I was hunting on a small ranch on the banks of the Yellowstone in Eastern Montana. Ealier in the afternoon I had been still hunting in really brushy stuff when a young whitetail doe nearly ran me over. I was just standing there looking around when a I heard some deer walking my way. The doe came about 5 feet from me when she wiffed my scent and took to bounds and stood there. I used that comotion to lift up my rifle, and pointed towards the other deer that were walking my way still. 2 more does walked by, with a buck behind them that looked a lot like the one in this picture. Only he stopped just shy of where I could get a clean shot. Shortly after that, they all ran off.
I then made my way to a clearing about 1/4 mile away. There was a group of mule deer in the clearing, so I belly crawled out to where I could get a good rest on the edge of the clearing. There was a small, but tall, 4 point mulie that was chasing does, and running off forked horns. I thought about shooting him, but decided he looked to much like what I usually settle for on this hunt. So I sat their and watched the mulies, and the occasionally small whitetail run around in the clearing until dusk. Then, right about at the end of shooting light I heard something to my left. I turned my head and saw this buck, who promptly lifted his head and staired at me just 29 yards away. I couldn't count the tines clear enough, but he looked tall so I decided if I could swing my model 70 .270 around without him running off, I would take him. Sure enough, he stuck around just a little to long. The 130 grain ballistic tip blew a baseball sized hole out his opposite side. He ran 50 yards, and piled up.
First whitetail for me. Can't wait for next year!
