When you don't have a rifle.

Muir

Well-Known Member
Elk and Deer seasons opened today. My buddy bought a cow elk tag and decided to hunt some butte and pine country north of his place. I volunteered to go with in case he shot one. They are definitely a two man job. We walked in at 0400, I napped until 0600, and then sat until the legal hunting time came: 0714 today. We heard a few shots but knew we would come up short on elk: we could hear the bulls bugling behind us on the neighboring ranch, and at one point, got a whiff of a cow-elk herd passing up wind from us. After a while my friend got up to take a brief walk around the area. I went the other way. It was 0900 by then and the good game movement hours had passed. Not that it mattered to me; I didn't bring a rifle. If you need to haul out 1000# of elk the last thing you need to be dragging is a rifle. This was my friend's day.

So I walk a bit along the escarpment and what to I find? a pair of huge mule deer does on the flats about 120 yards away, oblivious to my presence. I have two doe tags in my pocket. No rifle.

Another day, I guess!~Muir
 
I know how you feel, well almost. I was sitting in a high seat on the German border for 2.5 hours listening intently to the gunfire surrounding me or so it seemed. The only wildlife that revealed themselves to me we're the odd squirrel and pine marten, that is until I felt the need to pee!

Thinking all was quiet, I relieved myself, when half way through, 2 Sika hinds ran 20 feet away from me............still, always good to see deer!
 
Was on a driven day once and had a call of nature before the drive had started. Well so I thought. When the first birds got up and flew over me I was not holding the correct equipment. I didnt mind so much but when I looked down the line all the other guns seemed to find it less funny.
 
It's always good to see deer, indeed. Last evening we drove out to the pasture border where we'd be walking in and counted 32 mule deer in one herd. On the way out, on a different road, we got another herd in our headlights. Mostly does, but there were 7 big bucks trotting off the road to join the bunch. Granted; the opening of hunting season changes the dynamics a bit but I'm reasonably certain I'll fill my tags. We have plenty of deer hereabouts.~Muir
 
What happens Muir if you don't fill the tags,don't kill your deer?
Do you not get for the following year or is it all a lottery to who gets what?
I know it's strict over there but what's the ins and outs of the tag system?
Always nice to see deer,definitely.
 
What happens Muir if you don't fill the tags,don't kill your deer?
Do you not get for the following year or is it all a lottery to who gets what?
I know it's strict over there but what's the ins and outs of the tag system?
Always nice to see deer,definitely.

The tag allotment for the State is based on game population and tags are for that specific year and time frame; if you don't fill it, you buy new tags next year. Luckily, there are pretty much General deer tags for every resident of the State in Montana. The extra "B" tags are limited to lottery draws, as are those for special wilderness districts, specialty game species, and Non Resident hunters.~Muir
 
Cheers Muir,so if you don't fill your tag you have to buy them the year after.
So do you not have to buy them if you fill them.
Sorry for the daft questions.
Interested that's all.
Interesting as well that it depends on game populations(knew that bit).Over here notoriously difficult to count deer,presume its same over with yourself.Seeing healthy populations must mean something getting done correctly.Mind you,if you were a forester over here they'd have something different to say,ATB.
 
Cheers Muir,so if you don't fill your tag you have to buy them the year after.
So do you not have to buy them if you fill them.
Sorry for the daft questions.
Interested that's all.
Interesting as well that it depends on game populations(knew that bit).Over here notoriously difficult to count deer,presume its same over with yourself.Seeing healthy populations must mean something getting done correctly.Mind you,if you were a forester over here they'd have something different to say,ATB.

Not Daft! Think of how strange YOUR system seems to me!
Think of tags as theater tickets. If you miss that particular performance, you lose out. If you go and enjoy, then you are welcome to buy a ticket for the following evening's performance; in this case, the next year's performance. There are times when a quota for a district isn't met and they will issue an appropriate number of tags to take up the slack.

