Montana Archery Elk Hunt

PaBone

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Aug 1, 2016
Messages
169
Location
Western Pa.
Finally getting around to posting our Montana archery hunt. I was part of a large group of people that got scammed by an outfitter or should I say ex-outfitter his license has been revoked. I sent a down payment to pack my two son's and I into a base camp, well long story short the outfitter took the money and left the state, so our hunt turned into a public land DIY. I spent a lot of time studying maps and came up with a plan on where to start our hunt along with five or six other spots to try. We packed in around 3 miles and set up our spike camp and from there we would walk 4 or 5 miles. We started our hunt on September 6th Labor day and it was hot and smokey, but we found a fairly level spot to camp with good water nearby. Finally on September 10 we caught our first break, a cold front pushed through clearing out the smoke and we heard our first bugle. From that day on we had non stop action with several close encounters. My one son killed a nice young 5x5 and my other son hit a big 6x6 on the shoulder after his arrow deflected off a limb. Luckily the bull seemed unhurt. I did most of the calling and passed on a few small bulls, but we had our chances and had bulls in close several times and just no clear shots. In the end getting scammed probably worked out for the best, we got to spend more time in Montana hunting and could try different spots. It wasn't an easy hunt, packing all that gear, sleeping on the ground and grinding away every day especially when your 60 years old. But we had a hunt of a lifetime and spending time hunting with my boys was priceless.


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Disco14

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Mar 11, 2014
Messages
266
Congrats and glad it worked out for you guys despite the misfortune of dealing w/ a sleezy ex-outfitter.
 
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PaBone

PaBone

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Aug 1, 2016
Messages
169
Location
Western Pa.
Sounds amazing - congrats on your hard work paying off.

Name the scammer.
I think there was a thread started on here earlier this year on the outfitter. He was Beau Burch and owned MT Outfitters out of Stevensville. Not sure how many people he scammed but the sheriff's department assigned an officer to handle all the complaints. His license has been revoked by the MT board of outfitters, but it is not likely we get our money back because he has long left the state.
 

SteveCNJ

WKR
Classified Approved
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Jul 1, 2017
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1,062
Congrats on a great huntwith your boys and for shrugging off the situation and making the best of it.

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Scoot

WKR
Joined
Nov 13, 2012
Messages
1,521
Many congrats on a great experience with your boys! I got to bring my son on his first elk hunt ever this year. We had a absolute blast! Came close three times, but never drew our bows. Was the toughest elk hunt I've ever had, but it was also something I've wanted to do since before he was born and we loved it.
Congrats again to all of you!
 

7Bartman

WKR
Joined
Sep 29, 2017
Messages
385
Location
MD
Great story and way to make lemonade out of lemons. Did you have a tag from the outfitter or did you still have to draw after getting scammed?
 
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PaBone

PaBone

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Aug 1, 2016
Messages
169
Location
Western Pa.
Great story and way to make lemonade out of lemons. Did you have a tag from the outfitter or did you still have to draw after getting scammed?
All three of us were lucky enough to draw General elk license with brow tined bull or cow permit.
 
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