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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Montana backcountry:
Rifle season:
2 deer tags in our pocket:
2 mature mule deer bucks:

If you could guarantee a checklist like this every year, there’s not a western hunter in the country that wouldn’t plan their year around it.

Unfortunately, opportunities like these are few in one’s life. It’s not that we planned better, worked harder or got luckier than others. Sometimes everything just aligns and you’re blessed with an epic adventure. It’s these experiences that I crave. Those that once experienced, you get to relive and share the story of for the rest of your life.

Zack and I have made a bit of a tradition the past few years chasing mule deer during Montana’s rifle season. Usually in November. Often including big storms, cold temps and long miles. The one variable not always featured are mature bucks that we’d like to punch our tags on. It’s not that we don’t find deer, it’s just that mule deer are our favorite species to chase and it takes a special critter or circumstance for us to end our season early.

Speaking for myself here, I try to fill the freezer early each hunting season with an antelope and an elk with my bow. Once the stress of supplying meat for the family is gone, I can be free to chase mule deer throughout the season, more often than not, riding out the year without filling my tag. In fact years often go by without an opportunity on an animal I’d been willing to end my deer season early on.

This hunt was one of those special occasions that did just that, not once, but twice.

Zack and I had put dates on the calendar for the middle of November months in advance. As happens in life, a last minute engagement required a shift in our plans by a few days. As it turned out this would be a blessing as it meant we’d be hunting the back of a big storm that laid a solid white blanket of snow over Montana.

If you’ve hunted deer in standing dead timber, you know how difficult they are to spot. However, with a solid white backdrop, their gray-brown bodies offer a stark contrast to the white snow and are much easier to pickout. Combine this with some solid rut activity and the usual higher movement of critters following a big storm and we were set up to capitalize on perfect timing that came about simply by chance.

By this point in the season, Zack had 2 elk in the freezer and I had an antelope and an elk in mine. We had 9 days set aside and with full freezers, we intended on using all of them to cover lots of miles and look over as many deer as we could find.

We are certainly blessed for opportunity in Montana with some 30 million acres of public land which sometimes makes the decision of where to hunt a difficult one. From national forest, blm, state ground and wilderness, the options sometimes seem endless. In 2023 we did a big mountain mule deer hunt right through the middle of the biggest (and coldest) storm of the season. After enduring a thorough beating in the mountains, we decided to change things up and head out on the prairie where Zack arrowed a nice mule deer buck during the late rifle season bow in hand, blaze orange and all.

This year (2024) we were jonesing for another mountain mule deer rip. A spot Zack had scouted in years past kept coming back as our first choice. In fact Zack had spent a quick 2 days there the year before and had turned up an interesting young buck that was very distinct. Lots of mass, kickers off both sides and a dropper off his right side.

The decision was made. We’d head back to that spot in hopes of turning up what we referred to as the “Sticker Buck”.

On our drive to the trailhead we were beaming with excitement. I had talked Zack into sleeping in and getting a mellow start to the trip as opposed to driving/hiking through the night to be set up for the morning’s glass at sunrise. Yes we gave up a prime glassing opportunity but knowing the amount of physical effort we were about to expend, the idea of good coffee from home on the drive and a mellowish midday hike to be set up for the evening glass was too appealing.

It was a bluebird day. White snow blanketed everything we could see including the high country several miles away where we were headed. Absolutely optimal glassing conditions. A day after the storm, if you couldn’t glass a deer directly, any tracks you could see were likely so fresh that they’d lead you straight to a deer. We even crossed paths with a very fresh grizzly track halfway in.

On the hike in I made a mistake on my food choice. I’m a pretty big ramen guy and pack two a day no matter the season. I like the variety packs of the cheap Maruchan brand that you see everywhere. My mistake came when I chose a chili flavored pack just before the trail got steep and we had to start putting some elevation under us. Let’s just say I struggled to keep my stomach contents where they belong that afternoon.

Nevertheless we reached camp 1 with plenty of time to set our tents and were ready to glass till dark that evening. Halfway between what I’d describe as those front country and backcountry zones, we didn’t pick up many deer that evening but there was a feeling that the following morning would be prime.

