Gravelly range MT

dieseldog · Oct 11, 2009

Anyone ever hunted this range south of Ennis Mt. A buddy and I are heading that way for opener of rifle elk season. He has been there once but i never have. Just wondering if someone can give me a little insight to the area. What to expect as far as elk-deer numbers, good place to camp etc. Thanks for your time.

popeyoung2 · Oct 11, 2009

I lived in Mt. from 1980 thru 1983. Should have never left. Anyway, Lots of elk, Lots of small bulls, get a chained up 4x4 and you can go anywhere. Just glass alot, lots of hunters on the opener but most can not or will not climb 1,400 feet out of the pick up. Deer of abundant but again no trophies due to the road acess. No idea on campgrounds. Good luck. Bring a packframe and know how to quarter. I killed a 6x6, 4x4, and a spike in three years there.

leonard · Oct 12, 2009

Hunted there once in 2001, around the Eureka Basin area. We made the mistake of hunting the 3rd week of season in mid-November and the elk had been pushed to more remote areas. Moved camps after a couple days and went north of Lima to the southern end of the Snowcrest Range and encounter a lot of small groups of elk, but no mature bulls. Like the previous post the majority will not hunt the backcountry after a few days and they get tired and drive the roads. That range holds lots of elk from what I've read/heard, has a large elk harvest, but are mostly smaller raghorns, and small 5 and 6 pointers. It is a nice area to hunt with accommodating terrain; that is easy to hike to ride horses. Good luck.

Leonard

MonteMontana · Oct 12, 2009

Really, your are looking at the most heavilly hunted area there is for elk. There is game but there is a ton of hunters and it seems that the farther you go west from the Gravellys the more hunters you encounter.

dieseldog · Oct 12, 2009

I have heard that it gets fairly crowded with people, but what public ground isn't that has any amount of game on it. Got any better ideas than the Gravellys then we are open to anything.

MonteMontana · Oct 12, 2009

You know it is a good spot because of the numbers. Whether you hunt there or over closer to the Park, if you get far enough away from the roads you should have a good chance. The other posters are right about the road hunters. I would say that the majority of hunters that hunt Beaverhead and Madison Counties never do more that 2-3 miles from their truck. The nice thing about the country to the east of the Gravellys is that there is FAR fewer roads. If you run into hunters way back in there, they will probably be locals, or outfitted/horseback hunts. Best of luck.