I still do not understand why all you guys do not just pack up and move to Montana! It was just glorious here all day! Sunny and cool (high of 38) with a trace of snow in the fields!
I found it necessary to travel from my home to Bozeman, Montana today. Numerous reasons for the trip not the least of which I heard several Gunshops calling my name (seductively) VarmintGuy... oh.... VarmintGuy! I left Dillon at about 1:00 PM (there were 19 Mule deer in the field by my house!) and had not even made it out of town hardly when I spotted a Coyote mousing in a field. The next field had both Mule Deer and Whitetails in it. The Geese were flying at mid-day for some reason I am not sure why. I headed north to Twin Bridges, Montana and the groups of Whitetails were feeding with no regard for me buzzing by. The Deer season just closed 20 days ago! Several nifty Bucks were spied. I took the long way to Bozeman through Sheridan, Montana toward Ennis. On my way to the first great Gunshop in Ennis I crested the pass that divides the Ruby river draingae from the Madison river drainage and the absolute grandeur of the Madison range and the Madison Valley caused me to stop and just take it in. Of course my Nikon camera was safely at home in my vault! Once moving again and going down the steep grade into Ennis I spied a very good Buck Mule Deer and several does. I will remember him for next year! Then I began seeing Antelope in large groups as I got to the valley. The low sun really made the Antelope stand out and easy to spot. The Shedhorn sportshop in Ennis had lots of interesting goodies and I priced a Smith & Wesson Model 647 in 17 HMR that I have been drooling over. They were so busy I did not get to try and deal with them on it. But I knew they had one. The trip north from Ennis was also just spectacular with more Antelope, Mule Deer and one field with 60 - 70 Whitetails in it. Another mousing Coyote was seen Hunting in a crop field. A Bald Eagle nearly met his maker as I crested the pass north of Ennis I have no idea what he was doing so low to the ground along the highway. The Beartrap Canyon was full of Mule Deer and another nice Buck was seen. In a shady part of the Madison River canyon another Bald Eagle was seen on an icey patch eating a fish! Once out of the Madison Canyon I look over in the foothills above a cultivated field and two Bull Elk were skylined apparently waiting to come across a fence and down to the easy pickins field. They looked like real good bulls from 600 yards away in my 10X mini binocs I keep in the car.
Once in Bozeman I hit a small gunshop (The Bullethole) first and buy some needed brass and dies. Then I head over to the Powderhorn Sporting Goods store for some more price checking - they had two Remington XP-100 pistols I was interested in. Both priced way to high I thought. The last Gunshop stop of the day yielded fruit though! They were having a 10% off sale on - OF ALL THINGS Smith & Wessons! And the district Smith & Wesson rep was there! He explained several nuances of the S&W line to me. I quickly spied the object of my affections but did not let on to quickly that I was interested. I fondled the Model 647 and tried the action timing and trigger. It was fine. Well the kind people at the Yellowstone Sports shop threw in a S&W folding clip knife and gave me the 10% discount and I was happy as a clam! No bases were available from them for the pistol and it was to late now to go anywhere else to look so I decided to peruse the store some more.
What did I see but the new and nifty offering from Remington in the Light Varmint Model! It is a stainless Model 700 Rifle with stainless 21" fluted barrel in caliber (I gasped for breath when I saw it) 221 Remington Fireball! The super cool little Rifle really looked and felt great! It had a somewhat thick and spongy and very non slip recoil pad! The black fiberglass stock design was just wonderful with a tapered and flat bottomed forend! Just great for attaching a bi-pod to or resting over a sandbag! It had a blind magazine with the spacer for the Fireball cartridge. If I had had an extra $749.00 I would have bought it! It was really a handsome little Varminter. I was impressed!
Just dancing with glee after such a beautiful day I proceeded on to my last stop - the basketball game at nearby Belgrade, Montana pitting the VarmintSons team (the Dillon Beavers) against the Belgrade Panthers. I thought to myself wouldn't this just be the frosting on my wonderful days cake to have the Dillon team beat the Panthers! Even with the Dillon Beavers star center out with a broken foot I was very upbeat about the hometown boys beating the excellent Panther team. Alas it was not to be! The Beavers played a spirited and always close behind game until late in the fourth quarter the Beavers managed to struggle to a 3 point lead but the Panthers with their 14 man roster had just to many fresh legs against the Dillon 9! The Panthers won with a last second shot! Good for them. They had better watch out though as the two teams will play again in Dillon next month and our center is due back from his injury in two weeks. The VarmintSon played like a wildman and scored 15 of his teams points and collected many rebounds. The Beavers hearts were broken I am sure but they never missed a beat congratulating the Panthers on their win. Good for team sports. I was never very succesful at them but I tried. The 110 mile drive back home had me in my busy mind mode. Alternating between the amazing drive I had up there and all the nifty things in all the shops. I do not get to those shops very often. And my thoughts about the game - if only's abounded, but I really was proud of the Beaver team. Its still very early in the season.
I kept wishing the sun would come up again for my long drive home so I could see the west side of the Tobacco Root Mountains and some more Varmints and Big Game. It was not long till I was driving defensively through all the Whitetails in the Jefferson River Valley though. Their eyes shown everywhere in my headlights. I am sure I saw 200 in 30 miles.
I am home now and tired from the long day and excited about tomorrow and already scheming on how to come up with 3/4's of a thousand dollars to buy that Fireball!
Now, I am not kidding, you guys all pack up tomorrow and get out here to Montana! Every day is like this.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Don't believe the VarmintGuy. It was soooo damn cold my toes got cold in my 30 below boots just getting firewood. You don't want to move here. The wind was blowing so bad today my back is still aching. You don�t want to move here. I stayed inside and watch the tube cause that holiday traffic was soooo bad in town. You don�t want to move here. I hope the roads clear from that big storm we had last week, so I can get to work on Monday. God I wish I was in Florida or New Jersey.

