A stark reminder of a tag we will hopefully draw someday... the coveted Montana Breaks Rocky Mountain Bighorn tag. Someday!!!

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After some long drives and lots of time spent looking at maps we're finally in position (with plenty of elk spotted) to have a really good chance at scoring on a couple cows tomorrow morning. We're hunting BLM lands here in Montana and armed with our GPS and a BLM map we're scouring the countryside!!! We spoke with a Montana Fish and Game warden this evening who helped us to pinpoint an access that would put us right on top of a pile of elk! We scouted out the area this evening and found over 300 elk spread between five different herds. From on butte this evening we glassed 30 different branch antlered bulls, biggest being in the 340" class... wow what a glassing point! We also found a great mule deer buck that was on a section of private ground we couldn't access, but it was great to see a buck like that living in the area. 
We're pretty excited, after sending this off I'll be busy eating dinner and sharpening my knives for tomorrow. This is a great hunt, with great people. Andrew and I are here firstly to help our father with his elk hunt... he drew two separate cow elk tags and with all the trips he's helped us on... it's time for some payback. We're looking at maybe a two mile walk to where the elk are tomorrow... if Dad shoots two elk, Andrew and I will be packing meat all day long!!!

Wish us luck!

Live from Eastern Montana

>>View photos from today HERE<<

>>View video from today HERE<<

I wish I had better news to share with everyone.  As it turns out this tour in New Mexico was much like my earlier visit.  We hunted this week on the same ranch that I had previously archery hunted and we saw very few elk.  We weren't without opportunity however, as two out of the three hunters had chances on bulls.  I shared camp this week with David Dillon and Brad Yeomans from Gore, Kevin Sloan from Sitka, and Outdoor Writer and hunter Bob Robb.

The best opportunity to report happened when I was hunting with David Dillon.  This was his second elk hunt.  He had previously harvested a six point bull in Colorado.  After the first morning, we spoke about what his goals were for the hunt... "Any spot and stalk bull, I just want to see a bull before he sees us and make a successful stalk."  I thought for sure we would his reach his goal on this trip.  On the morning of day 2, we found a great bull.  Problem was, we weren't positive if he was on the ranch.  We watched the bull for around an hour until he fed out of sight 2000+ yards away.  We were hopeful he was headed to bed down for the afternoon.  I took a bunch of photos of the ridge before leaving so we could pinpoint his location via the maps and aerial images back at camp.  What did we find out?  He WAS on the ranch.

We were stoked.  This bull was easily in the 320" to 330" range and definitely the biggest I'd seen here yet.  We made our plan over a quick lunch and went after him that afternoon.  On our evenings hunt, we found nothing, not hide nor hair.  Everyone was a little bummed sitting around the fire that night, wondering where this bull had gone.   Would we even see him again?  I outwardly maintained a positive attitude, but more often than not, if you don't kill a bull when you see them, you'll never get a second chance.

The next day, we decided to repeat the previous mornings hunt in hopes of finding the bull again. This time Kevin Sloan would be joining us. Sloan was still recovering from a recent bout with H1N1 and he still hunted hard each day.  We were stoked to have his eyes with us because we'd be lucky to find this bull again.  We left the truck about 45 minutes before first light and headed into the narrow coulee we had ascended the previous morning.  It was a cold dawn, but the pace of our climb kept me nice and warm.  We anxiously awaited the sunrise to begin our search for the bull.  Initially it wasn't looking good.  We made our way along the ridgeline scanning into the pine and pinon covered finger coulees and ridges below.  We didn't see anything for 10 minutes. I was too focused on the country below and hadn't taken any time to glass across the draw onto the opposite fingers.... yet.  I had my Leicas focused on the hillside for less than 5 seconds. There he was, standing perfectly in the sun on one of the ridges... I put down my binos and looked at the boys. "I got him."   

Following the turn of events from the day before, we didn't want this bull to get out of our sight again.  We sat down on the ridge, put the 15's on the herd and watched them for a few minutes hoping to forecast their next move.  It was time to make a run.  Only problem... the bull was around 2 miles away.  Sloan worked his way down the ridge keeping an eye on the bull in case we lost him.  This was Dillon's stalk and he was amped for the attempt to fulfill his goal.  The race was on. 

Nothing can quite prepare you for these type of runs.  When the bull is already heading in the opposite direction the chances are pretty slim.  We pinpointed the coulee we needed to race down below us and the ridge on the other side we had to race up.  We hurdled creek bed crevasses and skied down 30' hard open hillsides. We stopped to breathe twice and shedded a layer once.  David had trained hard for this moment and practiced with his gun religiously for months prior to the hunt... I turned to him as we made our final approach... "All your hard work comes down to the next 5 minutes."