The air was still that night which is a rare occasion in the mountains. I don’t recall a cloud in the sky which also meant cold temps. I relish these opportunities to actually use the gear we obsess about all year round. Zack and I were both using Durston X-Mid Pro 1’s on this hunt, which are incredible Dyneema trekking pole tents. The usable living space to weight ratio is unmatched in my mind. Combine that with a Thermarest X-Therm sleeping pad and 0* Stone Glacier Chilkoot sleeping bag and I was as comfortable as can be. Well, minus the slow leak I’ve had in my sleeping pad going on 3 years now. I’ve tried patching it but for some reason it doesn’t bother me to wake up every 3-4 hours and blow it back up when I get cold once my body gets too close to the snow underneath me.

The following morning was everything we’d hoped. We weren’t quite into the good mule deer habitat where we were headed but we didn’t want to bypass the in-between country in case it was holding deer. Zack and I each moved around the glassing knob we were camped on picking apart the country. It wasn’t long before Zack glassed up a clearly mature buck bedded above a cliff band nearly 2 miles away.

Several other deer were spotted that morning but after the prime glassing time had passed we knew we had to get a closer look at the buck in the distance. We packed camp and headed deeper into the basin.

Every bit of elevation gained or twist and turn in the trail offered a new spectacular view. Now’s a good time to mention that I had recently picked up a camera and dove head first into the photography world. I purchased a Sony A6700 with a couple Sigma lenses and had committed to actually carrying and using it, this being only the 2nd hunt since purchasing the camera. I don’t know that I have ever hunted with Zack when he didn’t have his camera. So with 2 cameras in hand we decided (almost randomly on the drive to the trailhead) to document this hunt both with photos and video in the hopes of making it a Montana Wild film.

As we neared the head of the basin, the buck we had come to get a closer look at had moved from his bed above the cliff band. We dropped a bit of elevation to set up on a glassing knob that gave us views of as much country as possible. Before long, Zack had glassed up the buck we were looking for (a common theme of the hunt) bedded in the timber with a handful of does. It was around this time that Zack had a feeling this may be the “sticker buck” we had come to find.

From 1200 yards away, we must have watched him for a couple hours. Due to the nature of the terrain, it would have taken us no more than 20 minutes to put ourselves inside of 400 yards without him knowing. During that time we each tried to talk each other into shooting the buck. He was clearly a beautiful, mature mule deer buck living in amazing country but for some reason we each passed. I can’t speak for Zack but for me it almost felt too easy, like we hadn’t yet earned such a specimen of a deer. We had plans of heading over the ridge to explore the next basin and I think I felt there were more dues to be paid before having a chance at such a special mountain buck.

We packed up our glassing setup and headed into the next basin.

We’d found more deer that evening but nothing that got our hearts racing like the “sticker buck” we left in the basin behind us. At some point during the evening after setting up camp 2 and building a fire to eat dinner beside, Zack had got some cell service and sent Phone Skope footage to his fiance Samantha. I believe her response was along the lines of, “and why didn’t you guys shoot that deer?” That’s when it hit me. We may have blown an opportunity on a truly exceptional Montana mountain mule deer. However…this feeling didn’t stop us from pressing forward with our plan of further exploring the next basin.

We woke up early the next morning to climb a peak that would give us a vantage point over another part of the next basin we hadn’t looked over yet. It felt like we were being punished for our boneheaded decision making as we trudged along towards the top. We’re no strangers to breaking trail in deep snow but this was that particularly unbearable snow condition that would almost hold your weight and just before you trusted your next step, it would break through somewhere between 12-18” making each step feel like two.

We topped out and puffied up. As sunrise approached we were greeted with one of the most spectacular sunrises either of us had ever witnessed. To the west, the sky was still a deep purple as the eastern sky lit up in every tropical color you can imagine and the tips of the peaks popped in their alpenglow all around us. We were truly thankful for this gift of a sunrise, especially since we didn’t glass up any deer that morning. A single mountain goat some 10 miles away and what I believe was an ermine or stoat were the only critters we saw that morning.

