Fall update. Brown trout and the Missouri Breaks

Brown trout. Streamer fisherman are on the move. "Local creek" sw Montana

Been busy. To say the least.  Made a trip up to the missouri breaks in search of elk with my sharp stick.  First time there, hunted the willows and saw 1 massive "park bull".  I'll get into it more later. But for a dude from sw Montana, I'm used to being able to see, usually a long ways. The willows in the breaks might has well had been a jungle.
As far as the streamer fishing?  Since May, I have only put the streamers away for about two weeks. Fall is here and the browns and streamer junkies are fully mobilized.  Ah Maribou and bunny fur. Bugling elk, and a cool breeze, these are a few of my favorite things!

Spring Break and streamer fishing Montana

It all started with a gift certificate i got for Christmas.  Not needing a whole lot, I reached and decided to buy a new fly reel.  At this point, I decided to make it a streamer reel....I dont know how many times floating along, I wished I had a streamer rig already put together in the boat.
Like most fly anglers, I have used my fair share of streamers, generally when nothing else is working, as a last resort.  Ive even caught some real giants.  Between streamers and stoneflys  those two make up the majority of my biggest fish.  But this year im determined to fish streamers as a first choice.  I even bought a 7 weight, to bring along in the boat on rivers like the Yelly, Mady and the Mo.  I went with  a ross flyrise, and scientific angler streamer express 200 grain.  I figured the 200 grain would be great for both my 6 and my 7 weight.
Springtime is by far my most productive time of year on Montanas rivers.  The fish seem anxious to eat, and the rivers are far less pressured, in my opinion  Ill take the lack of dry fly activity to pounded great fish consistantly any day.
I recently spent some time fishing the upper Madison, East Gallatin, Missouri, and the Little Blackfoot(a first for me).  A trip to Utah was put on hold for very good reason.  So instead I wanted to explore more of my home state and try to get some time on the water.  Per usual the weather went south, and was much more winter than spring, oh well,

Streamers were amazing some days, slow on others.  I got to stomp around some new waters, visit some old friends, make some new ones.   A fantastic trip in general.  I love fishing in Montana!  I love streamer fishing in the spring just as much.  I vow to use streamers more often, instead of "when nothing else is working".

Operation Antelope Quest: back on the prarie

Back from Chicago, I managed to sneak out after work and do a little antelope hunting. Fighting the urge to feel like I'm wasting my time trying to spot and stalk all the time, maybe sweating my ass of in a camouflage tent by some water would be worth it?  Not nearly enough stimulation for this guy I guess. I got a few more looks at the big buck I saw just before I flew out. He is running the show now.  Last night, I managed my best stalk yet on a very small buck, only to let doubt get the best of me. 
I practiced a great deal of patience on the little guy, cutting the distance from more than half a mile to 300 yards, only moving when he was feeding and never trying to go too far.  I was then stuck at  that distance for more than 20 minutes before he fed into a small crease in the landscape.  Once out of sight I hustled up to try and cut him off.  Taking longer than I thought I got toward the end of the crease I glassed to see if he had gotten out.  I had for the most part convinced myself, that he had moved on, caught my scent or   Maybe he was just right there still in that little fold, nah  Its so small.  I must have been 25-30 ft from him, I let my gaurd down, because I have been dooped so many times before.  Lesson learned. 

On the way out I managed to have 3 does walk by at about 30 yards.  The bucks got held up with hot does, one crossed the fence and was headed in, only to have his doe break, and go back under the fence.  The big buck, I'm going to call "Babe", was on the horizon the whole time, watching the scene below. I watched he and "Jerry" make four or five chases on smaller bucks.  As far as the rut, its on.   I managed a few pictures of "Babe" through the scope, He is definatly the boss on this particular piece of property.  And he is my home run ball.

Operation Antelope Quest: Spotting, Spooking, and Montana Decoys

  Over the last few days I have seen some changes.  I have been hunting the same spot almost exclusively and been able to keep track of things a little better.  Yesterday was 29 degrees when I left the buggy, I immediately after about 300 yards had some regret about clothing choice, especially after battling a 24 hour food poisoning bug.  The landscape looked more like fall.  The prarie's over all color has changed, its hard to explain but its more golden and fallish in the morning than late summer brown.   "Softer" looking maybe?  Other changes include some bucks taking on the roll of cutting horse and actively chasing does,  And I saw a group of three "dinks" that definatly looked displaced.
   As far as the hunting goes, I put on a sneak that made me proud, getting within just over 70 yards of a group of 10 or so antelope.  I was on the uphill side with the buck closest to me when I thought that maybe the montana decoy would help. Maybe he would cut the distance the necessary 20-30 more yards for a shot.  But instead after a readjustment and some wiggling in the wind, the Montana Decoy blew em out fast, real fast not even a peep or a hint of foot fall.  I might be done using it, I might stick with the Dutton when I hunt solo.The downfall of the Montana Decoy is that rarely is there a  good chunck of ground to anchor the stakes properly, and it loves to wiggle and shake in the breeze.
    "Jerry" that same buck was being the cutting horse yesterday, he was down to three does, and it was taking alot of energy for him to keep them together.  Yesterday, I also saw a true gem, a buck I may have seen before at a distance, but got within about 110 yards of yesterday.  He is a 14+ inch buck with great diggers and a beautiful curl.  He was cruising, high atop a knob at first light, watching, checking out the status of things.  I might even be underestimating him, he could look shorter because of his mass.  Anyway, never could get close enough, he was always one step ahead.  For now, its off to Chicago.  I am hoping things will be in full swing by the time I get back

