2018 Archives - Montana Wild

2018, Hunting, Uncategorized

Burger Time!

wild game processing, grinding burger, meat grinder

Steaks and Burger, that is what 95% of each elk, deer, antelope and bear get processed into. Call me a simple man but those two allow me to eat the way I like to and keep my overall wild game processing to a minimum while still being able to do the process and control how my meat makes it from field to freezer. My goal this year was to eat down my freezer to a few select items that I would eat during hunting season. I’ve been doing a good job but still had quite a few bags of small cuts that I had labeled burger. When I initially process my game I take any of the less than ideal pieces and give them a quick trim and throw them in a big stainless bowl. This keeps my inital processing time down. I ran out of burger about a month ago and have been trying to find the time to thaw the rest of my game out and process it. This last week I finally found the time and kicked things off. Today I want to run you through my very simple process in hopes those of you who aren’t doing it will see that it’s really an easy task. First things first I pull any bags that were labeled burger and put them in containers in my fridge to slowly thaw. This takes about 3-5 days and often the meat will still be slightly frozen in the middle. This is nice because it keeps the meat a bit more firm and helps make those last trimmings as you go to remove any sinew or silver skin.

The next step in the process is to rinse each piece of meat and inspect. Occassionally some of the pieces on the edges will get a little freezer burn or will need some extra trimming. The good pieces get tossed into a metal strainer so they can shed excess water and the pieces that need some knife work go on a cutting board and get patted dry. I’ll make any trimmings and then toss final pieces into the strainer. Super straightforward and easy.

Up next comes the grind process. You’ll need a grinder and this is really your only investment into the process. Earlier this year I upgraded my grinder to a MEAT! 1.5 horsepower grinder. This thing is legendary and has some serious power. Compared to my old grinder this thing literally sent the burger flying out. It made the process so easy and quick. I’d put money on there being a really really good chance you could process game for a lifetime and then give it to your kids to use for a lifetime. I’d say it’s well worth the $599 price tag.

Again, some might say I’m simple but I will grind my burger from 100% wild game. I don’t add any fat or bacon or other meats to my burger. I want lean, clean, and healthy burger to eat and for me there’s no sense in adding to it. I’ve never had a burger fall apart or not taste amazing so I’m sticking to it. Simple load up the upper tray, turn on the grinder, have a bag ready on the one end and go.

Once I get a healthy stack of burger in bags, I’ll put a metal collar on the top of the bag and into the freezer it goes! Not only do I eat this at home all the time but I always make sure I have about 15 pounds of burger ready for hunting season. It’s a great addition to the cooler on any hunt where I’ll be camping and eating at the truck for 2 reason:

It makes an amazingly good and easy meal. Burritos, pasta, tacos, and burgers are all hearty, healthy meals that take minimal equipment to cook and can be cooked up in no time after a long day. These are staples in my truck hunting meal plan for dinners.
Frozen burger is a killer addition to the cooler on longer hunts or hunts in warm weather. The burger will help keep your coolers cool for a few extra days and as long as you plan a few other meals the first night or two you’ll be in business when night 3,4,5 roll around and your burger has just thawed. Just remember to put it in a zip lock bag if you don’t have it sealed super tight or sitting upright in the cooler and they often will leak a little blood.

So if you aren’t processing your own game I’d encourage you to. It’s simple but most importantly I don’t trust anyone to be as diligent with the meat I harvest as myself. I’ve watched and been to many processing places before and it’s a production line and at the end of the day I want to know that I got my meat in my freezer and not someone else’s who didn’t care and keep it clean and cool. So get a few cutting boards, some freezer paper and tape, a good knife and a meat grinder and process your own wild game this fall.

