I am pretty sure you fall in love with Montana the minute you land at the airport.
In November 2007, I went on my very first guided hunt ever just north of Great Falls, near the small hamlet of Geraldine with CVA Muzzleloaders. A small group of outdoor writers and editors were out hunting for trophy mule deer with Central Montana Outfitters.
Coming from the small rolling hills of Pennsylvania, this terrain was like nothing I had ever seen. The vast fields with prehistoric rock formations jutting up like the back of a stegosaurs.
We spent the first day of our hunt driving through the wind, spotting mulies, only putting a stalk on a couple of times. Nearing last light, we met up with outfitter and host Chad Schearer (now host of Shoot Straight TV with his wife Marsha). Chad had spotted a shooter buck in a little bowl, and I was up.
After a very short stalk, the buck came walking out of the bramble of trees he was in, walked out and gave me a perfect broadside shot. I took him with the CVA Electra that was just making waves in the industry that year.
That night, one of the other hunters in the camp, American Hunter editor-in-chief Scott Olmsted shot a 140-class whitetail.
We spent our remaining days roaming the fields hunting sharptail grouse, wild ringneck pheasants, and huns.
And in a few short days, I fell in love with Montana, just like thousands of outdoorsmen before me have.
