Montana 2020

[hobbes]

Cleaning up deboned antelope is next.

 

[hobbes]

Snow is back at it here

 

[hobbes]

Completed stew in a high class plastic bowl. I did not add the milk and I added potatoes instead of rice.

 

[hobbes]

It's going to be a cold opener here.

 

[hobbes]

I've got at least one bird dog that apparently wants me to plan a pheasant hunt instead of an elk hunt. She has no respect for my work schedule.

 

[hobbes]

Just finished grinding antelope meat.

20 lbs of burger before adding beef suet.

I added roughly 2 lbs of pre-ground beef suet that I buy at a local grocery. I then ran it through the same grinder again to blend it together better.


I'll wrap and label tonight in 1 to 1.5 lb packages.

 

[Shrek]

Thanks for taking us along Hobbes. I always enjoy your posts.

 

[hobbes]

18 packages, so averaged around 1.2 lbs each.

 

[hobbes]

Ummmmm.......maybe not. It's still coming down, mostly sideways. I've been up a while. I've even went so far as to wade out with a broom and mostly clean my truck off and start it. I'm going to have to dig my chains out in case I do something stupid, like leave the house.

 

[TheCougar]

View attachment 226943

Ummmmm.......maybe not. It's still coming down, mostly sideways. I've been up a while. I've even went so far as to wade out with a broom and mostly clean my truck off and start it. I'm going to have to dig my chains out in case I do something stupid, like leave the house.

I’m having the same thoughts. I’m stupid enough to venture out into it.

 

[hobbes]

I'm turning into more of a fair weather hunter, the older I get. Not really, but I don't like hunting during a storm. After a storm seems more productive, at least that's what I keep telling myself. Not to mention that this weekend's hunting partner doesn't provide much motivation.

 

[hobbes]

I just found a bull with the spotter. Far enough that I can't possibly get up to him before dark. I'm hoping he's still in there in the morning.



I made sure it was clear enough that you can figure out where.

 

[Shrek]

Good hunting in the morning ! I hope you can get that bull !

 

[hobbes]

Could not find the bull. We finally had to hike back down before we turned into popsicles. Also, I was afraid too much more stomping around in the wind would blow any elk out. The lowest temp that I saw on my truck was 1. The highest was about 13. We may have regretted killing a bull there, but we'd have done it. It's cold enough that we could have taken a week to pack it out without fear of losing any meat. I may go back looking for one in there soon since I don't think anyone else has gone in there and I don't think the bull that I saw has left.

Boyd took these two photos. My phone would not come on in the cold.

My face got a bit icy, and I had already cleaned part of the ice off.

 

[hobbes]

Quick llama update:. I hauled Pedro in the horse trailer for the first time the day before the General Season opened. He wasn't sure about getting in the trailer but wasn't too much trouble. He was a little more reluctant after the vet visit. Considering that he woke up after a forced nap at the vet with parts missing at both ends (his nuts and fighting teeth) he may never want to go for another ride.

My two goats are doing good, but fat as pigs. I'm not confident that they are going to get very big but they've got a long time to grow. They are like pets.


Marco and Momma are doing well. I worried about Marco when it got so cold last weekend.

 

[hobbes]

I took my 17 year old looking for a deer this morning. We drove an hour and a half and signed into block management just before daylight. The plan was to glass from the truck early then hike whether we found deer or not.

I spotted 3 deer on a ridge a couple miles away but they'd disappeared by the time I got the spotter out. However, a fourth deer came over from a different direction and dropping into the same coulee. I could not tell anything about a rack but was pretty sure that it was a buck by the way it walked and acted. There was nothing to do but start hiking.

I thought I was glassing about a mile but OnX showed that it was over two miles. By the time we'd hiked across a giant wheat field then up the ridge, I was able to spot 4 does and two little fork horns bedding closer to the mouth of the coulee. We circled high to get the wind and look for more deer. We only found 3 more does and another little buck, so we headed back towards the first group hoping there was a better buck bedded close by that I couldn't pick out.

We finally bumped the does but the bucks were still tucked in at the bottom of the coulee and didn't know anything was up. We got to within about 40 yards before they stood up. I was hoping there was a third, but only the two little guys were there.

Boyd has previously killed three whitetail does, one little whitetail buck, one decent mule deer buck, and one cow elk. When we had first found the two little bucks an hour earlier, I thought Boyd would probably shoot one of them, but we'd covered 3.5 miles by the time we got to them and had 2.5 miles back to the truck. I'm glad Boyd had already decided that they weren't worth the trouble it would be take to get one out. These are the first deer that he's passed on.

They were tucked in to the left of the big rock in the bottom, just behind the smaller one up to the left. We couldn't see them until they stood and wouldn't have known they were there if we'd not glassed them earlier. They stood there looking at us in typical young mule deer fashion. I suppose wondering how we got there.









This is a look back once we started back to the truck.


I'm on my own tomorrow since Boyd has to work. I'll probably look for an elk, but I've got two bird dogs that haven't been out yet this fall and a third that wants to go again.

 

[hobbes]

I shouldn't have, but I decided to be lazy and slept in today. Slept in is relative to one particular bird dog's internal clock. He has to go out early then eat early, so he can lay on the couch and sleep most of the day.

My mule deer hunt is coming up the 11th to 18th, so I need to get some things around here done. I'll use today to work on finishing up a laundry room remodel project. I've been putting off "mudding" the sheet rock. I also need to clean all the leaves off the back patio before they get frozen into place for the winter.

We have election day off as a holiday. I've already voted so I'll probably hunt something on Tuesday.

Happy Halloween

 

[twdjr]

Nice!

 

[jboy047]

I did a few day hunts too.

Awesome

 

[hobbes]

I've not been out this week like I'd planned. I really needed to get my laundry and adjacent office remodel closer to complete before my wife hosts one of those women "buy a bunch of junk" parties. It also builds brownie points for my upcoming week away hunting mule deer and pheasants. I was tired of the mess also.

Marco the llama cria: