Bugling Bulls Part 2

Over the weekend I was out chasing bulls. Action was fast and furious. In two days I saw over 68 head of elk and approximately 15 bulls. The biggest bull I saw was a whopper. I estimated him to have a B&C score of between 330 and 340. This bull had two satellite bulls near his heard that were both six points! I saw these two bulls fighting and the herd bull just sat and watched.


I got up close and personal to this herd bull, 68 yards. I could see his rack just going back and forth over some brush. I needed to close the distance but the wind and an errant cow that came up from behind me ruined that chance. I was close (125 yards) to these elk for approximately 4 hours but just didn't get a shot.

I also saw 13 deer with only one decent 4x4 this is a permit area so it was a no go on the deer. I also saw 2 moose.

Yaak Whitetails, 80 degrees, and the Bull and Bitterroot Rivers

Hi all I've decided to start posting again. I had take a small break from writing and am now back on it!

Over this past weekend drove up to the Yaak to scout out some Whitetails. The hot weather, over 80 degrees watching the field as the sun went down, kept the whitetails down and in heavier cover. We did manage to see some deer but not the trophy caliber that we were hoping for. So when it’s hot and the animals aren’t moving what do you do? Fish!

We went down to the lower Bull River and then hit the Bitterroot river. The Bull was low but in the lower reaches the fish though few in number did rise to hoppers. My two best fish were a cutthroat at 17 inches and a nice plump brown that went 21 inches. To tell you that I wasn’t surprised to see him come out of the depths of the Bull would be a lie. I was expecting little fish but plentiful fish. So when I saw this guy come up to gulp my hopper I was surprised to say the least.

Fishing new water can sometimes be a humbling experience. I was with a friend of mine I have known for over 20 years and hadn’t seen in probably 15 years. Way too long. But like most guys time makes no difference. Well maybe some gray hair and a few more inches around the waistline. We just picked up where we left off.

We hit the Bitterroot with the expectation of a big hatch and a cloudy day; perfect conditions. The water was very flat and glass like, leaders were long and thin. We managed to make a good day out of it with fish averaging 17-19 inches. We caught and released over a dozen fish, mostly rainbows and cutthroats. Fish were rising regularly and gulping tricos to start and then. We cast throughout the day to pods of fish most were finicky some were not. A long float with few boats on the water.

Bugling Bulls

I was out hunting public land for the opening weekend of archery season. The good news was I saw lots of elk; the bad news was I didn’t get one tagged! I did see one bull harvested, a 5x5 taken by a gentleman from Butte. According to him, “it came in on a string”, from his partners calling, “Just like Outdoor TV”.

I did see over 23 elk that weekend and of those 9 were bulls, two were over 300 points with the largest one pushing 330. This area is a general season area open to all those willing to put in some hard work and get out there and find the elk. If you look at the video I misspoke and said I saw 23 bulls I meant to say elk.

The elk were talking in the morning and in the evenings with not much in between. This should change as the month progresses.

If you don’t have a spot to go use the RAM maps to find some promising areas and take out your binoculars and spotting scopes and head to the woods. Be sure to use the elk distribution overlay Region 3 is in general over objective and has the largest herd of elk in Montana.

Archery Antelope 2 years 2 Bucks

The beginning of August 15 found me in Ingomar, MT. On one of my favorite hunts of the year. Archery Antelope. The season runs from August 15 to November 9th. So plenty of time to take to the field in the unit of your choice.

Drawing a 900 antelope tag is relatively easy draw in Montana, at least this year. Time to pause and thank the Montana Bowhunters Association for lobbying to create this great opportunity for us archers! THANK YOU! If your an archer and your not a member please consider joining an individual membership is $25 for one year or $45 for a business memebership.

Something to note if you hold a Montana Antelope tag. Blue tongue has taken a toll on antelope in some areas. The norther part of region 5 was effected along with other areas. Check with Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks and our website to get the latest antelope report biologists to get the detailed information on the areas you plan on hunting. With the price of fuel you don't want to head to the field without getting some solid information first.

