BIRTHDAY BUCK!

Here is my story, of my Birthday Buck!

This year I wanted to harvest a buck with my bow. Normally, I am not an antler hunter. But this year I wanted to harvest a nice buck.

This year while hunting with my husband Justin, I was able to harvest the biggest buck I have ever taken. A thirty-yard shot, quartering away uphill. Although I placed the shot a little too far back, it came out right behind the opposite front shoulder. I was so excited! After I shot and he took off, I knew he was headed for a Montana dirt nap.

After giving ourselves plenty of time and calming down we began the blood trail. Justin found my arrow that passed through the buck. We found a good amount of blood to start the blood trailing but shortly after blood was very hard to find. We began following turned-up dirt, broken sagebrush, and broken sticks. It took a little time but my Jason spotted the buck at the bottom of a Christmas tree. I was so excited I almost cried. This was it, the biggest buck I have ever harvested and I did it with my bow. It is my birthday, buck!

I will never forget this hunt! My husband helped me get it field dressed and back to the pick-up. I am so blessed to have harvested this buck with my husband. Amazing memories in the field!

Happy Hunting, Jackie Weidow

Afew years back I was forced by the MBA board (I meant chosen) to take over the annual Carp Safari on Canyon Ferry. It’s really been a great experience, and over the past few events I’ve been able to meet a bunch of great folks. The 2022 event was no different and I was able to rub elbows with Greg Munther who has been a long-time MBA member. Greg and I chatted about his latest adventures with his stickbow, fly rod and bird dog. He really gets after it in the woods and on the water and I thought it would be great to get some more details from Greg and share them with you. I hope you enjoy this brief interview and few of his photos!

You are well known in the Montana bowhunting community having been one of the OGs of the MBA. Just in case you weren’t aware the abbreviation, OG used to mean Original Gangster used in street gang culture, it has since been used to describe someone as the “original” or “old school” and someone that is highly respected. I’m pretty sure you are from the “old school” and you definitely have “mad” respect from our gang!

Definitely old school and proud of it. Old guys with old gear doing it the hard way. Bowhunting for me will always be about the Process…not the product. About 30 years ago I ceased to enter anything in Pope and Young because I believe that record books with the emphasis on “trophies and me” leads to many of the problems we have in bowhunting, and all big game hunting. I still value a clean kill at the close range over antlers. Limiting my gear increases the challenge of getting within the animal’s natural defense circle.

A long-time bow hunting quest completed in recent years was making my own osage longbow with the advice of like selfbow friends. This included making arrows out of dogwood shoots, fletching with wild turkey feathers and sinew I collected, tipping with a bone broadhead, and taking a small whitetail buck.

My gear is so old I could leave it out and no one would want to steal it. Now my only need is to make sure I have a few bowstrings and a few broadheads. I recycle my gear¬—I am here in AZ hunting deer with the same arrow and broadhead I used on three previous whitetails. Archery gear companies wouldn’t like my hunting lifestyle.

When was your first involvement with the MBA?

MBA was ongoing in 1976 when I moved from Idaho, so it had to be shortly thereafter. It was a great time for bowhunting and for the MBA. With relatively few of us and solid leadership, bowhunters were not viewed as a threat. Because of that, we were able to make a lot of positive gains with season structures and opportunities. MBA led a lot of positive efforts. On behalf of MBA, fellow board member Stan Rauch and I led the effort to get substantially greater penalties for trophy poaching. And it was also rewarding to conduct statewide workshops and media events to highlight the Permit to Modify Archery Equipment after MBA was able to get that implemented.

We first spoke at the Carp Safari back in June. You mentioned your recent flyfishing exploits in Africa which sounded pretty epic. Can you share a little bit about that trip and how you discovered the area you fished?

Saltwater flats flyfishing is much like spot and stalk bowhunting. I cherish fly-fishing saltwater flats, especially when early spring in Montana is still melting. A saltwater buddy and I were headed again to Christmas Island for 3 weeks of DIY but Covid shut down the country. So desperate to get out we discovered a small Italian-owned fishing operation on Sudan’s coast of the Red Sea, so off we went. We lived aboard a 75-foot sailboat with two Norwegians and a UK guy. Took skiffs ashore to fish flats that had never seen a fly-fisherman as we progressed north toward Egypt each day. The Sudanese crew was great and it is the only time I have had camels watch me fly-fish. The coral reef is still intact and sea turtles abounded with me being able to stalk and touch them with my flyrod. The area we explored was far different than the parts of the war-torn region you often read about.

Let’s talk Coues deer! As I type this in late December in Montana, you are currently in Arizona hunting Coues deer. Do you even have a chance in hell with that stickbow? I’ve heard no one has ever killed a Coues deer with a bow, is that true? What’s your technique and strategy?

