completesportsman
Long Time Member
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- 3,508
I live in NC and hunted SW Montana in 2006 and 2007 both during the 1st week of rifle season, DIY and on public land. I got a decent 5x4 in 2006, my first elk and my buddy got a 5x4 this year that was his first elk.
We have hunted CO several times before MT. In CO we did not shoot any elk but the elk were in out of the way places in the mountains and if you got away from other hunters you saw elk.
In MT we did get elk but it was a little frustrating becuause the elk where we hunted were not up in the mountains and as far away from roads/trails like we were expecting. We hunted in Madison Co in the Tobacco Root Range and in the Ruby Range. We only hunted restriced areas that only allowed foot travel. Almost all of the elk we saw were early in the am leaving the private crop lands where there was alfalfa and hay fields and heading back up the mountains only a short way and then bedding in small canyons.
I really wanted to get a shot at a big elk this year and all the locals in the area said I would need to get farther back. But the farther back we went the less elk sign and elk we saw. It seemed like the elk were hanging around the private crop lands. Both elk we took were around 6000' elevation. I told my buddy we were hunting urban elk not wilderness elk!
Is this the norm for hunting in SW MT?
I looked at the Pioneer Range and it seemed like a pretty big range, I thought maybe if we got back in there we could find some good elk but if it is like everywhere else we tried the elk seemed to pull out of the mountians and get down to the agricultural areas. I have only hunted MT twice so I don't know if weather conditions in the mountains the last two years had an affect or if this is pretty normal for the area in late October.
I guess its hard to learn an area or try many different areas in just 7 days.
Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated, we plan on applying again in 2008.
We have hunted CO several times before MT. In CO we did not shoot any elk but the elk were in out of the way places in the mountains and if you got away from other hunters you saw elk.
In MT we did get elk but it was a little frustrating becuause the elk where we hunted were not up in the mountains and as far away from roads/trails like we were expecting. We hunted in Madison Co in the Tobacco Root Range and in the Ruby Range. We only hunted restriced areas that only allowed foot travel. Almost all of the elk we saw were early in the am leaving the private crop lands where there was alfalfa and hay fields and heading back up the mountains only a short way and then bedding in small canyons.
I really wanted to get a shot at a big elk this year and all the locals in the area said I would need to get farther back. But the farther back we went the less elk sign and elk we saw. It seemed like the elk were hanging around the private crop lands. Both elk we took were around 6000' elevation. I told my buddy we were hunting urban elk not wilderness elk!
Is this the norm for hunting in SW MT?
I looked at the Pioneer Range and it seemed like a pretty big range, I thought maybe if we got back in there we could find some good elk but if it is like everywhere else we tried the elk seemed to pull out of the mountians and get down to the agricultural areas. I have only hunted MT twice so I don't know if weather conditions in the mountains the last two years had an affect or if this is pretty normal for the area in late October.
I guess its hard to learn an area or try many different areas in just 7 days.
Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated, we plan on applying again in 2008.
