Spring has sprung finally here in Montana! We actually had temperatures climbing all the way above 70 during a fast moving warm front, which helped melt a lot of snow (and muddy up a lot of roads). While another cold front with precipitation is moving through, it isn't projected to be all that cold and will hopefully be passed by the weekend. The warmer temperatures definitely have everyone excited to get out more, and I'm no exception. On top of that, this Saturday marks opening day of Montana's spring bear and spring turkey season. Quite a few of my friends have started picking up elk sheds, and I didn't see any deer in the past week still carrying, and this is the time of spring when a lot of sheds start to get picked up!
This past weekend I decided to risk it for the biscuit and bomb about 4.5 hours from home. I have a pretty reliable spot in some breaks country where I have turned up a lot of deer horns, and my three biggest Montana elk sheds. The tricky part of hunting or shed hunting in central and eastern Montana is accessibility: it doesn't take much moisture for roads to turn into the infamous "gumbo", and become absolutely impassible. Hence the risk of driving that far, knowing that the roads could be impassible from snow melt. On top of that, I knew I had to access my spot from a different angle due to the limitations I still have with my knee. Long story short, it didn't pay off. I was able to get relatively close to where I needed to go, but as the road bent down and around the north side of the mountain it was complete muck. I'm sure old Rip would've gotten me down there, but I'm also pretty sure nothing was gonna get back up. So I settled on walking some new spots in the same general area. After a handful of miles walking ridges, Hank and I were able to turn up one ancient moss-back of a mule deer horn, barely peeking out of the pine duff.
We jumped a couple turkeys (which Hank found to be rather peculiar), and that was pretty much all the excitement to be had.
The next weekend is looking like it will be a stay close to home week, but I do have a couple spots I am curious about checking out for some deer horns. As for all of you, I hope you get out and find some sheds, or bear and turkeys, and good luck! Make some memories, and stay dirty!