Any Montana luck?

[huntMT]

Just wanted to see if anyone has had any success in Montana anytime after opening weekend.

I personally have seen 8 elk on public land, though the elk were spotted about 3 miles away on landlocked public. All the other elk I've seen have been down low on private. It's been pretty slim in finding deer on public also. I know opening weekend puts alot of pressure on critters but it seems strange to me that my hunting buddy and I could find elk and gobs of deer everyday during archery and now we can't find hardly anything.

I'm not asking where to hunt, just wondering if I'm having some bad luck or if everyone is in the same boat I am.

 

[oopslala]

Where I hunted in Colorado we talked to the Cowboys there and they said the elk went back up higher. Apparently they were seeing them a lot during archery and when rifle rolled around they went back to higher elevations which I find hard to believe, but I did scouting during the later part of archery and saw plenty of elk. Once rifle rolled around we saw nothing until the last night.

If life still got some scouting time it might be worth going to the higher elevation areas and glass a couple days.

 

[huntMT]

Been high, been low, hunted the open areas, hunted thick timber and nothing all the way around. That's what has me so confused and trying to see if anyone else is having the same problems or not

 

[Jon Boy]

The ranges I hunt have elk at tree line in rocky basins. Quite a ride/hike to get to them

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[ndbwhunter]

No shots for me yet either. Spotted a nice bull and 7-10 cows from camp the night before opener, and have only seen 3 cows since. I was even willing to shoot a cow opening weekend! I'm heading back out next week Wednesday to try and punch the tag.

 

[TBoschma]

I've come up short both times in Montana this year, I've got into bulls, but the only shot I took I missed... keep hitting the public land between some of the bigger ranches and big tracks of public ground they're out there and more than you would think. it is frustrating seeing all those elk in areas you cant hunt, but if put in the time and get away from where guys are hammering the roads youll turn up elk.

 

[137buck]

I'm into elk every day, seeing them everywhere from high to low and a lot on private land. But I also get away from the roads and trails, and am willing to put some miles on my boots.

 

[huntMT]

Im plenty far away from roads. Walked in three miles on a closed road then a couple miles from where the road ended and still no elk. On the plus side though, saw a dozen mountain goats and a big mountain lion.

 

[Jon Boy]

Keep moving till you find them. Once you do find some look at the country there in and then look for similar looking country. I've noticed getting farther away from roads doesn't mean jack in Montana. There are so many passionate hard core elk hunters here that there is no such thing as a secret spot during rifle season

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[mtwarden]

the weather hasn't exactly been ideal and by the looks of it, we're in for more bluebird weather

having said that, I was in elk on Sunday (had rain that morning), skipping this weekend, but have five days to hunt starting Friday

Good luck fellas!

 

[slick]

Was in elk yesterday. Bulls are bachelor-ed up big time. They were hanging with each other at ~9300. Seemed to be up feeding and more active starting about 4ish. I agree with warden, we could use some snow.
& go figure all I saw were Bulls with a cow tag in my pocket.

 

[530Chukar]

Heading up to Gallatin in a few days for the remainder of the season. Looks like a cold snap coming in in a week or so. Would you guys say the elk that aren't on private are still up high? Any migratory movement or will they wait until the first few storms?

 

[mtwarden]

my buddy killed a nice bull up the Gallatin, he said best to look for country without much pressure. The had to pack the bull out five miles and ford the Gallatin- never saw another hunter ( but did see a grizzly )

 

[LFHenderson]

I spent from 10/22/16 to 10/31/16 hunting units 211 and 216. I found fresh sign at about 6800ft elev in young timber but did not see any elk. I was able to see moose and doe whitetail and muleys.

 

[wyosteve]

Two of my good friends just filled their tags this past weekend in the Missouri Breaks. Saw about 80 elk he said.

 

[Matt Cashell]

Keep at it guys!

I've been hunting with my 12 year old, and we have been putting on the miles too. We have seen small groups of cows and the bulls are bachelored up in their post-rut hidey-holes. With a little weather though, the cows will group up and the migration will kick in, making for some better opportunity to see those bulls out in the open.

Good luck!

 

[brettkoenecke]

We couldn't find much last week either. Miles of hiking, frequently up past 9000 feet. The weather done did us wrong.

 

[missjordan]

We've been into elk everyday on our trip despite the unusually warm weather. Temperatures averaged around 55-60 degrees during the high. However we managed to kill four bulls in the first 8 days of the season all on public land in general units, and are all tagged out on elk. Deer hunting has been super slow and only have shot one deer so far, that's a decent 4pt


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[mtwarden]

^ very nice!- hope your good luck rubs off on the rest of us

 

[Jimbo V]

We've been into elk everyday on our trip despite the unusually warm weather. Temperatures averaged around 55-60 degrees during the high. However we managed to kill four bulls in the first 8 days of the season all on public land in general units, and are all tagged out on elk. Deer hunting has been super slow and only have shot one deer so far, that's a decent 4pt


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I couldn't seem get to them everything I saw was out of what I consider practical distance to pack out without horses. Very warm everything was in avalanche chutes. Did get a small muley buck


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