Having had opportunities to chase critters around many parts of our planet, I rank Coues deer hunting with traditional archery equipment as tough as it gets. For the past 23 winters, I combine quail and Coues deer hunting for 2.5 months. I attribute my occasional successes as pure perseverance and a lot of luck. Thirty to forty days of effort for perhaps one shot. Coues don’t pattern their movements and any so-called trails, if you can find one, are lightly used. Their density is quite low with perhaps one buck (does are not legal) per square mile. The right water sources can offer opportunity, but aren’t easy. Coues are extremely wary coming to water, and normally circle to only come to water with the wind in their favor. They stand for several minutes watching and waiting for the wind to swirl. At 20 yards and unaware they can really jump the string— with my longbow that equates to just a fifth of a second to detect and react. It’s raining today which likely keeps deer from normal water sources for two weeks or so, plus it is greening up. I have had a couple of successes sitting on scrape lines but a lot of days just sitting without a single deer of any sort. Any Coues with traditional equipment is a huge accomplishment.

You’ve obviously been flinging arrows at critters for quite a while, what did your introduction to archery look like?

It began with my Dad bringing home a simple lemonwood longbow at about 8 years old. My first kill was a yellow warbler out of a tree—wished I could hit something that small now. Without any guidance, it was purely trial and error, with the emphasis on error. Our southern Idaho had a lot of huge mule deer and we would often return to camp without any remaining arrows. I obtained the first ever archery–only mountain goat tag in the early 1960s and got a goat. But seeing no one, I later learned I was the only applicant for the 10 tags available. Later Idaho had over-the-counter goat tags in a couple of units and I harvested one then as well. And I got to bow hunt bighorns with an overthe-counter tag in the Bighorn Crags of Idaho.

As you know Montana bowhunters have it pretty good with our long seasons and many species to hunt. The MBA, along with a few other organizations are constantly battling bad bills introduced in Helena that would degrade the bowhunting experience. In your opinion, what is the biggest threat or threats to bowhunting in Montana ?

Having testified many times in the Legislature, my experience has reinforced that Voting Matters. As fellow outdoorsman and former Fish and Game Commissioner Ron Moody (deceased from Lewistown) often remarked: “95% of wildlife and sportsmen decisions are made on Election Day”. Fellow bowhunters cannot expect good outcomes with the wrong Legislators. One of the largest landowners in the State has given maximum contributions to each legislator of one party, and of course, they expect something from their “gifts”. Outfitters, UPOM, and large agriculture will be prominent in the Legislature. As long as hunting voters continue to be swayed by anti-gun and other rhetoric, we all will lose. This year’s one-party-dominated Legislative session will be a bloodbath for ordinary resident sportsmen, and even the Constitution may be changed.

You are well traveled and seem to have had awesome adventures around the world. If you had a single use time machine and could be transported back in time to bowhunt, where would that be and what animal would you chase?

Wow, that question brings up some awesome memories. Russia brown bears with Dick Robertson and Doug Borland. Alaska moose, black bear, sitka deer, caribou with several Montana friends. New Zealand, Zimbabwe, and Namibia and Northwest Territories Dall’s sheep. My bow and flyrod have been the catalysts to take me to some wonderful spots that I would otherwise never have traveled.

Going back, my favorite bowhunting would be not any particular animal, but rather going back to lots of opportunities for quality hunts with a lot fewer bowhunters. For me, that’s hunting undisturbed wild critters alone far from others in their natural habitats. With great respect to each specie’s survival skills, I value most the accomplishment of penetrating their natural predator avoidance distance. Montana still offers some of that for the willing, but every new technology and every new access vehicle/route threatens that quality opportunity.

What bow setup did you use in your first bowhunting success? How about the bow used on your most recent success?

My first big game successes were with Root and Bear Kodiak Magnum recurves, and cedar shafts with Bear 2 blade broadheads. An elk bugle I whittled out of bamboo worked for my first big bull elk packed out for 3 days with a packboard I made from wooden sticks.

All I have are Montana bows…. those of Dick Robertson, Monte Morevac, Dwane Jessop, Dale Dye, and Dan and Jared Tolke. I am presently favoring Dan’s takedown whip reflex deflex in about 54# at my draw length. At nearly 80 years, I am favoring the lightest draw bow I have.

A few quick:

Paper maps or phone apps?

I have and use both but must admit I find onX pretty useful for bowhunting, bird-hunting, and even Alaska fishing. But the price is, of course, there are no more secret spots. If you live in New Jersey, you can e-scout any place in Montana.

Wool or new-fangled tech camo?

Being the quietest is my only criterion for selecting bowhunting camo. I use fleece a lot because it is quiet, and at 20 yards or less, it had better be quiet. Coues deer can hear fleece against fleece as you draw at under 20 yards. I am surprised (and don’t own any) expensive high-tech gear that is all too noisy. Wood or Aluminum or Carbon arrows?

I have primitive wood, commercial wood, and aluminum shafts. Feather fletched 2216 aluminum are my everyday arrows. I prefer bright fletching to be able to see the arrow after entering the animal to assess follow-up needs.

Single bevel or double?

Double bevel because just being sharp has worked for me. I choose two or three-blade broadhead based on the ability to get an exit hole. I use Three blade for deer and two for elk, moose, etc. Bowhunting would be better if most bowhunters spent more time with judos shooting pinecones, learning how to get closer, and holding out for sure kill shots.

I hope you have a safe and successful hunt in Arizona and I do hope to see you again at the Carp Safari this coming June. Although I’ve never hunted for Cous deer, it sounds to me like Cous deer hunting is great training for bowfishing carp. They have to be really close; you probably should aim low and you will most likely shoot over their

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