Hunting On the Hi Line: 2012 Edition, Vol.1

A Hunting We Will Go...

On fall weekends we are not in Bozeman cheering on our favorite (Number 2 in the Nation!!) college football team, we are home, hosting hunters.  This past weekend was no exception.  We had one couple staying at our house, which, in this season, I like to refer to as The Hunting Lodge. We also had another couple friends join us this past Saturday for a day hunt.

Hard to see in this photo, but we spied an owl perched in the upper window of this shed.

Friday, Jeff's buddy got a pretty nice  buck.  Regrettably, I didn't get any photos that day because I forgot to charge my camera prior to the outing. All the same, it was a nice, big mule deer buck with chocolate antlers scoring 161 in the Boone & Crockett system.  Admittedly, I didn't even know there were different ways to score bucks, but apparently their are. In this case, a score of 161 is a pretty nice buck.

That day it was the four of us: me, Jeff, Mike and Ashley. We parked at the rim of a coulee and almost immediately spied this beast of a deer, and then spooked him away.  Jeff, being a fairly experienced guide, planned a hike wherein we would walk in the coulee bottom for a while and make a loop back towards the pickup.  Jeff thought the deer probably had not gone too far away, and in the end would be likely to be back where we found him.

We embarked on our hike.  It was a damp, cool day, but with little wind.  It was mild enough that with moderately fast hiking, we stayed warm enough. In the coulee, we saw piles and piles of deer.  I have not been hiking with Jeff for more than just a few years, but this was certainly the most deer I had yet seen while walking in a coulee. Jeff agrees that the deer numbers seem to be up a bit this year.

Eventually, we neared the completion of our loop and closed back in on the pickup.  As we got closer, that first big buck was spotted again- pretty near where we had first seen him.  Mike took him down.  It took us quite a while to locate him, but once we did, everyone was happy and surprised at how big he actually was.  I think Jeff was most pleased with the fact that his guiding skills were correct and that he still hasn't "lost" a deer once it had been shot. We both were also very happy Mike got such a nice deer- his biggest so far in his hunting career.

The next day, Jeremy and Jacynta joined us.  The number of vehicles carrying hunters driving through the north country was a little overwhelming, being a Saturday.  We found it difficult to find a good place to park that wasn't already overrun with hunters.  Eventually, we settled on a short, flat hike through an area Jeff and I frequently see a lot of deer. Right as we neared the end of our loop and were about to head back to the pickup, Mike and Jeff spotted some pretty nice deer, and the hunt was on.

Jeff, Jeremy and Jacynta taking aim on some deer.

 We spent quite some time scoping what looked like a pretty nice buck.  In the end, shots were taken, but it turned out the animal was further away than he appeared. He'll live to see another day.

Sunday morning, Jeff, Mike, Ashley, and I took our dogs on a bird hunt through a creek bed area.  The dogs did great and were a great team together. Harvey stalked and pointed birds and Skip, Mike and Ashley's Golden Retriever, brought them back to us.  It was the first sunny day we had in a while, and with no fog and no wind.  Quite a nice day we had.

We saw quite a few birds, but only harvest two Hungarian Partridge, or "Huns." We are off to Bozeman again this upcoming weekend, but should be home the following weekend, and already with plans to host Jeremy and Jacynta.  Somewhere in between guiding and hiking with friends, Jeff will likely get a deer for himself.  

As for me, last season was my trial grounds. My year of discovery, if you will.  My conclusion is that I have no moral qualms with hunting, and I have found that in the moment an animal is harvested, I don't feel sad for it, like I thought I would originally.  However, I just don't feel the need to take a shot myself. What I like most about hunting is two things: 1) Spending time enjoying the great outdoors, and 2) Spending time with Jeff doing something he truly loves to do.  

Until next time, when A Hunting We Will Go, again!