–Zack Boughton

July 28, 2020/by Montana Wild

2018, Hunting

Tooth & Fang YouTube Release

About three years ago we release Tooth & Fang on Vimeo On Demand. It was our first full length film and it covered the controversial topic of coyote hunting. We had been coyote hunting for years and knew why we did it but often met those who knew nothing about it and based their ideas off emotion and not real life truths. Over almost three years we filmed with ranchers and our hunts to put together what would be Tooth & Fang. This week we released it on our YouTube channel for free. You can watch the full film below:

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

December 12, 2018/by Montana Wild

2018, Hunting

Enjoy The Challenge

A few years ago I had the idea to make a short 1 minute ad piece that would showcase the work that occurs over the year and the lead up to filling a tag you’ve worked so hard to fill. That piece would be called “Enjoy The Challenge” and our good friends at Vortex Optics decided to pick it up and be the lead sponsor. The goal was to slowly build up all the pieces of the process from summer scouting, reloading, working out, eating clean, and then of course hunting, all culminating in a kill and awesome organic meat in the freezer. The shoot was a blast despite not finding many mature bucks. Take a look and let us know how you liked it.

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

December 4, 2018/by Montana Wild

2018, Hunting

Key Gear – WorkSharp Pocket Knife Sharpener

Key Gear from the Field – Worksharp Pocket Knife Sharpener

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

November 30, 2018/by Montana Wild

2018, Hunting, Hunting

Carry A Sharp Knife

A sharp knife is a safe knife. That’s definitely true and regardless of your hobbies or lifestyle there’s a solid chance you use knives on a regular basis. Whether that’s cutting meat in your kitchen, filleting a fish at the boat launch or deboning an elk deep in the wilderness. As society has adapted over the years some of the simple skills we should know have slowly eroded. Take sharpening a knife for example. Go back 20-30 years and it would have been a basic skill. Today millennials exist and we have electric sharpeners and disposable blades and a society that expects things to be done for us. I’ll be honest I’ve never been great at sharpening a knife sharp enough to shave hairs and I’ll be the first to admit it. As a hunter a sharp knife is key especially when you have an elk down and the only way it’s coming out is on your back.

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

October 17, 2018/2 Comments/by Montana Wild

2018, Hunting

Rebounding From Defeat

REBOUNDING FROM DEFEAT

“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

October 15, 2018/by Montana Wild

2018, Hunting, Hunting

A Montana Rifle Antelope Hunt

Six years. It seemed like forever before I drew my first rifle antelope tag. Finally it would be me behind the trigger on a Montana antelope hunt and stoke was high. I’d been on a few other rifle antelope hunts and they always were a blast ending with a good goat on the ground and tasty meat in the cooler.

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

October 11, 2018/by Montana Wild

2018, Fly Fishing

South Island Brown Trout 3/3

Read Part 1 HERE and Part 2 HERE. Well it’s been about six months or so since we were in New Zealand and it seems like forever ago. Time is short as we are in the midst of hunting season so there won’t be much words for this final installment but be looking for some content to roll out around the New Year. For now enjoy the photos and be looking for more here on the website and through our Instagram page.

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

October 10, 2018/by Montana Wild

2018, Hunting

Building A Mountain Hunting Rifle – Part 2

Archery season here in Montana has been a blur and September is almost gone. As I look at the calendar rifle antelope looms and will be here quickly. October 6th is the opener and I plan on being there and ready. So yesterday I decided to go put some more trigger time in behind the Weatherby and try to find out which bullet it would shoot best. Often a gun will shoot one type of bullet or even one weight of bullet much better than others. With 3 new boxes of ammo, each a different bullet style, I set out to go attempt to shoot some 200 yard groups.

