7mmULTRAMAG
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i am thinking about hunting with a boat on fort peck near hell creek or devel creek anyone have any good or bad experience doing this i would be going as late in season as possible well there is still open water.
missouri breaks boat hunting
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NeMont
Long Time Member
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I have hunted by boat alot on Ft. Peck. Mostly on the north side from the Pines down to Bonetrail. Late in the season the weather can catch you by surprise. It does allow you access a lot of ground and look over even more.
The bigger issue is going to be if there will be any water in the lake and what ramps you can use. The corps continues to dump water for power generation. Everyday the lake sets a new record low.
Have you hunted here before?
Nemont
The bigger issue is going to be if there will be any water in the lake and what ramps you can use. The corps continues to dump water for power generation. Everyday the lake sets a new record low.
Have you hunted here before?
Nemont
7mmULTRAMAG
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ne mont
yes i have been hunting on the milk river and 1 times in the pines.a friend said there is lot of snow up there sure hope
it dont kill a lot of deer.we wanted to stay at hell creek marina and leave from there .if you have any good hints drop me a email [email protected]
thank you
yes i have been hunting on the milk river and 1 times in the pines.a friend said there is lot of snow up there sure hope
it dont kill a lot of deer.we wanted to stay at hell creek marina and leave from there .if you have any good hints drop me a email [email protected]
thank you
7MM, We did lots of boat hunting in the breaks in the late 80's to mid 90's. Great way to hunt. We launched at Hell Creek in later years because there was never enough water on the ramps at other locations. The biggest things to be aware of are 1. weather changes (It dropped from 60's to -30 in 24 hours one year)2. Rocks in the reservoir. The best part of river hunting is if you do kill a critter you drag it down to the river instead of up. We always hunted the very end of the season and had some very good muley hunting. Drop me a private email and I would be happy to share some other thoughts. [email protected]
H
Hornseeker
Guest
Hey NEMT, GL7mm et al,
What do you think the deer racks max out at around the breaks? I know there are a couple really big guys, but it seems to me the biggest of the big are maybe in the 170 class? What do you think?
I have a friend that has a cabin in Hell Creek and another with a ranch over at 7 Blackfoot. Over the years they've killed some nice bucks, some going 28-30 inches wide, but none ever scoring over 175 gross? Do you think its just an age factor or are the genes just not there? If you look in the record books there are little to no deer from around the lake.
Appreciate your thoughts,
Horn Seeker
What do you think the deer racks max out at around the breaks? I know there are a couple really big guys, but it seems to me the biggest of the big are maybe in the 170 class? What do you think?
I have a friend that has a cabin in Hell Creek and another with a ranch over at 7 Blackfoot. Over the years they've killed some nice bucks, some going 28-30 inches wide, but none ever scoring over 175 gross? Do you think its just an age factor or are the genes just not there? If you look in the record books there are little to no deer from around the lake.
Appreciate your thoughts,
Horn Seeker
W
WAmuleyHunter
Guest
we have some friends that every year they go and hunt the breaks at the tail end of the season for a week and a half, they have taken some big elk, and some real nice deer. but nothing monsterious i guess, but deer i could never pass. Just about like your saying that 170 mark i think is the biggest. maybe one that would go a little bigger. if you wanted to know the exact area or general area where they go i could probably find out.
Garrett
Garrett
NeMont
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Horn Seeker,
I think it is mostly genetic. Most bucks around the lake are fairly tall but not generally really wide. There are some 30 inchers taken ever year but most don't score real high. I would agree that 170-175 is generally the max.
I also think that access and the popularity of the breaks means a lot of pressure especially during the rut, hence the end of hunting the rut in most districts on the north side of the lake.
It will be interesting to see if this has an impact on the antler growth out there. There are a few real brutes there just few and far between.
Nemont
I think it is mostly genetic. Most bucks around the lake are fairly tall but not generally really wide. There are some 30 inchers taken ever year but most don't score real high. I would agree that 170-175 is generally the max.
I also think that access and the popularity of the breaks means a lot of pressure especially during the rut, hence the end of hunting the rut in most districts on the north side of the lake.
