Montana General - Habitat Question, Not Spots

[daiello91]

Hello from Oregon! I'm hunting the Montana general deer tag this year for the first time. Here's my last buck from Oregon. I glassed it up the evening before I killed it. Relocated in the AM and used the terrain to close the distance. I had to sit for 5 hours waiting for it to stand up. Just brief background on how I hunt. As Robby would say "purposely". I'm not asking for spots in Montana. I've picked a unit, talked to the bio, and done 3D e-scouting. I've also taken 2 weeks off to hunt the tag and have a few areas picked out that are away from roads.

Here in Oregon in the unit I hunt, the bucks are often on benches on tops or near the tops of steep slopes. Rarely are they in the bottoms or using the bottom 1/2 of the slopes. The unit in MT doesn't have a large amount of large elevation changes.

So my question, when I start glassing, what types of things should I look intently at? Are the bucks coming out of the limited cover, hiding in bottoms, hiding in collies, on benches?

 

[Mtwood24]

What time of year are you going?

 

[daiello91]

What time of year are you going?

Nov 10 - Nov 23

 

[jimh406]

I think bedding is pretty much the same except that during that period, you’ll likely have a few bucks looking for does. In that case, they will be with the does at least part of the day. Keep in mind that just because you aren’t seeing deer in a place on one day, doesn’t mean they won’t be there the next day. It could likely be very weather dependent, and the weather including strong vs wind or not and snow vs not will impact where they are traveling.

The strategy of finding a good glassing area should work. Ideally, you have a peak/ridges that have slopes facing different directions, so the deer can get out of the weather if it turns bad. There are many areas that become productive only under the right weather conditions.

 

[Bull_n_heat]

^Agreed. As long as you aren't in areas with huge elevation changes (similar to your photo), I think deer could be anywhere (bottom, top, benches). That time of the year especially... deer will be on their feet at least some in the 2 weeks you'll be there. Be willing to move (and return to) spots if you are not seeing what you are looking for, but you should eventually find one you like

 

[HowlingRooster]

Assuming you'll be staged in one of the eastern units. Pay attention to draws coming off of ag fields/water sources. I've found success in those narrow corridors bucks use to travel late morning coming out of those lower elevation bedding areas.

 

[Mtwood24]

The deer can be literally anywhere. In eastern montana last year, it was so dry that the deer seemed to be mostly around water sources. When the bucks start hunting does though, they can show up anytime, any place

 

[daiello91]

Scan everything, got it. Appreciate the input everyone.

 

[cgasner1]

Scan everything, got it. Appreciate the input everyone.

I grew up in Oregon on the west side. Cut my teeth in that jungle. My buddy still hunts it every year they are very successful in it and do pretty well the years the draw buck tags on the east side. That said when he has been over here with me it blows him away how different the hunting is because when these guys say the deer can be anywhere it’s true. If your heading to the east side of Montana the terrain is all the same you can’t tell one ridge from the next if you haven’t spent a lot of time here.


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[daiello91]

It's been a couple of years, but I figured I would share the buck I killed. Passed on several small bucks before glassing this guy up.

 

[Dos Perros]

I think there's ag and non ag. Winter wheat fields you have a good chance of seeing more deer. Everywhere else lower chance. But the 'everywhere else' is almost everything so you have to glass it and hunt it or you won't get much hunting done.

 

[jjgaw]

As many others have stated it depends on what part of Montana you’re hunting as the eastern side is vastly different. I have hunted eastern quite a bit. That time of year the bucks are covering tons of ground and can be anywhere, jumping from doe group to doe group. I would be focused on finding does. I like to look for areas of low human pressure, and areas that provide wind blocks. If it’s following a tough drought the does will be very concentrated vs spread out. I wouldn’t say I find them near water sources but if you can find an area that’s slightly greener then the rest that’s where they’ll will be. Feel free to PM

 

[Mtwood24]

As many others have stated it depends on what part of Montana you’re hunting as the eastern side is vastly different. I have hunted eastern quite a bit. That time of year the bucks are covering tons of ground and can be anywhere, jumping from doe group to doe group. I would be focused on finding does. I like to look for areas of low human pressure, and areas that provide wind blocks. If it’s following a tough drought the does will be very concentrated vs spread out. I wouldn’t say I find them near water sources but if you can find an area that’s slightly greener then the rest that’s where they’ll will be. Feel free to PM

I suppose it came out that when I said water sources, it sounded like I was talking about hunting water like you would in Arizona or something. I was hunting closer to the lake, and seemed to see most of the deer I saw within about 3/4 of a mile from the lake. I didn’t mean stock tanks or something to that nature. @jjgaw you probably said closer to what I meant.

 

[AHayes111]

If you are hunting the rut, you will want to be looking for does. In 2005, Dave Pac published an article in Montana Outdoors called Bucks are from Mars, Does are from Venus. Cliff notes on the article are bucks tend to prefer the lower productive land, Does prefer the land with more productivity. In Eastern MT the most productive land is the river and creek bottoms, so that is where the most does will be unless winter has pushed them to winter range. The problem one is most of the river and creek bottoms are private land. Problem two is any large groups of does will attract both bucks and hunters. You are not going to find many older bucks where there are lots of does and if one does happen to come down out of the hills to a large group of does, he is not going to last long.