2014 Montana Deer and Elk Hunt
 

Here's a few photos from my deer and elk hunt down in Montana last fall. There were major swings in the weather and the hunting conditions, but all in all it worked out well. I bagged a dandy mule deer and a 6-point bull elk in less than 24 hours, so I certainly can't complain.

I passed up this battle scarred old bull not 20 minutes into my first day hunting. It was tempting, but I wanted a quality hunt, and tagging out on him would have been too easy. One of the guys I was with opted to take him.

I saw several nice bulls over the next couple of days, but either couldn't get onto them, or just passed because I didn't have really good views of them in the timber. I had two full weeks to hunt, so the initial impression was that I would be able to plenty picky and take my time. Temperatures were unseasonably warm, and I spent a lot of time hunting in a t-shirt.

Picked up a few sheds...

The temperature took a major nosedive, and the t-shirt weather went to subzero, with painful wind chills. Oddly the elk activity pretty much came to a screeching halt when it got cold. We were finding tracks, but we went almost a week without seeing any elk. We were finding fresh tracks, but the elk were staying so timbered up that we just couldn't find them during daylight.

On the morning of my birthday, after a lot of fruitless miles of hiking, I crossed paths with this mulie.

The next morning my father-in-law and I found three bulls right at daybreak. They were already in the timber and two of the bulls were bedded. It took probably half an hour before I was able to tell it was two 5's and one 6. I was dead set on taking at least a 6-point so I must have popped the safety off and on 20 times. I finally opted to take the 6 when I got a small window. I hadn't seen a bull in about a week and I only had a handful of days left.

My father-in-law connected on this dandy bull on the last day of the season. He passed up bigger bulls earlier in the season, but just like me he was more interested in taking his time and having a quality hunt.

My favorite gear from this hunt:

Eberlestock J34 pack. I put some serious weight in that pack, hauling out both my deer and elk and it was perfectly comfortable.

http://www.eberlestock.com/J34%20Just%20One.htm

TAG Bags BOMB (Boned Out Meat Bags). I bloodied 'em up, cleaned them, and had them back in action in no time. They're lightweight, compact, and work great.

http://pristineventures.com/products...game-bags.html

Kenetrek Boots. I wore my Hardscrabble hikers when the weather was warm, and then switched to the 13" Grizzly pacs when the mercury dipped. My feet stayed comfortable the whole time, under a wide range of weather and terrain conditions.

http://www.kenetrek.com/

Havalon Piranta. I made believers out of several old timers when they saw me hacking up elk with that diminutive knife.

http://www.havalon.com/

Nice write up and pictures Jeff! Is that a "come home to hunt" deal or are you back in MT.? Did you get your Super 10? IIRC the last time I read one of your post you needed the musox.

Yeah, I buy the nonresident Montana native licenses, and then go hunting with family. I haven't completed the Super 10 yet. I bagged a muskox about a year ago for 9, but I still need a lion. There was a healthy set of lion tracks about 20 yards from where my bull went down this year. Hopefully sometime in the next few years I'll bag a lion and round out the 10.

Congrats on your hunt. Nice pictures.