The Mexico Method is a Mexico Coues Deer Hunt Film that follows Zack Boughton and Dylan Dyson deep into the rugged landscapes of Mexico in pursuit of the elusive Coues deer. Blending authentic storytelling, high-quality cinematography, and real-world hunting challenges, this Mexico Coues Deer hunt film captures the highs and lows of a week-long hunt—from long glassing sessions and tough weather conditions to the thrill of the final shot. Whether it’s about chasing big bucks or making lasting memories in the backcountry, The Mexico Method offers an honest look at what it takes to push limits, adapt, and stay the course.

Sponsored By: Defiance Machine & Stone Glacier

Want to watch more Montana Wild Films? Click Here > Best of the Best Montana Wild Films

Read our last blog post here > Mtn Muleys with Zack and Jared

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Nine trail cameras set and pulled, 5 1/2 days of pre-season scouting, 78 bulls glassed up and the search for something worthy of my long awaited tag continued. As a hunter I’ve really only ever known one way of finding success, and that’s simply outworking other hunters and putting a lot of time into hunts. So far this one was shaping up to be similar to many hunts over the years, work hard, work harder, and hopefully turn up something that gets your heart going. If I’m being honest, this challenge is what keeps me coming back. Hunting is hard and when you start trying to find the most mature animals in your area the odds only stack harder against you.

Jordan and I crested the last ridge just as daybreak was spilling across the giant flat in front of us. Down below us I immediately spotted elk as the wind ripped at our backs and jostled our glass. One look and I knew a closer look was in order. The Leica was soon clipped into the tripod and I was looking at the best bull we’d seen yet. I thought I’d seen him two days earlier as I’d finished pulling cams before restocking but he was a long ways off. Now we were a 1000 yards out and he looked bigger. Before I could really size him up he slipped down into a ravine with his cows and was gone. We set camp and decided to make a big loop and get a better vantage for the evening. In two days season would open and we wanted to know if this bull was going to be our target or not. That evening we slipped into 300 yards of the bull and his cows. The wind was screaming and the elk were between us and our tents so close proximity was necessary. I also wanted a close look.

After studying him for over an hour I was unsure if he was the one. Now in MT I would shoot this bull but I’d waited 12 years to draw this tag and the unit has produced some giants over the years. This is the interesting part about draw tags. You have to equip yourself with a whole new set of standards and expectations that aren’t your norm. Doing that brings a lot of questions and uncertainty into the picture. At the end of it we decided this bull was a high 330s bull or low 340s, a damn nice bull. That said, if you want to kill 350+ bulls you need to be able to pass damn nice bulls. At the end of the day this bull didn’t scream “hell yes” when I looked at him. I knew what could be living in this unit and I had a long season in front of me with a rifle in hand. I was going to roll the dice on this one and put the work in to see if I could find a bigger bull in the unit.

Opening day had come and gone and we had now looked over 135 bulls not including the photos on my trail cam. Lots of 290-320 bulls seemed to be the norm. It was fun hunting, my brother Travis behind the camera and Jordan Blase with me helping look over animals and gameplan our approach to hunting the unit. We were having fun but warm weather and high winds seemed to be keeping elk movement minimal and hunter pressure was high in the corner of the unit that seemed to be holding the majority of the elk. We decided to pull camp and continue on in search of less pressure and hopefully a big, old bull that was hiding out in more remote country.

Days later we’d managed to call in two small bulls and had covered a lot of ground. From glassing to sneaking timber to calling, we’d been working hard to locate elk of any kind. What had held a lot of elk just months earlier now felt as if aliens had sucked all the wildlife from the area. With warm temps and wind consistent in the forecast I called the first hunt after 10 days of solid effort. We’d see if we could get a change in weather and come back. I still had over 20 days in the season so we had time to see if more favorable conditions might show up.

Over the following weeks I made two more trips to my unit. One of those with my good friend and avid elk hunter Brandon Purcell and the other with my roommate Logan Summers. We continued to see nice bulls but nothing that was noticeably larger or had any real “wow” factor to them. At this point I wondered if there were any bigger bulls.

