Season started yesterday in my area. Nasty blizzard dropped 18" of snow on us when the forecast said it wouldn't do anything. Par for the course since this year as we've already had 46".
An hour after shooting light we jumped 10 head, two cows with calves and a smaller 6 point. I smoked the bull with my 280 at 155yds and my buddies both dropped a cow, each with one shot on the run. Flawless... Except We apparently should have waited..
We were on the second trip out with the last carcasses when we decided to have a beer on a point overlooking an excellent mule deer spot. here we saw about 150 more elk on the ridge. We drove right by them that morning on the way to the usual elk spot. In the blizzard we had no idea and they usually don't come that low until later season.
This morning we went back to see what happened overnight and simply watch the herd. Turns out there was another 75+ just out of sight from our spot and they came over to bed down for the night right on the point we scope from. Our neighbor is savvy and knocked down 4 more around noon with his family. Saw a beautiful 6' black bear too (unusual this late In the fall, and i watch more bears than anything), we let him live another year, but it was hard talking my buddy off the trigger. Also 5 decent 5x5 mule deer we let run for later.
So...elk season's over for me but I must observe this is a crazy year. The amount of early snow has elk moving like it's second week of November, and bears are apparently confused too. Mule deer are still spread out and I can't figure their pattern. I'll bump a good Muley later but all animal patterns are backwards in my area of central Montana. Odd.
An hour after shooting light we jumped 10 head, two cows with calves and a smaller 6 point. I smoked the bull with my 280 at 155yds and my buddies both dropped a cow, each with one shot on the run. Flawless... Except We apparently should have waited..
We were on the second trip out with the last carcasses when we decided to have a beer on a point overlooking an excellent mule deer spot. here we saw about 150 more elk on the ridge. We drove right by them that morning on the way to the usual elk spot. In the blizzard we had no idea and they usually don't come that low until later season.
This morning we went back to see what happened overnight and simply watch the herd. Turns out there was another 75+ just out of sight from our spot and they came over to bed down for the night right on the point we scope from. Our neighbor is savvy and knocked down 4 more around noon with his family. Saw a beautiful 6' black bear too (unusual this late In the fall, and i watch more bears than anything), we let him live another year, but it was hard talking my buddy off the trigger. Also 5 decent 5x5 mule deer we let run for later.
So...elk season's over for me but I must observe this is a crazy year. The amount of early snow has elk moving like it's second week of November, and bears are apparently confused too. Mule deer are still spread out and I can't figure their pattern. I'll bump a good Muley later but all animal patterns are backwards in my area of central Montana. Odd.
