But he'll do for me. 
First off, if someone can post the full size pics for me here. I'd appreciate it, can't seem to do it from my phone.
https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/galleries/14313141#Post14313141
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I arrived in SE Montana from Missouri around noon on Nov 12. I headed out to some BLM land and hadn't been there half an hour when I glassed up a 3.5 yr old mule deer buck with a doe. I made a halfhearted stalk and they were gone when I got there. I didn't really want to punch my tag that soon and wasn't as cautious as I should have been. Little did I know but that would be my best chance at a muley all week.
That evening I headed up higher to some forest and didn't see any deer, only cutting two tracks in the old snow. The next morning I decided to check out the lower elevation again. Unbeknownst to me, they had gotten some rain down there. The road I had driven the day before was fine until it warmed up at about 9 AM. I hit a wet spot and that was it. Mud packed into the wheel wells of my SUV. after about 2 1/2 hours of digging out mud and two failed attempts I got myself out. I drove to a drier spot on the road and shut it down for the rest of the day. I spent a couple more hours digging out mud with a screwdriver and ice scraper. I was able to get back to pavement the next morning and spent a couple more hours next to a gas station digging out more mud, as I had a bad shimmy from all the weight in the rims.
I headed over to the big chunk of Custer NF west of Broadus and spent the next day and a half there. The road I had seen lots of deer on 4 years previous was inaccessible due to the mud. I found a drier area and glassed up some does about 2 miles out and hiked over there to check for bucks. Nada. Then I made about a 5 mile loop with my rifle and spotter through some beautiful country with rolling ridges, valleys and scattered pine groves and meadows. Not a deer to be seen.
The next day I headed south along the Powder river. There were several other trucks there so I thought, hmm, where would other guys not want to go? There was a steep sided mesa with lots of trees and rock bluffs that I decided to climb. Once I got up on top it was fairly flat and open with sage brush, grass and a few scattered trees. There were lots of tracks and droppings so I set up on my stool with my trigger stick tripod in a spot I could see 400 to 500 yards in all directions. Around sunset I was treated by a 2 1/2 yr old whitetail dogging some does until dark. He was a 4x4 close to his ear tips but a little small and not the species I was after, so I just watched the show.
The next afternoon found me up there again, and right around sunset two deer appeared in the distance. Through my binoculars the much larger deer was revealed to be a mature whitetail with good mass, width and tines. After the week I'd had he looked pretty damned good! I ranged him at 425 yds and held just below the top of his back. I squeezed off a shot from my 257 Wby and heard the sound of a hit. He kicked his back legs, ran about 20 yards and stopped, so I let him have it again. Another thwack of a hit. He stumbled a short distance and fell. Yes!
Definitely no ground shrinkage when I walked up to him. He is a 5x6 and scores 144 2/8", my second best whitetail ever. One of my two shots had hit behind the shoulder through the lungs and the other had hit the back of the shoulder, breaking the far side shoulder on the way out. I was using 100 gr E tips at 3600 fps and sighted in 2" high at 100 yards.
I skinned, quartered, and removed the head and cape, then stashed the hind quarters in a tree for the night. I loaded up the shoulders, back straps, head and cape and headed out in the dark. I thought I was on the right trail going off the mesa but I was wrong! I ended up in a steep mess of thick trees, ravines and boulders. It really sucked and I was cursing the day of my birth by the time I reached the bottom, but I eventually made it. I went back up the next morning for the hind quarters and damn it was a lot easier in the daylight and carrying nothing other than a pack.
All total, I saw 4 bucks on public land, but bucks and does everywhere on private land. The week didn't turn out the way I had envisioned but I ended up with a great buck and a good story.
First off, if someone can post the full size pics for me here. I'd appreciate it, can't seem to do it from my phone.
https:/
I arrived in SE Montana from Missouri around noon on Nov 12. I headed out to some BLM land and hadn't been there half an hour when I glassed up a 3.5 yr old mule deer buck with a doe. I made a halfhearted stalk and they were gone when I got there. I didn't really want to punch my tag that soon and wasn't as cautious as I should have been. Little did I know but that would be my best chance at a muley all week.
That evening I headed up higher to some forest and didn't see any deer, only cutting two tracks in the old snow. The next morning I decided to check out the lower elevation again. Unbeknownst to me, they had gotten some rain down there. The road I had driven the day before was fine until it warmed up at about 9 AM. I hit a wet spot and that was it. Mud packed into the wheel wells of my SUV. after about 2 1/2 hours of digging out mud and two failed attempts I got myself out. I drove to a drier spot on the road and shut it down for the rest of the day. I spent a couple more hours digging out mud with a screwdriver and ice scraper. I was able to get back to pavement the next morning and spent a couple more hours next to a gas station digging out more mud, as I had a bad shimmy from all the weight in the rims.
I headed over to the big chunk of Custer NF west of Broadus and spent the next day and a half there. The road I had seen lots of deer on 4 years previous was inaccessible due to the mud. I found a drier area and glassed up some does about 2 miles out and hiked over there to check for bucks. Nada. Then I made about a 5 mile loop with my rifle and spotter through some beautiful country with rolling ridges, valleys and scattered pine groves and meadows. Not a deer to be seen.
The next day I headed south along the Powder river. There were several other trucks there so I thought, hmm, where would other guys not want to go? There was a steep sided mesa with lots of trees and rock bluffs that I decided to climb. Once I got up on top it was fairly flat and open with sage brush, grass and a few scattered trees. There were lots of tracks and droppings so I set up on my stool with my trigger stick tripod in a spot I could see 400 to 500 yards in all directions. Around sunset I was treated by a 2 1/2 yr old whitetail dogging some does until dark. He was a 4x4 close to his ear tips but a little small and not the species I was after, so I just watched the show.
The next afternoon found me up there again, and right around sunset two deer appeared in the distance. Through my binoculars the much larger deer was revealed to be a mature whitetail with good mass, width and tines. After the week I'd had he looked pretty damned good! I ranged him at 425 yds and held just below the top of his back. I squeezed off a shot from my 257 Wby and heard the sound of a hit. He kicked his back legs, ran about 20 yards and stopped, so I let him have it again. Another thwack of a hit. He stumbled a short distance and fell. Yes!
Definitely no ground shrinkage when I walked up to him. He is a 5x6 and scores 144 2/8", my second best whitetail ever. One of my two shots had hit behind the shoulder through the lungs and the other had hit the back of the shoulder, breaking the far side shoulder on the way out. I was using 100 gr E tips at 3600 fps and sighted in 2" high at 100 yards.
I skinned, quartered, and removed the head and cape, then stashed the hind quarters in a tree for the night. I loaded up the shoulders, back straps, head and cape and headed out in the dark. I thought I was on the right trail going off the mesa but I was wrong! I ended up in a steep mess of thick trees, ravines and boulders. It really sucked and I was cursing the day of my birth by the time I reached the bottom, but I eventually made it. I went back up the next morning for the hind quarters and damn it was a lot easier in the daylight and carrying nothing other than a pack.
All total, I saw 4 bucks on public land, but bucks and does everywhere on private land. The week didn't turn out the way I had envisioned but I ended up with a great buck and a good story.