Hunting

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Another glorious hunting season in Montana.

This was the first deer/elk hunt for the girlfriend. As you know, she’s no stranger to firearms and is an excellent shot. Nonetheless, theres a diference between shooting off a nice stable bench and shooting hurriedly from an offhand position while carrying a pack and breathing heavy. So….dropped a Leupold 3-9x onto a featherwight Model 70 in 6.5×55, grabbed some 140 gr. PSP, a few life-sized targets and headed to the range. The targets I used were an instructional aid from my days teaching hunter safety. It was a half-scale deer silhouette with the vital organs and skeletal structure overlaid on it. So we set it up at 100 yards and did some sighting in. After the gun was sighted in it was “okay, now shoot the deer target, aim for the vitals”. She did and shot well. Okay, good to go.

So we packed up our gear, got out the firestarters, warm hats and all that other stuff and went to bed with the intention of waking up in the morning at oh-dark-thirty and see if we couldnt reinforce our position on the food chain.

Drove out to the huting area (about 40 minutes from here), got out of the truck, geared up and started walking. Since the girlfriend was unfamiliar with the area I wanted to stay within earshot of the highway. We went back approx .4 miles (thats right, less than half a mile) and found ourselves a nice big rock to sit down and lean against. We sat there about fifteen minutes looking around and just killing time. And you know how it is with deer…you dont actually see deer, you see something move and -surprise- its a deer. So Im looking around and theres a spot of movement. Its a deer, his whole body hidden behind a rock with only his head visible, looking right at us. Range? Oh..about 40 yards, tops. “Theres a deer over there. Slowly pick up your rifle.” I said. The girlfriend slowly picked up her Model 70 and swung the safety off. “Ok, Im not going to shoot, Im just going to glass him.” I said as I flipped the scope covers. I figured it was a doe since thats the kind of luck I have…hmmm, theres horns. Game on! He’s behind a rock so I asked “Do you have a shot?”, “Just his head.” Well, cant shoot through rocks so…. “Okay, he’s gonna start to move. Be ready.” Sure enough the deer turned, classic broadside (the fool!) and starts walking down hill. Now, I needed him to get out from behind the rock but I didnt want him moveing for the shot. Once he cleared the rock I said “Get ready.” and whistled. The deer, being a deer, stopped at the noise and took a step or two forward. “Whenever youre ready.”, I said. BAM! The deer jumped up and took about three bounds before he started weaving and staggering. This is good, I thought, its a good hit he wont get far. He ran another twenty yards or so and leaped over a log and crumpled on the other side. I laid down my rifle, pulled my .45 and ran after him. I got up there and he was dying but dying is a long way from being dead. I was going to pop hime with the .45 but figured it was the girlfriends deer she should have the full experience. I called for her to hurry down here and give Bambi the coup de grace. The little NAA minigun came out and she put a couple rounds into the brainpan just to make sure. After that, the real work started. Being an optimist, I carry one of those little game hoists in my bag. We strung that up, hooked up our new protein source and got all Hannibal Lecter on his ass. Postmortem shows bullet entered right behind the shoulder in the classic ‘boiler room’ shot. Lungs? Shredded. Heart? 1/3 of it blown away. Deer was dead before he hit the ground, he just didnt know it. Couldnt do much better. Got him dressed out and then the real fun…dragging the dead weight back to the truck. I got him 95% of the way there when the fishcop pulled up. Told him my tags were in my backpack which was sitting in the truck but if he’d like to help me drag this thing under the fence and up the embankment to the truck I’d be glad to show them to him. So we got it up to the road, did the dance with the paperwork, and in his opinion the deer was about 2.5 years old and was probably dressing out at aroudn 165#. Not too shabby. Horns were a spike with a few ragged points. 2×1 in our Western count. Three pointer to you eastern dudes.

Gutting and dragging took longer than the actual hunting. We were only out of the truck for about 30-45 minutes before the hammer dropped on Bambi. Shortest hunt Ive ever been on.

