Montana Elk/Muley hunt Need Help plz

jaeger911 · Oct 6, 2004

Just got offered a hunt in sw Montana in the middle of November for elk and mule deer, I am from Tennessee and hunt whitetails and turkey, ducks and such but have never been out west, I really want to make the best of this trip and get a trophy. i would really like a great Muley on my wall, any help or advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks

GrandpaNasty · Oct 6, 2004

Not sure what your idea of big muley is but generally speaking Montana does pump out a lot of real big ones. Lots of respectable deer though. good luck on the hunt and have fun

jaeger911 · Oct 6, 2004

I would love to have a 5x5 or greater, but I am not pickey, Montana does or does not pump ot a lot of big ones? There is a 10,000 foot mountain nearby, do I need to get up as high as possible?

mtAl · Oct 6, 2004

What part of SW Montana? Hunting with a friend or guided? Private land or public land?

As stated, Montana doesn't have a bunch of huge deer, but they are certainly there if you are willing to get off the road.

jaeger911 · Oct 6, 2004

Around Pony Montana, hunting with friends who have been going a couple of years, private land with atv's and on foot.

woodman · Oct 6, 2004

The Mule Deer start the rut around the middle of November in southwest MT. Be somewhere at first light where you can glass a lot of country looking for the does where you see does you should be able to find a decent buck. This is fairly open country for the most part. Good luck and enjoy.

Hornseeker · Oct 6, 2004

Alot of the Tobacco Roots is a 4 point min for muleys, so its a good chance that you'll see some young 4 point bucks, but there aren't alot of deer older than 3. This is mostly hearsay, but I did do a little research on the subject.

Good Luck

Hornseeker · Oct 6, 2004

Just looked at the regs, and it looks like they dropped the 4 pt restriction this year. Should still be lots left from last year though.

jaeger911 · Oct 6, 2004

thanks for the help and encouragement, should I go up in elevation as much as possible?

kilowatt · Oct 6, 2004

How did your friends do in the past on this ranch hunting? What did they do as far as hunting high or low?
If they did good, then stick to their game plan.

Brian

hale · Oct 6, 2004

hey you need to go as high as the weather will allow that time of year the bucks in the south west are pretty local and it depends were you go. around dillon and henrys lake area go as high as the snow will allow, in the gravelys anywhere away from the people.... You get the idea! There are some real good deer on the cenntenial side of the mountians

jaeger911 · Oct 6, 2004

I just met this group and know that a lot of them are not the type of hunters who will get after it, as I am. So I plan on kinda doing my own thing to take advantage of the oppurtunity. What is the "centenial side" of the mtns? You'll have to enlighten a redneck from Tennessee!

Tally · Oct 6, 2004

You must already have a tags?? Why would you buy tags living in Tennessee and just now get interested in an area to hunt??
Or are you going to hunt some type of preserve?
The deadline for buck and bull tags has long past. I know there are some left over doe/cow tags still available.

Bambistew · Oct 7, 2004

LAST EDITED ON Oct-07-04 AT 09:42AM (MST)[p]The centenial is a LONG ways from Pony... it would take you all of 3 hours to drive there! I think the area that you're refering to is one of the few draw areas in the state, of course its going to hold some nice ones!

I would check into when the season closes on mule deer in that area 333, it used to close the first week of November, but they may have changed it... Don't expect much in the way of big muleys, you can find a 140-150" running around over there with some patience, your odds of finding a 140" whitetail are lot better though. The Pony area wouldn't even be on my list of places to hunt deer... I grew up less than 35 miles from there. I'm currious to know what ranch you will be hunting on. There aren't many of any size around there. The only one that is of any size is my cousin's...

Good luck however. They do kill a few deer around over there, but don't get your hopes up to high. You won't see big bucks running all over the place.

The deer will be where they are. It will all be dependant on the weather and snow. I would highly doubt that you will still be on the ranch if you get to the top of that mountain. Most all those ranches over there stop at about the base of the mountains...

Email me if you want some more info, I may be able to help you out.

mtAl · Oct 7, 2004

Also curious as to where you got tags...must be through the unlimited outfitter sponsored tags?

As stated several times above, Pony and the Tobacco Roots are not known for elk or mulie trophy quality. However and as always, if you are willing to get into some more remote areas away from the normal hunting access areas you might have some really good luck. The Pony area is often crawling with ATVs (there's a fun road over a pass, apparantly, that takes you from Pony down over to the Boulder River valley).

No matter what, you'll have fun and if you don't pull the trigger too quick might have a chance at a nice deer.

Tally · Oct 8, 2004

I smell a bogus post...........

MTBullhunter · Oct 10, 2004

Hey Tally,

How have you been? Are you hunting up in the Breaks again this year? Deer numbers are WAY WAY down - when I was elk hunting, we saw very few deer north of Jordan.

Let me know your plans.

John

Tally · Oct 10, 2004

Hey MTBull,

I put in for the combo deer tag and didn't draw.
I was offered a left over outfitter tag and of course I bought it. My son and I are coming over the 14th of Nov for a week, hopefully the rut will bring 'um out. We have permission to hunt a chunk north of town.
I sure hope we can find a good buck.
What the heck happened last winter?? I didn't think it was that bad.
Did you fill your elk tag?
Were you bow hunting?
Are you going to deer hunt around your property?

Tally

Deerchaser · Oct 11, 2004

We hunted west of Jordan last year and seen lots of nice deer and this year my partner was out scouting and said the deer are few and far between. Was there a big winter kill or did they just move out? He seen lots of elk.

NeMont · Oct 11, 2004

I don't know who told you all that the winter was easy but it was brutal. Here in Glasgow on the north side we had nearly 70 inches of snowfall.

The winter took a toll on all wildlife. Last fall was a banner year for good quality and quanity of bucks but it will be a different ball game this year.

Having said that there are still some deer to be had but they are going to be alot more work.

Nemont

MTBullhunter · Oct 11, 2004

We didn't connect on any elk, although we saw plenty. You know how it is with archery, especially in that area - it's very hard to get close enough.

Last year the winter was brutal with the snowfall. I've seen very few deer and antelope. There are deer around, and still some good ones, but don't expect to see the numbers you're used to. There were a couple of days while we were elk hunting where we didn't see ANY deer, let alone a buck.

I plan to hunt around my place, north of Jordan. I'm also planning on doing some hunting in the Sydney area, so if I can't find a good muley buck, I may look for a nice whitetail.

Good luck to you...

Deerchaser · Oct 11, 2004

I hope everyone does well, we are heading up on the 11th and will stay till we find them. The rut should help us out a little. We are hoping to hunt elk for a few days but we will have to go back across the state since we did not draw anything on the breaks. Good luck