Late Season Montana Elk

[buckchaser]

I'm looking at putting together a late season (mid to late November) elk hunt in Montana sometime in the reasonably near future.

Sorry if some questions are a repeat - I used the search function and came up empty so I thought I would ask away.

1 - I assume most elk will have moved down out of the higher elevations by mid to late November. How much of an issue is private land ownership? Still plenty of quality public land in the lower elevations?

2 - I assume the higher elevations will have significant snow fall by mid to late November. Is this accurate or is it more of a "hit or miss" variable?

Any other info folks might have that is relevant to late season Montana elk would be appreciated.

 

[MT_Nate]

I live in NW Montana. I have rarely found mature bulls in November below the higher elevations in public land areas unless a significant winter storm (3+ feet) pushes them down or a freezing rain event hits the high country snows making an impenetrable ice layer on top and food/water difficult to come by. Every once in awhile a mature satellite is still hanging with a group of cows that has moved to the mid-/lower-mountain locations, but more often than not they are usually smaller raghorns and spikes as the late rifle season is in swing, and they aren't legal due to browtine requirements (in Region 1).

The quantity of high country snows in November is hit/miss depending upon the location and year. The past couple years have put several feet of snow up high during the last couple weeks of November...but the high country is where I consistently found the bulls. If you're crotch deep with every step in snow, the elk still have another 12 inches of clearance to their belly and it won't likely deter them much to move around. They will definitely descend to feed at night though...but be prepared to chase them up the hill in the early am and spend the day high in the snow trying to get a shot.

There are exceptions to every rule - some toad bulls are taken in the snow-less secure thicks near the valley floor every year, but these are locations that the typical hunter won't find because they aren't on anyone's radar except someone who knows the country, movement patterns, and actually lives close enough to learn and observe everything. I know a couple of these spots, but the animals tend to cycle through these spots only if the security is crazy good (thick, thick, thick!). Tough and frustrating hunting...lots of sitting, which I am not very good at.

The past 2 years, I have run into very respectable, mature bulls on or near the last day of the season (late November) in locations at 7000+ feet in ~3-feet of snow. Bring your snowshoes!

 

[Ross]

ditto x2 on Nates comments......he nailed it!

 

[Jason Snyder]

Nate's answer is very accurate, but I think it overlooks the potential refuge component that you can run into with private land. If (big if), there is sufficient access to allow a decent amount of hunting pressure, I've seen the big bulls vacate the higher elevations for foothill/bottom habitat on large ranches where they don't get hunted very much.

Of course, this all depends on the nature of the area you're hunting. If you're talking the North Fork of the Sun River, and the Sun River Game Preserve, those elk will remain as high and as deep as the snow allows them to. If you're talking some areas in the Madison Valley, they'll bail off the mountains to a preserve like the Sun Ranch.

 

[MT_Nate]

Nate's answer is very accurate, but I think it overlooks the potential refuge component that you can run into with private land.

Hi Jason...that there is why I qualified my statement with the Public Land tidbit written in the first sentence (below)! I actually make a point to hunt areas with little to no private land around it so I don't have the frustrating realization of chasing bulls that I can't eventually get to.

I live in NW Montana. I have rarely found mature bulls in November below the higher elevations in public land areas unless a significant winter storm (3+ feet) pushes them down or a freezing rain....

 

[buckchaser]

Fantastic info - exactly what I was looking for.

I plan on calling biologists, etc. - but was also wondering if some suggestions for "general" (not looking for your hard earned secret spot) areas that would fit the bill of lots of public land, etc. Feel free to PM if more comfortable with that.

Again, thanks a lot. This info will really help kick start the planning process.

 

[Logan T]

Not sure what your timeline is, but one more thought to consider for this is that MT has changed it's seasons for bulls in some units. In some general tag areas the FWP is going to limit the elk harvest to only cows for the last 2 weeks of the season. Might wanna factor that into areas your looking at, it'd be a shame to look at one particular area for the late season only to have it closed to hunting bulls the time you can show up.