So we took the pictures, hauled our new friend to the game processor and said “we’d like the horns if you please. European mount”. And out came the coolest bone saw I have seen outside of a horror movie. It was like a Sawzall on steroids. bzzzt-bzzzt-bzzzt-pop and off came the top of the skull. (Say it with me now – Braaaaiiiiinnnnssss!) The old guy at the counter heard it was her very first deer and saw she was so proud that he waived the deposit and said that when he does his morning hunting radio show on Friday he’ll mention the deer and its weight. So we have a little trophy for the trophy girlfriend and in a week we’ll pick up this winters meat. And we still have my tag to fill.
Oh. You want pics? Okay.


And that, my friend, is how we roll in Western Montana………………

62 thoughts on “Hunting”

  1. Poindexter will be thrilled. I myself am disturbed by how she keeps holding the deer’s head up by the antlers, like it’s “Weekend at Bambi’s” or something.

    So, you know how in “The Empire Strikes Bike”, Han cuts open one of those weird Hoth animals open so they can keep warm with its innards, and it smells really bad? Does it smell bad when you cut open a deer?

  3. Does it smell bad when you cut open a deer?

    Not unless you nicked an intestine. (Now, that’s bad!) Otherwise, it’s a strong smell, but not like a .. really bad smell. It’s definitely venison, and you’ll smell it then. but it’s not revolting or nauseating. (Well, at least, that’s my experience/what my nose reports.)

  4. Wow. A deer on the first hunt!

    Now she’ll expect that!. Or wait, maybe you can expect that from her from now on?

    Very nicely done, both of you!

  5. “The Empire Strikes Bike”

    Great movie. My favorite scene is when Chewie runs down Vader with his Harley.

    Does it smell bad when you cut open a deer?

    I don’t know about deer, but based on my experience butchering rabbits, it doesn’t smell too bad unless you cut into the stomach/intestines. Smells like blood, though, which bothers some people.

  6. Nice shooting, Kit!

    If you’re going to go at this wholesale, you’re either going to have to use a good packboard or get some wheels. Or maybe, since it’s the two of you, use one of those stretchers you have stashed in the Bunker. Can’t always depend on those fish and game people to show up when they’re needed, you know – usually only when you don’t have tags 😉

  7. I loved it when they made that last ditch run down the trench, then tossed the antimatter torpedoes into the middle of the Critical Mass Rally, and smithereened it.

  9. Impressive! Good teamwork.

    Naive question: What is involved in “dressing out”? It looks like you took the nose to the hooves all with you to the truck. Do you leave organs behind? Buried, or what?

  15. And then where do you put the rejects? In a plastic bag, buried, or what?

    Did you take a picture of the part where she cut off the penis and scrotum?!?!?!?! That’s what I wanna see! That’s gotta be really weird.

  17. No, whats really wierd is……YOU WANTING TO SEE A DEER GETTING HIS NUTS CUT OFF!!!!!

    Remember: Beer nuts are expensive, but deer nuts are still under a buck….

  19. Very cool!! That is one up on me, I’m not so much a hunter so I’ve never shot anything alive. I will certainly eat a dead deer though.

  22. GROAN!

    It’s more that I’m trying to visualize Kit grabbing a deer penis. Or you, for that matter. Presumably men have to do this to their deer kills too. And it must be very, very weird for you to do. It never even occurred to me until I read the instructions. I guess I thought you could just leave it there, since it’s on the outside.

  24. I’m always struck by how freaking HUGE northern whitetails are compared to Texas whitetails. Down here, a 150lb whitetail is gargantuan. The consolation is that theres a fuckton of them down here and in most counties you can kill 3-5 of them and you don’t need separate tags from your license (resident $25 license comes will all of the tags already on it for deer and turkey, you only need special stamps for things like ducks or doves). Our seasons are a lot longer too, all of October for archery and Nov 1-Dec 31 for rifle season on whitetails in most counties.

    Montana is a blaze orange required state, isnt it? Right across the border in Idaho they have no such requirement. I have always thought of Montana as the most libertarian state in the union but when I went through there back in 2004 on the way to hunt just across the border in Idaho in the St. Joe National Forest I was struck by a few things that seem to belie this: blaze orannge requirement, state income tax and state-run liquor stores. That kind of nanny state legislation seems odd up against such lax speed limit and gambling laws in Montana, but hey I guess nobody’s perfect.