Maps were poured over, ideas thrown around, but at the end of the day I decided to end my hunt by going back to where we’d seen the majority of bulls and spend 4 days re-hunting those zones. The final push would just be me and my brother Travis. We’ve killed a lot of elk together over the years so hopefully this trip would be no different.

After about 5 and a half miles and 4000’ of vert we hit our camp spot. Snow had moved in and looked as if was going to hang around for a while. We saw four small bulls that night so we knew elk were in the area. The following morning broke with light snows and we moved to our first glassing point. The same bulls from the previous night casually grazed as snow filtered in and out. Quickly we felt that if the weather was going to hold we should circle the mountain to the west and look at some of the harder to reach areas. After an hour of hiking we caught a 20 minute window of visibility before the weather rolled in. For the next seven hours we stoked the fire, ate snacks and tried to glass anytime we got a small window of visibility. In the end we saw zero elk and a handful of mule deer does that appeared to be slowly moving to new country. With just two days left I banked on the clearing weather and cold to have bulls up on their feet in the am.

The following morning we left the tents an hour before first light. It was single digit cold and I didn’t want to sweat much as we climbed the 500’ to our glassing knob. We hit the top just as light was starting to filter across the frosty landscape. We donned puffy gear and got behind the glass. I quickly spotted two bulls on a small finger of grass above cliffs, a spot I’d highlighted on the maps before I ever stepped foot in the unit. This was the first time I’d seen bulls here but one had a heavy rack and his thirds extended outside the beams on both sides. I liked him but he wasn’t an immediate hell yes. We kept scanning and over the course of the morning saw a total of 31 bulls. I was able to relocate the original big bull that I’d passed on trying to kill at the very start of the hunt. He was with three other bulls, one of which I only caught a glimpse of his tops. I knew they were worthy of a play but we’d need to move camp closer to them. As the bulls slowly filtered into the timber the first bull of the day still lived rent free. Was he hiding length in his mass? Did I need to just get a closer look before we moved on? As I started hiking back towards the tent I could see where the first two bulls were at. In my binos I could see one of the bulls, the smaller of the two. They were about 1800 yards out and something just pulled at me to go take a closer look. It would only be a half out detour and so I told Travis were going down there to have a closer look. Fifteen minutes later I crept up to the edge and peered across the canyon. Immediately I spotted the bull I’d come to see. He was laying in the open but behind a tree which is why I couldn’t see him coming down off the mountain. He was a beauty. Not the size and score of what I dreamed this hunt would provide, but a heavy, gorgeous bull living in country that exemplified the ruggedness of the unit. In my heart I quickly knew this was the one. I’d expended a lot of energy to find something world class and although the score sheet wouldn’t show it, this bull in this moment was world class.

After telling Travis, we quickly got setup to take a shot. The wind was light, just a 4-6mph breeze and I knew it had the likelihood of picking up. At just over 500 yards I knew my skills could deliver a lethal shot with high probability. I got behind the gun, picked my spot, confirmed my wind call and slowly pressed the trigger. The shot broke clean and I saw my bullet hammer through the front shoulder. The bull stood up holding his front leg, wobbled, and then fell over backwards into the snow. Twenty one days in and my tag was filled. We soaked in the beauty of the morning, the sun shining into the snow covered canyon, fog slowly rising through the jagged cut below us.

An hour later we’d circled the canyon and made it to my bull. He was just a pretty up close. We took some photos and video and proceeded to begin the process of cutting him up and creating a gameplan for getting the meat off the mountain. We were in griz country so we knew having a solid plan would help us get all the meat home safely. That night we moved two hind quarters up to a tree that we would use as a rendezvous point with some help that would come in the next day to help pull the whole bull off the mountain.

The next morning we woke up early to go get the last two quarters, backstraps and head. The wind was ripping and the temps were in the twenties. Hands barely worked as we strapped meat into our packs and prepared for the hike up to camp. After an hour of hiking we hit our meat tree and were able to get the entire bull in one spot. We hustled to camp so we could break down our tent and get all of our gear into our packs. We were lucky to have some exceptional friends come up the mountain that morning to help pack the bull off the mountain. Jordan, Caleb, and Chylo all showed up and after some chit chat around the fire we began the process of dividing up the bull and putting it into packs. After three hours of solid hiking we finally hit the truck. We were all tired but happy to be at a lower elevation, sipping a cold beer, and laughing amongst ourselves. It had been a hell of a hunt. I’d given it my all and was rewarded with an experience that will never fade.

