Belated results of the 2012 season in Montana.

[429421Cowboy]

First of all, hi guys! Sorry I have been out so long, my computer crashed right before Finals week last month and has been getting repared, i finally got it back yesterday just as the spring semester started. As soon as it died my first thought was not how am i going to finish finals but how am i gonna catch up at Cast Boolits over break? But i am back now hopefully for awhile with plenty of reading to do! Anyways, i hope everyone had a merry Christmas and has a happy new year! Now on to hunting.

I was blessed to have another wonderful season this fall, and actually got in almost enough hunting time around my school schedule. Apart from an embarrasing miss at 30 yards with my Super Blackhawk, i had a very enjoyable season (I must say, a 429421 backed with Unique will have impressive terminal results on any snowbank just under a deer, even if it doesn't have the meplat of a WFN). My cast boolit kills this season were limited to RB's with one doe taken with a patched .490 out of my A&H Hawkin gun, (first muzzleloader deer) and another doe with OOB, I have become pretty talented at kicking myself in the butt for missing with my pistol!
This doe was my last deer, and one i was particularly proud of. Mom woke me up to tell me there was a doe in the yard limping, and asked if i could use my last deer tag on her, so i quickly dressed and grabbed my Great-grandfather's 1894 .32 Winchester Special rifle and took off after her. I tracked her about a half a mile from where i saw her enter the trees and finally managed to get infront of her and waited for her to come to me along a trail next to the river. After a half hour i heard her coming down the trail and sat up for the shot, but when i whistled to stop her, she instead began to investigate the sound by coming closer! Finally at 30 feet she turned broadside and i gave a soft "Baaa" bleat to stop her, she didn't even make it out of sight before she piled up. I admit, it was with a "boughten" 170 grain jacketed load as i don't have .32 dies yet, but i don't feel too much shame from that. i quickly dressed her, then i split the skin on her forelegs from knee to hoof, broke the joint and stuck the hooves through the tendon on her hocks to carry her out on my shoulder which i have been doing lately since this is on private property and i don't have to worry about getting shot. And i was back home by 9:30 ready to go to class! I was very proud to have taken this deer on my own, this is the first time i have ever done that since i began deer hunting when i was 12. I also find it slightly ironic that this was done with wool clothes, a gun from over 100 years ago with a Marbles peep sight, a Buck 110 folding knife, a beard and not much else. No scent lock, no ground blind, no fancy scope, just what the old boys had. Makes me wonder if some people overthink hunting sometimes?
All of the meat from this doe and one other went to the MSU Student Eat-In food pantry, which helps college students at my school get up to three days of food at no cost, that i help to run, which added to the value of each animal.
Sorry for the long post, i had alot to catch up on and am excited to be back and see what you guys have been up to!58119

[454PB]

Now that's the way a MAN hunts!

[RugerFan]

Sounds like you had a good year!

[Hamish]

Young man, thanks for a great end of the day story. You just keep on doin what you're doin.

Is this the program?

http://www.kfbb.com/news/local/MSU-Great-Falls-College-of-Technologys-New-Eat-In-Food-Pantry-Open--------134012428.html

[429421Cowboy]

Thanks for your kind words guys!
Hamish, yes that is the program! I had not seen that news bit, i would have still been in high school then but it truely is a great program that helps students, this fall we also got a donation of a case of frozen turkeys so every student that needed a Thanksgiving turkey got one. We have worked with a local food bank in the past, but being able to help my fellow students makes it even more special.

[Idaho Mule]

429421Cowboy, You sir are a true westerner and a gentleman to boot for your generosity to others. Good job on the hunt and final outcome. JW

[reloader28]

Very cool story and I love the rifle and the way you pack the deer. I'll have to try that.

The school pantry thing is pretty neat. Do you have to butcher yourself or pay for the butcher, or does a local butcher donate his time?

I've heard theres a couple butchers in Billings that will donate butchering if you donate a critter to the Billings homeless shelter (I forgot the name). I was always going to take in some deer, but always knew someone nearby needing meat instead.

[MT Gianni]

Nice end to the season.

[429421Cowboy]

Idaho, thank you sir for your kind words, i am proud to share the west with you, after all the West is a community, not a direction!
Reloader, House of Meats donated the processing, they usually do a price reduction for donations, but for me they did two at no cost since i also work at the school and help with the pantry. We personally prefer to cut our own meat, but at any food bank in the state it is required to be processed by a licenced shop, even though i know our meat prep is more careful than some "slap-dash" shops (not that House of Meats is, they are a local family business that give excelent service). I had also heard of a place in Miles City that would give free processing on one deer for every two donated, which seems like a more than fair program. We too usually like to give meat (game and beef) to local friends that are in need rather than the food bank, with the added bonus of cutting the meat ourselves and making sausage etc...
I was hoping you could understand how i carry them, once you do it it seems so simple, and the skin holds the deer easily, and actually makes a kind of leather strap to carry with instead of just tying the legs together which is more uncomfortable. I also have found that the head in front makes for easier carrying and less flopping, or if you really had to go far you could just remove the head to save weight.