    Texas would probably have a blaze orange requirement if it weren’t for the fact that there is effectively no public land whatsoever in Texas. 99% of all hunting here is done on private land, and usually small plots at that. Because the plots are so small, walk/stalk hunting is almost unheard of and pretty much all hunting is done from blinds/stands over trails or bait (when you’re hunting on 100 acres of flat treed land, theres no glassing and stalking, and any animal you spook will be on the neighbors place in a matter of minutes). The going price for a season-long hunting lease is upwards of $1000-$2000/gun in many places if you don’t already have your own land.

  27. Holding up the antlers is how you do dead animal pics! We learn that in redneck school. 🙂

    It’s a little smelly, but not terrible. Overdue cat littler is worse. But it’s a very primal hot blood smell, and steam came out of the body cavity for an hour afterward. The stinkiest part was probably when the dead deer was burping out gas from his stomach. That was gross. But overall, not too bad.

  28. I was timing all of this because I was curious about how long each part would take. Here’s the timetable:

    ~0800 – parked the truck and started hiking.
    ~0825 – found a nice spot to sit down and wait.
    0835 – shot the deer and started the hoisting/dressing process.
    ~0930 – done dressing, started heading to the truck.
    1000 – cranked up the truck to head home.

  30. We talked about it afterward and I think it would’ve been easier had we tied its legs and slung it over a strong limb and carried it over our shoulders with both of us working at it.

    If we go elk hunting we’re doing it on horseback.

  31. I cut them off and he averted his eyes and pretended it wasn’t happening. He says that’s why he prefers to shoot does.

    If I’d thought about it I would’ve saved them and mailed them to you, or at least took photos. 🙂

  34. I was shocked too. Back east I don’t remember the whitetails being much bigger than 60-70 pounds, but then, that was about 20 years ago.

  35. How can you mail them to me? Is there a way to preserve them? Because I could put them on display in my house just to gross people out. Especially around Halloween.

  37. I could probably have dropped them into a quart jar with some sort of preservation fluid. Honey? My dad used to do that with the organs so I could take them to school for show and tell, only he was a taxidermist and had access to formaldehyde.

  38. Nice! What kind of property were you on (public, ranch, National Park or forest?) I’ve been shooting a long time, but have never had the opportunity to go big-game hunting (partly because it can be pretty pricey here in CO on private land, which is where most of my hunting friends have gone…I have a hard time justifying spending $2000 to hunt on enclosed space.) Montana’s close to CO and I’d be willing to drive up there one of these seasons.

  39. Private land open the public – used to belong to the Greenough Cattle Company. I can’t imagine spending that much money to hunt. It’s bad enough to have to pay $16 and get up early! 🙂 But beware – an out of state deer tag here is $343. Elk is about $645.

  42. Yeah, the tags for non-residents here are about $500 for elk (compaired to $50 for resident) and $300 for dear ($30 for resident.) The problem is that a lot of the land is private and the owners (pardon my language) usually charge out the ass to let you hunt there (especially if you’re doing an overnight or extended hunt.) The problem with public land is that a lot of people here seem to be very cautious about telling anyone else about their “good spots”…so I could spend three days on public land and not see a thing. And then there’s finding someone with a truck who’s willing to tag along so I can haul the beast out (not to mention the cost of having someone butcher it for me if I went that route.) Oh well, at least I’m particularly interested in going after mountain goat or Rocky Mountain Bighorn sheep…the cost for a resident tag is $251!!! That’s the same price as a non-res tag for bear! The non-res price…well, most of the used cars I’ve owned cost less!)

    That’s why I’ve so far stuck with small-game, fowl and fishing…I can get a season-long small game/fishing combo license for $41, which covers most game birds, squirrel, rabbit, marmot (although I’m not quite sure what they’d be good for), rattlesnake, prairie dog, snapping turtles (again, not sure why I’d want to take one), and of course fish.

    Although I’ve just now read that we have a Walk-In Access program, which gives CO hunters access to almost 150,000 acres of private land for $20 for a seasonal permit and this year is the first year that permit works for a lot of game birds and rabbits…have to look into that for next year!

    Anyway, nice buck…how’s he taste? And BTW, I’ve wanted to either buy or build up a rifle in 6.5×55 for a long time, since it seems like it can take animals cleanly and much larger than it’s small size would indicate. Nice choice! I just wish Winchester still made rifles.

