When Aaron sent me a inquiry stating he wanted to come back to Montana and try to hunt elk or mule deer with a .54 caliber flintlock muzzleloader, I wasn't quite sure how to answer that at first. Elk hunting in Montana can be tough with a rifle let alone a flintlock in November where you are usually faced with adverse conditions that are not good for flintlocks. The toughest challenge would be getting a bull elk under 60 yards for the iron sights that time of year when most rifle elk shots average 250-300 yards. We talked a little bit and he decided to go after a mule deer buck which I thought would be much more doable with a flintlock during mid November here on one of our mountain properties.
Mid November come quick and after shipping some powder and supplies to the lodge Aaron was ready to tackle this challenge of taking a mule deer buck with a flintlock here in Montana. To be honest, I was actually pretty excited to be part of the adventure so I wanted to guide Aaron but also had another client to drop off for whitetail in the riverbottom. This made it a little more challenging as the place we had in mind to go after mule deer was in the mountains about 30 minutes away and then another 30-60 minutes into the mountains depending on where we ended up. Fortunately, we had some nice insulated Muddy box blinds set up on the mountain that provided some protection from the elements. Unfortunately, the mule deer does that usually bring in all the bucks this time of year haven't been concentrated into these areas yet due to a lack of snowfall and warmer than usual temperatures. We'll have to go find them, and the adventure begins.
There was one buck in particular we wanted to go after but with the rut starting he was far from predictable. I saw a couple decent bucks the week prior sitting with a elk hunter and on camera at a water trough nearby. We started off with nestling a chair into a grove of pines where mule deer usually pass by between food and bedding. All we saw that morning where 6-7 bull elk pass by at about 300 yards, go figure.
The next morning was a challenge as we had 1 whitetail hunter to drop off down in the riverbottom, then get to the low cabin on the mountain, jump in the Polaris snow machine and head to the top dropping off another elk hunter on the West side of the property in the process. After all that we headed to the East side of the property where we last saw the bigger bucks and it was already breaking daylight on the ride to our spot. The plan was to set up a pop up blind near the water trough where we saw the best bucks the week before. The pop up was suppose to protect us a little from the predicted 30-40 mph winds and temps in the low 20's. By the time we got there it was good shooting light and we where in a hurry. I gathered up the ground blind and started walking. Aaron asked if he should load his muzzleloader since it was already light and I told him he could load it while I set up the blind. Boy, was that a mistake. As I crested the little knoll where I could see the trough and travel route the bucks use I was looking for a grove of pines to set the blind near. that's when Aaron got my attention, he's right there! I looked to my left and standing about 100 yards was our target buck with a doe standing a little closer. Aaron started to load his muzzleloader which surprisingly they stood there and watched the entire process until he had to seat the ball down the barrel. That rod slamming down was a warning they better get out of there and they did. I started setting the blind and the rest of the deer not knowing what was going on started coming towards us. The next 15 minutes where pretty intense. I had the blind half set up but it was kinda in the way now for Aaron to get a shot as the deer moved right to left about 75-90 yards away. I was trying to range the deer through half a window that was somewhat open with only half the blind set up. The target buck and doe he was with knew we where there and they stayed about 120 yards out as the rest of the deer moved by closer. I finished setting up the blind when they moved off and the next 2 hours where brutal. The winds where whipping snow around inside the blind and rocking the blind like we where in a washing machine. To add insult to injury the target buck was now feeding with his does 50 yards in front of the elk hunter. We had enough of that and broke the blind down to go look for another buck maybe bedded trying to stay out of the high winds, no luck.
The next day we had the mountain to ourselves and the plan was to hunt for the target buck and 2 of the other bigger bucks where we've been seeing them the first few hours of daylight. No luck early and the winds again seemed to dampen movement so we decided to go try and find a buck bedded down mid day. After about 2 hours and a few spot and stalk attempts into areas where the ridges blocked the strong winds looking for bedded bucks, we did not see anything. Today was going to be tough. Off to the West side of the property we go. A hour later we spotted a small buck with a couple does in some pines on the edge of a clearcut. A discussion ensued whether we should go after this buck and we decided to pass and move onto another spot. After sitting at this other spot for 30 minutes and eating lunch, a spot and stalk flintlock muzzleloader hunt in Montana on any buck would be a adventure worth pursuing. So we turned around and went back to where we spotted the buck with the impression of, if he is still there, we are going after him!
As we drove by the area we spotted him near the same spot and the plan started to unfold. We drove to the top of the mountain about 200 yards past the buck to get the wind in our favor and parked the snow machine. We started our walk towards the area we last saw him and about 50-60 yards from our intended landmark we bumped 2 does bedded in the thicker pines. Thank goodness they blew out away from our deer. I had a spot landmarked where he was bedded and we proceeded to slowly sneak our way down the hill and where running out of cover. I still hadn't spotted the buck and when I did he spotted us, he was bedded about 15-20 yards further away from where he was bedded when we drove past him. Now the gig was up and Aaron with his home made shooting sticks worked into position for a shot. (We forgot the shooting sticks that morning so Aaron made a set with some fresh cut saplings, ratchet strap, and electrical tape that morning while the snow machine was warming up). The buck was onto this show and stood up looking right at us. The flintlock poofed and barked with fury and the bucked took a back seat and was knocked down backwards but was up on his feet again quickly. A quick follow up shot was out of the question so we watched the buck move off but knew he was hit. After reloading we walked to the spot and started to track. After 50 yards we spotted the mule deer does he was with standing around in the clearcut about 80-90 yards below us, we didn't see the buck. After a 10 minute starring contest the does started to move off, the buck was not with them. We figured the buck was either dead or injured bad enough he bedded down somewhere nearby. We walked to were the does stood looking for blood to see if the buck made it that far, as Aaron walked a little further to look down over the hill I backtracked and found some blood and tracks where the buck walked a little further down the hill than the does. I looked up to see where Aaron was and let him know I found bood and there he was knuckling down on the iron with his home made sticks and anchored the buck in his bed. What a great day and a advenure we'll both never forget. I was glad to be a part of this hunt! It was one of the funnest hunts to be a part of! A flintlock muzzleloader hunt in the snowy mountains of Montana in mid November. It doesn't get much better than that! Congratulations Aaron!
See some pictures attached from this hunt. One of the funnest parts of the trip was unloading the muzzleloader when we got back each night before taking it into the lodge. One of the guides went out and purchased a flintlock muzzeloader at the end of the season. I will admit, I was also a fan, what a blast as we all really enjoyed being a part of this hunt.
