An offer: Anyone care to hunt in Big Sky Country?

[onehorse]

When I lived in the Vermont, I would read about hunting in the western part of the U.S., and would drool over the thought of actually hunting out there. Although I really couldn't afford to hire an outfitter, I did manage on two occasions to squirrel away enough money to do just that. I had such a great experience, that eventually, I moved to Montana.

A few years ago, I was thinking about other hunters who might find themselves in the same situation that I was in before moving out this way. So, I got on a hunting forum an made an offer to guys who maybe couldn't afford an outfitter or didn't have any contacts in the west. My proposal was that I would set the hunt up - help with applications, get a place to hunt that I had successfully hunted in the past, etc. Basically, do most of the things that an outfitter would do, except take any money for doing it.

I got dozens of responses from all over the world. I'm not kidding - one guy wrote from Germany. Anyway, after weeding out most of them for various reasons - one wrote that he had just gotten back from a safari in Africa (like he couldn't afford an outfitter, right?); or others who seemed overwhelmed with themselves or disrespectful to the animals - I invited two guys to join me on an antelope hunt. One was from Washington state and the other from British Columbia. Neither of them knew each other or me except through our emails back and forth, so we were all taking a bit of a chance.

Anyway, it worked out great. Both of them got pronghorns - one, after only about an hour of hunting, shot a nice 15 incher - and I got mine.

So, here's the deal: I'm willing to do this again. If any of you guys are interested in a western hunt (Montana), please contact me by a pm. I will help you as described above. The only thing you need to pay for would be your person equipment, license fees, transportation, etc. This would be the closest thing you could get to a guided hunt, and better than coming out here "cold" not knowing where to start. Although I'm not prepared to offer accommodations at this time, if things worked out, we might even be able to hunt together from my tent like with my last two forum hunters. This would be a pronghorn hunt, but if you were interested in deer or elk, I could be of assistance with that too. ( I just happen to think that antelope hunting is more fun, less expensive, with better chance of success in getting drawn and getting an animal.)
So, here's a chance to do what you've been reading about in the magazines.

Please don't contact me if you can afford an outfitter or have hunted the west before. I am making this offer to guys who might not be able to do this any other way, and it wouldn't be fair for you to take this opportunity from them.

If interested write ASAP, as some applications are due by March 15.

But be warned: You could wind up moving out here too!!

Best regards.

[ronn]

One Horse, that is a VERY COOL offer you are making. Its good to know there are still people in this world that are willing to help spread the grandeur of this country and the hunting life style. Not to mention that of the western USA. I'm glad it worked out for all of you the last go around and can only hope that this one is even better for all involved. I will be getting out there at some point. I have been invited to hunt in SD for antelope and may just try to take my friend up on his offer to hunt SD next year. So with that in mind and the fact that I am new to this board I will not be looking for one of those spots you are offering. I just wanted to take a minute and commend you for offering such a gift to all. To everyone who is going to try for one of the spots, good luck.

[Hunting Man]

one horse, what a offer. I hope someone takes you up on it. This just goes to show why hunters make the best friends.

[joel the signman]

wow thats an awesome deal that i would /will take you up on .thing is right now i cant afford to pay attention let alone travel cross the country to go hunting.so when im ready im calling you up

[wmi]

I would like to go in a heart beat if you would have me.

[onehorse]

Originally Posted by wmi

I would like to go in a heart beat if you would have me.

wmi,
Send me your email address in a private message, and I'll get back to you with info.

[BruceBruce1959]

Vermonters are generally polite. overly helpful always the neighborly type of folks, the type you would expect to encounter on every country vacation.
If you encounter otherwise, you didn't encounter a "Woodchuck"

Onehorse You are a great 'WOODCHUCK" indeed... I bet you haven't been called that in ages?

[ronn]

I'll bet that's true. Its because VT, like NH, has changed over the years with all the influx of "GREEN" people and their liberal ideals. Both VT and NH have not benefited from the changes these people made. They have practically destroyed the thing that brought them here in the first place. There are few of the old schoolers left and God bless'um for hanging in there. But I digress.....

[onehorse]

Hey Guys, thanks for the praise, but like I said, I just want to help someone who may not be able to do this otherwise. It doesn't have anything to do with where I am from. But Bruce is absolutlely right with what he said above about Vermonters. Even though I now live in Montana, I still love Vermont or as the bumper stickers read, "I LOVERMONT" and Vermonters. But guess what? I must confess that, originally, I'm from Connecticut, and that makes me officially a dreaded "flatlander".

This whole thing about where transplants are from has a funny side to it. When we first moved to Montana, my wife made a call inquiring about a place to rent. The woman with whom she spoke said that she was a fifth generation Montanan, so she didn't want to rent to people, like us, who had just moved here, especially "easterners". Anyway, when she told me of her conversation, I reminded my wife that she could trace her ancestry in this country back to 1634, to an Englishman named Trustrum Dodge who was one of the first settlers on Block Island (now part of Rhode Island). And, that as a person who also has an Amercain Indian great, great grandmother, her ancestry goes back even farther than that in this country. So maybe she should have responded to the "fifth" generation Montana that, as a 20th or so, generation American, she didn't want to rent from only a fifth generation newcomer to America.

This "how many generations" your family has lived in a place idea reminds of the story about a guy, like me, who once asked an old time Vermonter if his (the newcomer's) kids who were born in Vermont were considered Vermonters. To which the old Vermonter replied, "Just because the kittens was born in the oven, doesn't make 'em biscuits."

So, when I moved to Vermont, I was labeled a "flatlander," and when I moved to Montana, I became an "easterner". I don't mind the labels as much as I mind anyone assuming that I want to change anything about the place to which I move. If I didn't like it just the way it was when I got there, I wouldn't have moved there in the first place! (Maybe I'm the exception to the rule.)

So, let's look at what people say and do more than where they are from. If you love, respect and want to preserve our American wildlife and hunting, you can join me at the fireside any time. I don't care what you call yourself, or what anyone else calls you for that matter, and I sure as hell don't care where you are from!

P.S. As far as labels go, I will make an exception to Bruce calling me a "woodchuck". Knowing what he means by that makes it a real honor. Thanks for that one, Bruce.

[ronn]

Amen, That was precisely the point of what I was saying. You move there cause you like what you see, so why change it. Just wish more people thought that way. I was born in Vermont, so yeah I have one leg longer than the other. Don't think I've ever been called a kitten or a biscuit. lol Being a Vermonter or being a New Hampshirite is a frame of mind and a way of life, so like you said it doesn't matter where you come from if it's a fit to who you are. You must hear it out there the "cowboy way". Over the last 20 years or so there has just been a change in what it means to be a Vermonter or New Hampshirite. All you have to do is watch the news and see the way pedophiles are set free with just probation in Vermont. That wouldn't have happened 25 years ago. They let pedophiles walk and want there town attorneys or town prosecutors to make out warrants for Bush and Cheney's arrest. Not old school Vermonter.