Tecomate Rut Report - Eastern Montana - 11/10/14
It's been a terrific first two days hunting in Eastern Montana with Bill Perkins of Perkins Outfitting out of Miles City Montana. And the bucks here are off and running. Dr. Ed Nighbert and I are sharing camp for four days. Right now it's Ed's turn. We are hoping that Ed bags his big Montana buck sometime during the next 48 hours.
Yesterday I took a great old Montana river bottom 10-point that was likely 7 years old plus. My buck and his running buddies were busy trailing and bird-dogging does in a nearby alfalfa field at daylight yesterday. He got past me during the first morning hunt but reappeared from the tall grass surrounding the alfalfa field late the same afternoon. I was fortunate to get a pair of Leupold cross hairs the buck's vitals at 180 yards. My Remington 700 7mm Rem Mag did the job from
a rock solid bench style rest consisting of two Bog Pod tripods set up in my ground blind.
At present Ed is still on the chase. He watched several good bucks this afternoon just before dark, one definite shooter, just out of range while Perkins Outfitters guide Danny Curry and I scouted another area for a Montana giant for Ed. From our high vantage point and while looking down on hundreds of acres if alfalfa, Dan and I observed a great three-way mature buck fight, complete with clouds of dust, flips and flying fur. All three bucks were old and no doubt carrying out their normal rut rituals, hooking brush, posturing, and bristling.
Yesterday afternoon just before I took my first Montana trophy whitetail, a mature 8-point and a sizable 9-point passed with 20 yards of my ground blind in this wide open country while pausing to occasionally push each other around just a bit. And these bucks passed on my downwind side. They never flinched and they never alerted. The Ozonoics 200 was in my blind cranking out the O3. There was plenty grunting and snort/wheezing to go along with the apparent tense behavior of these two bulked up bucks that crept slowly and deliberately out of the tall grass to survey for does on the deep green alfalfa carpeted stage.
Ed observed several chases today from his ground blind as bucks tried to catch up with possible willing does. We expect and hope for more of the same tomorrow morning. A front is passing through the area deer were everywhere late today. Lots of wind right now and we are hopping that the wind will settle down before daylight. A light drizzle is falling just after sunset with broken cloud cover above. Hoping now for frosty still a morning filled buck activity as the rut appears to be on in Eastern Montana!
Good luck hunting no matter where you may be, but look out in Eastern Montana, the big guys seem to be on the move!
Yesterday I took a great old Montana river bottom 10-point that was likely 7 years old plus. My buck and his running buddies were busy trailing and bird-dogging does in a nearby alfalfa field at daylight yesterday. He got past me during the first morning hunt but reappeared from the tall grass surrounding the alfalfa field late the same afternoon. I was fortunate to get a pair of Leupold cross hairs the buck's vitals at 180 yards. My Remington 700 7mm Rem Mag did the job from
a rock solid bench style rest consisting of two Bog Pod tripods set up in my ground blind.
At present Ed is still on the chase. He watched several good bucks this afternoon just before dark, one definite shooter, just out of range while Perkins Outfitters guide Danny Curry and I scouted another area for a Montana giant for Ed. From our high vantage point and while looking down on hundreds of acres if alfalfa, Dan and I observed a great three-way mature buck fight, complete with clouds of dust, flips and flying fur. All three bucks were old and no doubt carrying out their normal rut rituals, hooking brush, posturing, and bristling.
Yesterday afternoon just before I took my first Montana trophy whitetail, a mature 8-point and a sizable 9-point passed with 20 yards of my ground blind in this wide open country while pausing to occasionally push each other around just a bit. And these bucks passed on my downwind side. They never flinched and they never alerted. The Ozonoics 200 was in my blind cranking out the O3. There was plenty grunting and snort/wheezing to go along with the apparent tense behavior of these two bulked up bucks that crept slowly and deliberately out of the tall grass to survey for does on the deep green alfalfa carpeted stage.
Ed observed several chases today from his ground blind as bucks tried to catch up with possible willing does. We expect and hope for more of the same tomorrow morning. A front is passing through the area deer were everywhere late today. Lots of wind right now and we are hopping that the wind will settle down before daylight. A light drizzle is falling just after sunset with broken cloud cover above. Hoping now for frosty still a morning filled buck activity as the rut appears to be on in Eastern Montana!
Good luck hunting no matter where you may be, but look out in Eastern Montana, the big guys seem to be on the move!
Posted by David Shashy
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