Words: Zack Boughton (@zackboughton)

Photos: Travis Boughton (@tjboughton)

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The release this week has been hugely successful and many people have been sharing their support for the film.  Please take the time to watch it and if you like it, share it with your friends.

–Zack Boughton

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And here’s a few stills from the hunt as well.

One deer, one to go

Glassing was and is the name of the game here

Mule Deer Country

Travis with his solid mountain mule deer

-Written by Zack Boughton

The post Enjoy The Challenge appeared first on Montana Wild.

Every year new gear makes it into our kit. It gets tested and either meets the mark or it doesn’t. I want to start sharing with you guys pieces of gear that we add to our kits that rock. Over the years we have carried small knife sharpeners with us in our kill kits. They helped put an edge on dull knives while in the process of cutting up deer or elk. They worked well enough to help get the job done but never really wowed us either. I recently wrote a blog about knives which you can read HERE. I talked about my progression from a fixed blade knife to a Havalon which is a replaceable blade knife. The reason for the switch was that I couldn’t get my fixed blades sharp enough. Now that I’m able to sharpen a knife to my standards, I’m once again carrying a fixed blade knive.  The only downside, they often need a touch up while you’re breaking down an animal. This September I was with the Trent and Steve from Born and Raised Outdoors on a hunt in Wyoming with Trail and Brady from GoHunt. Trent killed a nice six point bull and the process of breaking it down began. Half way through the work Steve pulled out the WorkSharp Pocket Knife Sharpener to touch up his knife.

Steve tuning up his knife

Mine was getting dull so I asked to borrow it. A few strokes on the ceramic rod and I was back in business. I was impressed. It not only got my knife edge smoking sharp but was lightweight and a bright yellow so that it would be hard to lose in the field. After that day it went directly into my kill kit.

If you carry a fixed blade knife into the field and don’t have a sharpener currently you should definitely check them out. You can view the product and learn more at www.worksharptools.com/pocket-knife-sharpener. And Christmas is just around the corner, for only $14.95 these make for an awesome stocking stuffer.

–Zack Boughton

The post Key Gear – WorkSharp Pocket Knife Sharpener appeared first on Montana Wild.

Zack beginning the process of breaking down an elk in the field

As Travis and I started hunting we used some different knives on our hunts and always wished they were built a little different in one way or another. A few years later we met James Behring, a custom knife maker based in Missoula, MT. Through our friendship we eventually came up with the idea of designing our own hunting knife. After over a year of testing we finished our design and named the knife The Outlaw. You can read more about that process HERE.

One of the first few Outlaws made

That year we used the Outlaw on multiple hunts and were stoked on it with one exception. It ideally needed to be sharpened after cutting up an elk and neither myself or Travis was exceptional at the process. I purchased a Spyderco sharpener and tried that but couldn’t get a sharp edge that I was happy with. Now I’m sure that sharpener does the job just fine but I couldn’t manage to master that thing after sharpening dozens of knives. I’d often drop by James’ shop and have him sharpen it but that wasn’t always time effective with my schedule or James’.

James grinding and refining a blades edge

Eventually we reverted to just carrying a Havalon knife. I wasn’t a fan of disposable blades but it was sharp and light and so I conceded. Now a Havalon has it’s place. Caping an animal or any detail work needed, the knife is hard to beat. On the other hand, trying to tackle some of the meatier places on an elk resulted in broken blades, blades pulling off and if you use it long enough, some nasty cuts.