Now stop your lying VarmintGuy and quite begging people to move out west. How the hell are we gonna get those 30 below boots made if they quit those factory jobs and move out here.

I just had to VarmintGuy, howdy.

BTW I bought a 17HMR at the Bozeman Gun Show from Shedhorn last weekend. It was the 77/17 VBBZ. I think those are the right letters. It�s the HB matte gray one with the laminate stock, sweeeeet. Waiting on the Pony Express guy to bring my new Leupold and Talley rings. They should be here tomorrow. Gophers beware this spring.

If you live in a trailer that's 4' off the ground that doesn't have porches, you must be in Montana.
If the first five of your favorite receipes feature elk meat, you must be in Montana.
If your "best" suit is made by Blizzard King, you must be in Montana..............etc

"Go West young man, go West" A good friend, who just retired, told me he is moving to South Carolina. The winters have got to him.



I went to the range yesterday in CT. There still so much ice on the frozen snow that I almost fell down. I wore gloves the whole time and never made it to 200 yds where I really wanted to shoot. The muzzle loader season is still open here but the heck with it.



If it were only warmer. If I were only younger!

Hey VarmintGuy, can we take that as an invitation to come north and dispatch some of those pesky Montana coyotes or are you just teasing?

I for one love the cold. We haven't had a decent winter here in many years but I can remember growing up and seeing the snow pile up to roof level. We had a blast sledding off the second story! Right now we're fluctuating between 20 and 40 degrees

The coyotes are still primed up for now so I better go and stretch out the .243AI I just put together. Let me know how them Montana coyotes fare this year.

VarmitGuy

I'M TRYING! I'M TRYING! And reading this doesn't help. I trying to be in your neck of the woods sometime in the end of January. Doing some more scouting.

Scott

Hey VarmintGuy-sounds like my kinda day. Next time your out come buy and pick me up and I'll go with you!

