My son Mike and I found success in the Rocky Mountains between Great Falls and Helena, Montana this past weekend.

We stayed at Rob's (Dempsy's) house, nestled in some of the prettiest country one could imagine, and enjoyed the gracious hospitality of his awesome family, eating some outstanding home-cooked food and having a grand time. In-between, we climbed mountains looking for deer - it was hard work, especially for me and my out-of-shape bod, but with nice rewards.

Mike's mulie buck was hit right in the lungs. I got a nice fat mulie doe, hit close to the base of the neck - no meat wasted on either deer! I carried my trusty old friend - my CZ M550 in 7x57mm that has performed well in the same area before - the bullet was a 140-grain Hornady InterLock or Sierra GameKing (I forget which). Mike used a Savage M110 in .280 Remington and a 160-grain sierra GameKing.

I’m attaching a photo of his buck, but it’s from his cell phone, which takes ridiculously small photos.



Great hunting, great food, great conversation and great company - I could't have asked for more, and had the time of my life - one of the best hunts ever ~ Thanks, Rob!

Sounds like you and your son had a great time. It's nice to have a young strong fellow with you when it's time to pack game out too

Congratulations, great story and sounds like a great time was had.

Good trip sounds like, Congrats

Great trip and with a son no less. Good for you!

many thanks, gents ~ it was a true hunt for me, and i had a ball. i really like to see other folks, especially new or young hunters, get their deer, and i enjoy helping them achieve that goal. of course, i also love to take every opportunity i can to have deer in the freezer for cooking or other projects, but i'll usually make sure that the kids punch their tags, first.

truly, it was great to see that my older boy got such a nice buck, and it was also nice having my youngest son along; he's got one more year to go before he can legally hunt, but he did pass hunters's safety this year, and it was great to have him with me, watching him experience the traditions and hopefully teaching him a few good things. in the same token, i learned quite a bit from rob as to how to hunt the area we were in. it's a bit different from home, where all the hunting is in very open country with some brush-filled coulees and river bottoms.

Correction!

Not that it matters TOO much, but the bullet out of my 7x57 was a 145-grain Speer HotCore....

Thanks, Todd - I sure enjoyed the time spent outdoors with family - the meat hanging in the shed is just a bonus ~

Nice one Tas.