This year will mark my 11th consecutive year hunting with Montana Whitetails. I have been very fortunate to harvest a trophy buck in each of those years. The excitement and pride associated with all of the hunts is immeasurable. Two hunts in particular stand out.
The first one was in 20?? when I harvested my biggest buck to date... a 155". The owner of Montana Whitetails, Keith Miller, was debating on where to have me take stand. The problem was that he was seeing so much activity at so many stand sites he couldn't decide. After carful consideration, Keith recommended a stand in the middle of a large alfalfa field. Almost immediately after pulling away from dropping me off, the deer began to POUR out into the field ( it was only 3:15 pm). At about 5:30pm there were over 100 deer in the field with over 40 of them being bucks of various sizes. This one sit had already produced more deer sightings then the last five years combined of hunting back home in Western New York. At about 6:45pm two huge bucks walked out from the far end of the field and were slowly feeding my way. One was the 155" and the other was an easy 170" class buck. I truly could not believe that this was happening to me. The 170" walked straight towards me and stopped about 80 yards away. My heart was beating like crazy. All of a sudden he just laid down in the field and stared at all of the other deer. I couldn't believe it. All I needed him to do was come another 35 yards closer. He was in the WIDE OPEN!!! As darkness settled in...he never moved. It wasn't until well after dark when Keith came to pick me up did get up and go on his way. The next afternoon, conditions were again right for that spot so I went right back to the same stand. It was almost a recreation of the afternoon before. Tons of deer POURED out into the field with the 155" and 170" in toe. It really looked like this was going to be the night. There were so many bucks in the field ( and good ones) that they caught the attention of cars passing by. Before too long, there was a long line of vehicles stopped along side the road watching. Unfortunately for me, the herd of about 130 deer had enough and cleared the field. What luck! On my third afternoon sit the wind conditions again were favorable for that stand so Keith put me right back there. The same scenario that had played out the first two afternoons was once again unfolding. The only difference was that when the 155" came out , he was alone. The 170" did not join him. With my full attention on the 155" my hopes of getting a shot at him were building as he ever so slowly got closer. Now, his closing the distance to my effective range was in a race with the quickly diminishing amount of shooting light. He came in to about 60 yards. I couldn't believe that once again that a shot opportunity was not going to present itself. With about two minutes ( not kidding) of legal shooting light left, all of sudden as if on queue, he turned and walk straight at me. I could not believe that this was happening. He came in to 16 yards and I made a double lung shot and watched him fall over after about only a 50 yard run. I can not describe the feelings and emotions I experienced. Even writing this now, brings back memories that puts a smile on my face.
My second most memorable hunt at Montana Whitetails was the very next year. I arrived midday Saturday at camp and Keith showed me some pictures of a really nice split G2 buck that he saw very regularly near this one particular stand. At Montana Whitetails they constantly scout the vast properties in order to try to pattern the deer. We decided to give that stand a try. It was about a 35 minute drive to this stand. Twenty minutes after getting settled in I looked over my right shoulder and to my surprise, the G2 buck was walking right to me. He came within nine yards and stopped. Again, a double lungger put him down and he tipped over within 40 yards of the set. I could not believe how fast it happened. I was in shock. Having my cell phone with me, I called camp. The guide had just walked back in the door from dropping me off. When he picked up the phone and realized it was me he thought something was wrong or perhaps I had forgotten something. I informed him that I was standing next to the dead G2 buck. We both had a good laugh and he immediately turned right back around and came and picked me up.
These are just two of recaps of the hunts I had at Montana Whitetails. This place is without question the best hunting operations I have ever been to. If anyone has any questions on what to expect, please feel free to contact me at: 716-754-4767. I love to talk hunting with fellow hunters.
Dave Daloise
(Editor's note: the 2 pictures of the buck alone in the field was harvested by Dave however we lost that years photos due to a hardware crash on the computer. The buck scored 141 - 3/8".)