BT100: I have the very same Rifle - I call it the 77/17V but its real Model # is "12" symbols long and I can never get them right but here goes from the back cover of my brand new Varmint Hunters magazine Ruger K77/17-VMBBZ. !!!!
Anyway I love mine and it had a good trigger from the factory! By golly! It was pretty crisp and right at 4 pounds 2 ounces according to my Schrader trigger gauge. I got a wild hair one day and ordered a $28.00 sear and spring from Mid-Way made by Volquartsen and the trigger is now an ultra crisp 2 pounds 0 ounces. With the original factory trigger I did most all of my load testing and my best 5 shot group at 100 yards was .502" with the Remington ammo. I have yet to shoot a 5 shot group at 100 yards with this splendid rimfire Rifle over 1.000"! And that fact amazes me everytime I think about it! I shoot very slowly and very deliberately on very calm days anymore for all my load testing. I have a Weaver KT-15 (straight 15X) scope on mine and had purchased a Weaver V-16 (variable 4 to 16X) for the Ruger 77/17V but a Remington 700 Classic in 222 Remington came along last week and stole the variable for itself!
I absolutely love the Ruger Varminter. Mine is one of the rare ones with the very shiney polished stainless barrels and actions. I like both style finishes but just ran across the stainless bright finish one day and got a good deal on it.
Good luck with your Ruger! By the way which power Leupold did you get for your 17 HMR?
I spent today in paradise from 0600 hours til 1700 hours helping my Hunting partner put a metal roof on his new addition (a trophy room!) and we had to settle for Canada Geese flying over us all day! I did see some Whitetails from his roof though. I did take quite a razzing from the other two greenhorn carpenters as they both got nice Bull Elk this season and I went Elkless again this year. I countered with my 25" Mule Deer and 14+" Antelope! Both the braggers got nice Deer but went Antelopeless! We hope to get out and bag several Geese this coming week. They are really thick this year. The day after Christmas I think I will start Coyote and Bobcat Hunting in earnest.
Yeah you other guys when in SW Montana get hold of me I will be around and shooting something.
Speaking of shooting something I really wanted to shoot my new S&W Model 647 today but ran out of daylight on both ends of the day doing the friend favor thing. My friend really owes me now he said! He said I could pack out his Elk "FOR HIM" next year also! He is a 10 year transplant from Minnesota and the other fella is from New Mexico.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Why didn't you take the really scenic route over the Beartooth Pass?

My brother used to live west of Deer Park Washington. On time several years ago we were on the way back to Kansas, and stayed the night in Dillon. Really liked the town and especially the area to the north toward I-90. Seem to remember a small college there, my son always talked about going back there to school! Enjoy the good life man!
Steve

I had to leave the 10th of Noveber from my parent's . They live at Raynolds Pass . I have to admit I did'nt travel far from Mom 7 Dad's , as there is no need with country this pretty . Certainly I am longing to be there .

VarmintGuy I�m waiting on one of the new Leupold Rifleman 4-12x40mm scopes for the K77/17VMBBZ. I�ve been using Talley and Warne rings for the past few rifle set-ups I�ve purchased over the past year or so. I didn�t hesitate to order the Talley's for this Ruger. Ruger rings have a tendency to leave marks on my scopes. The trigger seems to be crisp and fairly light enough. I�ll put a few rounds down the tube before I have the trigger worked on.

I�m heading to McDonald Pass tomorrow to make sure the 222 is ready for the Yotes. I�ll also be heading out to call those critters real soon. We have a great range on this side of the Pass.

I did fill an A7 cow tag this year. It was my first time ever to get one of these A7 tags and I�ll never do that again. I had several nice bulls within range and couldn�t shoot a single one of them. I did fill that A7 tag early in the season but ate my deer �A� tag. I went to the eastern part of the state this year for the best ever pheasant season, so ended up eating my lope tag also. The bonus was a nice turkey while pheasant hunting.

