Montana Elk Hunting - Advice for a new Hunter

[gtriple]

It's ok to make jokes about people's mothers. Not ok to make jokes about peoples wives.


Personally, I think the OP should stay the H out of region 3. Head over to t_carlsons neck of the woods. Looks like some elk live there.

Region 3 is littered with grizz. OP is more likely to get eaten by a big sow than to shoot an elk there.

 

[Dos Perros]

It's not Wyoming.

 

[SuperDUECE22]

Is she hot?

 

[Team4LongGun]

Let's keep this on topic.

OP, I will concur with most here-you've laid out a very big ask, as so many do weekly here. Most of those never return, or contribute to this community. By sticking around, contributing where you can, you will not only learn a lot of questions your asking, but make friends that may share some more detail.
Welcome to the forums, and good luck in your hunt.

 

[t_carlson]

It's ok to make jokes about people's mothers. Not ok to make jokes about peoples wives.

As they say in the legal world, he "opened the door" to that kind of thing.

Thanks for the lecture, though.

Region 3 is littered with grizz. OP is more likely to get eaten by a big sow than to shoot an elk there.

Surely you jest. Looked at a map of Region 3 lately?

 

[gtriple]

Surely you jest. Looked at a map of Region 3 lately?

 

[Brewster33]

Let's keep this on topic.

OP, I will concur with most here-you've laid out a very big ask, as so many do weekly here. Most of those never return, or contribute to this community. By sticking around, contributing where you can, you will not only learn a lot of questions your asking, but make friends that may share some more detail.
Welcome to the forums, and good luck in your hunt.

I hope to stick around for a long while and intend to share what tips and tricks I learn with future novice hunters. No, I don't mean giving them exact coordinates to my hunting locations. But life is short and I want others to enjoy themselves, too. One of my first jobs was oyster fishing off the Atlantic. 16 hour days as a teenager in -20 degree weather wasn't easy, but it taught me how to work hard and not complain so much. My best friend lost half of his right hand my first week on the job. After a few years, I found some fruitful harvesting lots and every time after I filled our dredges, I had no problem telling others where they might find some success. It was gnarly work, but we looked out for each other, especially novice fisherman who reached out respectfully and in humility. I suppose that's what I am trying to do here. Ill take the joking and ball busting in stride... I expected that much.

Region 3 is littered with grizz. OP is more likely to get eaten by a big sow than to shoot an elk there.

Is that so? Ive spent about 70 nights outside in Manhattan, Bozeman, and surrounding areas in the last 3 years without seeing a grizzly. My hunting buddy (who drew a mule deer tag) is from the northeast and hasn't camped much in the Rockies so I am trying to be considerate and find a location that seems reasonably accessible for a couple of younger, healthy, in shape hunters. I don't mind hiking 10-20 miles in a day. I just don't know about packing out 100+ pounds of meat per load over difficult terrain at elevation and expecting my buddy to do the same. I originally had my eyes set on Bitterroot National but have no sense of whether to not this is an ideal location or not.


Speaking more generally, I have no clue how I have over asked at this point. Im not looking for family secrets here... just some helpful advice which a few of you have provided. At the end of the day, I don't have super high expectations. I am not afraid of putting in the work and treating this as a learning experience. I just want to set myself up for success. Frankly, some of you come across as a bunch of self righteous ass hats. I expected a lot more from a hunting forum. This isn't Facebook, after all.

But for those of you that have shared thoughtful insights, thank you! I owe you a beer and would love to update you on how my hunt unfolds. I am going to train hard, keep my expectations in check, hike further and earlier than most others and take each moment as a learning experience. Cheers.

 

[dreamingbig]

Pick any public land national forest and start escouting nightly. There is a lot of data out there that can help you narrow down a few units to focus on.

Most of us are reluctant to help because we faced the same uphill battle hunting out of state and had to figure it out ourselves.

If you don’t want to hunt with Grizz then you might try Utah! Seriously grizzlies can be almost anywhere but there are fewer north of I90 and east of glacier.


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[insanelupus]

@Brewster33

Seems like from your last post you've got a lot of grit, nobody is successful with oyster fishing without it, at least to my limited understanding. And you've got some experience camping in MT, that's a plus. But there's still a lot of unknowns, like packing 200-300 pounds of meat off the mountain, or what will a grizzly encounter look like, etc. Experience is the only teacher there.

And, Rokslide so far didn't meet your expectations with the question. Ok, but how much time was spent looking over this elk forum before posting and how long? Possibly not much as there are scads of these threads similar to yours. Failure of expectations unreasonably set or Rokslide? You'll have to decide.

