It's been pretty quiet on the Sport front lately. My wife and I had another baby and I've beeen busy in the garage trying to finish up some projects on the Eclipse and Evo, plus I just started work on my 1971 Buick Skylark Custom. I've owned the Skylark for 14 years, but it's been in storage for the last 11. Now I'm finally in the process of getting it back on the road... new tires, battery, brakes, exhaust, seals, and undercoating. I'm hoping to get it going soon and I will have it registered as an antique so I can drive it every now and then.
However, this weekend was my mule deer hunt in New Mexico. I was able to draw a tag and have been waiting for this trip all year! My dad and I loaded up the Sport and headed north into New Mexico on Friday. We set up a sparse camp and set out on foot to scope out the area. On Saturday we were up at 5am and headed out into the darkness in pursuit of a buck. We spent all day in the field. We saw a herd of 9 deer, but couldn't make out any antlers and they were on private land anyway. Sunday morning we hit the field early again but didn't see anything. We headed back to camp to brake it down and head to a new area. We found a road that led deep into public land and required 4wd and high clearance to get through. The Montero Sport performed flawlessly, getting across steep creek bed crossings, rocky boulder sections, and took us where most other vehicles couldn't go. We were looking for a place to set up camp but ended up seeing a nice mule deer buck going up a ridge instead. We grabbed our gear and my rifle and and headed after him on foot. I was able to get within 225 yards and made a single shot with my Remington .270 outfitted with a 4-12x Nikon scope and he fell right where he had stood. He was standing at and angle and the bullet entered his right side, tore through his liver, traversed through his toro, and lodged in the left side of his neck. Success! And it was partially thanks to my Montero Sport being able to get back into that rough section. We quartered the meat, kept the cape for a shoulder mount, and packed everything back to the truck and headed home victorious!