I did notice that antelope numbers were down on the ranch that I hunt. However in two days I did see over 65 bucks but noticed that the does and fawns were less plentiful. I took my buck on the second morning of the hunt. The ranch that I hunt on is huge, with over 250,000 acres of land. I personally hunt a "pasture" that is 3 miles wide and 7 miles long...that's over 21 square miles of habitat. I was the only one there! If your interested in booking this hunt join the website and look up hunt 189. So far I've taken two bucks in two consecutive years on this ranch.

Here is my buck from last year.

Lake Agnes

My wife and I decided to forgo the rivers and head to a high mountain lake for some tube fishing. We headed to a Lake Agnes located above Brownes Lake in the Pioneer Mountains near Glen.

Having never been to Lake Agnes we consulted the RAM maps and looked over the hike. I then made a call to the Beaverhead National Forest Office for some quick information on the best way to get in to this lake. We found a 2 mile route that although very steep and rocky was less an hour hike up. After a creek crossing of Rock Creek and some frequent stops to catch our breath we arrived at Lake Agnes.

I wasn’t prepared to find a beautiful sandy beach to greet us at the lake. Wow what an unexpected treat! This is a beauty of a lake.

One great thing about this lake is how many grayling inhabit the lake and although the fishing wasn’t on fire we were treated to some spectacular scenery. No crowds here, no drift boats passing by, just my wife and I and about 4 other people spread out across the lake.

I had decided to pack in float tubes for my wife and I complete with flippers. So we unpacked them from the pack and started to blow them up. One of the tubes was my son’s which I had never used before. It did not have a blow up type of tube in it but rather a type that required a pump which of course I didn’t have. So we were down to one tube. I know I can hear all of you now…”you should have looked”. I paid the price of a 2 mile hike with the dead weight of a useless float tube and fins.

We ended up catching 10 fish 6 grayling. Here is a sample of them.

One of the most outstanding things of the day was yet to come; dinner at the Melrose Café, Bar and Casino. My wife and I had never been here before. (Mistake!) . Everything was excellent, from the tossed greens with raspberry vinaigrette, to the gourmet burgers, home fries and ice cold beer. To top it all off we had Sonya’s Strawberry Pie, here grandmothers recipe. We got the last two pieces.

So if you’re coming off the Big Hole or on your way down I15 take the time to pull off at Melrose and stop by for a great meal and great service. They win our EAT HERE award!

Best Day on the Big Hole

One of our employees parents came into town and my wife was leaving on a early flight out of Bozeman. So we decided to float the Big Hole. I would get them started on the raft, then jump into my pontoon and fish for the day.

I tried about 8 different fly combinations before I hit the mother load. The combo that was making it happen was a yellow stimulator with more of a dark body than a yellow body and a prince nymph dropper in a size 16.

I ended up having a forty fish day! I caught rainbows, brookies, and grayling. It was a fantastic day with lots of hook ups and fish landed. My best day on the Big Hole! I caught little ones and 2 rainbows over 20 inches. The fishing was so hot I never stopped to eat or take a drink of water. OK I did stop once to slug a cold beer and eat a piece of friend chicken. I still was casting in my other hand. I just didn't want to stop to eat when the fishing was so fantastic.

I stopped and talked to a couple from Oregon, they had not hired a guide and were true DIY fisherman. They caught 1 fish and floated the exact same stretch of the . The secret to fishing the Big Hole is try lots of combos before you find something that works for you. I told them they had just made an investment on learning the river so tomorrow they could really hammer the fish. They were very excited. I showed them the flies that were working for me. I hope they did well.

I also got a ticket for not having a PFD on my pontoon. The two wardens were floating the river checking licenses and PFD's. So $45 later I was still up to my elbows in fish. As a matter of fact as I pulled out from where I landed to recieve my citation I landed a nice 14 inch rainbow. So don't forget to carry your PFD on your pontoon boat!

Here is a sample of some of the fish I caught!

Father's Day and A Gift for My Wife

This father's day I thought I'd do something a little different, buy my wife a gift.

I asked her for father's day if she would learn how to fly fish. So we made the appropriate stop at the local sporting goods store and outfitted her with waders and boots. She was set. I had plenty of extra rods, reels and fly vests, so with gear in tow we headed to the Beaverhead early Sunday morning.

As we drove into the Dillon valley my wife called her father, I received a call from my son who is a Captain in the Air Force. We sat on the side of highway 15 and took advantage of technology that enabled us to communicate with people in two different time zones.