You have 3 years or so of deer hunting, good start. I've helped a lot of folks deer hunt. Many killed deer. But they haven't all become deer hunters. Sure they killed a deer, they did as instructed and shot a deer that came through.

But they never really knew why. It was a culmination of good deer populations in that area, travel habits/ corridors because of landscape and feeding conditions, and deer behavior based on the time of year (hunting does during the rut because the bucks are with them, etc.).

But what little I knew about this to set up my friends was from years of hard work, scouting, lots of poor decisions and unfilled tags, and observation from mistakes. I then leveraged that with devouring all I could on deer behavior (at that time mostly from books and magazines) and then setting expectations and goals, where we hunted. Early in my career 170" deer rarely roam, even today. Some years, just seeing a 4.5 year old buck was a win for a season, filled tag or not.

Elk hunting, no matter what state you are in, is very similar.

Pick a spot with lower grizzly numbers that suits you and an elk population you can live with in a terrain environment you can handle, e- scout the best you can, hit the ground running and hustle. Learn about elk behavior then learn more. It's a process all of us repeat yearly.

And please, for decorum and civility, please cut back on the "ass hat" comments. They aren't necessary, any one with any sense knows when they read them, but one is better off listening to the advise and absorbing a few slings and arrows, than entering an environment of like minded folks and learning conversation (if that's what you are here for) with something to prove and a chip on your shoulder. While that might not be your intention, it can certainly be viewed that way, and creates barriers for future learning opportunities.

Good luck this season. Please let us know how y'all did.

 

[Dos Perros]

I love it when they start insulting the people they've asked for help.

 

[hunterjmj]

He says he doesn't want peoples spots but he wants peoples spots. I've hunted my whole life but I don't hunt the exact same area I did growing up. I literally go over maps, pick some places then go check it out. Ive checked out 2 new areas this year already. It's really that simple. Some places pan out others don't. In 2 years you'll have tons of places to go. You'll learn most of the easy stuff in Montana is private ground. You're going to have to put your time in and put your boots on the ground. Besides, it's part of the hunting experience. Most of us ass hats spend a ton of time and fuel learning new areas. Btw, I moved from Manhattan because to many ass hats were moving in.

 

[Dos Perros]

He says he's spent 70 nights in elk country the last 3 years, and doesn't know where to go elk hunting. LOL.

 

[Maverick1]

I suppose you'll want a run @ my wife too.

Come on, at least try to help the guy out. He’s going to need a picture to answer that question.

 

[SuperDUECE22]

Come on, at least try to help the guy out. He’s going to need a picture to answer that question.

You're right. Maybe i'll just send her Only Fans account to his inbox. At least that way he'll be paying me to hunt and then i can send him information on those honey holes.

 

[Stache Attack]

If you just bought 20 acres in Gallatin County you have the $$$

Pry should figure out spots near where you’ll build. There’s grizz there but there getting to be griz all over besides way out east. I wouldn’t be afraid to try bma’s around where you’ll live. Lot of opportunities south of Manhattan.

 

[87TT]

I think I've read this thread before? New guy come on and asks where to go to kill an elk close to the truck. Even asks for PM's when he can't get them. Then gets upset how people take it. And we're the ones with a problem?

 

[hunterjmj]

They won't even share the info if asked! So courteous.

 

[black dawg]

Just get out there and enjoy the woods. Far more to learn than just where elk are.

 

[gtriple]

You're right. Maybe i'll just send her Only Fans account to his inbox. At least that way he'll be paying me to hunt and then i can send him information on those honey holes.

Honey Holes you say....?

 

[dreamingbig]

He says he doesn't want peoples spots but he wants peoples spots. I've hunted my whole life but I don't hunt the exact same area I did growing up. I literally go over maps, pick some places then go check it out. Ive checked out 2 new areas this year already. It's really that simple. Some places pan out others don't. In 2 years you'll have tons of places to go. You'll learn most of the easy stuff in Montana is private ground. You're going to have to put your time in and put your boots on the ground. Besides, it's part of the hunting experience. Most of us ass hats spend a ton of time and fuel learning new areas. Btw, I moved from Manhattan because to many ass hats were moving in.

I spent two days this past weekend driving roads in Montana I haven’t been down before to see 1. Road condition to determine access and 2. To see new areas I haven’t been to before.

It wasn’t necessarily fun but it is the necessary work you have to put in.

And I live 8-10 hours away!


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