Travis tackling trimming some blood shot meat off an elk front quarter with a Havalon

The Outlaw (fixed blade, beefy) and a Havalon (replaceable blade, fragile)

This spring I got my hands on a Worksharp Ken Onion Knife Sharpener as well as a Guided Field Sharpener. My girlfriend has been telling me how dull all my kitchen knives are for a while and so I got straight to work. The Ken Onion Sharpener was so easy to use. To get started I looked through the manual to make sure I knew how to use the sharpener properly. From there I took their guidelines on what type of belts to use and how many strokes on each side based on a style of knife and got to sharpening. The first knife off the sharpener was razor sharp. I was impressed.

Sharpening a blade

Some cool features of the sharpener are the easily adjustable sharpening guide giving you a range between 15 and 30 degrees, premium belts, an adjustable speed motor, and a blade guide.

LEFT) Angle adjustment CENTER) Motor speed adjustment RIGHT) Sharpening a blade

For me I have been using this sharpener to get a razor sharp edge on my main hunting knife and my kitchen knives.  The included manual goes through the process but most knives I sharpen require grinding with the three main belts.

Extra belts and the manual that specifies best practices for sharping all kinds of different knives and tools.

The sequence of order is generally 6-10 strokes on one side and then the other with the X65 belt, 6-10 strokes alternating between sides with the X22 belt and then finishing with as many strokes as necessary on the X4 belt.  For me this has resulted in a razor sharp edge every single time.  I’ll be honest it has been rewarding to be able to get my knives shaving hair sharp after struggling for many years.

The other sharpener I have been using is the Guided Field Sharpener and honestly I’ve used this much more often. I have one in the door of my truck and another in my hunting gear box.

Having one in my hunting gear box is key so I know I can always sharpen my hunting knives and broadheads if necessary on a hunt

Using it is simple and the sharpener has a diversity of surfaces to aid in sharpening knives, tools, hooks and more.  The sharpener has four main sides.  There are two diamond plates, one course and one fine to help shape and refine the edge of your blade.  There are two ceramic rods and a leather strop.  Under the diamond plates is a broadhead sharpener for bowhunters who need to sharpen and re-tighten their broadheads.

To sharpen my knives such as my hunting knife The Outlaw, I simply just start on the smooth grit and give about 5-6 strokes on each side. From there you go to the carbide sharpener which refines the blade edge. The carbide cylinder has 3 sides to it 1) coarse grit 2) fine grit and 3) a fish hook sharpener. I generally just use the fine grit side for another 5-6 strokes on each side and from there go to the leather strop to finish.

More of a visual learner?  Watch the video we made about this same story and process.

Between these two sharpeners I know have no excuse to not have a sharp knife. You can learn more about both sharpeners as well as the Worksharp brand at www.worksharptools.com and by following them on Instagram and Facebook. Their products are very affordable and would make a great addition to anyone’s gear.

Written by: Zack Boughton

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“He was right there…..” I beat my fist on the ground and looked up at Jordan, embarrassed, upset and elated all at the same time. We had been working an area I’d just found a few days prior and had already passed on two bulls. Our day was going well until a dream archery bull spun and ran out of my life. Lets backtrack a few days though. Two days earlier I’d been just a few ridges over with my girlfriend Maddie. I wanted her to experience the thrill of archery elk hunting and we were lucking out as I had just found a great bull and him and a few others were all bugling. We had bumped him the night before and relocated him the next morning. We slowly tailed the herd as it was too noisy and open to try to move in close and call. As we crept up the ridge I could see him raking the ground about 120 yards up in the timber. He was a dandy and my heart beat increased instantly. We took the boots and backpacks off and started a sneak attack. Soon I saw a cow and she forced us to stay ultra low as she was bedded and facing our direction. As I neared the 90 yard mark the bull swung back around to chase off a spike. He then pushed the cow that had been facing us back towards the rest of the herd. Long story short either another part of the herd saw us or smelled us as we tailed him and they ran out of our lives. We went back to the packs and could hear bulls bugling across a nasty, nasty valley. I figured there was no sense in calling to them as it was almost 10AM and they’d soon bed. Maddie urged me to bugle and so I fired off about 3 bugles in 5 minutes. About 10 minutes later we could see a tree swaying just over the ridge. It was a bull raking a tree. The raking stopped and I patiently waited. Nothing came up the hill so I fired off a bugle and sat waiting with an arrow nocked. Moments later a rack appeared over the crest of the hill. A nice six point bull appeared and was coming towards me and too my left. I was kneeled down and as the bull passed behind a tree I drew and waited. The bull walked into my opening and turned uphill. I cow called and stopped him at 27 yards. He was facing me at a very hard quartering to angle, almost straight on but not quite. There was a good pocket in front of his left shoulder and I took my time to settle my pins on my spot. The bow went off and the bull quickly spun and disappeared. I’d seen my arrow as he turned and it looked like I’d hit him in the front of his shoulder with no penetration. Agghhhhhhh!!! All that practice all summer and I’d somehow screwed up a chip shot. Low right. Dang it.