It will be interesting to see if this has an impact on the antler growth out there. There are a few real brutes there just few and far between.
Nemont
LAST EDITED ON Jan-21-04 AT 10:01AM (MST)[p]hornseeker,
i also think that the weather conditions and quality of feed out there is bad enough that the bucks tend to die by the time they are 4 years of age, IF they aren't picked off by hunters.
all have said that this last season saw exceptionally good antler growth there because of the good precip. in May and June. combined with that, the last 3 mild winters allowed more bucks to survive than usual, and we still didn't see any bucks that would go 160. we spent 12 hunter-days looking, and i took the best one i saw which was +/-155.
there are definitely better areas for big bucks.
berto
i also think that the weather conditions and quality of feed out there is bad enough that the bucks tend to die by the time they are 4 years of age, IF they aren't picked off by hunters.
all have said that this last season saw exceptionally good antler growth there because of the good precip. in May and June. combined with that, the last 3 mild winters allowed more bucks to survive than usual, and we still didn't see any bucks that would go 160. we spent 12 hunter-days looking, and i took the best one i saw which was +/-155.
there are definitely better areas for big bucks.
berto
H
Hornseeker
Guest
Yeah, that all sounds about right. Dont get me wrong, I would be real happy to kill 150-170 bucks every year forever, BUT....I really like to concentrate my hunting efforts in places that there is a "chance" that a monster might step out. After looking at the books and being around there some, I'd say there is virtually no chance a 185+ buck is going to walk out on ya in the breaks, and zero chance of a 200+ inch nontyp.
SO, I'll hunt areas where there aren't as many deer, probably have less chance for a 150-170 buck, but WILL have some slight chance that old grandpa nasty might step out!!
SO, I'll hunt areas where there aren't as many deer, probably have less chance for a 150-170 buck, but WILL have some slight chance that old grandpa nasty might step out!!
B
Bearhunter
Guest
I hunted the lake this year and took a 160 class buck, and we also took 2 other 150 class bucks. Finding theme bigger than that is tough but they are there. I found found while hunting this year that would go in the low 180's, I got a real up close look at him at 20yds and missed him at 250 yds 4 times, from what I seen over there you have to get up off the lake aways from the boat back in where no one else is going, and you will find those bigger bucks. I only seen one with a few additional kickers, I dont believe that there is strong genetics for nontypicals over there, just your classic 4x4 with thin horns until they are able to age.
antlerradar
Active Member
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IF the breaks are anything like SE MT I will say it is both genetics and age. In the 60's plenty of big bucks were taken in my aria. Not CO big but 180 or better was not that rare. We still have bucks getting to old age but it is very hard for one with good genetics to live more than three or four years. My bet is that the bucks with the top genetics in the breaks are also getting shot when they are young and dumb.
Antlerradar
Antlerradar
T
Tally
Guest
There was enough water to use the ramp at Hell Creek this last season. There was also a lot of guys using it.
The biggest rack we saw hanging at Ryans grocery in Jordan came from the west end of the lake, they were in the 26" to 30" wide range. That's what the kids doing the skinning said. We have been hunting north of Jordan away from the lake a ways on private property for the last few years and
"I think" from what I saw this year there were some pretty nice racks out there. My opinion only, they had a nice wet spring with lots of foleage to grow antelers with and it showed.
Big bucks are where you find them.......
The Hell Creek Marina was open this year till Thanksgiving weekend, they have been closing the end of Oct in the past.
One adventure we had in 1996, we were going to boat hunt from Hell Cr. starting the 18th of November. It was super cold that year and we had to use digging bars to chissel the boats out and bust our way to open water. The boat ramp was so icey we had 3 4x4's chained up and chained together to pull the boats out of the water and up the ramp.
That's just the nature of E. Mont.
Every year is a little different and you won't know if you don't try. Just go prepared.
You can call Hell Cr. Marina or you can always call The Rancher's Bar in Jordan to get current conditions.
I love hunting that country.
