Official 2026 Montana Draw Thread

[bpug15]

My group of 2 drew the general elk tag with 2 points. Been applying for 3 years.(didn't realize you had to keep applying after I bought my first preference point).

 

[Bearded Bowhunter]

Were you going to hunt private or public?

Public.

 

[TradLife406]

Good luck. I was hoping to draw that permit as well with 12 bonus points as a NR, but no dice.

Had it last year. It was the hardest hunt I've ever done.

My advice is shoot the first 320" bull you see.

I thought I'd see elk every day and several elk. It ended up being a random sighting once every two to three days.

The 60 mph winds didn't help either.

To add context that's hard glassing from morning till just about dark.

I passed a 330" on day four because I still had the entire month of November to hunt. Stupid.

Finally got to the point where it was shoot the next bull I could find or eat the tag.

Finally shot a sub compact 7x7 at 905 yards with the 6 UM. The only time the wind was dead calm.

A bigger bull would have been nice. But dang the adventure was epic.

Don't believe the lies about big mulies in there either. Biggest buck I found was 140". He went home with me.

Don't bother with shonkin. Unless you want combat shoulder to shoulder hunting. Did that opener and it was a joke.

Also be ready to haul water if you're backpacking in. The stock tanks are dry in November. And if you're around Great Falls the best bet is use that area for training hikes. It's so stupidly steep. It's not hard to lose 500' in elevation in a few hundred yards.

I'd also suggest having horses lined up if you kill. Only way I'd have gotten my bull out. About 4.5 miles in. Had a buddy on speed dial.

 

[TradLife406]

Got a 447-20 for my first elk tag should be a good time.

This will be your first elk hunt ever??? Oh boy! DM me. Because you're in for an absolute ass kicker of a hunt! You skipped freshmen and went straight to varsity. Skipped the side quests and went right to the final boss fight