Montana 2021

[hobbes]

Now this is a cool T-shirt, if you love wild turkeys.

 

[OpenCountry]

My thoughts on mule deer and muzzleloader in MT:

Either the areas that I hunt are in shorter supply than usual of even decent bucks, or they crawl back into their holes after the rut. The lack of good bucks seen in November make me think it's at least a little of both. The weather in November wasn't exactly cooperative, but I still think that I should have seen more of those "almost big enough" bucks.

The game warden that I met this weekend said that the region's block management saw 2000 more hunters this general season. I'm not sure if he meant 2000 more daily sign ins or 2000 more individuals. MT didn't give out more licenses, so it was apparently a shift of folks from one area to another area. I definitely noticed an increase of folks from normal when I was there in November.

As far as the Heritage (muzzleloader) season goes. I saw very few people that may have been hunting. Maybe I was just in the wrong spot. I don't think there will be a lot of folks hunting this season. It's late, it's cold, the snow is crunchy and getting close won't be easy. The deer are not in the rut and elk are in big winter herds. The deer were in pretty big groups too. I think it should definitely stay traditional muzzleloader only, no inline, no scopes. Modern in-lines are nothing more than single shot centerfire rifles, especially with a scope. Nothing wrong with them in the general season but they are not what this muzzleloader season was intended for.

I would not apply/buy a nonresident MT tag just to hunt the muzzleloader season. It's a very low odds season.

You mean managing MT like it’s still 1950 isn’t working? Shocking…..

 

[hobbes]

Winter has finally arrived.

 

[hobbes]

I should have taken a few photos of the country we are hunting but this late season stuff can be tough. All it takes is a second of not paying attention and a rooster is in the air hauling ass. Not to mention that we didn't start hunting until 1 o'clock or so. We scratched out 5 roosters between 3 of us. I should have killed at least one more rooster. Not a good quality photo but it's all that I had a chance to take.


I'll try to do better on photos tomorrow but it's going to be below zero. Walks will be short. Supposed to have a good spot lined out but these late season birds are wild as heck. We have to be really careful how much we let the dogs do in this weather. Finn is resting well tonight.

 

[Outlaw99]

Enjoy following along every season with you. Finn is one of the coolest looking dogs ever.

 

[hobbes]

Enjoy following along every season with you. Finn is one of the coolest looking dogs ever.

Thanks. Finn says thanks too. He's in his crate in a hotel room right now while we eat breakfast next door. He's probably having a meltdown right now convinced we are hunting without him.

I probably won't do a full year thread for 2022. I'll probably add a couple coyote hunts to this one that'll happen after the first of the year.

 

[hobbes]

This was from earlier today. Apparently it didn't post.

We are in the middle of nowhere/no-name Montana right now. (I'm shocked that I have signal.) My buddy is inside talking with a rancher that he's known for years. We already have permission to hunt but he visits with these guys and gives them gift cards and things this time of year. I never know whether to go on in and join in the conversation that usually carries on too long or stay in the truck so we don't overwhelm the guy while he's trying to take a break. I wouldn't try to get access to a place where he's taken me, so I'm not really missing out on a contact. Some of the ranchers/farmers are thrilled to have visitors that'll talk to them, but I've been with him on occasion where he wasn't getting the vibe that this guy wants to get back to work. Regardless, it's worked for my buddy and he has a lot of good contacts. However, he loses access occasionally as farms are split up between surviving family members and sold off to bigger operations that don't allow access or sold to wealthy out of state folks that need some place in MT to visit a couple weeks a year. The generation that has given him so much access is quickly disappearing and some of the following generation isn't as generous or just want to sell. It's actually a sad thing to watch.

Anyway, hopefully he gets back out here and we can do a couple walks to try to kill some birds. It's a bit nipply, so we can't do long walks.

 

[RCL]

Really have enjoyed following along.
Many thanks for posting.

 

[hobbes]

The sun and no wind made the cold tolerable. We found quite a few pheasants but very low numbers of roosters. I got one wild shot at a rooster that was just waisting lead. The area had apparently been hunted quite a bit to have such a low percentage of roosters. I had a couple coveys of huns flush in range but the first was a small covey and I let them be. The second was a good sized covey and I killed one bird from it. I should have tried for a second but stopped at one. They are some speed demons, so if you hesitate they are gone.

It was a lot of walking for one hun but it was still fun. That wasn't quite how I'd hoped to end the season and we probably should have hunted yesterday's spot again. However, it was a good day with two friends and a couple griffons.









Tomorrow is the last day of the pheasant season. I can't go tomorrow, so it'll be 290 or so days before I chase roosters again.

 

[hobbes]

I had three King's Snow Shadow Cover Up jackets for coyote hunting show up yesterday, one for me and both of my boys if they are with me.




They are lightweight and made for wearing over the cold weather clothing that I already have. The sleeves seem like they could be a little longer. I think they'll hold up well enough considering we won't use them a lot.

I've also got a decoy attachment ordered for the low end FoxPro caller that I bought last year.

 

[hobbes]

Oh, by the way.......... HAPPY NEW YEAR.

I'll continue to add to this any hunting that I do this winter, so coyotes and possibly a late season attempt at a cow elk (probably not). I've also been asked to go on a goose hunt for a few days. I don't think I can make the goose hunt work with the limited vacation that I have left and a "wife pleaser" Florida trip coming up in February.

I'm not real sure how many folks have followed along, but I don't think I'll do another of these full year threads after I close out the 21/22 winter hunting season. I've enjoyed some of the documenting and photos, but I've gotten tired of it also. Maybe I'll just do a couple stand alone hunts for antelope (if I draw a tag) and mule deer for the 2022 hunting season.

 

[realunlucky]

I've enjoyed following along thanks for putting in the effort to share.

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk

 

[timbrhuntr]

Thanks I have enjoyed your hunting thread and hope you have an excellent new year !

 

[Tyson]

This thread has been great, thanks for keeping up with it

 

[Dilligaf12t]

Great thread, thanks for posting.

 

[TxA]

Awesome thread...Following!

 

[Dos Perros]

@hobbes dude I have really admired your 'send it' attitude. You don't quit do you! Congratulations on a 2021 season with no regrets.

 

[hobbes]

@hobbes dude I have really admired your 'send it' attitude. You don't quit do you! Congratulations on a 2021 season with no regrets.

Thanks for the compliment. I feel like I give up way too often, especially on elk. They kick my ass over and over. This year the deer kicked the crap out of me too.

Congrats on the Kansas buck again. That was a great mature buck.

 

[hobbes]

I am all for the season date changes to spring turkey. I think the R4 change is too soon if it ever should be general.

 

[hobbes]

No coyotes but a pretty good day with Isaac.