montana_hunter_16

I didn' t draw a tag for antelope this year, but i took my friend out. We saw tons of antelope. Got within range of 5 bucks, 2 were 15+ inches, 1 was a hog! They are starting to rut...we spotted one herd from the road. The herd buck was in the process of running a little buck away from his does, so I knew we had an excellent opportunity to decoy him in. I made a silhoutte decoy last year out of plywood, and i used that. We snuck up to where the little buck had last ran off to. I set my buddy up 20 yards to my right, and slowly worked my way closer to the herd, holding the decoy in front of me. The buck looked up, paced a little bit, then came running straight in. He stopped about 5 yards from my friend, and had circled downwind of me. My friend couldn' t move without being seen, and the buck ended up walking away. He was the big one, i' m guessing 16 inches, huge prongs and deep, ivory-tipped curls. He did end up getting a shot at a 15 inch buck later that day after a 2 hour crawl. He misjudged the distance and shot right over him.

Well, all you other montanans know what the weather is like right now. The elk are ruttin' and tomorrow is going to be prime time to call in a bull. We have mid 29 degree temperatures, snow, rain, and overcast days. I' m going to head up to the mountains immediately afterschool tomorrow to have a crack at bringin' in a bull and hopefully getting a good shot. My practice is paying off, i' m shooting 2 inch groups out to 50 yard consistently! Those 3d shoots helped a lot....well good luck to all you other hunters.

one more thing, how does a cold front like this affect the elk exactly? What does it change as far as their daily routines and behavior goes?


Dan

noway

Sounds like you guys had a great antelope hunt.
Anytime you are seeing big bucks at close range that is good stuff.

The cold weather will increase the energy level of the bulls a lot.
They will be bugling more and active longer into the day. Although they are likely to answer your bugles at any time during the day anyway.

The thing I always like best about the colder weather is that it increases my own energy level. It is much easier to climb the mtns all day at 30 or 40 degrees than it is at 70 degrees. Also if you get a bull it is a much better condition to take care of the meat when it is cold like this.

With the cold weather this year this is shaping up to be one of the better elk bow seasons in recent years.
Good luck on your hunt!

BareBack Jack

Hey 16,
Good to hear on the antelpees,are you hunting around Augusta?
I will be headin your way tomarrow,we are going Baar hunti' n,focusing on elk creek and the game range.Maybe goin up towards Benchmark.Hows the bears that way still active I hope.Be in the buckhorn for dinner on Sat.