any other hunters around?

the drawings are finally done here in MT.......grand total for special draws are a speed goat tag for both the wife and i and my oldest stepdaughter has pulled a special youth cow elk tag for her first year hunting......add that to the "A" deer tag all three of us already have......2 doe tags(though, in theory we can prolly buy 18 doe tags between the three of us if the quota is anything like the last few years)........dang....think i need to buy a couple more freezers we will be busting our rears to get Kate that elk though and may not have much time to do much but fill the speed goat tags since their season starts 2 weeks before deer & elk......

Oh, I really enjoy hunting. I hunt mostly deer and some grouse where we live. I'm hoping to start bow hunting this year, since that season starts Oct 1, and that's a great time of year around here to be outside! Our zone doesn't have doe tags, so it's buck only with our rifles.

My son bow and rifle hunts, too, and really enjoys it. We eat a lot of venison- our goal is 3-4 deer per year for our family.

Never got into it. Wasn't anything to hunt where I grew up. Just a billion acres of corn.

On the other hand, I can probably bag both deer & elk out the bathroom window. Couple days ago, a 3-pointer was chomping on one of the apple trees. Boss tried to vault the fence.

+1 david.....I've been a couple times but it's not really my cup o' bitter.

I fully understand and apprechiate it for those who are into it though

I've got a cow elk tag in October in Arizona, and plan on doing the usual fall squirrel, quail, dove small game stuff in Arizona.

elk steaks and homebrewed IPA. yum.

here is Kates' big find from 2 years ago(she is on the right), we were looking for a cow elk for the other girl's mom and had stopped on a hill top to glass awhile, the girls did a lil bit of exploring close by and found this:


going to be fun trying to get her on an elk this year........wish she would have drawn a speed goat tag aswell so she could have a 2 week warm up before trying for an elk but oh well, guess we dive in head first.....

Not really but I have killed and eaten a few animals.
I live in and was raised in an Urban environment but given the chance....

Was out scouting deer at work tonight...drove though a local federal complex, they have about 600 acres and a ton of deer. Saw a few 8, 10, and 12 point bucks.

I like deer hunting but I'm more of a turkey hunter. Few things are better than sitting against a tree at sunrise in the Spring, listening to 'em fly down. :rockin:

I fish (which is technically a form of hunting).

Besides that, I love animals, and I would feel like s*** forever if I killed a deer who was just standing there in the woods, especially if I was just going to cut the antlers off and leave the rotting carcass on the side of the road (I've seen it.) If you kill it, eat it at least.

No disrespect intended towards anyone who does hunt.

i own 9 different rifles and 2 handguns but have never been hunting.
shooting guns sure is fun tho.

I grew up in NE Montana and hunted every season. I moved away 15 years ago for work and haven't hunted since.

I am on my way up there to do some damage to the trout population next week.

YooperBrew said:

I hunt mostly deer and some grouse where we live.

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I once had a grouse walk right up to me while turkey hunting. He was delicious.

Brew Dude said:

I fish (which is technically a form of hunting).

Besides that, I love animals, and I would feel like s*** forever if I killed a deer who was just standing there in the woods, especially if I was just going to cut the antlers off and leave the rotting carcass on the side of the road (I've seen it.) If you kill it, eat it at least.

No disrespect intended towards anyone who does hunt.

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tis illegal as hell here.....we have gone years just shooting does to fill the freezer.....besides elk is darn good eats, even the cow elk tags in this area are highly sought after for that reason.....even buck deer and antelope are very good eats if yah keep meat quality in mind.....most say speed goats taste terrible....never had one that tasted bad but we also hunt with a couple big coolers full of ice specifically to cool down the meat ASAP....most idiots who say they taste like crap shoot one about 9 a.m. and have it sitting in the back of the truck all day in warm weather(speed goat hunting i generally a few weeks earlier than other big game so the weather is usually fairly warm) and wonder why it tastes like crap......the best beef would taste like crap if yah treated it the same way.....

edited to add: got to thinking maybe the pic i posted had confused yah on what kinda hunting we do.....what the girls are holding is a elk's shed from the previous year, dropped naturally in late winter.....the elk was very much alive when he dropped it......ive got a basement full of deer and elk sheds we have picked up while hunting.....its great fun for the kids before they can hunt(have to be 12 to hunt big game here) while we are glassing for critters the kids are usually scouring the area near where we are set up for sheds and the like.....they have found fox and coyote skulls aswell......actually sometimes is harder to spot sheds than living critters....

