mtmedic
FNG
I was lucky enough to win the deer Super Tag drawing this year which is reall a big surprise seeing how I never win or draw anything. I did a lot of research and finally decided to spend most of my time in the Bitterroot Valley in 261, 262, 270. I ended up spending 40 plus days in the field this year chasing this tag from August to the last day of rifle season, December 1st. While there were several big deer killed down there I just couldn’t get things to happen. On the last day we came off the mountain with an hour left and headed for a farm in the northern part of the valley. I had been given permission to hunt this back in August and thought I’d just go shoot a deer and be done. Meat in the freezer. When we got there all the deer were on the neighbor's field bedded down out in the flat stubble. We got permission and made our way back to where they were. With light fading I told my wife we would just walk right at them till they stood. After a few hundred yards they started getting up and then suddenly I saw these deep forks. I also realized that something was missing. His G2/G3 was busted off right at the beam. I told my wife he was the one and a few seconds later after a shot from 6.5 PRC it was over. Pain, emotion, exhaustion, frustration and cold all just fading away. Once we got up to him I realized I knew this deer. Back in August he was one of the first 30” deer I had gotten pictures of. I hadn’t seen him at all since then. From the first scouting weekend in August to the last day of rifle season in December it had all come together in one of the first fields I had ever glassed. FWP aged him at 7.5 - 8.5 years old. His tip to tip ear measurements were over 24” and his live weight I’m guessing between 285-300. I’m truly blessed to have had this oppurtunity and grateful to be able to have the stories and the deer to look back on.