Ris (my wife) managed to hook three fish in the tailwater of the dam. They were nice fish two were in the 20 inch mark. Landing them proved to be a little harder for a first time angler. If you fish this beautiful little river you know why. The fish are big and have been fished hard. She had a great day and was a very fast learner.

I landed 8 fish hooked 11. It was a fine father's day. Here is a sample of two nice browns I landed and a rainbow. These fish were taken with nymphs under a strike indicator. The flies were size 18-22. I tried a variety of flies from, San Juan Worms, Prince Nymphs, Scuds, Tailwater Tinies, and a variety of midges.

Shoot Straight!

Big Hole June 23, 2008

Big Hole was in full bloom yesterday with 80 degree weather throughout Montana. The put in at Jerry Creek was loaded to the gills (no pun intended) with trucks and trailers spilling out to the road.

I decided to forgo the crowds and headed up above Wise River. Floated from Fish Trap to East Bank. Put in about 9:00 and was finished at 4:30. Water was high running at about 3,800 fps. Fishing was tough talked to 3 groups of fishermen, they landed one big fish over 20 inches the rest of them caught nada!

I was able to a catch 6 fish total:

• 3 grayling on a rubber legs fly
• 2 rainbows on a prince nymph and salmon fly
• 1 whitefish on a prince nymph

Beautiful day with boats filling the river but not till about 11:30. So it was quiet and peaceful float. salmon flies weren't present but the fish were doing a lot of window shopping. Coming up to take a look and taking off, with only one taker. Great day on the water!

Get out there and enjoy all of what Montana has to offer.

Shoot Straight!

Joe

Spring Gobblers

It was the second weekend of the spring Turkey season in Montana. I had just taken my wife to the airport on a beautiful, sunny, spring day.

I decided it would be an ideal day to hunt spring turkeys. I must confess that I have never called in a spring turkey I had shot one once before but it just happened to come by where I was sitting. I headed back to the house and got geared up and brought up the SportsmensAccess.com website. I signed in and went to the RAM maps area and turned on the Turkey Distribution layer.

I wanted to find a spot on public land that had turkeys within a 3 hour drive of Bozeman. I found an area and headed out. By the time I got to the area the sun was bright and the mountains looked glorious with a snow sparkling on the peaks. The area I was in looked like great turkey habitat.

I drove down the road until I found a place where I thought turkeys might actually cross the road. I shut off the pickup and glided to a stop. I waited a few minutes and put the slate call out the window (a tried and true turkey hunting tactic) and scratched out a yelp. Ok you probably don't see this on the Mossy Oak Classics. Nothing came back. I fired up the truck and went to the next likely looking saddle and repeated the process. To my surprise I got a resounding gobble back.

Having shut off the truck in the middle of the road I was forced to make a decision: do I leave it where it was or start up the rumbling diesel engine and risk scaring the turkey out of the country. I cranked it up and headed to the shoulder of the road. At this point I didn' t even have my camo on.

I scrambled to quickly put on my camo grab my shot gun and head out. I got to a place that looked good for a ambush and set up for to call. I scratched out some more yelps and the gobbler responded almost immediately. I waited not so patiently and could see nothing but every so often I would hear the turkey.

I got up and moved in a little closer circling the turkey to the right. I waited and then let out another call. He answered again right away. I waited and could see him coming toward me. I was in a good position and waited. He got to about 70 yards and hung up. Just wouldn't come any closer. Just call and pace back and forth. After a while he moved away and I circled him for one more try. Same results....humm.

So I got up and let him see me. I thought he would move away from me and cross a saddle back behind him. He did exactly that. I moved away and out of sight ran to the other side of the saddle and carefully peeked from cover to see if he was on his way. I ranged a spot where I thought I could get a shot, 48 yards. I was shooting 3.5 inch turkey loads and new I could make this shot. The turkey came walking down the saddle. I slowly squeezed off the shot and I had my first turkey spring turkey that I had called to.

Hunting spring turkeys is one of Montana's fastest growing hunts. So get on the RAM maps find a free place to hunt or get on Ranches Fee and look up some ranches that are loaded with turkeys.