Our stubbornness defeated, we were ready to head back to relocate the “sticker buck”.

Once down from the peak we quickly packed camp and headed back into the basin the “sticker buck” was living in. We were careful to glass our way back in case he had moved or another deer showed up we might be interested in. We dropped a good amount of elevation to a flat spot on the ridge that offered a great camp spot as well as good glassing and sat about 1000 yards from where we had last seen the buck.

This is where a good lesson was learned. While I have a Swaro STX 95 spotter at home, I had elected to take my Swaro ATC in the interest of saving weight. An excellent piece of glass for its size and weight but simply not up to the task of picking apart deer antlers from long distances. We were backlit which seems ideal but the glare of the day and my small spotter made things difficult. About an hour before sunset, I had glassed up what I thought was just a 4 point buck. Zack was on the opposite side of the ridge glassing the backside when I spotted this deer. When he had made his way back to me, that buck had moved out of sight behind a group of large trees.

Sure enough, that buck came back out about 20 minutes before dark when Zack spotted him again in his Leica 82 Televid. He was instantly able to tell that it was the “sticker buck” all along. With the short amount of daylight left, there was now no time to get in range of him that evening. It wasn’t till laying in my tent that night that I realized my mistake. If I would have identified him as the “sticker buck” when I first spotted him we would have had plenty of time to make a play on him. Lesson learned, carry the bigger glass.

We were confident we’d immediately find him the next morning and it would just come down to where he was located which would decide our approach. Well, that didn’t happen…

The wind had come on strong the night before signalling the approach of another storm. So much so that we each built a snow wall on the windward side of our tents to alleviate some of the spin drift that was whipping under the edges of our shelters. The wind continued into the morning and battered the cliffy face the buck had been living on.

We diligently glassed into the afternoon when we decided we’d do a big move to put ourselves on the face we’d been seeing the “sticker buck” in the hopes that he had moved out of the wind and into the timber below our camp. As we still hunted our way across the face, we actually turned up a couple of does and another small buck but no sign of the “sticker buck.”

With no sign of him, we decided to loop over the top and peak into a micro basin that we hadn’t looked at yet. On the map this drainage didn’t look like much but boy were we surprised when we topped out and got our first look in. Zack immediately spotted a doe and I saw a buck just above her in the timber. I only saw this bucks right antler but almost immediately I knew I’d be proud to shoot this deer.

Looking across the micro basin, there were actually 2 bucks and a handful of doe’s on their feet working through some dense standing dead timber. It was clear that if we were going to have a shot at this buck, it would be a very narrow window both the shooting lane and time to get the shot off. We hustled down the ridge and set up a shooting position across from the group of deer that would give me a shot between 500-550 yards. The buck had bedded but as is common during the mule deer rut, the bucks will not let their doe’s get too far away so we knew it wouldn’t be long till he was back on his feet. Zack got the spotter and Phone Skope ready to roll while I set my rifle up in a prone position.

While the buck was still bedded, I double checked all the parameters on my Kestrel ballistic solver and opened the Range Card and set it to 10 yard increments. Knowing how quick this was likely to happen, I dialed for 550 and memorized the dope down to 500. We had blowing snow and extremely flat light making the deer extremely hard to see through my scope. I didn’t want to take my eye out of the scope so I asked Zack to run the rangefinder for me. Sure enough the buck got up and quickly worked his way up to his does. He was headed for an opening above a rock outcropping that would be a perfect shooting window. As he approached, Zack got the range and called out 530. Keeping my eye in the scope, I reached up with my trigger hand and counted 2 clicks down from what I had dialed for 550. The buck stopped perfectly quartering away in the opening, Zack gave me the okay that the Phone Skope was rolling and I executed my shot.

The blowing snow made visibility difficult but was a perfect wind indicator. Wind is rarely ever consistent, usually pulsing, either building or dropping. At the shot, the snow was falling straight down meaning the wind had either dropped completely off or was directly behind us. Either way, I held for zero wind and hit directly behind my crosshairs.