You all have a great weekend and Merry Christmas. BT100

I agree with everything, as for the initial question of why, December, January, and February. Other than that, I would be there in a heart beat. I have a severe allergy to crystalized water covering the ground. ;-) Hey I'm from GA I think it really prety on post cards and stuff. Anyhow, Alan and I are heading back out there this May. Building up rifles like crazy right now. Just got 1500 pieces of 17ah last month, 1000 17M4, and 1000 223ai and I ought to be ready, of course all the 22lr I can carry will be purchased once I get there.

c'ya
Doc

Geez, I had to run a ladder up the chimney to get out of the house this morning! If my snowblower hadn't got stuck on the roof, I coulda cleared a tunnel to the front door and been out sooner. Having trouble thawing the keg, too. I can hardly wait 'til winter starts!

Saw a bumper sticker on a logging truck the other day -
THE LAST THING MONTANA NEEDS IS MORE PEOPLE.

It got me thinking about the community of like-minded people (for the most part) who inhabit the place, but then it occurred to me - would it be any consolation that all the vehicles in a new traffic jam had NRA stickers?

What do you fellow Montanans think? Is more of us a good thing or bad?

Redial

Varmint Guy:

You just ought to come out of retirement and become one of those "outdoor writer" types of guys. I sure would buy the mags with your articles in them. You sure do a nice job.

I just laugh when I hear those east coast guys complaining about not being able to live near something like that.

Just imagine how much better it would have been to live in Montana back in the 1940s and 1950s or so. Of course for a hunter the entire country was a heck of a lot better back then.

Enjoy every second while it is still here.

Still remembering to keep you posted for spring ground squirrel hunting in Oregon if you want to head out this way. We shoot out of Lakeview.

seafire

"Keep Montana Beautiful", gut shoot a land developer! I always liked that one. Varmintguy your too right on Montanas good points, unfortunately the down side is here also, "NO MONEY!" High taxes, high cost of living, extremely low wages. It's truly sad to see all the people I have, move here with their dreams only to be starved out after 7 or 8 months to have to go somewhere to make a living. Guess there are never mountains without valleys. Have a merry christmas.

Sure are alot of guys from Montana on this board.Think I'll like it here.

Hey VarmintGuy, would you or some of the others from Montana know of a guy in the Ennis/McAllister area by the name of Neil Keyes? He moved there a few years back from Oklahoma and built a real nice log home on the side of a mountain somewhere. We were great buds here in Oklahoma. He shot video for the Oklahoma Outdoor show for about 25 years. We shot and built some smokepoles together. Last I heard he was big into the PDog shooting with some clubs or gatherings using the Ruger 22's and other varmint rifles.
He talks about the area just as you descibed. I will most likeley be coming through that area on my cycle this summer. Had another good friend that worked with me for 20 years, retired and moved to Saratoga. He loved to hunt the speed goats. I sold him one of my hot rod 22-250's for that.
Sounds like you had a day I dream about when I take off for an adverture sometimes. Might have to get up that way and look up my buddy and go shoot some varmints next year. I have located about three good PDog towns within a couple of hours of my home. Plenty of shooting and I'm the only one that shoots them. Even get a coyote or two on those places.
Take care and great story.

