This is a muley buck taken in Montana. My friend Mark and I had gone into this area that has produced some larger bucks in the past. We took off the second weekend to scout around and found a few decent bucks but it was early in the season and the rut was about to begin in a week or two so I decided to pass them up.
That next week I planned a route on my gps and topo maps that put us in a position to maybe find a decent buck. So Mark, his two son’s and I took off that next Saturday walking in the dark to get to the first promising area. That first area only produced a single doe. The second area had sparsely scattered timber and some clear cuts. We were in the area for only a few minutes when we spotted a doe and then another and another across the drainage. We decided to sit down and have lunch and watch the multiplying heard.
Mark and his son’s were sitting about twenty yards to my right eating and watching the hillside. Pretty soon Mark was motioning for me to come over to where they were sitting. Two bucks had shown up in the clearing and were sparring. The bigger buck actually stood up on his hind legs and was lashing down on the smaller buck. I took a good rest and shot the bigger buck.
What can I say, it was a great hunt and the biggest buck that I have killed so far. I have been primarily an elk hunter since I started hunting. But I think this experience changed that dramatically.

Keith Straughn
Montana