Weird year

[Pony Soldier]

This after hunting the same 300 sq miles for the last 38 years.

 

[Ryan Avery]

I hunt deer in low density and visibility areas close to the boarder in both mountain ranges All the does were alone for all of November and this morning. It was weird. I’m sure if I would have gone south where everyone goes with more deer I would have seen rut activity being able to glass more.

I hunted four different units and was pleasantly surprised by the deer numbers. The only weird part to me was the weather, which was very warm.

 

[Wrench]

I saw deer rutting activity almost every day from the 15th on in N Idaho, passed up 14 bucks before I shot one on public land.

.... and I killed mine on the 23rd of November and they were still actively chasing does. I shot the 7th buck I saw and also on public land.

 

[Ryan Avery]

.... and I killed mine on the 23rd of November and they were still actively chasing does. I shot the 7th buck I saw and also on public land.

I shot a tank of a buck yesterday. He was rutting hard and had more fighting wounds than I have ever seen on a buck.

 

[huntnidaho]

Shot a WT buck on the 8th of Nov chasing 2 does through the timber in N. Idaho. Rattled in 3 different bucks in a single afternoon hunting with my boy on the 11th. Saw a good amount of deer overall, most bucks were pretty young though. For elk, took me 5 days to find some, but they were 400 yards off a logging road driven by pickups and sxs's all day pretty much. Spotted around 18 head 1500 yards away and by they time I got over there another guy had got in and shot a spike out of the group. Went in the next morning and they were still there. Same guy hiked in from behind us with his kid trying to get another one, we chatted for a minute and he told us that herd had been in there for a week straight even with all the traffic nearby. A few days later my Dad shot a rag bull just a few hundred yards away. Who knows? They do what they do. Definitely a warm season.

 

[Stache Attack]

Weird I thought they hung high in the timber all year. Every range is different. Montana FWP will say elk harvest is within 5% of normal and tell you to comment to a commission that does not care. I also saw the most 4wheelers and sxs up the canyons than ever. They then ask where the elk are later. Overall a poor elk year but still plenty of them around. Seems out of staters found plenty of small mule deer to stay content.

Shot my whitetail Mountian buck on the 26th hitting a scrape when I shot him nose down before and moving off a smaller buck about 20 minutes after I rattled. (Didn’t want t kill a mule deer in either of my areas due to low numbers and whitetail is just fun to watch for a week).

 

[Olympics777]

I guess experiences vary, I shot my bull on opening day 2 minutes after shooting light started. I probably won’t see a single bull next year.

 

[coy17]

A wierd year indeed. I struggled to find elk like never before during Montana's rifle season. In the middle of my 2 week trip, changed it up & headed to Idaho where I filled my cow tag in a few hours. Then back to Montana where the struggle continued. To top it off, a bull bugled right as the clock struck the end of season