We caught up to the bull near the top of the ridge after a 50 yard wind sprint uphill.  There he was.... on his last break before the trees.... 135 yards quartering away... looking the other direction .  David raised his rifle with no time for a solid rest.  Crack!  The wild run from the opposite hillside seemed so fast and the 10 seconds surrounding the shot will forever seem like an eternity.  David's shot sailed high and the bull walked away unscathed..  We never saw him again. Talk about an experience, twenty wild minutes that we'll never forget.

Next stop on the Live Hunt is Montana Elk and Deer with my rifle.  I'm looking forward to coming home.

>>View photos from today HERE<<

>>View video from today HERE<<

>>SEE PICTURES FROM TODAY HERE!<<

I've made the annual pilgrimage to hunt antelope in Eastern Montana since I was a toddler. It's always been a family affair. I've hunted with both of my grandfathers, grandmothers, my parents, and my siblings. Many of my friends have harvested their first Antelope with me on the same piece of ground my family has been hunting for over 30 years. Returning from the 16 day Dall Sheep hunt, I was looking forward to something with a little flatter ground, and some country I knew by heart. 
We met my Dad and John Armstrong out at our usual camping spot not far from Jordan Montana and just south of the famed Missouri River Breaks. I double checked my rifle's accuracy that evening and we ate a quick dinner excited about getting out and hunting hard the next day. The guys had scouted the property already and didn't see as many antelope as we have in past years, so we wouldn't be very selective when it came to looking for Mr. Big, we were just going to try to fill our tags.

We woke in the morning to a fog layer that didn't allow for us to see for more than 50 yards from camp. I had caught the flu from ol' Stryder Kronberger in Alaska and the chance to sleep for a few more hours was quickly welcomed. After what seemed like only a few minutes, Katie woke me up at half past noon. The fog had lifted and I was feeling better, ready to go after the antelope. We drove the truck around the far perimeter of one of the areas on the ranch. After only 45 minutes, we had Antelope in the Leicas about a mile off the road to the north. From our vantage point, we could only see one doe and three bucks... perfect, I had two doe tags and an either sex tag, so we planned a stalk!

Using the contours of the plains to our advantage, we criss-crossed in the direction of the herd. Careful not to advance too far into the prevailing winds we made our way closer and closer. I had pinpointed a few different landmarks amongst the open country and knew we were getting close. This was the first Antelope hunt Katie and I had been on together, so giving her a great first experience was really important. I wanted her to see the process of a successful stalk with a quick and peaceful end for the antelope.

We belly crawled for about 75 yards to reach a vantage point over the antelope. When I reached the final piece of sage that would provide us cover I stopped to look back at Katie who was taking photos of the stalk. I told her it was about to happen, she smiled and I turned my attention to the antelope. The lead doe was still bedded. I could make out a few nice bucks in the herd but didn't have a clear shot at them through the grass and sage. I decided to set up on the doe bedded 106 yards away, not worrying about what the bucks would do... I'd get a chance to hunt them later I thought. I flipped off the safety on my Weatherby, settled the crosshairs on doe's neck, slowly exhaled, and sent a bullet true to it's mark. Thuuuwhump! The doe never left her bed. The herd immediately jumped up and began to run up and to my right. I could now clearly make out the nine different bucks in the herd and quickly glassed them all through my binos. There was one definite shooter buck and I immediately ranged the herd... 225 yards. This was well in my effective rifle range but the buck was moving in and out of the does in the herd, so getting a solid shot wasn't possible. By now I had removed my Longbow pack and was resting the Weatherby ontop of the pack while in a seated position. The herd was reacting as if I'd harvested the lead doe, they didn't know which direction to go and couldn't make us out amongst the sage and grasses in our Optifade. A younger doe took the lead and began to bring the herd right back by the fallen doe. I looked back to Katie who was watching the herd get closer and told her I was going to take another shot. The herd kept getting closer and closer and the biggest buck was following directly behind the young doe. I hit the rangefinder... 125 yards. The buck stopped to look in our direction and I immediately dropped him in his tracks with another well placed bullet.

I was thankful that Katie was able to witness what I would consider a perfect hunt. We made one stalk, harvesting two great animals with one well placed shot apiece.

I've got a few friends who also have that same either sex tag as I do who I'll probably head back out east with after I return from the New Mexico Rifle Elk hunt... so keep checking back, there could be some more Montana Antelope hunting updates soon!

>>SEE PICTURES FROM TODAY HERE!<<

It's 9:15 pm Mountain time. Mark just called to tell me that Nate connected with his ram. They're quartering it and heading back to camp for the night. It's back to Lance's house tomorrow for a warm night's sleep. Great photos and videos to come!!

- Katie