Montana 2012 - 2018

[Hobbes]

Winter is still beating us into submission here in Montana, but it's about now, as March approaches, that I allow myself to start dwelling on the upcoming turkey season. Considering that scouting is out of the question in these wintery conditions, my only options are to watch a few YouTube hunts, finish up Doc's book(already done), read the spring issue of T&TH, check in and out on GN, and go back through my own files reviewing photos and hunt journals. The following is a synopsis of our MT spring seasons thus far.

September 2018 put us at seven years in MT. Our first spring turkey season was 2012, so 2019 will be our 8th spring turkey season in the Treasure State, or as most folks know it…………Big Sky Country. Following last spring, I created a photo collage for each MT spring season from 2013 to 2018 using Instagram. I had them in a file on my phone, but I lost those files during a phone upgrade. I’ve taken a screen shot of each from Instagram, so their quality isn’t quite as good as they should be.

2012
2012 was our first season here and our only hunt was a four day hunt that required a seven hour drive. The boys and I had a grand time, but only heard gobbling on the first and last day of the hunt and were unable to connect. I miss having this much time with them.







2013
Isaac and I both killed our first Montana toms this season. The most memorable hunt was probably when Isaac’s bird flew in after strutting on top of a ridge above him and his mother while I called from 50 yards behind them. The tom nearly landed on top of them and scared my wife half to death. The tom started to head for parts unknown when my wife startled as much as she did. Isaac had it all under control though and laid him out at approximately 15 yards.



2014
MT hunting time was limited in 2014, but we did make a trip home to IL and killed a couple birds. We still had some memorable days in MT. Isaac was happy with a blabbermouth MT jake since baseball season only allowed him one free Saturday morning. I thought my MT season would end without a bird, but I pulled a last weekend bird out of the proverbial hat.



2015
This was the last season that we travelled out of state to hunt. In addition to the MT turkeys we killed four toms in IL (Boyd’s first) and two toms in Kansas. Nebraska was a bust. The most memorable MT days include Heather’s first bird in years (after missing it twice), Isaac’s bird with the melanistic primaries, and Boyd’s limbhanger mountain bird (his second stud of the season).



2016
This season marked a drastic reduction in how much time the kids had to hunt with me after they reentered the public-school system. Isaac again had very little time to hunt, but we managed a double in a district where he could fill his general and region specific tag. We ended the season on a tough note when I misjudged the range on a tom and had Boyd take too far of a shot on the last weekend. The tom apparently wasn’t phased too much because we got him gobbling again soon afterwards, but he wasn’t going to make the mistake of coming in again.



2017
This was the first season since about 2009 or 10 that Isaac did not kill a bird. The most memorable hunts of 2017 included Olivia’s first turkey on a limited license and my dad’s first Merriam’s after a hail mary out of the way stop to try to find him a bird. The two doubles with Pastor in adjacent regions were pretty good memories also. Heather also missed a tom at 25 yards that almost brought tears to my eyes, but we’d both prefer to forget that.



2018
Last season included very little time hunting with the kids, something that unfortunately has just become the reality of watching my kids try to find their way while turning into young adults. I missed the middle of the season but went out with a bang calling in and killing four birds in the last week or so of season, one for a good friend (his first) and three for myself all in different regions after a lot of driving.



Florida is just about to crank up for some of you, so I suppose the photos will start to show up soon. Maybe one day I’ll make it down to Southern FL for the opener and escape the MT winter. I suppose that would have already happened if I still lived in IL, but it's one heck of a trip from MT. For now though, I’m just sitting here enduring old man winter and looking forward to 2019 and everyone’s stories and photos.

[chipper]

It's tough when the youngsters get to living there lives and leave dad to hunt by his lonesome, they all try to get a hunt in through out the season with me and I sure miss hunting with them. That's some great looking pictures!.

[Hoobilly]

beautiful pictures! thanks for sharing memories and looking forward to the day I get to hunt out west

[appalachianassassin]

Nice man

[SwampDrummin]

Man I've got little ones just about to enter that phase and this post was tugging at the heart strings. Thanks for the recap.

Been there on the computer crashes. Add the "dropbox" app/software to your phone and your computer and you'll be protected from any future crashes. Everything will always be backed up in "the cloud" as they say. Any photos you take on your phone will be automatically uploaded and any files, pics, etc saved in the dropbox folder on your computer will be uploaded as well. I use it for work too. Pretty sweet.

[gobblerchsr]

Thanks for sharing Hobbes! Looking back always excites us for the possibilities of the future! We know it's just a matter of time now... ;o)

[timbrhuntr]

Good stuff ! Man I can't wait until April in Montana . Only problem with your posts like this is they always remind me I gotta up my pic taking game. After I shot my big eight point in Michigan last fall I didn't realize until after I had him all processed that I never took one one hero shot lol

[Hobbes]

Good stuff ! Man I can't wait until April in Montana . Only problem with your posts like this is they always remind me I gotta up my pic taking game. After I shot my big eight point in Michigan last fall I didn't realize until after I had him all processed that I never took one one hero shot lol

My brother back home in IL is like that. He'll kill a stud and send me one phone shot at some goofy angle with the buck field dressed maybe in his truck bed. He's gotten a little better recently. I lean the other way and take more photos than necessary hoping for one or two good ones. I used to just take photos at home, but eventually started packing a decent camera around for field photos. Smart phones are too easy now so I leave the camera behind. I upgraded phones last fall so spring 2019 should have better photos. I may carry a GoPro this season, but my plans for video always fall flat once I get to the business of killing a gobbling to.

