MT Deer/Montana Regulations do's and don'ts

[griffinit]

I have a General deer tag for Montana, first time hunting Montana. I'm going to get a hold of biolgists/BM Units area Maps, in search of my first whitetail.

But I have a few questions regarding rules regs etc. What are some rules for Montana that I might miss looking through the proclamation, I understand there are deer check stations? Leave evidence of sex attached to a quarter etc. Any others that a guy might miss.

I can also answer some Utah questions in trade for whitetail info.

Thanks
Best of luck.

 

[slick]

Immediately tag animal upon coming up to it (Warden's TV show busted a fella for doing that), tag must remain with the majority of the meat if it's coming out in pieces. Check stations are a breeze, few questions & your out. If you do shoot something, they might want to look at the teeth..they should hopefully ask you, but if you wanted the cape, don't let them cut the cheek. Make sure you know district boundaries & what's legal, etc. other than that- good luck!


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[Idahogobbler]

I used to live and hunt the bitterroot area for 5 years shoot me a pm and we will talk if your interested in that area


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[Jon Boy]

Immediately tag animal upon coming up to it (Warden's TV show busted a fella for doing that), tag must remain with the majority of the meat if it's coming out in pieces. Check stations are a breeze, few questions & your out. If you do shoot something, they might want to look at the teeth..they should hopefully ask you, but if you wanted the cape, don't let them cut the cheek. Make sure you know district boundaries & what's legal, etc. other than that- good luck!


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After that incident legislation changed that. You no longer have to tag the animal until you transport it. Having said that tag does NOT go on the antlers. Goes with the largest portion of meat.

 

[huntMT]

I think everyone summed it up already with the weird stuff. I would highly suggest getting a GPS with the onxmaps chip for Montana. It will show you what's public and private, but also what district your in. Each hunt district has it's own regulations, so you have to know for sure where you are. As far as the public and private land goes, if you accidentally get onto private land and kill a deer, the wardens will seize the deer and of course have the option to issue a citation.

Good luck!

 

[mtluckydan]

Keep in mind when talking to a biologist that they talk to thousands of prospective hunters a year and you will get a generic answer like they give to everyone. I live in MT and have called biologist in MT and Idaho for info. I don't think I will even waste my time any more. One year after talking to several biologists in Idaho, I went to buy my tags and the vendor asked if I had heard about the EHD outbreak. They lost 9000 plus deer and the biologists didn't even mention it. I live in NW MT and spend quite a bit of time hunting whitetails. PM me if you decide to come this part of the state and I can get you headed in the right direction. Also, keep in mind that some of the spots you might see in videos like the Milk River and other spots in eastern MT are almost all private and it is very difficult in not impossible to get access. The little bit of public land gets hammered.

 

[Jason Snyder]

X2 on the private land issue. In Montana you must know who owns the land you are on, regardless of whether it is fenced, posted, etc. If you cross an unmarked boundary and end up on land you don't have permission on, you are subject to a misdemeanor citation.

 

[griffinit]

Yes I plan on getting Montana OnXMaps/GPS. I'm realizing the farther I travel north I go the more public land/Whitetail population there is to be had. Thanks for all the tips. I've been looking all through the guidebooks/rules.

 

[Shrek]

There are some big whitetail in Montana. Two years ago I was watching a 160 class huge bodied buck and watched a bunch of nice bucks on private land last fall. There's some great whitetail hunting to be had.

 

[Clarktar]

That buck was still there last year Dave. Couldn't get a photo and he never got near the fence line...

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[Shrek]

I just saw him once and he only got a couple of yards over the line to make a scrape on those bushes. There was a big bachelor group last fall a mile or so south in the patch of sage behind the metal roofed barn. All private that direction so I moved on. I'm Just not that into deer these days.