operation antelope quest: over the weekend

Got out three or four times over the weekend and still no luck.  Not for lack of effort, lack of skill? maybe.  I messed with and stalked  the same buck on three different occasions.  We have been calling this particular buck "mouthpiece" because of how vocal he has been. Two weeks ago he was with 30 does, and now...nada, flying solo. The first occasion we stumbled upon each other at probably 45 yards.  He was quicker to run than I was to do just about anything other than think to myself, whoa he is right there.  That was about a 3 second ordeal untill he bailed......quickly.  As far as other happenings I watched 3 bucks on a ridge about 2/3 of a mile away, evenly spaced out, talking back and forth.  One was a brute, the other two good bucks.  I saw two big boys with does, one that resembled a bulldog,  he was significantly stouter than the other 3 dozen pronghorn in the field.  He was the only buck i saw chase another buck, only a 100 yards or so, and he tolerated him feeding fairly close.  I also may have seen a buck we called "noodles'' 3 years ago.  I guess that there is a chance he was young and his unique architecture is a giveaway. I hope to get another glance at him.  The rut is probably grinding between 1st and second gear if it was a five speed. Starting to get a little down, but hopefully the decoy will be a good tool in the weeks to come.

Operation Antelope Quest: under the cover of darkness

  The second week of archery antelope went alot like the first.  Lots of marginal bucks with large groups of does.  Saw a few single larger cruisers but still no "Wow" bucks, other than a couple of mulies.  I am guessing that I wont see them again, unless it is the day before deer season but at least it was nice to see them once.  Especially since it was somewhat close to a spot I hunt frequently.  I had the chance to watch them for a few minutes through a scope. Even at about 450 yards the buck on the right was  real hesitant to even move. He may have only turned his head 3 or 4 times in the time span I watched him.  What a treat. This shot was taken with a cellphone through the spotting scope.  Hence  the not so great quality.

Antelope can see well and run real fast, so they prefer wide open terrain.  The prarie although it looks very flat, does have rolls and folds to it that a bowhunter can use to his advantage.  My plan early one morning this week was to move, under the cover of darkness, into some hay bails to await first light.  However, I was about 120 yards from the bails when I stopped to glass in the dark one last time, about 15-20 minutes before legal light.  I quickly spotted a lone antelope buck moving right to left at about 100 yards or so.  A great sight to see, but he had somewhere to go and walked within about 20 feet or so of the hay bails I was hoping to be in. Was I late? Was he early? Would he have come through before light anyway??? Its all about timing. Killer.

I blew one more stalk later that morning on a group of about 25 does with one buck.  Good mass, not real tall, and absolutely nothing for prongs.  When I first caught a glimpse of the herd they were strung out, quartering away from about 125-350 yards to the lead doe.  After waiting for them to clear view, my partners and I jogged across the prarie to cut the distance down somewhat, only to be busted by two does  who came out of the depresion earlier and further away than expected.    I tried to crawl downhill out of view to try and cut the distance again, but made it about 10 feet before the group got nervous and spooked.  Antelope 6  me 0.   Patience, Patience, Patience.  

Saw a little 3 year old black bear cross the road later that day at almost one in the afternoon, still gives me hope that weird stuff does happen.  You never know, one of these days, an antelope may wander close enough for me to get a shot with my bow.

operation antelope quest:the first few days

Opening morning, which was a wednesday, in August found me in the buggy well before sunrise on the way to the prarie.  Just before legal light I spotted a few deer as well as a few antelope does in the field.  I parked the buggy, gathered my stuff and off I went.  Right at legal light those three does came trotting in to about 60 yards,  not much I could do but hope they blow out in a good direction.  Later that morning I saw a few more does and fawns, with the largest being around 15-20.  Had one old doe walk within 41 yards but I was caught flat on my belly with no real option of drawing without getting busted.  Wow, 25 or 30 antelope on the place and not a single buck.  Walking back to a small stash of gear I see a runner out of the corner of my eye, now two.  One has a real dark face and I know even without binos its a buck.  Not a great one, but I shooter for sure with my bow.  Did I mention I have a problem with patience?
Just 15 minutes before I was tucked in to some hay bails with 2 does hanging around within about 70-80 yards-two live decoys, I guess.  Stay put, I told myself.    Much to learn I still have about patience, who knows, if I stayed put the other two may have come right in....Idiot.

Had another couple of blown stalks later in the day, and one in the following days, lots of little bucks with does.  Had some does from a group of about 25 jogging to the decoy, thought that might fire up the buck a little bit, but didn't get much but a stare.  He wasn't but a little bigger than the decoy anyway, can't blame him for not wanting a tussle. I am hoping the the rut picks up and they start moving around and getting in to smaller groups.  Its tough to make a stalk on 20 sets of antelope eyes.