When will you be in MT this year?

[Grumpy]

I'll be driving down the KX Ranch Road the morning of the 15 of April for a run at another Flathead Valley bird.

[Hobbes]

I'll be driving down the KX Ranch Road the morning of the 15 of April for a run at another Flathead Valley bird.

I've not hunted the Flathead Valley but drive up there quite a bit for bridge projects in Kalispell, Hungry Horse, Whitefish, etc. This winter I've spotted a flock of 6 or 7 toms in the same location multiple times, but wouldn't expect to be able to gain permission to hunt them. I've seen multiple birds in their vicinity that look more like Easterns than Merriam's.

[soiltester]

Lot's of great memories in these pics over the past few years for you & family, thanks for sharing

[soiltester]

I'll be driving down the KX Ranch Road the morning of the 15 of April for a run at another Flathead Valley bird.

Unless ya' git' a flat er' two on yer' pic-um-up'

[Grumpy]

Don't talk like that, I haven't had a flat in 10 yrs. on either one of my trucks

[timbrhuntr]

I may carry a GoPro this season, but my plans for video always fall flat once I get to the business of killing a gobbling to.

When will you be in MT this year?

I got a small stand with a blue tooth ready remote that attaches to your phone at Walmart for 12 bucks so hopefully I will finally get some. I was thinking of posting my gutted buck in the pick up pic to make you feel at home lol
As far as the video I do the same thing set up the cam just gotta remember to turn it on. Then I get into a session with a gobbler move a couple times and forget about the cam. Of course he comes in all puffed up and in the best light just showing off and no film. Worst was a moose hunt and my buddy called in a big bull and I got a good shot with my bow. After the bull ran out of sight my buddy came rushing over and said hey man you gotta show me the video that was amazing . I didn't push record and that one still hurts

I hope to hit Mt after Nebraska in April and then come back for antelope in September. I missed both a nice goat and a great mule deer last year because I had a bent cam in my bow after sliding 20 feet down a ravine so hoping to get drawn for redemption. I also put in for elk but I know how that goes lol
Good luck this spring last year when I got there there was still 8 inches of snow but at least the ground was hard. Sorry if I'm hijacking your thread not my intent just bored with this stupid hip lol

[Hobbes]

I may carry a GoPro this season, but my plans for video always fall flat once I get to the business of killing a gobbling to.

When will you be in MT this year?

I got a small stand with a blue tooth ready remote that attaches to your phone at Walmart for 12 bucks so hopefully I will finally get some. I was thinking of posting my gutted buck in the pick up pic to make you feel at home lol
As far as the video I do the same thing set up the cam just gotta remember to turn it on. Then I get into a session with a gobbler move a couple times and forget about the cam. Of course he comes in all puffed up and in the best light just showing off and no film. Worst was a moose hunt and my buddy called in a big bull and I got a good shot with my bow. After the bull ran out of sight my buddy came rushing over and said hey man you gotta show me the video that was amazing . I didn't push record and that one still hurts

I hope to hit Mt after Nebraska in April and then come back for antelope in September. I missed both a nice goat and a great mule deer last year because I had a bent cam in my bow after sliding 20 feet down a ravine so hoping to get drawn for redemption. I also put in for elk but I know how that goes lol
Good luck this spring last year when I got there there was still 8 inches of snow but at least the ground was hard. Sorry if I'm hijacking your thread not my intent just bored with this stupid hip lol

No hijacking. Almost any conversation related to turkeys, elk, or deer works for me. The missed bow shots sound like a heartbreaker. I'll hunt beginning to end of season but may miss a couple days one end or the other of the week of April 28 due to a work conference in San Diego. I'll try to hunt all regions but will for sure hunt R1, R3, R6, and R5.

My archery hunting will mostly be elk in September. Muleys will be a rifle hunt out east in November (it's became one of my favorite hunts) unless I lucked into a whitetail buck beforehand (unlikely where I hunt elk). I'll most likely have an archery antelope tag, but hunting it never seems to work out. Maybe this year my schedule will allow it.

[timbrhuntr]

Stalking both antelope and mule deer was great. Tough but fun. It took many stalks to finally get close enough for a shot but I think setting up the stalk is the best part even if it ends in a bust. Never thought I would do that stupid take your boots of to stalk quiet thing you see on hunting shows but you eventually try anything lol Blind sitting is ok to I guess.

[Grumpy]

Nice antelope picture with one of our national forests in the background.