Live Hunts - Montana Archery Deer Hunt

September 10, 2002
Montana Archery Deer Hunt

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Tuesday A.M.

Justin Trail took my camera out again with him this morning to basically the same spot as yesterday. He saw a number of good bucks again this morning. He saw the big 160" 10-point again from yesterday morning but the closest he could get was about 65 yards. He also saw a buck he hasn't seen before, a nice massive 10-point in the 145" range. The buck had just shed his velvet and his horns were bright red, and he also had a 3-inch drop tine. Justin decided that he would shoot that buck if he got a chance. Well, he almost did. He had the buck at 31 yards and had his bow drawn, but all of a sudden a doe tried to drop down into the creek bottom right where Justin was sitting, and she saw him and stopped, then started snorting. Well, the buck Justin was drawn on trotted out to about 60 yards, not sure what was going on. Needless to say, Justin didn't take the shot.

Larry Davis saw some good bucks out of range, and one good buck in range - 30 yards. Larry drew on the buck, a nice, tall 8-point, and shot. His arrow nicked a limb and deflected and missed the buck. Larry had a number of does and small bucks that came right up to the bottom of his ladder stand and licked the steps. VERY curious deer.

We'll go after them again this evening!

Tuesday P.M.

This evening Justin Trail went spot and stalking for mule deer. He managed to get under 35 yards from a nice 4x4, but a smaller buck was in the way of the big buck. He waited there a few minutes and then the wind swirled and the deer left post-haste. He got within 100 yards on several other good mulie bucks but no closer.

Larry Davis shot at a 10-point right at dark. We went and looked for it and so far haven't found any blood or the deer. Larry is sure he hit it (although he thought he hit high), and from the deer's reaction and because we haven't found the arrow, the deer must be hit. We're going out again in the morning to resume the search.

This evening I went out to an Alfalfa field no one has been to yet. I tucked myself into some tall weeds with the hope of getting some good photos. I wasn't disappointed. The photos I took are seen below. Between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. I had probably 25 bucks come out within 40 yards from me. Of those, probably 10 were better than 115", including several that would go over 135", I'm sure. A big 5x2, several nice 8-points, several big 10-points, and a bunch of smaller bucks with lots of promise. When driving out right before dark, we also got a picture of a really nice mulie buck, through the spotting scope. Some of the photos are pretty amazing, but believe me when I say this is not a petting zoo. There are no high fences - these deer just haven't been pressured.

Check back for more action tomorrow!

Trip Notes
This hunt takes place in southeast Montana, near the Wyoming border. We are hunting with outfitter Tracy Weyer on an 18,000 acre private ranch in the Little Missouri River bottom. There are lots of Whitetail on the ranch, and good numbers of Mule Deer as well. Our Archery tags are good for either species. There is also an abundance of Pronghorn Antelope and Merriam Turkeys on the ranch.

For Whitetail we will be hunting the bottoms in the mornings and the Alfalfa fields in the evenings, from treestands and ground blinds. The Alfalfa fields are THE ticket for deer in this area. The evening before the hunt started, we saw probably close to 200 Whitetails while scouting. This area has some very good bucks, probably a few of which will still be in velvet right now. One of the neat things about hunting this time period is that the bucks are still in their summer routines and somewhat predictable in their patterns.

If interested in hunting with this outfitter, contact:

- Longleaf Hunting Adventures -
longleaf@huntinfo.com

Equipment
I'm shooting a Martin Jaguar bow, set at 67 lbs. Arrows are 29-inch Easton 3-60 ACC's, and I'm trying out Simmons LandShark 160 Grain 2-blade broadheads for the first time.

Joshua Flournoy owns and manages the Livehunts.com web site. He also arranges exciting hunts through his business Longleaf Hunting Adventures. Joshua resides in east Texas with his wife and four children.

e-mail Joshua Flournoy

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