Brew Dude said:

I fish (which is technically a form of hunting).

Besides that, I love animals, and I would feel like s*** forever if I killed a deer who was just standing there in the woods, especially if I was just going to cut the antlers off and leave the rotting carcass on the side of the road (I've seen it.) If you kill it, eat it at least.

No disrespect intended towards anyone who does hunt.

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You can always tell the non-hunters No self respecting hunter would be caught dead doing that. The people who do are poachers and they are a very very minute percentage of the hunting population. I know of people who have tracked for days to find a carcass and come up empty handed and be devistated. I am very surprised how that is a very common misconception. Brew Dude, Im not bagging on you at all guy, just being informative.

I started last season and I love it! I havent put anything down yet but thats why they call it hunting and not killing. I did have my sights on a pair of pigs last year but I wasnt sure if they were 'too big' so I let them pass. Come to find out they were the perfect size. I've been getting razzed since January on that one.

I put in permit applications using mine, SWMBOs, mom, and dad's social and got JACK! Brewbayou puts only his in and nails a great muzzle load deer permit. go figure.

I've taken off of work for muzzle loading week. Havent told SWMBO yet

I am getting very pumped for this season.

I hunt mostly deer and some grouse where we live.

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actually the highest critter on my list to shoot this year is a sage grouse.....those big birds fascinate me for some reason.....however i need to know which is more sporting before hunting season.....shooting one on the ground or kicking it in the arse first to get it to fly?......was just going to catch one by driving down the road.....opening the door and leaning out to grab one by the neck on the way by but the Fish and Game regs say i have to use a shotgun or a bow and arrow

rattler_mt said:

actually the highest critter on my list to shoot this year is a sage grouse.....those big birds fascinate me for some reason........

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Dude its a ballchinian!



That is one wierd looking bird

^LOL! I hunt with one of these:

Is that your dads Spear gat?

MikeFlynn74 said:

Is that your dads Spear gat?

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Nope. Here's mine:

(my friend is a horrible photographer)


an upclose shot

spear gat was a joke off of a movie

Cow elk tag for December in northern NM. Should be cold at that time.

Deer, dove, and squirrel every year with my kids. I fish a lot too. Crappie in the Spring for eating and I tournament bass fish all year.

I pulled a black bear tag this year ... plan on hunting bear in the morning and evening and grouse hunting in the afternoon at camp. Grouse population is on the upswing in the upper U.P. (though you wouldn't know it from last year) and the bear population is exploding where our camp is.

I shot a bear a few years ago. Unless I see a monster, I probably won't shoot another one though. Mostly just looking forward to bird hunting.

havent tried bear hunting yet......im on the wrong side of the state......been meaning to drive over and stay with friends and give it a try.....now that my sis has moved that far west maybe the wife wont complain bout the cost of gas so much if i combine it with a visit ....havent run into anyone who eats them though the guys i know give the meat away....have you tried it?

We have so many black bears this year they are being spotted all over the city.

ok i have to ask what the heck is a "speed goat"(i see antelope?). whitetails, ducks, geese, bunnies, squirrlls, pheasant when i go to SD(every 2 yrs).

and i'm not ashamed to admit that i'm a meat hunter i eat most everything i kill or catch fishing.

speed goat = pronghorn antelope.......just what we always call them......

eriktlupus said:

and i'm not ashamed to admit that i'm a meat hunter i eat most everything i kill or catch fishing.

