Last year was a good year for the freezer, as I got a whitetail buck that I turned completely into sausage and pepperoni.  I got him with a double-lung shot at approximately 330 yards (click HERE for the full story).  I was pretty stoked about that, AND he was taken on public land.  Jason Maxwell, of Missoula, also got a nice, apple-fed 4×5 that he turned mostly into hamburger, and boy-oh-boy does he taste good (click HERE for the full story)!

We were just reunited with our bucks last Thursday after Kurt Kohn, part-time taxidermist out of Hamilton, Montana and also an English teacher in Darby, re-created exactly what we wanted in our mounts.  I was amazed at how well he captured the details we described to him.

When I originally saw my buck (pictured on the left) last November, he was thrashing a sagebrush bush like it was going to fight him back.  He had his head down–just like he does now–and, I believe, he was pretending the bush was another buck–practicing for potential future confrontations.  Jason’s buck (pictured on the right), on the other hand, was standing tall and proud when Jason first saw him.  He straightened his neck and and turned his head before Jason took him, stopping for a brief moment and posing in such a regal and confident manner.

Kurt captured both poses so well, I felt like I should have had the .308 in my hand when I saw my buck again.  I couldn’t believe how seeing him like that took me back to that exact place.  It definitely got my blood pumping.

After 3 hugs and a sore face from smiling, our bucks are with us again.  With the meat in our freezer slowly disappearing, it’s a good thing archery season starts on September 7th!

(Written by Angela Montana; Photos by Angela Montana)