There has been much adieu on this site about the 'few' deer that American hunters shoot compared to our Brit brethren. That may be true in general, but we have a lot more hunters than the UK, I'd wager. Imagine if we could shoot pretty much at will? Or if we could sell the meat? There wouldn't be any deer left in short order. Since we can't sell the meat, a hunter usually can get all that they need for personal consumption. By hunting in adjacent States, I will have 6 tags this year and I could fill them all if I really tried hard. I don't want to because 2 whitetails and two mule deer will pretty much fill my meat needs for the coming year. I apply because of Murphy's Law (If I break my arm tomorrow and can't hunt for 4 weeks!) and because I will be with family on two of the three hunts, so why not? I may not shoot at all. I eat everything I kill and eat game meat pretty much exclusively. Once I have enough for a year, I'm good. That's why the tag system works; even if you are a real fanatic for venison, a couple of deer will fill your needs.~Muir
 
Cheers Muir,I understand.Hope you fill what you need for the year:tiphat:

Thanks, Amigo. I'll try. If if wasn't so warm I'd be out tomorrow. My local hunting partner says that I just don't like to hunt if I can feel my toes. He may be right. The last four or five deer I shot have been in snow and cold!~Muir
 
Elk and Deer seasons opened today. My buddy bought a cow elk tag and decided to hunt some butte and pine country north of his place. I volunteered to go with in case he shot one. They are definitely a two man job. We walked in at 0400, I napped until 0600, and then sat until the legal hunting time came: 0714 today. We heard a few shots but knew we would come up short on elk: we could hear the bulls bugling behind us on the neighboring ranch, and at one point, got a whiff of a cow-elk herd passing up wind from us. After a while my friend got up to take a brief walk around the area. I went the other way. It was 0900 by then and the good game movement hours had passed. Not that it mattered to me; I didn't bring a rifle. If you need to haul out 1000# of elk the last thing you need to be dragging is a rifle. This was my friend's day.

So I walk a bit along the escarpment and what to I find? a pair of huge mule deer does on the flats about 120 yards away, oblivious to my presence. I have two doe tags in my pocket. No rifle.

Another day, I guess!~Muir

That's the way it goes... bet it brought a smile to your face though.

What's "butte" and pine country? (no schoolboy inuendo intended... genuine question) and do you pronounce the word as "but"... or "bewt".. Thanks

And... I've never dragged an Elk... or anything weighing 1000lb, without using a tractor. Do you joint out something that heavy and back pack it out, in bits... or how do you do it?... Just in case any escaped Elk turn up here :D. Some "venison" farms do have Elk (ie. Cervus canadensis, not European-Elk/Moose) in this country and one such did recently lose a few... but not locally :(
 
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I always smile at the sight of deer! They are my favorite animals, both on the hoof and on the plate.

Butte is pronounced "bewt". A butte is an table-like area of high ground, often with a rock escarpment around the periphery. Here, grassy valleys run between them and they are often covered with pine trees on the tops, running down into the gullies that run down the sides of the buttes. Buttes can be short or tall, covered with grass or trees. Rocky or grassy. It's still a butte. In the southwest US, the rocky outcroppings of similar form are called "mesa"s. Where I live, there is a large area of valleys and buttes that get higher and higher (like rising steps) eventually becomes the hills that border the Yellowstone River. Farmers put in crops in the grassy valleys and run cattle. Elk love this country. Deer love the valleys and bed in the fringes of the buttes, coming out at evening to feed on grains and hay. Elk also come down to raid the fields but they go back deep into the hills to bed.

Yes. We quarter elk. It takes six trips, usually on foot, one for each quarter of carcass, one for the hide and head, one for your own damned gear! Quads (4-wheelers) are very popular where allowed. Guys use horses but unless you have a good horse trained to this kind of task, you might be asking for more trouble than it's worth. A friend had a horse go a little nuts at the bloody quarter on his back and it ran off. I thought it would be lion-bate but he found it with a well frozen elk quarter still lashed on!~Muir
 
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