Tom Akin, 2018
After hunting over a week with my two brothers in Montana, I still had not punched a tag in 2018. Unfortunately our expectations were not met on the hunt, but we had a great time. My brother Gary took a cow on our last night of hunting which provided a nice ending to tough week. I had planned to hunt southeast Montana a couple days on my way back to Colorado. However, I had to return to Colorado directly as I had a processed elk in the truck and warmer weather was forecasted. On my drive back home, I saw several bucks rutting along the highway. With one week left in the Montana hunting season, I returned to work for 2 days as it was Thanksgiving week.
The long Thanksgiving weekend was approaching. I felt I had to take advantage of the opportunity to hunt Montana during the rut. I was hoping it was still in full swing, but warmer weather had set in. The 7 hour drive back to Montana was daunting, but it’s very difficult in Colorado to draw a mule deer tag during the rut. The warm weather had made for dry roads, but I questioned if the rut had ended. Inspiration came through the mail. My brothers Rich and Gary bought me a Buck knife in Montana as a gift. Wouldn’t it be nice if I could put that knife to use BACK in Montana? Motivation also came through the phone. My nephew Aaron bagged his first buck with Gary and Rich as they continued to grind out the season in the Adirondacks. I loaded the truck.
While driving the 7 hours, I saw several mule deer still in rut on private ranch land. This was reassuring since the weather was a little warm and the action was in the early afternoon. I still had to find animals on public land, in an area I had never visited. My strategy was to cover as much ground as possible by foot and by glassing. However, I was really banking on the rut and the deer being vulnerable to making mistakes during the day. Most of the terrain was very open compared to my usual hunting preferences. This region was selected by design as open terrain would allow me to cover the most area. I was concerned that a longer shot might be required though.
Hunters greeted me at my first two stops on public land parcels. The parcels were very open with not a lot of geographical features and very few trees. Not quite what I had envisioned when I was scouting the areas with topo and satellite maps. The hunters sealed the deal that my only option was to move on. Move on, and move farther off the paved road. However, I had to possibly risk the afternoon hunt since it was already 2PM.
The turn off the paved road had no road number or street sign. The only signage was an old wooden sign that read Johnson Ranch 18 miles and the Watson Ranch 23 miles. As I turned onto the road, the only way I could tell I was on the right road was by using my GPS. I missed a couple turns where I had to double back. Luckily, the road was recently graded so I could drive 35 miles per hour as dust rooster-tailed behind me across the landscape. I didn’t see another car on the road for 20 miles, until I got close to the public land. The upshot was this area had miles and miles of public land, with more trees, steeper ravines, and bigger mountains. I liked what I saw. On my first stop, I glassed three mule deer does about 1 mile in. With light fading, I had to hike out and hope they would be in the area the following morning.
The temperature was already in the 20s at dark, and getting colder. I decided to bypass the tent option and sleep in the backseat of the truck. It turned into a cold, uncomfortable night. With a few hits of Scotch, I managed a couple hours of sleep when I moved to the driver’s seat. After a quick breakfast, I started my hike in the dark to find a perch to locate the 3 does.
The three does were nowhere to be found. Wanting to cover ground, I hiked out and tried another location. No more than 300 yards from the truck, I jumped a nice buck and a doe. Wow! I wasn’t ready for that! So much so, I didn’t even raise my rifle to my shoulder. On the second bounce the deer disappeared over the ridge so I pursued. In hindsight, I should have gone the opposite direction to higher ground as I may have had a shot when they crested the next ridge. However, by the time a gained the ridge, they were already ½ mile away. They settled down about 1 mile away at the edge of steep trees.
I developed a plan to make a stalk. Unfortunately, the deer were approaching the border of private land. I made haste and within 45 minutes I was within shooting range of their last location. I tried creeping through the arroyo below them, but the frozen ground made for crunchy conditions. The doe busted me and bolted around the steep terrain. I barely caught a glimpse of the buck. With the thicker cover and steep terrain, I wasn’t able to tell what direction they were headed. Dejected, I circled around the mountain on the public land side in hopes they hooked a left. After an hour of glassing, I finally located a doe about a mile away in the general direction that I bumped the buck. Running low on food and water, I hiked back the truck for lunch and additional supplies.
I returned to my glassing perch at 1 PM. It didn’t take long for me to find the same buck chasing the doe. They were about 500 yards away walking away from toward the crest of a ridge. While assessing my options, I noticed the doe dive into thick cover evidently tired of being pursued. The buck decided to peel off and walk along the ridge then over the ridge away from me. Once he crested the ridge, I broke into a run down the ravine and back up toward the ridge. I poked my head over the ridge as I gasped to catch a breath. The buck was not there. This time I decided to stay on high ground and hope that he would return to the doe, or come out of the ravine below me. I sat near a bush just below ridgeline and ranged distances.
I hadn’t caught my breath yet when the buck came out of the ravine and started up the other side of the arroyo. Once he got to the top, I grunted with the gun resting on my knee in the sitting position. The buck stopped broadside at my 200 yard range point. The crosshairs were going up and down with my heavy breathing. I couldn’t get my wind back! Frantically, I tried to time my breathing and squeezed the trigger. I knew the shot was high, REAL high, as in 4 feet high! The deer took a few steps up the hill and I grunted again. He stopped quartering away. This time I concentrated on slowing my breathing, relaxing, and taking a little more time. I also asked for some help from above, and happened to focus on one word….GRIT! I’m not sure why that word entered my head, but I think my Dad would say it on occasion. I kept telling myself I HAVE grit. I have grit so I don’t wound this amazing animal. I have grit because I’m in Montana. I have GRIT because I’ve covered six miles with a nice buck in the crosshairs. I squeezed the trigger as the crosshairs sat squarely on the bucks opposite shoulder and the buck collapsed without taking a step! YES!!!
The buck turned out to be a nice symmetrical 5×5. After a few photos, that lucky Buck knife proved it cut venison well. I managed to get the deer out in 2 trips by 6 PM, 2 miles away from the truck. This left me ample time for a tuna fish and Scotch Thanksgiving dinner and a warm hotel bed. More importantly, this deer would be providing Thanksgiving dinners for the next several months!
Adirondack Camp Journal 