.
We hiked into a pasture that gave way to some tall badlands type hills (we consider them mountains) and immediately flushed a covey of huns in the early morning darkness, that got the blood pumping. Not long into our hike we looked back toward the road and wouldn't ya know, there were two bucks lightly chasing a doe on the ridge of private land next to the road. A broke up half rack and a mature but not too big 4x3. Good sign we figured. We hiked further into our BMA and to a glassing spot. As my partner readied his spotter to look back at the bucks across the road, now well over a mile away, I spotted a group of does down in a valley being pushed around by a bigger deer. We turned our glass and saw a nice looking 4x4 rutting hard with a group of does. We looked him over and decided he deserved a closer look.
We had a rule that we would take alternating days being the first shooter on mutually spotted deer, but always would have right of first refusal and deer we spotted ourselves. We made good time using the terrain to cover our approach. Anticipation was high as we crept up to a rise to look down into the shallow valley the deer were in. As we gained view over the rise we could see the buck, his neck was heavy and he looked rutty. There were actually around 7-8 does he was with. There were two in particular he was pushing around with some vigor. He stopped to thrash a sage bush with his antlers and my partner ranged him at 263yds. I had my gun on my pack on the crosshairs on the buck. He was not particularly heavy, and had shallow back forks. I was also not impressed with his main beam length. It was a tough decision, but as some of the does started to get wind something wasn't right, I asked my partner if he wanted a crack at him and we both decided to pass. He was a nice buck, and we may have under judged him, but it didn't feel right to punch the tag less than two hours into our first western hunt. We hadn't even climbed a hill.
Those deer moved off and we followed a similar path up into the badlands, glassing new angles on valleys. We quickly learned that if you follow deer up over a ridge, don't count on seeing them again.
We spent the rest of the day as two sleep deprived hunters, climbing steep badlands and glassing endless valleys. We did a lot of climbing and probably some questionable footing. When we got up very high we enjoyed the nearly 60 degree weather, some soup and a nap. We could see a ton of country, but only managed to glass up another small 4x4 or 3x3 bedded way high up on a hillside (may have been the same buck, if so, he was not a shooter), a couple forkies and some does. The bucks were clearly not interested in rut during mid day.
We headed for the truck after 9.3 miles on the boots, seeing some awesome country, getting really high (for us), and passing on our first muley buck. We were both a little worried about passing, and breaking the cardinal rule of not passing an animal on the first day you'd shoot on the last, since he was a for sure last day shooter. We saw a lot of deer on the way to our lodging, and even passed a heavy 3x3 on some state land right next to the pavement. Again, shooting one in an orange vest and slippers right near the road on the first day didn't seem right. We did see a really impressive 2x2 on some private land near our BMA as well.
Last edited:
