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Outdoor Life reported on two Midwestern men who hunted mule deer in eastern Montana in November, honoring their late fathers and their shared interest in Western hunting. They used vintage Winchester rifles and period-inspired clothing, while keeping the hunt grounded in their own possessions and the experience itself. The supplied report does not establish whether either hunter harvested a deer.
Two friends hunted mule deer in eastern Montana last November with vintage rifles and clothes inspired by the 1970s, honoring their late fathers and the Western hunting trips the men had dreamed of taking, according to an Outdoor Life report published Oct. 12, 2026. The project paired a deer hunt with a deliberate return to the simpler equipment and style their fathers might have used.
The hunters, Mike Stock Jr. and Outdoor Life writer Michael Ellis McKean, became friends around the time their respective fathers were dying. The men’s fathers, both from the Midwest, shared a love of deer hunting and talked about pursuing big game in the West, but did not fulfill that ambition, the report says. Their sons decided to make a hunt in their memory.
Stock proposed keeping the plan practical rather than delaying it indefinitely. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a caribou or a mule deer doe. We do it this fall,” he said, recalling the way their fathers had discussed Western hunting without finding the time or money to go. The pair settled on mule deer in Montana and chose equipment and clothing intended to evoke the era when their fathers were young hunters.
McKean carried a Winchester Model 70 chambered in .30-06, fitted with a 4-power Weaver scope. Research cited in the article indicated that rifle was made in 1946. Stock brought a Winchester Model 70 in .270 Winchester. The men also used a 1972 Chevrolet K10 pickup loaned by Louie Ball, a Vietnam veteran and Purple Heart recipient from Great Falls, Montana. Stock, an executive engineer with Winchester Ammunition, supplied the hunt’s ammunition.
A Hunt Built Around Their Fathers’ Dream
The story’s significance lies in how the hunters turned an unrealized family aspiration into a shared trip. Their fathers’ plans to hunt elk or pronghorn in the West had remained talk; the sons chose a specific season and destination rather than letting their own plans drift. The hunt gave them a way to remember the men through an activity they had both passed on to their sons.
The project also made a point about hunting culture. McKean described the goal as recovering the simplicity of a hunt before marketing encouraged hunters to buy extensive specialized clothing and equipment. The report does not frame old gear as necessary for success; instead, the vintage rifles, familiar clothes and truck helped the two friends shape a personal tribute.
For readers, the account connects outdoor recreation with family memory without suggesting that the hunt resolves grief or that there is one correct way to honor a parent. Its practical premise is more modest: the two men went hunting together, using the shared interest their fathers had helped create.
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From Midwestern Roots to Montana
Stock and McKean came from families in America’s Corn Belt, according to the report. Their fathers never met, but each passed down a middle name and a love of hunting to his son. The two younger men formed their friendship as their fathers were passing away, creating a personal connection between their losses and their plans for a Western hunt.
The men first considered the tribute a couple of years before the trip, while working out where to go and how to reflect their fathers’ generation. They placed their ages alongside their fathers’ birth years and settled on a late-1970s feel. That led to secondhand-style rifles, flannel and other clothes they already owned, plus Ball’s 1972 pickup. The report says the truck and rifle were among the few deliberate period additions; the rest of the gear came from the hunters’ own belongings.
The rifles were not identical. McKean’s .30-06 Model 70 dated to 1946, while Stock’s .270 Model 70 was described as a more polished, showy example of 1970s sporting-rifle styling. Their shared approach was less about exact historical reenactment than about hunting with equipment and clothing that recalled the period.
““It doesn’t matter if it’s a caribou or a mule deer doe. We do it this fall.””
— Mike Stock Jr., as quoted in Outdoor Life
The Harvest Details Are Not Given
The supplied portion of the Outdoor Life report does not say whether Stock or McKean harvested a deer, nor does it provide a final account of the hunt’s outcome. It also does not specify the exact dates, the number of days spent hunting, or whether the pair saw other game. Those details cannot be confirmed from the material provided.
The article presents the trip as a memorial hunt, but it does not quantify the broader effect of the experience on either man or their families. The rifles’ manufacture dates and the pickup’s year are described in the report; further details about the vehicles’ history or the rifles’ previous owners are not established.
The Report Leaves the Story Open
The supplied article identifies no further hunt, event or follow-up announcement. Its immediate next development is the publication of the account on Oct. 12, 2026. Readers seeking the outcome of the Montana hunt would need the full report or additional statements from the hunters, since the source material here does not establish whether a mule deer was taken.
For now, the confirmed account is of two friends carrying out a long-planned trip in memory of their fathers, using vintage Winchester rifles and old-style clothing. Any further conclusions about the hunt’s harvest or future plans remain unconfirmed.
Key Questions
Who took part in the Montana mule deer hunt?
Mike Stock Jr. and Michael Ellis McKean, two friends whose late fathers shared an interest in hunting, made the trip, according to Outdoor Life.
Why did they plan the hunt?
They wanted to honor their fathers, who both loved deer hunting and had talked about hunting in the West but did not make that trip, the report says.
What equipment did they use?
McKean carried a Winchester Model 70 in .30-06 with a 4-power Weaver scope; Stock brought a Model 70 in .270 Winchester. They also used a 1972 Chevrolet K10 and wore clothing inspired by the 1970s.
Did either hunter harvest a mule deer?
The supplied report material does not state whether either hunter took a deer. The outcome is unclear from the information available here.
When was the account published?
Outdoor Life published the report on Oct. 12, 2026. The hunt itself took place the previous November, according to the article.
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