Mike
Norman, OK

Mike: I am sorry I do not know him as yet. I am about 70 miles from there. I called information and low and behold they had a listing for a Neil & Patricia or a Neil and a Patricia Keyes. I asked for Neil and they gave me the number. I will send it to you via E-mail if you wish. My address is VarmintGuy@aol.com
I hope to make his acquaintance someday.
In a howling wind today half way between my house and Neil's place my Varminting/Big Game Hunting buddy and I harvested 7 Canada Geese and one Mallard! We are absolute beginners at waterfowling but the numbers of Geese around now got us out for the day. Actually we Hunted the morning with zero success and then did chores at my buddies place then in the afternoon we really got into the Geese! The wind died down a bit and our borrowed Goose decoys (18) and Mallard Decoys (12) just brought the birds in like magic! We shot quiet a number of the steel shot shells to get those creatures! The wind and the poor ballistics of the steel shot were PART of the problem! We were literally picking up the decoys beside the running Dodge diesel VarmintMobile when a flock of Mallards came right over us! Bonk my partner shot that one Mallard about 30 minutes before sunset. We had decided we had enough to clean and eat for one day so we packed up a bit early. It was so much fun once we got back we called the decoy owner and asked if we could keep the decoys (and the Goose call!) one more day. We will be after them again tomorrow. I will try and remember a Varmint Rifle tomorrow as several Varmints were seen! Including the kind of rare (around there) Snowshoe Hare that came by our field at the base of a mountain. He stood on his rear legs several times as he looked things over! This guy was huge! He was completely white except for his ear tips!
More later
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

VarmintGuy,

What size steel shot did you use? I've found 3" BBB works well for Geese & #3 steel for ducks.

Knocked down 4 last Tuesday and one coyote today.

Good Luck.

Snapper

E-mail sent. Thanks for the response.

Mike

Sounds about right back in the late 70's early 80's I would spend a Week each year fishing the Madison ect in that area spent a lot of time in the beartrap and down at Graycliffs. Nice country.

Snapper: I was using Remington 2 3/4" Magnum steels in shot size "T"! The box says there are 58 "T" pellets to the shot shell! When I hit them it did well on them. The wind and the huge size of the Geese deceived us. Yeah I am starting to look for a larger shotgun one that will do everything.
Today was a great day and we called in two flocks but the wind had switched and the Geese landed on the far size of the decoys - no shots today!
Good job over your way on the Geese and the Coyote! Keep after them!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Now "Today" is a Montana kinda day! For the last 5 days it snowed straight. put over 2 feet on the flat around town,(then the wind blew, chest deep drifts) they got over 100 inches up in the Bridgers. But the weather finally changed and it quit snowing, got up this morning the suns shining, the color of blue in the sky tells you this is "Big Sky Country". It's 18 degrees below zero. Sould have intermittent snow and sub zeros for the next couple months. Get enough snow pack to get water for next summer so the place doesn't burn again. I'll have snow in my yard till May. Nature has a way of balancing the population with the weather. But for those who like it a day like today is worth the price of addmission. Another "Montana Kinda Day"

Yeah buddy! Same-same here in the Bitterroot. One of those days where the air is so clear and the sun so bright you think your eyesight has gotten better! Of course, it's cold enough to freeze your nosehairs stiff and you consider just holding the dog out the window rather than going outside with her!

Aye, that winter is a wonderful filter. Love this place

Redial

Now I get it, you meant Jarhead! "Semper Fi, Do or Die", Uraah!!!! Here's to Ya! Same-Same Air Force, Army, Navy and Coast Guard!

Montana income equivalency calculator:

1) Lawyer making $100k in LA.... McDonalds in Boseman making $10k

2) Engineer making $100k in Seattle .... Tractor mehcanic in Miles City making $10k


3) Doctor in Miami making $100k ..... Vet in Billings making $10k


4) Commercial property manager in Boston making $100k .... Janitor in Misoula making $10k.


5) Janitor in Boston making $30k .... Hitchhiker in Havard trying to get back to Boston.

Your right about the trade offs VarmintGuy most of us gripe like crazy but you couldn't get me outta here with a Federal sobpoena. Dillon buy the way is a regular haunt of mine in the summer, I've been fishing that nasty ole Beaverhead for more years than I care to talk about.

Well, sometimes I just can't keep my mouth shut and have to vent.

