Headed to Bozeman/Yellowstone in July
- Thread starter ChrisS
- Start date
OP
OP
ChrisS
WKR
I was also thinking about booking a USFS cabin for an overnight trip in the Custer-Gallatin, does anyone have any experience with these?
Make sure you get on it. I think they fill up pretty quick. I've never stayed at one, but driven past a few. They all look to be pretty nice, rugged, but comfortable. I think it'd be pretty sweet. One outside of Bozeman has a stables, ect. for horses.
How about the Wind River? It's closer to my campground. Don't worry I'll definitely be carrying bear spray. I live in the mtns. of N.Ga. and I'm around black bears a lot but Grizzlies command my respect. Do most folks carry a side-arm as well? My friend will have a .44 mag with her but I really dont want to tote that heavy piece of iron. I have a compact .40 cal. Kahr that would carry much better, it would be an absolute last resort situation before I used it, dont want to go through an inquiry or hurt a bear unnecessarily for that matter.
What .44 mag is it? It may not be that heavy of a gun depending on which it is. I would take the weight of a .44 mag no matter what over the .40. That won't do anything. Carry the bear spray and don't worry about a gun at all if you don't want the weight of the .44 mag. A lot of people swear by pepper spray and its effectiveness over firearms. I carry a 10mm and I would consider that the lowest caliber to carry for a grizzly.
COlineman78
WKR
[video=youtube;EmjyPu1UoXI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmjyPu1UoXI[/video]
If you're passing through Bozeman, I recommend Buffalo Jump. If you happen to have a Mormon with you, bring 2 or it can get pretty crazy; think Long Island iced tea and projectile vomit crazy.....most of which took place in the women's bathroom. I wish I could make this stuff up.
These are guys coming through with their wives, I believe. I don't think they want to go to a strip club. If they do, they have awesome wives.
Now the Buffalo BUMP, that's a few miles down the road from the JUMP, has really good pizza.
OP
OP
ChrisS
WKR
Just returned last night. Thanks for everyone who added tips to this thread. I had a fantastic trip and can't wait to get back. I'll add some pictures later when I get a chance. I wished I had known that a total archery challenge was going on in Big Sky this last weekend, I would have altered my plans.
We flew into Bozeman, hung out for a couple of days, backpacked into the Gallatin National Forest, drove down through Ennis to West Yellowstone, checked out Quake Lake, spent two nights in the park, and drove back along the Beartooth Highway into Red Lodge. Spent another night on Boulder Creek (which was crazy busy) and then back to Bozeman.
Couple of highlights:
We flew into Bozeman, hung out for a couple of days, backpacked into the Gallatin National Forest, drove down through Ennis to West Yellowstone, checked out Quake Lake, spent two nights in the park, and drove back along the Beartooth Highway into Red Lodge. Spent another night on Boulder Creek (which was crazy busy) and then back to Bozeman.
Couple of highlights:
- Big Sky has a weird vibe. Maybe it's just because it's a ski resort in the offseason. Not bad, just different.
- The guys at Stone Glacier are awesome. Big help. TSA somehow lost the belt from my wife's pack (a non-SG), we stopped in and they frankensteined a three piece belt to fit so that we could still backpack.
- We did the Lewis and Clark caverns, the Madison buffalo Jump and Three Forks as a neat day trip. It just so happened that Lewis and Clark were camped at the confluence 211 years ago to the day we were there.
- If someone from out of the area is planning on this trip and bringing their wife camping, be sure that they're not totally terrified of bears. I had to scale back some of my plans because my SO thought grizzlies were laying in wait around every tree. She's been fine when we're in black bear territory, but grizzles really put her off.
- I had a stud muley walk through my campsite in the Gallatin. I was sitting by the fire around 930 pm and heard a noise. I looked up and saw antlers 20 yards away. 4x4 at least and with that classic big ol' square rack. He had zero concerns about me or my fire. If I had my bow, and it was a month later and an hour earlier, I'd have a nice buck for the wall. About 20 minutes later a smaller fork horn came through and fed for like 15 minutes downwind of me.
- Saw lots of wildlife and stupid people in Yellowstone. The signs says the water is 195F, so of course I see people sticking their fingers into it. The bison were rutting, so of course I see people getting out of their car and trying to take pictures of the 2000 lb bull next to his cow.
- Best tip for Yellowstone is from MTMiller. Set your alarm clock. I saw Old Faithful go off at 730 am and there were about 16 people there. The thermal features and the Canyon/Falls were the worse for crowds. Lamar Valley wasn't too bad.
- The RV reservable campgrounds are way crowded and the first-come first-serve ones are tough to depend on. Pebble fills up last (noon-ish) and Slough Creek was booked by 7am.
- The beartooth highway is spectacular.
- I think Fairy Lake is a joke on out-of towners to get them to drive up there. A trail guide says that it's great swimming, so on a 96F day in town, my SO wanted to go swimming. It seemed like everyone from Bozeman was driving up or down that godforsaken road and the lake was only slightly above 40 degrees. She did jump in the lake (and right back out).
- I fished as much as I could and didn't land any monsters, but I had fun. Like 2ski says, everywhere is good. Also, fly fishing draws a crowd no matter where you go. I was fishing the Madison in the park and there was a crowd standing behind me taking pictures. Also on the Gallatin, Boulder, and Yellowstone in the park. I'm not that great of caster.
- The guys at Stone Glacier are awesome. Big help. TSA somehow lost the belt from my wife's pack (a non-SG), we stopped in and they frankensteined a three piece belt to fit so that we could still backpack.
- We did the Lewis and Clark caverns, the Madison buffalo Jump and Three Forks as a neat day trip. It just so happened that Lewis and Clark were camped at the confluence 211 years ago to the day we were there.
- If someone from out of the area is planning on this trip and bringing their wife camping, be sure that they're not totally terrified of bears. I had to scale back some of my plans because my SO thought grizzlies were laying in wait around every tree. She's been fine when we're in black bear territory, but grizzles really put her off.
- I had a stud muley walk through my campsite in the Gallatin. I was sitting by the fire around 930 pm and heard a noise. I looked up and saw antlers 20 yards away. 4x4 at least and with that classic big ol' square rack. He had zero concerns about me or my fire. If I had my bow, and it was a month later and an hour earlier, I'd have a nice buck for the wall. About 20 minutes later a smaller fork horn came through and fed for like 15 minutes downwind of me.
- Saw lots of wildlife and stupid people in Yellowstone. The signs says the water is 195F, so of course I see people sticking their fingers into it. The bison were rutting, so of course I see people getting out of their car and trying to take pictures of the 2000 lb bull next to his cow.
- Best tip for Yellowstone is from MTMiller. Set your alarm clock. I saw Old Faithful go off at 730 am and there were about 16 people there. The thermal features and the Canyon/Falls were the worse for crowds. Lamar Valley wasn't too bad.
- The RV reservable campgrounds are way crowded and the first-come first-serve ones are tough to depend on. Pebble fills up last (noon-ish) and Slough Creek was booked by 7am.
- The beartooth highway is spectacular.
- I think Fairy Lake is a joke on out-of towners to get them to drive up there. A trail guide says that it's great swimming, so on a 96F day in town, my SO wanted to go swimming. It seemed like everyone from Bozeman was driving up or down that godforsaken road and the lake was only slightly above 40 degrees. She did jump in the lake (and right back out).
- I fished as much as I could and didn't land any monsters, but I had fun. Like 2ski says, everywhere is good. Also, fly fishing draws a crowd no matter where you go. I was fishing the Madison in the park and there was a crowd standing behind me taking pictures. Also on the Gallatin, Boulder, and Yellowstone in the park. I'm not that great of caster.
missjordan
WKR
Glad you had a great trip! My brother lives in Bozeman so we made it down there a couple times this summer to visit and it's a neat town.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Similar threads
Featured Video
Latest Articles
- TT#60 Henry Ferguson Killing Big Muley’s with a Bow
- Zeiss SFL 12×50 Review
- Swarovski EL Range 12×42 TA Binocular Review
- Battle of the 2.0s: Seek Outside Cimarron vs Redcliff Floorless Shelters
- Quiet Kat Ranger XR Review
- Shoot2Hunt A Female Perspective
- Goodbye 270 WSM, Hello 6UM
- 2025 Head-to-Head Bow Test
- Sitka Ascent Pants Review
- TT#59 Wesley Warner Stalking Big Mule Deer Bucks