2018 Montana mule deer hunt

Leaving tomorrow at 5pm. 30 hour drive. I plan to update the thread as we go. The plan is hunt Friday to Friday. It’ll be my first trip but the third for the guys I’ll be with. Weather looks like it will be pretty cold with a solid wind most days. Forecast calls for snow tomorrow and Saturday. Wish me luck.

11/8
Got to Lakewood, CO around 330. Rented a f250 4x4. 10 more hours to Lewistown, MT. Plan to hunt first thing tomorrow am.


11/9 330am
Just got here. Called earlier and they had rooms. We were gonna get one a day early. Now there are none. Gonna sleep in the truck for a couple of hours before heading out.

Same a few groups of does and 2 bucks in the am. One was a 2x2. The other was bigger. Couldn’t get a count Bc he was booking it over a ridge. I realized today how out of shape I am. Those hills at that elevation are no joke. In the evening, we went to a different place. We saw 4 bucks rutting around. They were at 700yds. A 4x3, a huge 3x3, 2 2x2s. The 4x3 was cool looking. My buddy wanted to get a shot at it but it was getting too late to cut down the distance.


11/10
Woke up to this:

6” of fresh snow. The temps were not that bad considering it was snowing. Much colder the am before. We went to the same spot we saw the 4 bucks. Didn’t see shite all day. Snowed again this evening. Good learning experiences these past 2 days. Fun to hunt in actual snow.

11/11
Another snowy day. Two snowstorms this am. Visibility was cut down tremendously. I’ve never been in snow like this before. We left around 1130 after only seeing a small 2x2. Came back after lunch and one in our party shot the first buck. This guy stayed out there all day. He saw a bunch of deer moving once the snow stopped falling. Learning new things every day I’m out there. Can’t get enough of this.

11/12
Woke up to snow again. Temp was -2 in the truck. Me and another guy decided to go out and stay all day. Not leaving for lunch. I ended up walking almost 8 miles. I saw a ton of deer today. The snow storms were over. Temps rose to low 30s by midday. Deer were definitely more active in the warmer temps. Lots of does in the am. After lunch, I happened to see the biggest deer of my life. This guy was a monster. He was less than 100yards from me. All I could see was his tail and neck up. Big thick neck and nice wide and tall 4x4. I tried to retreat and get low but there was no where to hide. He let me get my pack off and gun out but then jumped away through the evergreens. I tried to follow his track in the trees but there was tracks everywhere. I jumped 2 does and followed them a good ways. They ended up learning me to a small 2x2. That was it for the day.


11/13
We went to the same spot we went the first hunt. Lots and lots of hills. I felt like i was gonna die the first day Bc of the walking and altitude. I planned to go to an area I went the first day that looked good. Big valley in front of some thick evergreens. On the way out, I jumped a 2x2. Got to my hill and got ready for the long haul. Saw 2 does right off the bat. Watched them bed down in the snow. Hoping a buck would come out. About 2 hours later, I noticed a buck and 2 different does. I could tell the buck was at least a 3x3. I thought maybe a 3x4, but tall. I ranged the deer at 750 yds. Made my way down my hill and up another. Ranged at 271. The deer were hugged up next to another hill and by some trees. I got set up and took a shot. Missed. The deer just walked past the trees. Took a second shot and the buck went down but I could see him trying to move. I hit him in his rear hind quarter. I didn’t take in to account the 20mph winds with 30mph+ gusts. I moved in a little closer and took another shot and this time he was dead. I was a little over a mile from the truck as the crow flies. I field dressed the deer and packed the meat up to haul it out. It took me about 45 mins to make it back to the truck. I felt like I was gonna die. My pack weighed about 30# without the meat. I assume I was carrying 70-80lbs.


On the way To the motel, a friend shot a really nice 4x4. Really wide. That night we decided to camp out and try out some gear we bought. On the way to the site, a buddy shot a nice 4x4 in a public field on the side the road. And close to dark, another friend shot his 4x4.

Camping was cool. It was windy and cold. Temps in low 30s. I was in a 4 season tent and was protected from the wind. But I kept sliding off my mat which caused that body part to freeze. Overall, we had a good time camping.

11/14
We decided to leave late that night Bc of a bad snow storm moving in. That afternoon, the last guy in our group got his buck. A nice tall 3x3. I was ready to hit the road after a long 5 days of hunting and 2 days on the road.

On the way home, I ended up having a blow out on one of my front tires. We changed it without issue. That was the only real hiccup.

Trip was great. I learned a lot. Looking forward to next year.