  45. Seared Venison Loin with Red Currant Sauce

    2 Tbl Olive oil
    4 (8 ounce) pieces of venison loin, about 1 inch thick
    salt and pepper, to taste
    2 shallots, peeled and minced
    1/2 Cup dry red wine
    1/2 Cup dark molasses
    2 Tbl red wine vinegar (optional; if using dried cherries instead of dried currants)
    1 tsp fresh sage, minced
    1 1/2 Cup fresh red currants or 1/2 cup dried cherries

    Preheat oven to 425.

    Heat heavy-bottomed, ovenproof saute pan over high heat. When heated, add olive oil. Season venison with salt and pepper, and sear on one side for 2-4 minutes or until golden brown.

    Turn over the venison and transfer the pan to the oven. Roast for 5 to 10 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 125 F. Remove from oven, transfer venison to a plate, and let rest.

    Meanwhile, pour out and discard the oil from the pan and return to medium heat. Add the shallots and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Add the wine and cook, stirring up the browned bits at the bottom of the pan, until the wine is reduced by about half. Add the molasses, vinegar (if using cherries), sage, and the juices which have accumulated on the plate while the venison is resting; stir well to combine. Remove from heat and quickly stir in the butter until melted, and add the currants or dried cherries.

    To serve, slice the meat into 1/4 inch slices, fan out slices on each serving plate, and drizzle sauce over and around the meat.

  46. Roast Venison with Port Wine Sauce

    1 3 1/2 pound saddle roast of venison
    3 cloves garlic, slivered
    salt and pepper, to taste
    1/2 cup red wine vinegar

    Wash venison and trim off visible fat.

    Puncture meat and insert garlic slivers, so meat appears dotted. Season with salt and pepper. Place in a large casserole. Add vinegar and cover. Marinate in refrigerator for at least 6-8 hours.

    Remove from marinade and place in roasting pan. Cook @ 350 degrees for 30 minutes per pound or until slightly pink. Serve with Port Wine Sauce (below).

    Port Wine Sauce
    4 Tbl unsalted butter
    2 Tbl Port Wine
    2 Tbl fresh lemon juice
    1/2 Cup red currant jelly, or more to taste
    2 Tbl cornstarch

    In a small saucepan, melt butter. Stir in remaining ingredients. Heat to boiling, stirring constatnly.

  47. Until you get some time to think about it. Sitting at that 4-way stop… Things quiet… “Wow. That didn’t take too long, that was great! …”

    “Wait a minute.. It only took 2 hours to find, shoot, AND CLEAN that deer.. Where has John been going and for HOW LONG when he’s been out ‘hunting’ ?!?!?!?!!!!!???”

    Still, I bet you’re far more enthused now than you would have been if you’d sat on the hill all day.

    But wimping out on the blooding? C’mon! (What’s this “eating” business? Never heard of suchlike barbaric behavior)

  48. Noisettes of Venison with Rosemary and Orange

    4 Tbl butter
    2 Tbl olive oil
    8 noisettes of venison cut 3/4 inch thick from saddle (4-6 oz each)
    2 Tbl cognac
    1 Tbl all purpose flour
    2 cups heavy cream
    1/4 cup dijon mustard
    2 Tbl freshly grated orange peel
    1 Tbl minced fresh rosemary or 1 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
    1/2 tsp salt
    1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

    In a large skillet, melt butter in olive oil over medium heat. Add venison noisettes and saute for 3 minutes per side, turning once. Meat should be rare. Remove to warm platter and cover loosely to keep warm.

    Add cognac and flour to skillet and deglaze, stirring constantly for about 3 minutes. Whisk together cream and dijon mustard until thoroughly blended. Pour into skillet and continue whisking until incorporated. When sauce is heated through, reduce heat and add orange peel and rosemary. Simmer for 5 minutes. Simmer for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. To serve, place 2 noisettes on each plate and coat with sauce.

  49. heeheehee

    I don’t mind getting bloody and gross and grimy. I just don’t see the POINT if I have GLOVES. Me = LOGICAL.

    Mom is now telling me my dad and his hunting buddies were lying to me about that eating thing. I am annoyed because that’s the whole reason I never wanted to try to shoot anything myself.

  51. Re: *She with husband with the unfilled tag*

    🙂 🙂 🙂

    You guys will get yours! I hereby bequeath my luck!

  52. Re: *She with husband with the unfilled tag*

    I hope so! I was picking the brain of the old maintenance guy at work today for all his whitetail secrets.