Settle pin and slow squeeze

I knew sometimes the arrow will pull out when the bull runs and I hoped I was wrong and had got better penetration. We decided to wait 4 hours and then go look for blood and the arrow. As we waited I proceeded to bugle another 6 point into 25 yards. He got the pass for obvious reasons. Four hours later I found my arrow just yards from the point of impact, broke off right at the back of the insert. It was a direct hit on the shoulder blade with zero penetration. The bull should be alright just with a bit of new hardware.

Yaaaaaa, that’s not any penetration.

Fast forward to the next day, it’s 5:30pm and we are on top of a ridge where we thought a bull had bedded in from the morning. We slowly worked down the ridge calling occasionally. Finally I got a response down to my right. I knew the wind would be bad if I called him to me now and we quickly pushed lower. As we dropped about a 1000’ I bugled or chuckled at him about 4 times. Each time he responded allowing me to pinpoint his location and also slowly get him worked up. As soon as I got to his level I fired off a bugle which he quickly responded to. He was close and before i could have Jordan move downwind he had pushed his cows up into eyesight just 80 yards away. We both knelt quickly to stay out of sight. I could just see his horn tips. He looked around and then turned to go back the way he’d come. I slowly turned and ripped a bugle behind me. Instantly his cows ran up on the bench we were on and to our right. I shifted on my knees towards them assuming the bull would follow. Right as I asked Jordan how far the cows were I could see horns moving to my left. The bull was going to parallel our bench just below us. I quickly drew before his eyes crested the hill. He soon walked into full sight but with limbs in the way. I knew I’d have to pan with him as he closed the distance and thought at such a close distance he would key in on the slight movement. He was soon inside 25 yards with only small windows between limbs. I knew if he stopped it would give me the split second to find my gap and then shoot. But he kept coming. I had one last clear window and a cow call in my mouth. Unfortunately my brain had expected the bull to stop and look for his challenger by now and with yesterday’s events in the back of my head I wasn’t going to shoot until he stopped. Before I knew it he’d passed my gap and then hit my wind. Boom he ran off and I cow called and stopped him at 25. Of course there was a tree over his vitals. He then spun and ran off and over the mountain. I hate bowhunting. I’d just had a big, big bull at 15 yards and didn’t even get an arrow in the air. Deep breaths. I was mad, disappointed, and embarrassed since Jordan had just watched me royally mess up what should have been a slam dunk call in. I vented and then told myself it was an awesome experience and I was blessed to just be here. In the back of my head I was upset though.

Ouch….

It’s days like this that we dream of but moments of failure that make them unforgettable for all the wrong reasons. I know from years past these moments can quickly ruin a season. The mental side of it makes you rush from that point onward. You start thinking, “I should have already killed a bull, I need to get another opportunity quick,” “Time is running out,” “There’s only so much of the rut left I need to be aggressive from here on out,” and so forth. Being that close to killing makes you rush to try to get back to that point. That rush though often means you screw up well before you ever got an opportunity to let an arrow fly. You soon quickly add failure to failure and end up wasting days in the field rushing to try to kill your elk. You lose the ability to enjoy the experience and just focus on the kill. After years of hunting I’ve learned to slow down and reset my mind after a failure. Learn from it and count your blessing that it even happened in the first place. It could always be worse and hunting is more about failure than it is about success. How you rebound from those failures will determine the kind of hunter you are and show you more about your character as a human being. I’ve come to respect and appreciate failure when it happens and take the time to scrutinize it and learn from it. Don’t just try to forget about it. Scrutinize every detail of that encounter. What went right? What went wrong? Store that info so that you’re better on the next encounter. And remember, it’s just hunting. We are so blessed to just set foot in the mountains that we should have a smile on our face punched tag or not. Being able to rebound from failure will make the rest of your season more enjoyable and you’ll also have a better chance of filling your tag when the next opportunity presents itself.