Now shooting groups is actually a fairly difficult thing in my opinion. It’s very results oriented and one bad squeeze messes up the group. Eliminating the human error is all but impossible. I tend to shoot better at longer distances so I like to shoot groups at 200 yards if possible. This day I had three rounds to test out. A) 180 grain Accubond B) 180 grain Norma Spitzer & C) 180 grain Nosler Partition

Bullet testing and a trophy bull for motivation

I started out by cleaning my rifle as it’s only had about 40 rounds through it and I’m trying to help break in the barrel even though it is hand lapped. I shot a round to clear the barrel of oil and then started in on my 200 yard groups. Each group I’d shoot 3-4 rounds. Sometimes you know when you made a bad shot and I like to eliminate that shot and shoot a fourth so that I don’t have to restart on a new group and burn through more ammo. I shot a group with each different ammo and then cleaned my rifle once it had cooled down. I also made sure to let the barrel cool down some before continuing through my groups. I shot my first round off the concrete bench but found out it had a little wobble in it. I was wondering why my reticle was moving left to right on me and that was it haha. For the second round I laid prone off my bipod.

From my first round the 180 grain Nosler Partition was the easy winner. I didn’t take an official measurement but it was well within the 1 MOA standard and close to a 1/2 MOA group. Plenty good for a rifle that I’ll rarely push past 5-600 yards in a hunting scenario. Now between groups I’d been shooting my other rifle, a 300WSM at distance trying to dial in my ballistics through my Kestrel, so by the time I got into round 2 of my groups my shoulder was getting a touch sore and my shooting seemed to go downhill a bit. I still put some good rounds downrange but had more flyers it seemed. The Spitzer and the Nosler Partition were close and the Accubond just didn’t perform. To end my session I took two of the Nosler partitions and took shots at metal gongs at 458 and at 620 yards and got hits on both. I’ll be shooting another round here in the next week or so to pick between the Partition and the Spitzer and then from there zero in and start extending the distance. With antelope coming and general rifle just around the corner I’ve got my work cut out for me but things are looking promising given I get a few more quality days in at the range. Setting up and getting acquainted with a new rifle is a process but doing it right from the beginning makes all the difference and helps you develop a level of confidence with your rifle that will translate to more one shot kills in the field.

–Zack Boughton

September 26, 2018/by Montana Wild

2018, Fly Fishing

First Look – ALASKA

I have always considered the 49^th state of the United States to be a mecca for fishing and hunting. It’s a location that has been on my bucket list for many years now, but despite that, I’ve never taken the plunge to buy a plane ticket to, that’s right, you guessed it- Alaska! Who knew that my soon to be wife would be the one to encourage me to finally visit the Last Frontier?After a red eye flight from Montana to Alaska, and many hours in the airport, we were greeted by a small bush plane hanging from the airport ceiling in Fairbanks. After gathering our gear in baggage claim, we departed the Fairbanks Airport for the first leg of our Alaskan adventure. My fiancé, now wife, has family in Alaska and we would spend the first week catching up with relatives, visiting old mining dredges, 4-wheeling in mud bogs, whitewater rafting, and fishing for arctic grayling. The grayling fishing was like nothing I had experienced before.

On a warm, 80 degree day, we loaded up the jet boat and headed out on a small river about the size of the Upper Clark Fork River. Sarah’s (my wife) uncle fired up the engine and we roared up river, gliding over thousands upon thousands of jumbo-sized grayling.

The appetite of these large finned fish was surprising to me. I had assumed grayling were just insect munchers, but soon learned that they are in fact carnivorous water dwellers. The grayling were anxious to eat white streamers; and in just a couple hours the entire boat had reeled in some exceptional grayling.All of the folks from Montana were impressed by the number of grayling in this crystal clear river. We only had a short period time to fish, and the experience left me hungry for more. I would love to get back to this amazing location in the future.Our next fishing outing would leave us chasing sockeye salmon. The goal was to catch our daily limit, for several days in a row, in order to bring lots of fresh salmon back to Montana. We figured fresh AK fish would be a nice addition to the wild Montana game that currently fills our freezers. I have to admit, before this trip, I had not experienced ‘combat fishing’, and Alaska gave me a fine introduction to the sport. Its an interesting experience to say the least- standing side by side, slinging weights and flies at schools of salmon, hoping to ‘force feed’ a pesky sockeye.