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We are the same way- I believe in not killing things (animals OR plants) for "sport", but to only kill things you will be eating. In our house, though we rarely buy food from the grocery store, as long as we can grow vegetables and fruit, and hunt our meat/fish supply. Of course, we do still buy some things (like flour and items we can grow here) but it feels great to be somewhat self-reliant. I always think that there isn't anything more "organic" than a deer than I shot and processed myself. Not a feed lot animal, but a natural source of meat.

YooperBrew said:

it feels great to be somewhat self-reliant. I always think that there isn't anything more "organic" than a deer than I shot and processed myself. Not a feed lot animal, but a natural source of meat.

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Well said Yoop, i agree 100%. After filleting fish (mainly grouper) i always give the head to my grandma to make some fish head soup because there is a TON of meat all over the head, cheeks, and throat. mmm....fish head soup

I'm a city boy, never got to hunting.... maybe some day I'll find somebody who can take me under their wing....

rattler_mt said:

havent tried bear hunting yet......im on the wrong side of the state......been meaning to drive over and stay with friends and give it a try.....now that my sis has moved that far west maybe the wife wont complain bout the cost of gas so much if i combine it with a visit ....havent run into anyone who eats them though the guys i know give the meat away....have you tried it?

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Yeah ... it's actually a fairly lean meat (considering you cut a several inches of fat off to get to it). Not nearly as lean a venison, but leaner than beef. It's pretty good, but you can't over cook it or it turns really tough and loses a lot of flavor.

If you have sausage made out of it, have them mix it with pork and pork fat. The meat itself just isn't marbled enough to make for a good sausage.

YooperBrew said:

Of course, we do still buy some things (like flour and items we can grow here) but it feels great to be somewhat self-reliant. I always think that there isn't anything more "organic" than a deer than I shot and processed myself. Not a feed lot animal, but a natural source of meat.

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Amen! In times where the cost of food is going up (like everything else) and emphasis is being placed on organic foods and "free-range" animals, it's nice to see people figuring out what hunters have known all along.

I buy ground beef, steak, chicken, etc at the store just like everyone else but if I kill a deer, process it and eat it, at least I know it was treated humanely (I won't take a bad shot no matter how bad I want it), no growth hormones were used, and the surface and butchering tools were CLEAN.

FishinDave07 said:

Nope. Here's mine:

(my friend is a horrible photographer)

an upclose shot

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When I finally get to move to Florida (4 lonnnggg years away) this is a sport I want to try. I fish as often as possible and I love deer hunting. I mostly bow hunt and I switched from a shotgun to a muzzleloader two years ago.

Upland birds (pheasant, grouse) for me.

Hunted for a while when I was younger (teens) and after a 7-8 year hiatus I am getting back into it at 26. Picked up my PA license and migratory bird stamp yesterday...

Plan on hunting duck, doves, squirrel, rabbit, pheasant and turkey... Also, heading out for a buck and doe, as long as I get approved for an 'anterless permit'. Should be a good time.

And yes, I eat everything I kill... even squirrel 'wings'. Mmmmm...

rattler_mt said:

the drawings are finally done here in MT.......grand total for special draws are a speed goat tag for both the wife and i and my oldest stepdaughter has pulled a special youth cow elk tag for her first year hunting......add that to the "A" deer tag all three of us already have......2 doe tags(though, in theory we can prolly buy 18 doe tags between the three of us if the quota is anything like the last few years)........dang....think i need to buy a couple more freezers we will be busting our rears to get Kate that elk though and may not have much time to do much but fill the speed goat tags since their season starts 2 weeks before deer & elk......

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I didn't draw anything special this year, but will do the normal running around for elk and deer. Used to do a speed-goat/deer trip in you neck of the woods around Fort Peck but my hunting mates moved away.

Fish all summer about 3 days a week average and some ice fishing in the winter.
I mainly hunt turkeys, deer, geese. I did draw a bear tag, that starts this Wednesday. Also drew a Kansas Whitetail tag for late November.