–Zack Boughton

The post Rebounding From Defeat appeared first on Montana Wild.

Maddie with her 2017 buck and Travis with his from 2015

SCOUTING

Some hunts I try to get some intel on and others I just go in blind and use my skills built over the years to try to find success. I chose the later on this one. It was just me, my gear and some maps. It would be a lot of miles but I knew if I spent the time driving and glassing, driving and glassing I’d find some good bucks worthy of my tag. The first day had me rolling into my unit about 5:30pm. Just enough time to look over a little country and start inventorying bucks. That night I found the first good buck.

I really liked the look of this buck from head on with both cutters and horn tips curving in

I knew he wasn’t huge but he wasn’t small either. A few text messages confirmed that he was a good goat. I had 4 more days before opener so I knew I’d keep searching. The next morning I woke to rain and fog. Visibility was pretty minimal.

I’d actually camped in a spot where I’d hopped to hike down into a coulee and glass for mule deer. With the fog I decided to hit the road and move to my next target area for antelope. After about 3 hours of driving dirt roads I’d only turned up a few smaller bucks. Antelope seemed to be a rare commodity in country that seemed like ideal habitat for many, many more animals than was present. My map was a combination of mule deer spots and antelope spots. I’d drawn this tag with the intent of scouting for mule deer as well and before I knew it I was again in a spot that screamed mule deer. With fresh snow on the ground and a stiff 20mph wind I wasn’t excited to get out of the truck but finally I manned up and hit the hills.

Muley country

Soon I was at the head of the coulee and it was much deeper than I’d expected. As I crest over the top I spotted multiple bucks bedded on the other side. A quick look through the spotter revealed a few 4 point bucks but nothing over 150”.

The “big” buck, pretty typical for Eastern Montana.

Pretty standard for Montana. They really need to do something about such a long rifle season and allowing it to run straight through the rut. It’s made for poor age classes of deer in much of the state and good genetics quickly get shot out. I snuck closer and decided to make a quick stalk on them for practice. As I got to the last ridge I looked below me. There was a smaller 4 point buck bedded facing away. I quickly ranged him at 40 yards and drew holding my pin on his vitals. It wasn’t easy holding in the wind but was good practice. I let down and headed up the hill looking for the main group of bucks. As I crested up higher the buck below me caught my wind and spooked up the draw collecting about a dozen does. That group stopped on the hill and I could see my group of bucks was now on alert. They were just 66 yards away. They slowly crept up over the top of the hill before fleeing to the next draw. Oh well, at least he wasn’t a big one. I glassed a few other pockets before heading back to the truck and going back to searching for antelope. That night I found one antelope buck. It was slim pickings out here but at least it was a buck and not a terrible one either.

One lone buck in dozens of square miles of perfect habitat

The next morning I kept moving west headed for new country. Right off the bat I spotted a few groups in a field. A quick rip down the road put me just a few hundred yards from them and I threw up the spotter. There was one buck in the group that I’d say was a shooter.

The group’s leader. Unfortunately never to be seen again

I watched him for a while before they trotted off to the north end of the field. I kept searching that day only to find a few other small bucks. Over the last month I’ve been working on getting a new rifle all dialed in and setup for mountain elk and deer hunts. It’s a Weatherby Ultra Light Mark V in the 300 Weatherby Mag caliber. Overkill for antelope but this hunt would be in-the-field practice which I wasn’t going to say no to. I needed to double check my zero and then shoot 400 and 500.