Sockeye are explosive when you hook them. It is very entertaining trying to land a buckin’ bronco of a salmon as it wraps itself in every line along the river bank. We were thoroughly entertained by watching our party, and others on the river, try to land the torpedo on the end of their line. At one point, I even watched a hooked salmon burst out of the water and smack a lady right in the face, while at the same time snagging a few fishing lines!

An interesting law in AK is that you must hook a salmon in the mouth in order to legally keep that fish. If you hook a salmon in the back, fin, head, and tail while fishing, you must let them go. As a result, you will consistently see salmon with brightly colored flies hooked in their bodies as they continue to try to swim upriver to their spawning grounds. After several hours of working over a couple good runs, everyone in our party had achieved their daily limit. We did this for a couple of days and felt fortunate that the sockeye run was strong while we were there. Everyone would be going home with a nice little stash of omega 3s.We filleted our prizes, packed them in our bags and took them to be vacuum-sealed and frozen solid back at camp. Our salmon adventure is one I will not soon forget.The next adventure entailed a 24-hour halibut fishing trip out of Homer, AK. The plan was to catch our daily limit one day, sleep on the boat, and then wake up at midnight and attempt to catch our next day’s limit before heading back to port.While attempting to catch halibut is not the most exhilarating fishing I’ve ever done, it definitely had it’s perks. The process involves a fat rod, a 3lb weight, a circle hook and a dead bait fish. From there you drop the weight about 200-300ft to the sea floor, and wait for a halibut to eat it. Most of the time, they are eager to eat and you have instant action. As soon as you feel a tug, you reel hard to get it to the surface. Reeling in a halibut is comparable, I would imagine, to reeling a car hood up from the surface of the ocean-tough!

After catching our ‘chicken’ (halibut under 28”), we moved locations in search of the giants. The new fishing hole supposedly held larger halibut, and we would be able to confirm this after catching a couple later in the evening. During the relocation, the crew cut and filleted the chickens. The white meat looked delicious and there is something to be said for catching what you eat.The new spot produced. I hooked into a what seemed like a much larger halibut than what I had felt earlier in the day. This fish actually ran and pulled line. My forearms burned as I continued to turn the reel handle. After what felt like an extended amount of time, the fish finally surfaced. The crew sent in the boom stick to assist in getting the fish into the boat. KABOOM!! Water flew and the large fish went limp. The halibut weighed in the 50lb-60lb range I would estimate.There were a few others on the boat charter that pulled in some +100lb halibut. Rockfish and pacific cod were also reeled in by a few in our group. We had a gamut of fish filling the boat deck, and we were pretty pleased by the productivity of the last several hours.

After our daily limit, we went to sleep on the large boat and woke a few hours later just to get up and do it all over again.

Around this time of year Alaska is light almost +20hours of the day. The photo above was taken at 2:04am. My beautiful wife fighting the cold ocean wind while waiting for a bite on the end of her line.After a solid 24 hours of forearm workouts, our halibut charter was complete. We came home with about 33lbs of halibut each, 330lbs between the ten of us.Alaska is an amazing state. After examining a map, I realize I have just scratched the surface of this expansive landscape. If you are on the fence about visiting AK, my recommendation would be go for it and make the trip happen! The hunting and fishing opportunities are endless. As long as you can handle bird size mosquitoes, you will have a great time!

– @tjboughton

September 6, 2018/by Montana Wild

Burger Time!

Tooth & Fang YouTube Release

Enjoy The Challenge

Key Gear – WorkSharp Pocket Knife Sharpener

Key Gear from the Field – Worksharp Pocket Knife Sharpener

Carry A Sharp Knife

Rebounding From Defeat

REBOUNDING FROM DEFEAT

A Montana Rifle Antelope Hunt

SCOUTING

THE HUNT

South Island Brown Trout 3/3

Building A Mountain Hunting Rifle – Part 2

First Look – ALASKA

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