I watched the bullet impact and the buck dropped. It was a touch high but had directly impacted a rib and sent shrapnel into the spine making it look like a direct spine shot. He rolled off the rock outcropping before getting hung up on the steep mountainside in a mess of bushes and trees. I distinctly remember the sound of the bucks antlers clicking off the rocks as he rolled.

As we finished cutting up my deer, I asked Zack what he wanted to do tomorrow. With no hesitation, he excitedly stated he wanted to shoot the sticker buck!

We packed my buck to the base of the ridge where our camp was set and cached my rifle and the meat from my buck. In a moment of pure vanity, I decided to pack the head some 1600 vert up the ridge to our camp so I could get pics of him by the tents and the fire.

We slogged our way up the ridge in what started as rain, eventually turning to snow. It had been dark for hours now. When we reached camp we built a fire and fried some mule deer tenderloin in coconut oil with salt and pepper. I got the pics I wanted of my buck by the fire and we crashed hard that night hoping we’d be able to turn the “sticker buck” up the next day.

Similar to the day before, we glassed hard all morning. Somehow the “sticker buck” had vanished. As noon approached I began to question our sanity a few days before when we had both walked away from a prime opportunity on him.

As the day drug on, Zack felt we should give it one more good glassing and if we couldn’t find him we’d move down the ridge and look for him lower in the basin. Just moments later Zack spotted him, bedded on a cliff at the very head end of the basin. It was a remarkable spot with binos and our hopes immediately soared.

We made the smart decision to climb all the way back to the top of the ridge and circle around the basin which would allow us to stay mostly out of sight of the buck and give us the best chance of the swirly winds not giving us away.

About an hour later, we were set up in reverse of the day before at 430 yards of the buck. Zack in the prone on his rifle and me running the spotter and Phone Skope. We patiently waited for the buck to stand out of his bed, discussing the current wind condition anytime either of us noticed a change.

Soon enough, the buck stood. After a stretch and a turn to face uphill, the buck was completely broadside to us. Zack executed his shot with one perfectly placed bullet from his 28 Nosler right behind the shoulder and he died in his bed.

While self induced, the added difficulty and effort to get the “sticker buck” killed made the moment all the more special. We sat on that cliff at the very head of the basin and admired these two bucks and the inhospitable country in which they live. It’s a moment that can’t be bought, planned for or earned but simply given to us by our Creator and I’ll be thankful for it for the rest of my life.

The post Mtn Mule Deer Rip w/Zack and Jared appeared first on Montana Wild.

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)

The post The Grindstone – A Backcountry Elk Hunt appeared first on Montana Wild.

The post Montana Wild Is Back! appeared first on Montana Wild.

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

The post Tooth & Fang YouTube Release appeared first on Montana Wild.

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.

“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.

With $2,000 in cash we quickly re-invested in camera equipment and kept making fishing films.

Good times and a reminder that Rooster is a short dude haha!

It wasn’t but a few months later and Rooster called me and said “Get your butt over here with your camera, the salmonfly hatch is stupid good!” Fortunately I believed him and a couple days later I’d witnessed the best of the salmonfly hatch and laid down some amazing footage that would soon become Bearback Rider.

A few more years went by and we talked about making films but it always fell through either from a schedule or funding standpoint.  Finally, Rooster wanted to follow up with our first film and make BENT 2.  I was all in and a few phone calls later and it was on the books.  This would be a short two day film shoot and we hoped the magic would still be there.  Dave Priebus showed up in fine form and as always the fishing in SW Montana never disappoints.

We hope you enjoyed the film.  If you ever want to book an awesome guided trip in Montana definitely give Rooster and the fine folks at The Stonefly Inn a call (406-684-5648).  A special thanks to the great folks at Hatch Outdoors and Simms Fishing for their support of the project!

–Zack Boughton

The post BENT 2 appeared first on Montana Wild.

THE GUN

Already having a custom rifle I wanted to get my hands on a gun you could purchase over a store counter and see how I liked working with a factory gun.  After some research I finally decided on the Weatherby Mark V Ultra Lightweight in 300 Weatherby Magnum.  This caliber requires a 9 lug bolt and comes in weighing just 6 3/4 pounds.  A few things that attracted me to the rifle were weight, the sub-MOA guarantee, a 54 degree bolt lift, and a hand lapped and fluted barrel.  The rifle also looks great and with a muzzle brake should be a great shooting gun.