The biggest rack we saw hanging at Ryans grocery in Jordan came from the west end of the lake, they were in the 26" to 30" wide range. That's what the kids doing the skinning said. We have been hunting north of Jordan away from the lake a ways on private property for the last few years and
"I think" from what I saw this year there were some pretty nice racks out there. My opinion only, they had a nice wet spring with lots of foleage to grow antelers with and it showed.
Big bucks are where you find them.......
The Hell Creek Marina was open this year till Thanksgiving weekend, they have been closing the end of Oct in the past.
One adventure we had in 1996, we were going to boat hunt from Hell Cr. starting the 18th of November. It was super cold that year and we had to use digging bars to chissel the boats out and bust our way to open water. The boat ramp was so icey we had 3 4x4's chained up and chained together to pull the boats out of the water and up the ramp.
That's just the nature of E. Mont.
Every year is a little different and you won't know if you don't try. Just go prepared.
You can call Hell Cr. Marina or you can always call The Rancher's Bar in Jordan to get current conditions.
I love hunting that country.
NeMont
Long Time Member
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- 12,632
All,
Here is a link to the Hell Creek WebCam if you want to see what it looks like now.
http://www.walleyesunlimited.com/webcams/fortpeckhellcreekcamslide.html
There are a couple of different WebCams around the lake but they have been down for the past two weeks. When we get them back up I will post link for anyone interested.
Nemont
Here is a link to the Hell Creek WebCam if you want to see what it looks like now.
http://www.walleyesunlimited.com/webcams/fortpeckhellcreekcamslide.html
There are a couple of different WebCams around the lake but they have been down for the past two weeks. When we get them back up I will post link for anyone interested.
Nemont
LAST EDITED ON Jan-22-04 AT 10:44AM (MST)[p]antlerradar,
you and i are on the same page. access in that area is just too easy so the better bucks that do survive the harsh climate consistently get shot.
tally,
'96 was a big winterkill year and i think this one may be another hard one for the deer in that area. nemont can keep us posted
nemont,
thanks for the link. looks like the plows have been at work in there, but i don't see anyone fishing ;-)
berto
you and i are on the same page. access in that area is just too easy so the better bucks that do survive the harsh climate consistently get shot.
tally,
'96 was a big winterkill year and i think this one may be another hard one for the deer in that area. nemont can keep us posted
nemont,
thanks for the link. looks like the plows have been at work in there, but i don't see anyone fishing ;-)
berto
T
Tally
Guest
I didn't know that web cam was there.
Thanks for the link.
I love just looking at that country!!!
Going back in June to help our friends work their sheep.
Thanks for the link.
I love just looking at that country!!!
Going back in June to help our friends work their sheep.
NeMont
Long Time Member
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- 12,632
January 30, 2004
Last modified January 30, 2004 - 12:42 pm
Paved boat ramps likely to be unusable at Fort Peck Reservoir
By MARK HENCKEL
Gazette Outdoor Editor
When the ice melts off Fort Peck Reservoir this spring, none of the paved boat ramps there will be usable for fishermen or pleasure boaters. Worse yet, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has no money to extend them.
As Fort Peck continues to drop to unprecedentedly low levels, it appears the Corps budget squeeze has struck again.
Only last week, the Corps discovered that the funding to continue construction of the new Fort Peck Fish Hatchery might run out in July. Five million dollars was lost to something called "savings and slippage" and won't be available.
Whole Story http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?ts=1&display=rednews/2004/01/30/build/state/30-fortpeck.inc
Last modified January 30, 2004 - 12:42 pm
Paved boat ramps likely to be unusable at Fort Peck Reservoir
By MARK HENCKEL
Gazette Outdoor Editor
When the ice melts off Fort Peck Reservoir this spring, none of the paved boat ramps there will be usable for fishermen or pleasure boaters. Worse yet, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has no money to extend them.
As Fort Peck continues to drop to unprecedentedly low levels, it appears the Corps budget squeeze has struck again.
Only last week, the Corps discovered that the funding to continue construction of the new Fort Peck Fish Hatchery might run out in July. Five million dollars was lost to something called "savings and slippage" and won't be available.
Whole Story http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?ts=1&display=rednews/2004/01/30/build/state/30-fortpeck.inc
