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Another of Ryans Deer. Nice job guys.

Sounds like a real good Mt mulie hunt..way to go guys...

A few others from the Ranch.

Thanks for your help, Tim.
You'd think that I could have done that myself. I guess the dreaded CRS is creeping up on me.

We really enjoyed having the BTD boys out here. You'll have some great people on your board, congratulations to all of you.

Blackhawk

I figured that since I had a picture of myself on here, I should create a profile and let yall know about the hunt in Montana. For those of yall that dont know me, my name is Ryan, I am Max's nephew. Anyway, lets get to the exciting part of this story.
I arrived in Montana Sunday afternoon along with Max and his dad. After picking up the rental car, we headed on to Forsyth, Montana for a 5 day hunt on the Nansel Ranch. We got to the ranch just a lil before dark and decided to spot a few places to get our first look at some mule deer. It didnt take long to spot the first ones, and I knew right then that this was going to be a great 5 day adventure.
The next day Tom (the rancher) rode us around part of the ranch, and we began our hunt later that afternoon. After an unsuccessful spot and stalk, we called it a day and decided to hit it hard the next morning. Tuesday morning, Max and I found ourselves on top of a ridge looking into another ridge that was mostly open except for a few scattered cedar trees. A doe appeared out of nowhere and was acting strange as she walked away, and before we really knew what happened, a mountain lion walked out of the draw at 225 yards. And then the big cat just layed down on the hillside to soak up the sun's rays, right in front of us. Of course we got some great video footage of the cat, as we sat there in disbelief that we had a mountain lion at 225 yards. A lot of people could hunt that country their whole life and not see a mountain lion. After 45 minutes, Max and I decided to continue on, spotting the hillsides and draws as we went. The morning went pretty slow but that afternoon, we found ourselves on a different part of the ranch spotting the hillsides once again.
We started the afternoon hunt around 2 oclock, and the temperature was unseasonably warm (65 degrees). We had walked close to a mile (judging by Max's handy dandy GPS), when I spotted the big boy that you see the pictures of here on the the board. He came out of a wooded ridge about 400 yards off and was working his way into a long meadow at the bottom of the ridge. Max and I were on the opposite ridge from the buck, but luckly we had a good bit of cover to sneak along to get a closer shot. This ridge had a small finger that came off of it, which would put us about 150 yards away from where the buck was at, so we decided to get to the point of that as fast as we could. As we got to the end of the point, the buck was closing the distance across the meadow, and working towards us. I bellied crawled just to where i could see over the top and down into the meadow, and there was the buck looking right up at us. I was hoping that Max was just behind me and was getting it on camera, but at this point, i wasnt really worried about the video footage. As i was getting settled in to make the shot, the buck trotted off, but just like a typical mule deer, he stopped to look back at me. BAD MISTAKE on his part. The 300 Ultra mag roared, as the buck was stopped at about 125 yards. At the shot, Max jumped up to get the deer on camera, just as he was crashing into the brush. I knew the shot was perfect, but we still waited a little while before descending the rugged hillside to retrieve my buck.
The so called easy work was over with, and then came the hard work. We were a little over a mile from the truck, but this was not a flat mile my any means. With the help of Tom and Max we were able to bring the beast up over this ridge, which in some places were almost vertical, and then finally to a place where we could get a truck to. It was a good 4 hours from the time I pulled the trigger to the time we had my buck on the back of the truck. The buck is a typical 4 x 4 with a 25 inch spread. He is 21 inches from the base of his antler to the tip of his tallest tine. A taxidermist in town that caped him out for me thinks that he will go in the high 160's and possible hit 170 on the Boone and Crockett system. (180 inch minimum on typical mulies for the record book).
I will let Max tell the story of his mule deer kill, so yall stay posted, Im sure it will be up pretty soon. Max and I are already talking about going back out next fall since we had such a great time this past week.

It’s hard to express what Our Montana trip meant to me. I had a absolute Great time. We got some VERY awesome footage for the show. I was there to experience my Dad’s dream come true (a western hunt). I got watch and film Ryan as he killed a great Muley. Tom, his accommodations and hospitality are first class all the way! It was a wonderful wonderful time. I experienced a sensory overload out there. So many deer(hundreds) so many bucks so much fun. I am already planning to do a repeat next year. We were VERY blessed. Each of you should go west at least once in your lives! My hunt was cool watching the doe then a smaller buck then my buck single file one after the other like a parade, the footage will show you folks how neat it was. My buck dropped in his tracks at about 240yds. I love a big gun LOL!! We got to hunt prairie dogs, see a mountain lion, antelope, turkeys, pheasants, and sage grouse. It is the most spirit touching thing to stand on the rim of a small canyon and look out over everything as far as you can see (about 30miles) taking a minute to be still and know God is God! That folks is about as close as I can come to expressing what an overload my senses got out there and what a grand time that was had by all. Still lost for words! My 2005 season is my best yet! I think its all a dream,someone pinch me!I am truly a blessed man!! I hope everyone can experance the emotions and feelings I have felt and still feel this season once in your lives it is a true rush!.. As I said before.... Dreams do come ture!! God Bless and have a great season!!



TNX Tom!

You get the chance give Tom a call! You will not be disappointed!!

Way to go guys.. My congrats go out to all of you.. sounds like some awesome country..