I have lived in San Diego, Ca. for the past 36yrs. and am so sick of this irrigated desert I could just puke! It has too many people, too much smog, too many STUPID drivers, and there are so many bunny huggers at work I don't dare even say the word GUN. Hunting? Maybe 20 years ago when I was a kid I would shoot 5-10 squirrels in a day and maybe 1 deer in a year, but that is gone FOREVER in my lifetime. The recent wildfires burnt everything!!!!

It is incrediable what a wildfire can do, you have to see it to believe it. So anybody that wants this damn desert, I will gladly trade you for your cold weather and something to hunt, 4 seasons, a fireplace, no traffic, nicer people...ETC. Hell, the nearest place I can shoot OUTDOORS that is not at a PUBLIC shooting range, Is 115 miles one way on the edge of the desert. I just finally got to go to New Mexico 2 yrs. ago to shoot my first Prairie dog ever and I am 43yrs. old. It was even the first time I had seen a p-dog in the wild!

So you ask what keeps me here? I have one of those excellent government jobs and 3 kids still in school. So I will save my extra money in a 403b and my PERS account, and in about 20 yrs. this place can Kiss my ASS.

Cal, There are some good things to do there in San Diego, one thing you can try is the excellent offshore fishing. I take the long range boats out for tuna on multiday trips every year.

Calmountman: I feel for you and the distance to drive for shooting! That is a tough one. Yeah that is what I did - worked where the money was and then retired early. I was back home out on the coast just before Christmas and I never saw my shadow for 11 days! The sun never once made a shadow on the ground while I was there, and the traffic! I thought I was gonna croak! I live now in the largest county in Montana and there is not one stop and go light in this whole county! Amen, I am not going back to that hectic style of living - ever. I hope you get to a more peaceful traditional valued spot to live - soon!
Fjold: Yes I would love to go with you this week for Ground Squirrels! I will be here in Montana with my longies on. Good luck when you get out after them and shoot one for me. Or better yet the first one you make do a double back flip - say - that ones for the VarmintGuy!
I would appreciate that.
Mountdoug: Oh the Beaverhead! I have been trying to get a handle on that river since I moved here! I either get skunked or get spooled! Damn those fish can be finicky! I have caught some dandies there even though I am new to fly fishing. But it is so frustrating for me at times I would rather fish Georgetown Lake or the Clark Canyon reservoir. There are some MONSTER fish in the Beav! Someone here in town had their picture in the paper with a 16 pound trout from here this summer!
I caught a 7 pound 8 ounce fish from Clark Canyon on Christmas day 3 years ago (ice fishing) and have seen 10 pounders there.
I suffer though usually from Fly Fishing Frustration when I float the Beav!
On the Red Rock River in late November about 4 years ago I lit into an honest 10 pound Rainbow and fought him for 15 minutes til I was in tears of frustration. My friend from Germany and I had no net and the fish was just not going to tire. My barbless hook (egg pattern) finally straightened out and away he went! I was sick! I would have had that fish mounted! Once my trembling subsided I was fool enough to cast into the same pool and tied into another brute! I eventually caught and released that fish pushing 7 pounds! I have a picture of that one! The last couple of Novembers they have kept the Red Rock closed in November due to real low water!
Yeah one of the most amazing things about Montana is the wonderful transition from summer to fall to winter and then spring! Aaaahhh 4 seasons. I had never observed this pleasing changing of the seasons before in my life! Seattle was summer gray or winter gray?
Phhtt on that!
Just today I was returning from my Rifle range and travelled along and across the Beaverhead for a ways! Two Whitetail does were on the bank as I went by. And some kind of fish swirled in the pool just above the bridge. Both Goldeneye and Mallards were floating in the river there.
Yeah we gotta appreciate Montana for sure.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Thanks for the kind words Guys. I am sorry for the attitude but this big city really gets to me sometimes. I will just keep up my prayers and have faith that I will be blessed someday with living where I can hunt in my own backyard.
Ocean fishing? No way! I chum 10 times more than the deck hands can throw in a days work. Just not an option no matter what I take.
Richard