Trying to verify my zero at 200 in a strong wind. Not fun

Of course the wind was ripping so I tried to find a spot where it was at my back. I shot and quickly found my zero wasn’t exactly on. Weird, I’d just shot it at the range a week ago and it appeared to be on. I fiddled with it and adjusted it to the best of my ability given the winds. I wasn’t ultra confident in it but would have tomorrow to shoot more before the opener. That night was a hearty dinner of mule deer backstrap courtesy of Maddie and some mashed potatoes. The next morning I decided I needed to shoot the rifle while the wind was calm. I quickly verified my zero at 300 yards on my coyote steel. First shot was money and actually blew a hole right through the steel. Ouch.

I’m pretty sure my bullet will penetrate on an antelope

From there I drove down the road to some state land and shot 400 and 500 to verify my drop at each distance. First shot hits at each yardage told me all I needed to know and my confidence was restored after yesterdays tough shooting.

That evening I went back to the area I’d seen one of the better bucks and glassed from a high vantage point.  I saw antelope spread out over a 2-3 mile range and were well back off the road.  With an idea of where to expect to see antelope I found a camp spot and prepared for opening morning.

THE HUNT

The next morning started with a beautiful sunrise but no antelope in the usual spots by the main road.

I drove back around onto a county road and started glassing into a field they had been calling home.  A few small bucks showed up in the field down low but they were small.  A drive further down the road revealed two other larger groups of antelope, but all the bucks appeared to be medium sized through my spotter.  I wasn’t sold on a stalk yet and decided to check one last area before going and hiking to the back end of the public section.  As I pulled up on top I looked down to my left and saw a buck.  He was on the small side and I decided to go up and turn around and see if some hiking could produce something larger.  After turning around I was coming back down the road when I looked back down where the smaller buck had been.  There now were four other antelope and one buck that looked to be worth a closer look.  They were just about a 1000 yards off the road and I quickly grabbed my stuff and headed down on the back side of a ridge.  I thought the ridge would have a lower field on the backside where the antelope had fed to but I was wrong.  It actually just came straight up onto the field by the road.  By the time I got down there and peeked over the antelope where now up on the flat only a few hundred yards off the road.  Unfortunately I couldn’t get close enough for a shot and they crossed the road and ran way out into a large flat field.  Dang, I should have just stayed up by the road and could have easily shot a buck just a few hundred yards from the truck.  Oh well.  I put the spotter on the buck and verified that he was right on the cusp of what I was hoping to shoot.

I watched them feed off and drove around to start a hike back into the area I felt they were headed.  Forty five minutes later I was hiking up a draw trying to gain some ground yet remaining low and staying out of sight.  I looked up and spotted white up ahead of me.  I pulled up the binos only to see that it was a coyote hunting his way down the draw.  I rarely pass on the chance to hunt a coyote and I quickly put a bullet in the chamber and grabbed my distress call from my cargo pocket.  I knew if he was going to come it wouldn’t take much coaxing.  I blew on the call just a few times and got ready.  Soon I could see a head bounding over the grass.  He came down intently looking for the dying critter he had just heard.  I put the crosshairs on the coyotes chest and started to pull.  Nothing.  My safety was on and before I knew it he was coming closer.  The coyote was on a mission and I thought for sure he would key in on me sitting behind my backpack in the knee high grass.  I panned my gun with him as he swung to my left side.  He was oblivious to my movement and was soon about to hit my wind just 30 yards away.  I barked and he finally stopped.  I aimed low and squeezed one off.  He spun a few circles biting behind his shoulder and then was dead.  I’d made a perfect shot and the new Weatherby had it’s first kill.

I took a few photos and looked the coyote over.  His buddy came up on the hill while I was dinking around and I could have shot at him but he was skylined and I only had 7 more rounds of ammo for my hunt.  I passed and soon had my pack back on and was headed to find these antelope.  Soon enough I spotted the main group.  I backed around and shortly was within 400 yards of about 15 different antelope and 5-6 bucks.  The problem I soon had was that they were all smaller than I had hoped for.  The stalk and being able to get within range gave me confidence that I would be able to put the hammer on one as soon as I could locate a shooter.

A small buck with no idea how luck he is

A better buck that decided to peel off the main group. I’d end up passing on him later in the day.

