Montana Special Draw Units

montanamuley85 · Dec 3, 2005

I have lived in MT my whole life and have come to the conclusion that if I want to kill a huge muley, I should start applying for the special draw units. There are quite a few, but I have no idea which ones are the best. Any thoughts?

Zigga · Dec 3, 2005

I read a post a while back that said SW Montana has great muley buck hunting. I have yet to find that one spot they are talking about. I have heard that the Bridgers have great muley hunting and the Rubys aren't bad either. I suppose I will be sticking with the Bridgers from here on out and the Elkhorns for bulls. The only thing I don't like is that you can't hunt muley bucks anywhere but the place you drew. Sorry I can't tell you more. Those Canadian bucks showing up on this website will be impossible to beat.

ismith · Dec 4, 2005

Where in Montana are you?

cauch · Dec 4, 2005

LAST EDITED ON Dec-04-05 AT 09:52PM (MST)[p]I would say 270 produces some monster bucks. There was a post a week or so ago that had a NT shot in that area. There have been a couple 200"+ bucks come off that area.

Father/Son Bucks in MT shows a buck taken from the 270 area

TradO · Dec 5, 2005

some of the unlimited permit areas have bigol huge muleys and you will get the permit if you apply. Snowies is the best draw permit and a real sleeper, some GIANT bucks there and not so hard to draw for.

montanamuley85 · Dec 5, 2005

I live in NW Montana, but have hunted the past 7 seasons in the eastern part, particulary the Breaks and also the Eastern Front. I heard that 291 has some nice bucks, but nobody that I know hunts it.

ismith · Dec 6, 2005

Actually you may want to do some research on NW Montana! I grew up in Kalispell. NW Montana isnt well known for muleys, but there are some really good pockets of them. They take alot of work, but there are bucks up that are absolute hogs. You just have to know where to look!

montanamuley85 · Dec 7, 2005

Yeah, I know there are a few up here, but like you say they're hard to find. It seems every year somebody kills a huge one, but it is not unusuall to walk all day and not even see a mule deer. I don't know if you've hunted here lately, but with all of the environmental stuff going on (increasing whitetails, fire suppresion, no clear cutting, and a rapidly increasing predator population) the muley hunting in the NW is not what it used to be.

ismith · Dec 14, 2005

montanamuley85,
Im noticing alot more whitetails up high these days. Like up around 8500 and 9000 ft elevation while elk hunting! Ask anyone thats hunted my stomping grounds for a few years and they will tell you that the mule deer population there is the lowest its been in a very long time. I feel very lucky to have killed a 24 incher on opening day. That being said, there are still some area's around bozeman that have some decent muley populations and some very nice bucks. The same goes for Kalispell. Did you hear about the 200 incher that was killed up the north fork this year?

montanamuley85 · Dec 15, 2005

ismith,

Yeah, the whitetail "invasion" seems to be getting worse. I've seen whitetails in areas I never thought I would. I didn't hear of a 200 incher, but a couple of 180s were supposedly taken out. I have a friend who saw one of the "180s" a guy had shot though, and he said the buck wasn't even close to 180. I am going to talk to a guy tomarrow who hunts that area alot, and if anybody got a 200 incher, he will know about it. I expect the hunting in the north fork will improve in the next few years.

drahthaar · Dec 16, 2005

If someone really killed some 180s I would like to see the pics. I live in Kalispell and I am really a whitetail freak, I love hunting whitetails. You always hear stories, but very few seem to actually know what they are talking about. The last one I heard about was a buck that was getting pretty famous around the county line at Stryker MT. I saw an old aquaintance of mine from Eureka and he was with the guy that said he shot it, put a tape to it and it grossed 183, so who knows. Kind of bummed me out that he said he killed it off the road. I really would rather not hear that.

COBUK · Dec 17, 2005

drahthaar,

You've got a local gunsmith in town that has some mulie bucks on the wall, better than 180, that are testament to what the area is capable of.

Did that Fisher River country kick out many good whiteys this year?

Take it easy,
COBUK

ismith · Jan 24, 2006

montanamuley85,
A buddy of mine sent me a picture of the big buck that was killed up in the North Fork. It green scored 203 3/8 gross. It has killer front forks and I think it is reasonable to say that it could be a solid 185+ net buck.

mikechase · Jan 24, 2006

I have question about hunting in Montana. Two of us bought a
hunt on the Judith Ranch in Mont. We bought it at a fund raiser at the California Deer Association,two years ago. We heard it was easy to get drawn, we have no luck at all. Been trying to get some information off the internet, with no luck. Does this area hold big bucks? Do these deer mirgate to this area? Has anybody hunted this area. Thanks for your time Mike

drahthaar · Jan 25, 2006

OOPs sorry, I meant 180 inch whitetails. They slaughtered the mulies in the North Fork this year, more than double the norm came throught the check station there. I think some magazine did a story on it. Look for hordes of people up there next year.
I know there are many 180 inch mulies taken around here. There are a lot of hog mulies around here, but it takes serious hill climbing and brush fighting to get them.

montanamuley85 · Jan 25, 2006

ismith,

would you like to share those pics of that big north fork buck?

trevor

montanamuley85 · Jan 25, 2006

mikechase,

As for the tag, just keep applying. If you really want to hunt this fall, apply for the big game combo tag which includes elk, because it has much better odds. Most outfitted hunt on private ranches in MT give you a reasonable chance at a 160-170 buck, some ranches do better. There is probably no migration in that area. There are a few mountains around (the Judiths) but they are not high enough to force deer off of them until mid winter, if at all.

trevor

ismith · Jan 25, 2006

Trevor,
Here it is! I dont know the lucky hunter, he is a friend of a friends. According to the E-mail I got the bucks gross green score is 203 3/8. Looking at the picture Id say he would net at least 185.
Irl

sneak · Jan 25, 2006

ismith:

I went to school in Missoula and knew a guy my freshman year by the name of Steve Smith, also from Kalispell. I know it's a long shot, but any chance there's a relation there?

I remember very, very well going up to his parents place over Thanksgiving and being astounded by a monster muley his brother had taken the day prior to our arrival.

I was too young and green to have a clue on score back then, but I can remember it being an almost unbelievable non-typical, and I recall him saying whitey's were a dime a dozen up there, but the muleys were much harder to come by. My own subsequent experience proved him right.

Now as a non-res, I'm finding it darn tough to get a license up there--five years running and no luck so far. Seems the outfitter set-aside and the statewide limits on non-residents make odd awfully slim.

ismith · Jan 25, 2006

sneak,
Sorry, no relation to any Steve Smiths. You should have about a 1 in 2 chance of drawing a big game combo tag. The odds of drawing the combo tag vs. the deer only tag are much better. Good luck if you decide to give it another try!
Irl