COMPONENTS AND SETUP

Getting the rifle is one thing, but setting up the gun to shoot is another.  First was the scope.  I wanted a few things in my scope: durability, high quality glass, and precise and repeatable elevation and windage adjustment.  I decided on going with the Vortex Razor HD AMG 6-24×50.  This scope is made in the USA and is an amazing scope especially with a weight of only 28.8 ounces.

To mount the scope I decided on an EGW 20MOA Picatinny Rail as my starting point and then Vortex Precision Matched Rings would hold the scope firmly in place.  I also had purchased a Timney trigger in hopes of getting my trigger weight down close to the 1 pound threshold that I’m accustom to.  To finish it off I’d be putting a Triad Tactical check piece on the stock to help get a better cheek weld and still be able to comfortably see through the scope.

To install the optics and trigger I dropped into the Snowy Mountain Rifles Custom Shop and had old friends Greg and Jim help me out.  First things first we tried to install the new Timney trigger and set it to the 1.5 pounds that they advertised.

Jim installing the new trigger

Jim installed the trigger but anytime the trigger was set to less than two pounds the firing pin would go off as the bolt was racked forward.  Not good.  After working with it we decided to see what we could get out of the stock LXX Trigger which was advertised as being able to go to 2.5 pounds.  It had felt great initially and the only reason I wanted a different trigger was that I’m used to shooting a 15oz Jewell trigger and am a big proponent of a light trigger.  Jim worked on re-installing the factory trigger and after some work and testing it was safely pulling right around 2 pounds.  Sweet!

1lb 15.9oz

Greg then threw the rifle in the vice and began the process of mounting up the scope.

Lining up the mount points

Level, level and more leveling

After the rail went on the rings were mounted.  We adjusted the scope to fit my eye relief and then began leveling and tightening the rings.  Each ring was tightened accordingly with a torque wrench and soon we were in business.  At this point we added a Flatline Ops 30mm Sniper Accu/Level and called it good.  We took it over to the scale to see what our weight was.

The final measure: 9 pounds 9 ounces without ammo and before we added the cheek piece.  The hunting weight should fall just over 10 pounds.  Now by industry standards this is not an ultra light rifle but in my opinion it’s a lightweight rifle ready for multi-day backpacking trips in the mountains of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.

INITIAL THOUGHTS

At the start of this process I was shooting for a build that would be in the 9 pound range so I went a little over my goal, but after shooting it I think it will be the perfect blend of weight, accuracy, and durability.  I’ve shot guns in the 8 pound range and to be honest they are hard to keep on target from hunting positions if you don’t have a lot of practice with them.  My 300WSM is on the heavier side of the spectrum but when you lay down on either bipods or a backpack, it’s rock solid and all you need to worry about is leveling the rifle and a smooth squeeze.  That has made for lots of perfect one shot kills over the years.  I’m hoping this new rifle will do the same while shaving about three precious pounds.  On my way home from Missoula I decided to get out and put a few rounds through the gun to start getting acquainted with the rifle and my new setup.  One thing that I quickly noticed after shooting a few rounds was the 54 degree bolt action.

Bolt closed

Bolt open

This made for quick and easy reloading while staying on target.

Flatline Ops bubble level

The Flatline Ops bubble level was great as flipping it out made it easily visible while prone and shooting.  Being able to flip it back behind the turret means less pieces of the gun to catch on clothing and brush when in the field.

Locking turrets on the AMG are money.

Fluted barrel and a flawless stock finish

Triad Tactic cheek piece

This pocket perfectly fits my Kestrel and will mean less fumbling around when a longer shot presents itself.

So far I’m excited about this rifle and will be working on breaking in the barrel a bit more and finding out which bullet and grain combination work best in the rifle.  As I continue on the process I’ll post up further blog posts.

–Zack Boughton

The post Building a Mountain Hunting Rifle appeared first on Montana Wild.