Tracking in MT WY ID

[maine]

I’m moving from Maine to Montana for 1 year then coming back home. Most of the deer hunting I do is in the snow in northern Maine. I was wondering how common it is out west, and if it is a good hunting method for the area

 

[Customweld]

General season in SW Idaho will usually have at least one snow event every season. In mid October, it generally doesn’t last on the ground long. The WT seasons up north have much better conditions and dates for that.

 

[Jason Snyder]

I’m moving from Maine to Idaho for 1 year then coming back home. Most of the deer hunting I do is in the snow in northern Maine. I was wondering how common it is out west, and if it is a good hunting method for the area

I thought you were moving to MT?

 

[summs]

While i've never been out west, nothing compares to north east tracking. Finally got to wield the muzzleloader on saturday in NJ with some fresh snow. Only got flurries on my vermont trip this year. Last maine trip was a bust with no snow the week before thanksgiving.

When planning on going west, I always tell my buddies im going to track elk/mule deer with peep sight 760. As they build out rifles to shoot 400 yards.

So, good luck and make it work. It's hard not to track after getting the itch of it.

 

[maine]

While i've never been out west, nothing compares to north east tracking. Finally got to wield the muzzleloader on saturday in NJ with some fresh snow. Only got flurries on my vermont trip this year. Last maine trip was a bust with no snow the week before thanksgiving.

When planning on going west, I always tell my buddies im going to track elk/mule deer with peep sight 760. As they build out rifles to shoot 400 yards.

So, good luck and make it work. It's hard not to track after getting the itch of it.

Thanks and agreed! I have a 1952 760 with a skinner peep and love it. After going tracking it’s hard to want to hunt any other way in maine

 

[Mike 338]

No reason not to follow tracks but chances are, you're hunting mule deer and during snow season, they may well be migrating. You could be in for a very long walk.

 

[87TT]

In snow them big ears will hear you coming a mile away.

 

[TreeDog]

NW Montana would be very similar to what you are used to. Thick timber and normally a decent amount of snow. Primarily whitetails. A few elk and mule deer around though.

 

[Firestone]

It depends on which part of the state your moving to. MT is night and day different from region to region. In the Northwest part of the state tracking is way under utilized by people.

In some cases tracking and still hunting are the only way to hunt specific deer because of the habitat and location they are living in. But it does work and I have been able to scratch out a few good ones utilizing both methods.

Definitely is easier with fresh quiet snow and/or windy conditions.

 

[wyodan]

It works great in MT and ID. It is impossible to track in Wyoming.

 

[Jon Boy]

It’s a very effective and underutilized technique in the west… I grew up in the pnw and feel right at home in the timber. Half the time I’m not even tracking and run into a buck or bull. I watch a lot of YouTube videos of the NE trackers and pick up lots of tid bits from those guys. I’ll cover a min of 10 miles in shitty terrain in a day so be prepared for that. I can’t sit still on a glassing knob for more than a day and roll a lot of country through the dog hair dead fall. It can be mind numbing, but you already know that.



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[Jake Larsen]

As others have said, can be a very effective technique in the west. But if you want to be successful regularly, don’t be a one trick pony. Learn the different methods of hunting and when to use them. Terrain varies so much in the west, it pays to be well rounded


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[summs]

Thanks and agreed! I have a 1952 760 with a skinner peep and love it. After going tracking it’s hard to want to hunt any other way in maine

Mine is a 1962, 30-06 game master, cut the barrel down to 18 inches with a sawzall and finished with files. Happy I got one before the prices went crazy. I remember when they were $350 all day long on used gun racks.

 

[bradmacmt]

NW Montana would be very similar to what you are used to. Thick timber and normally a decent amount of snow. Primarily whitetails. A few elk and mule deer around though.

For whitetail, the above.

Here in SW Montana, tracking bulls to their beds is my favorite way to hunt elk, and usually at some point in the season there is snow to do so.

Where in MT you moving? Where are you in ME?

 

[Pony Soldier]

Personal observation: many like intermittant steps and listening. Elk tend to walk steadily with few to no breaks. About the speed of a stroll. I have walked into many in their beds.

Mtn lions walk intermittantly and tend to make elk edgy.

 

[Pony Soldier]

Another point: prior to bedding,bulls especially, will do their best to clean out their bladder and intestines with frequent deposits.

If you are near the top of a little rise or a ridge, I have seen them go over the top and then double back and bed where they can look over the top and watch their back trail. Hence you are looking for their head and horns.

Other times I have tracked them into a doghair thicket. Often these places only have one way in and limited ways out. Many times the bulls break their way out. I have found that hunting in pairs where your partner sets up the ambush when they make a break for it. Remember the spot they are creatures of habit.

Watch your wind. They will use it against you better than you could ever guess. They will also know where the wind swirls or changes direction. You had better be on your toes every inch of the way.

I remember a raghorn that waited until I was suspended over a log with endless punji stakes about 6-8" long. I had my hands and feet fully occupied keeping me from being perforated. The nasty little bugger stayed to watch the entire show and them beat feet as I touched down - laughing all the way to the next ridge. They are evil beasts and deserve to die.

 

[def90]

Mule deer have very different habits than whitetails. It may work but in general mule deer do not have patterns like whitetails do. And as someone else previously stated at some point they migrate, you may be walking a long way only to never find them.

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

Dumb question and will make me sound like an uber Newb- which I am not....

But I am guessing you need to be 100% positive you're on a buck track when you commit....or you've blown a whole day.

I've seen thousands of tracks in my travels. Read books by old timers and trappers. Guys drawing lines, looking for dewclaw imprints, single tracks winding back and forth.

Kind of a challenge getting started on a good buck track?

 

[Pony Soldier]

Another issue to get used to following the above comment, in fresh fluffy snow where you can track the disturbance but can't identify the track. I have followed a young or cow moose a considerable distance before they stepped under a tree where they left a readable track. It also becomes important to tell the differance between moose pee and elk pee. The elk is usually sweet while the moose is kind of musky.

In nw Montana/ Northern Idaho the whitetails and the muleys are mixed. Many times not even separated by elevation. The only thing I have found is that muleys tend to form herds while whitetails are more solitary or doe - fawn/fawns combinations. The whitetail tracks seem more pointed while the muleys are a little more rounded.

I haven't noticed them as mixed in sw montana but along the Idaho border country in the 70s-80s I killed big whitetail bucks on one ridge and the next day saw nice muley bucks on the next ridge.

 

[maine]

Mine is a 1962, 30-06 game master, cut the barrel down to 18 inches with a sawzall and finished with files. Happy I got one before the prices went crazy. I remember when they were $350 all day long on used gun racks.

Miss those days!