    If all else fails, they ought to be in the rut in a couple weeks and from what everyone says, all bets are then off.

    I’m considering trying to whip through my hunter safety real quick and get a tag myself before the end of the season (venison EVERY night… mmm) but that might be overly ambitious. I’d have to track down the guy who said he’d meet up with us for a field day anyway, and I can’t remember his name…

    Anyway – thanks for the luck. We need it. 🙂

  53. Re: Seared Venison Loin with Red Currant Sauce

    Wow. This one and the rosemary are the first two things I’m making!!!!!

    Rather. Having the Commander make FOR me. 🙂

  54. From Idaho:

    We don’t have blaze orange, but we do have income tax and state-run liquor stores.

    The liquor stores especially blew my mind when I moved here from California – nobody believed me that you can just buy liquor at the grocery store down there.

  55. Mom is now telling me my dad and his hunting buddies were lying to me about that eating thing.

    Ok, honestly, you want the truth? You think you can handle the truth?

    It all depends on how juvenile your hunting buddies are.

    I was blooded by a very, very good thespian, who had a whole spiel about the Indians and the traditions we were carrying on, having to do with the senses (I wish I had gotten that written down, it was damn good) where he smeared some blood on my ears, eyelids, nose, and then mouth. No eating, no dumping guts over the head, no tying the nuts around the neck… (Though apparently some of your friends are interested in that without the hunting …. )

    But yeah, there’s some dumb stuff. But if you had to do all the cleaning with no help from the big strong “broad-shouldered” guy.. hell, that’s enough “initiation” in my book. (Tell anybody who quibbles that I said you got blooded. After all, you had to cut off the junk – and he wouldn’t look!)

    Seriously, a nice job all around, to you and John.

  56. Well – the Cmdr did break the pelvis and sawed through the sternum for me. But other than that I did it all myself. I don’t have any squick issues (I’ve dealt with dead humans at work that smelled and looked worse) – I just don’t see the point in unnecessary grossness. 🙂

  57. From the photos, obviously not Eastern Montana. 😉 Trees in the photo are a dead give away that it’s not in this corner of the state… Looks like it was a very good day though.

  59. I was just lamenting the loss of an American icon. But every CZ firearm I’ve handled and shot has been awesome and built great! Still, I’ve had it in me for a long time to make up a 6.5 Swede on a surplus action…one of these days I’ll get around to it! I think it would be great for deer and black bear, and I’ve heard a lot of people taking medium-sized African game with it as well…basically it’s got a great combination of low recoil and unusually high terminal ballistics, because of the bullet shape. Even Wolf is producing loads for it now, so it’s getting a bit cheaper to practice with (I’ve never been particularly interested in reloading)! Even though I love the ease of getting “normal” loads like 30-06 and .308 (and fully appreciate their effectiveness and low cost….308’s probably my favorite all-around caliber), I still have quite a soft spot for European calibers loaded to their full potential, like 7mm and 8mm Mauser and 6.5 Swede. I had a 7.5 Swiss K31 that was one of the most fun rifles I ever had, and regret selling it to this day (I paid $89 for mine, but I’d gladly pay the current $200+ for another one…just loads of fun to shoot and the craftsmanship is absolutely superb!)

  61. Congratulations

    Kit,
    Been a fan of yours for a few years, when I first saw pics by Oleg.

    Congrats on your first deer…and good luck on going for elk…and YES, go for elk with pack animals. Packing out quarters of elk from the bottom of some friggin ravine where the beast tumbled and died is not fun.

    I recently posted our antelope hunt on my site:

    http://theprairiemelts.blogspot.com/

    Hunting plains animals is a whole different ballgame…..whole different mindset.

    Enjoy the good clean meat….YUMMM!

    BTW, there is a very good cookbook that I use all the time. Great recipes and fun commentary along with some good side dishes. It’s the L.L.Bean Game and Fish Cookbook:

    http://www.amazon.com/L-L-Bean-Game-Fish-Cookbook/dp/0394511913?tag=dogpile-20

    Again, congratulations!!!!

    -Sven in Colorado

  62. That figures….right when I’m between jobs! Well, if I come up with some cash in the future, I’ll hit you up and see if any are still available (how much for the small ring 98, just out of curiosity?)

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