I went back to the truck and made lunch and considered my options.  I’d seen 2 if not three bucks in this area that I’d shoot and I just needed to find one.  It was too early to relocate and I’d noticed that a portion of the antelope were using an adjacent state section that I needed to drive around to access.  I couldn’t glass into it but figured it would be worth a shot for the afternoon hunt.  I drove around and again grabbed my pack and gun and headed out.  I dropped into the bottom and soon was glassing up mule deer bucks and does across the drainage.  Nothing special and they just watched me from a distance as I proceeded down the draw.  Soon I saw a buck just a few hundred yards out.  He saw me at the same time and stood up.  I was able to put my spotter on him and noticed he was the same buck I’d seen earlier that left the large group.  He’d moved about a mile and half and was by himself.  I deemed him not quite a shooter and started walking towards him.  He wasn’t too scared and would run off to about 2-300 yards and just snort and blow at me.  I kept going and wished he would give it up and just run off, little did I know he would soon come in handy.  As I slowly rounded the next bend I saw a buck bedded down the draw facing me.  I quickly ducked down and worked up about 50 yards to the last roll of terrain I could get to before being exposed.  As I peeked up over it I saw the buck on his feet and moving to my right.  He apparently had seen me or heard the other buck and was inquisitive.  At this point he was looking towards the other buck behind me and too my right but circling my position and not coming closer. He was just over 500 yards out and with the wind this was just too far.  I knew I needed to get closer or else he would run off and that would be it.  There was one knob down below me about 150 yards and I knew if I could get there I could make a shot.  He’d see me but I didn’t have any other options.  I grabbed my gun and back bag and started jogging down to the hill.  The buck looked at me and I soon was out of sight behind the rise.  I snuck up and quickly laid down on the hill top as the buck looked my way.  I was breathing heavy and thought the buck would run very soon.  I hustled to range him and get a round in the chamber.  He was 360 yards out and as soon as I got him in my scope he started moving.  This time though he was coming closer.  I don’t know if he was mad the other buck he’d heard and saw was in his area or though I was possibly another antelope but he was going to find out.  Soon he was at 300 yards and I put the gun on him again.  Before I could settle he was on the move again.  He stopped about twenty yards later and this time I was ready.

My crosshairs were on him and I knew the wind would cause a slight shift in my point of impact.  I held 1 MOA left for wind and squeezed one off.  The shot was crisp and in my follow through I saw the buck drop right in his tracks from the frontal shot out of the 300 Weatherby Mag.  I’d done it!!! I’ve hunted antelope a lot with my bow and with other people but this was the first time I’d got to kill one with a rifle and it was a blast!  I gathered my stuff and was soon headed to check him out.

I shot some photos and then proceeded to cut up the antelope.  The temps were perfect for cooling the meat and flies were nonexistent!  Soon the meat was off and I was ready to load up.

Kifaru 22 Mag is hands down my favorite day pack

Soon the Kifaru 22 Mag was loaded with all my gear and my buck.  I hoisted the pack and began the mile and a half back to the truck.  Life was good and the setting sun made for a beautiful end to an awesome day.

This hunt ended on a high note.  I had many points leading up to this that had me down though.  From no visibility, to snow and cold temps, to few antelope, muddy roads, gun sight in issues, bucks disappearing and lots of gas burned.  A hunt with no challenges is not much of a hunt and to end up on top with a respectable buck in the cooler made what started as a tough hunt one that I will remember and cherish forever.

Mud and my 2018 antelope buck

Written by Zack Boughton

The post A Montana Rifle Antelope Hunt appeared first on Montana Wild.

Hiking to the next zone

Josh wrangling a cicada eater from a backcountry zone

Starting the day off with a one hander

Zack hooking up and about to get schooled by a backcountry brown trout

What a specimen. Caught in a creek only two rods lengths wide.

Long, wet hikes were the name of the game in the backcountry

Front country sunrise

Hatch of the day boys!

Josh with his biggest brown of the trip and life

Exploring a wild, tiny creek with big browns

Zack with his personal best and the biggest weight fish of our trip

–Zack Boughton

The post South Island Brown Trout 3/3 appeared first on Montana Wild.