Yep Mickey, the Nobis farm is still special to Daniel because that is where he learned to hunt, and we know that it will soon be a golf course with $500,000 houses. Plus there are still some great whitetails there and we have a good chance of filling some tags.
OK, the grand finale. The red sunrise seemed to match the forecast - rain by the end of the day...
This ranch was about 30,000 acres and we headed to the most remote pertion on the dirt road, where the map indicated some ponds and creeks were located. On the way we encountered several large sage grouse and I thought for sure one would end up in the pot for dinner....
but they ran or flushed wildly before we could get any shots. It was 7 miles to the back of the ranch, but only antelope were seen. I am thankful that ranchers like these trust strangers like us on their property and around their livestock - each of these cattle are worth more than $1000....
We found another part of the ranch with some mulie does bedded in a creek bottom but my stalk ended with swirling winds. Driving out, we saw a small buck and doe bedded close to the ranch in a very stalkable position, but agreed that we shouldn't chance having a wounded deer running through the yard. We saw some more does on some BLM land on the way to the other large ranch, but Daniel's stalk was blown by some cattle that busted right past the deer, taking them out of that area. We spent several more fruitless hours at the other ranch, but couldn't find any deer. Dry and dusty away from the creeks and rivers...
With only a few hours left, I pulled out the map one more time and finally located a section of state land in the Powder River bottom that I could access through some BLM land - often these 1 mile square sections are landlocked with no legal access, but here was our last chance. We shot a few final practice arrows...
and headed in. The wind was unsteady ahead of the gathering storm and I decided that a push through this cottonwood bottom to Daniel would be best, positioning him on the river's edge and circling upwind. The herd of cattle spooking ahead of me didn't help much, as I saw some mulies running out the wrong way, but eventually I jumped some deer and sent them Daniel's way. I hoped that they would provide a close, standing shot......instead the whitetail buck and several does busted past Daniel and launched into the river. Daniel used good judgement and simply watched the show - good boy! As for me, I spotted the tips of a deer's ears in the thicker brush as it watched me walk past at 20 yards and prepared to shoot. I came to an opening, aimed and released - this mulie doe was quite alert because it ducked my arrow easily and bounded away. Except for that fox and grouse, we never really had any good, close shots at relaxed animals on this trip.
It was almost dark when we finally got back to the truck, but a local ranch kid was there on his motorcycle to talk with us and see what we were doing. He was very friendly and even invited us to hunt this dad's ranch right next to the public land - if only we had more time or had met him the previous days! Oh well, they say timing is everything and it was time to head home! We spend that night in a motel in town due to the heavy thunderstorms, and spent the next 2 full days driving home to NC. We did stop in Iowa for a layover with friend Jim McInteer, but our backsides were numb when we finally pulled into our driveway.
I hope you enjoyed the story and photos; maybe they gave you some ideas for a similar adventure. It has been several days now since getting home - Daniel and I are tired of work and school so it is time to pack up the truck again and head for Ohio and those big whitetails. Good hunting!
Topic: Montana adventure for 12 yr old son (pics) (Read 7922 times)
