Montana tagged posts

The Hunt of a Lifetime

Amy Lawry

I drew a mule deer buck tag and hunted during the juniors-only weekend in October. My dad and I decided to go camp out at a site in the southern Bitterroot Mountains of western Montana. On the first day of the hunt we walked three miles but no bucks, only does. We did “glass” staring at the hills to try to spot any movement.   

Later that day, we took another drive to a second area. My dad said, “I wish a big buck would just run across the road.”   Next thing you, know a big buck runs across the road. My dad stopped the truck and I got out. My dad and I walked over to where the buck ran. Right there, the big buck stood staring at me. I could only see his head. My heart was beating faster than a flying bullet...

Stuck in a rut or don’t know what to read?  Get ready for the next season with these great reads:

Call to the Mild by Lily Raff McCalou
A story of transformation from big city dweller to country gun-slinger.

Wild by Cheryl Strayed
One woman’s powerful story about finding herself while solo hiking the Pacific Crest Trail.

A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean
One family’s history is intertwined with fly fishing in Montana.

Beyond Fair Chase by Jim Pozewitz
A to the point read about the ethics of hunting from preparation to shooting to care after the shot.

The Total Outdoorsman Manual by T. Edward Nickens
A how-to manual for everything in the outdoors from tying a cleat hitch to flagging geese.

Girl Hunter by Georgia Pellegrini
A chef becomes a hunter and catalogs her adventures...

Hunter Identity, by Katie McKalip

Katie McKalip

I was paying for my new shotgun, several years ago in a sporting good store, when it hit me.

Hunting had become part of my identity. But I wasn’t sure exactly how it happened.

Growing up, I had few opportunities to get afield, even though both my parents came from hunting and fishing families. And my upbringing in the suburbs of a city that severely restricted personal firearms ownership was hardly one that celebrated sporting pursuits.    

But then I moved out west after college and had the good fortune to fall for a man who appreciated public lands and open spaces and opening weekends of various game species. I started going hunting, with him and then with other friends, for deer and elk and waterfowl but mostly upland birds...

Connie Parker

I step into the cold water of the Gallatin. I search for the rock shadows where they live.  I cast awkwardly as fly fishing is a long way from my dad’s boat, a spinner, a chub and hours on the water. I plant my feet solidly on the slippery rocks and cast again.  This time my mind drifts to the lakes of Kansas, to endless hours of catching one fish after another and remembrance of the seven year old girl handing the pole (not even a rod) to her father and saying, “Here, you take a turn; I am tired!”  The roar of my father’s laughter who had caught nothing still rings in my head.

Suddenly, my line goes straight. I go from Kansas back to Montana in an instant. The cut throat and I play for a while and then I marvel at his beauty and his magical ways of taking me home once again!

Bethany O’Donovan

By Bethany Erb

With Montana big game season closed now for over a month, I’m feeling a little down. Kind of like the day after Christmas…you knew it would come and go, but it’s still sad when it happens. However, reflecting on fall 2013 brings back a lot of great memories, laughs, smiles, and excitement for 2014!

I have many great hunting memories from this past fall, but one in particular stands out. It’s the day a friend and I happened upon a gorgeous Mule Deer buck!

For me, hunting mulies is a supreme experience. As the only North American big-game species in decline, the survivors have evolved into a smart, elusive and difficult to hunt species. The opportunity to hunt them, and even to see them is incredible!

On the third day of our hunt near my home in South...