[Jal5]

Great write up and great work by you!

[dk17hmr]

I read about that packing method before, I have always wanted to try it but I hunt public lands so I just use my pack frame instead.

Did she have a broken leg or a bullet wound? Wonder why she was limping.

[429421Cowboy]

I didn't butcher her myself so i cannot say for sure, but in looking her over after dressing i could see no bullet holes or old wounds anywhere on her. My suspicion is that she was hit by a car, as there is a set of grain elevators near our place on the main road through and the deer often get nailed as they are eating spilled grain on or near the road.

[TXGunNut]

Nicely done and well told! As you know the 32 is an excellent CB project but 'nuff said, back to the books! We need more young folks like you, with a good education you'll make us all proud.
BTW, let us know when you get that snowbank back from the taxidermist. I understand they can be a real challenge to preserve in all their natural glory.

[abqcaster]

"BTW, let us know when you get that snowbank back from the taxidermist. I understand they can be a real challenge to preserve in all their natural glory. " :D
Mine never made it back to the truck. Good story!

[gandydancer]

with young people like this our hunting heritage is in good hands. thank you cowboy. GD

[**oneshot**]

Great story! Great tracking! Awesome hunt.

[skeettx]

Thanks for sharing
Whar degree you going after?
Mike

[429421Cowboy]

Gunnut; I was gonna have it mounted but i left it outside and now it's covered with two feet of snow so i can't find it!:roll:

I am going for wildlife biology and law to become a game warden with some luck!

[TXGunNut]

Gunnut; I was gonna have it mounted but i left it outside and now it's covered with two feet of snow so i can't find it!:roll:

I am going for wildlife biology and law to become a game warden with some luck!


Sounds like a good career plan if that's what you really want to do. Work hard, take on extra projects and luck will take care of itself.

[30hrrtt]

Congrats and awesome story. I've taken 4 nice bucks in the last half dozen years and the smallest was a 9 pointer with a 15" spread. It was also my most special as I shot it with my grandfathers 32 Special Grandma gave me when he passed. That was with handloads of the Hornady b****t. Now I have the cast setup for it.

Thanks for volunteering at the College pantry. PM me your mailing address and I'll drop a couple hundred RCBS 32-170's in the mail.

[white eagle]

man you make me proud to be a hunter
actions like the one you did are often overlooked
thanks for sharing and caring.... keep on

[429421Cowboy]

Once again guys, thank you so much for all the kind words, i didn't think much about the donation part since i help at the pantry already, in fact sometimes i get tweaked by hunters that say they donate all their meat because they just like to shoot them, not eat them! So i was worried that is what you guys would think!

30hrrt, that is an amazing offer and one i don't think i did anything to deserve, but at this point i don't know when i will begin to load for it since i don't have dies and i will be moving to a new school and will not be able to take my press setup with me (or the .32) :( I am totally blown away by your very generous offer though, that just goes to show me that the guys here on CB simply cannot be beat for generosity, kindness and help! God bless all of you guys for your support and kind words!

[Beau Cassidy]

Strong work! A friend of mine once whacked a very large 8 point with 3 legs. It had apparently been shot the year before and made it until encountering a 150 grain Hornady.

[swheeler]

Cowboy; good for you!

[Leslie Sapp]

Heh... And I thought I was the last guy left who still remembered how to skin out the legs and make a "satchel" out of a deer. :)

Nice story, and it's good to see others keeping the old skills alive.

[smokeywolf]

Although I don't live in Montana (just typing that was a little depressing), I think I can safely say that you're the kind of man we need working in and perhaps someday running Montana Fish & Wildlife or Fish & Wildlife in any other State for that matter.

Tough to find young men with your compassion and common sense in Calif.

Keep up the studies, the altruism, and your reloading, shooting, and hunting skills.

smokeywolf

[reloader28]

You know, I thought I understood how to make a deer so you could carry him like that. But the more I read and thought about it, the more confused I got.

Could Cowboy or Leslie explain how to do that again? Maybe a picture. I think it would be a very slick way to go.

Hopefully I'm not the only stupid person that didnt get it, but it wouldnt be the first time.:confused:

[429421Cowboy]

Smokey, thank you for such kind words, if you ever make it up the trail this far and wanna look at some cows or wild critters, be sure to look me up!

Reloader, i wouldn't say you're stupid because you can't understand it from my description, i struggled to type it so it could be understood! Once you see it though it will seem so easy though and dead simple. Here is a link to a Youtube vid that a guy did that shows the process very well, you can skip to about minute 6:30 to the part where he shows you how to do the carry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciXhxfCV8mw

[reloader28]

I got it now!!!
I've never heard of that before.
Thats a pretty cool way to do it. WAY better than dragging thru the rocks, cactus and sagebrush or boning it and backpacking. I'm definately going to try that this coming fall.

Thanks Cowboy.

[Odfanatic]

Good job and good post. Carry on!

[DxieLandMan]

Nice haul. You did better than I did. The one I shot, I found the next day after coyotes ate everything except for the fur.

[TCLouis]

Interesting.

Nowhere safe enough to do that around here