Block management hunting Montana

[huntin' lunatic]

Howdy folks. I would like to hear from guys who have hunted this. The process you had to go through, tags etc. Not asking for where all the elk and mule deer are but how did you enjoy it. I would figure on might as well doing a combo elk/ mule deer hunt since I'm going the distance. I'm starting to do some planning and studying for trying a hunt in 2017. I've read some articles on it and sounds like quiet an adventure. On another note, what would be the best maps for a Garmin 62s? Might as well get something for Montana. Oh, I'll possibly be retiring in 2017 so this would be something I could scratch off my Bucket List. thanks

 

[Coyotes-R-Us]

First...
Many many people love and hunt block management land. For some it is the only way they could ever get out and hunt our great state.
Me for one ,I'm not a fan of block management.
A lot of political stuff make me feel that way that is not needed in this post.
My biggest problem Is ;
They concentrate all the hunting in to a very small area close the parking you have to use, many will not alow you to park on the county roads and hunt the BMA.
Anyway If your coming here to hunt only on BMAs get with our FWP
http://fwp.mt.gov/hunting/hunterAccess/blockman/huntingAccessGuideRequestForm.html
And get there information.
IF it was me I would concentrate on the " reservation " BMAs to help thin out the people.
MT has 94,109,440 acres of public lands you can hunt , Just saying

 

[Clawsar]

Much of the Stoltze and formerly Plum Creek lands had been open listed as block management, but the new Plum Creek owners only committed to keeping that tradition open for one more year. As for the rest of Block Management lands, they can be okay or they can be worthless. Some of it is so thick you can't even get off the road and then some of it, like Coyotes was saying, just gets too crowded.

FWP can help for sure.

 

[Mmixon33]

I hunted a few different BMAs in 2014 for mule deer. There are type 1 and type 2 BMAs. Type 1 there is usually like a check in box or something and anyone can hunt there and type 2 a landowner or someone controls how many people are hunting there and the rules are different for each one. Best people to contact are the fish and game and they will help you out.

Here is a link to the montana fish and game website. You can order a BMA guide to help pick areas you want to hunt.
http://fwp.mt.gov/hunting/hunterAccess/blockman/access.html

 

[Backstrap]

I was going to write something sarcastic about how you shouldn't go to Block Management areas so that I have them to myself, but then I realized that if we don't support Block Management we could lose it. That would be a shame. Block Management areas are generally very good IME.

 

[Doublecluck]

It can be good, but like everything else, there is a niche. I always ask myself

1. Have I explored every inch of the property
2. What is on adjacent properties and what are the game habits/pressures that could make game enter the property and when might that happen. I have taken many animals by simply watching and being patient for the opportunity. I have zero problem hunting fence lines/property borders as long as I am shooting something that will anchor a animal where it stands, usually that's a .300 win with accubonds or partitions.
3. What are the other hunters not willing to do or where are they not willing to go.

Also remember some BMA's are weather dependant. Most of my experience on BMA's is for lope but I have seen some elk in totally non typical locations early season and crossed a few smoker deer before the season was open.

 

[Flatlandr]

Last year hunted predominantly block management in montana. Would like to thank the land owners who allow this. Took my 9 yr old daughter on an elk hunt.. We seen a lot, but didn't harvest. Drive 15 hrs and there's nothing like seeing that sparkle in those young eyes. I have a hunting partner for life.

 

[Gerald Martin]

I've had very good hunting on Block Management Properties, both type 1 and type 2. It's all about finding the right one. Find good habitat and work to avoid or use other hunters to your advantage just like any other place you hunt.

 

[huntin' lunatic]

Since we are non-resident I'll have to do scouting via google earth or my onxmaps. We went on a drop camp hunt in Colorado in 2014 and had a blast. Didn't see a thing but enjoyed the time with my son and friends. Since then I've had a bout with thyroid cancer but have it whooped. I received the hunting access guide today but have only browsed through it, we would definately go the Type II BMA. And looking for units that have Mule deer and elk. Regions 3,5, and 7 as of now. I realize that this guide is only good for this year. But I'm going to go through it and study and see all the options out there as if we were going this year. That's part of the fun. To those that have tags and itching to go, best of luck to y'all.

 

[mikieb]

not to hijack this thread... but I have a few Block Management questions...

what dose this mean ???

"The Block Management Area rules do not apply to federal lands that are legally accessible (via public roads or watercourses, or other legal means of access) unless specifically authorized by the applicable agency. "

Dose this mean if I enter BLM or State land covered by a block management plan I'm ok ?

 

[8andcounting]

not to hijack this thread... but I have a few Block Management questions...

what dose this mean ???

"The Block Management Area rules do not apply to federal lands that are legally accessible (via public roads or watercourses, or other legal means of access) unless specifically authorized by the applicable agency. "

Dose this mean if I enter BLM or State land covered by a block management plan I'm ok ?

Yes . As long as you access the state or blm from a road or public access point without crossing block management your fine . If the blm or state is along a road it doesn't matter if it's in block management or not you can hunt it

 

[----]

Yes . As long as you access the state or blm from a road or public access point without crossing block management your fine . If the blm or state is along a road it doesn't matter if it's in block management or not you can hunt it

I'm 90% sure this only applies to federal land. State land you still need to go through the block management.

 

[Carbon]

Yes Randy. Some state sections are contained within BM. I had a buddy get in a twist with a landowner a few years ago that got pretty heated. We were hunting antelope in eastern MT and he shot a buck on state land. The landowner drove up and was screaming at him. Apparently the state section was included in his BM. We weren't hunting BM. He pulled out the sheet for his BM and it said on the back that you had to be on his BM to hunt the state section that the county road went through. I'm not sure how he was able to get that rule. The game warder and Alan Charles got involved and my friend ended up getting to keep his antelope and not get cited. It was pretty traumatic for him and took over a week to sort out.


My question to them was, how would you know that you can't access a state section without getting that guys BM info. Alan said there were other BMs in eastern MT that were the same. I thought it was BS.....

I'm not sure if it's still that way, but it's something to think about.

Jim

 

[Nameless Range]

Carbon, sort of related, there's a BMA near my house through which a public road travels up into public lands, and that road connects to other roads on public lands accessible from other points. This is a National Forest Road that is open to the public year round. But, during hunting season, if you are a hunter and you want to drive that road, you are required to sign into the BMA, whether or not you are actually hunting that BMA. The road intersects the BMA where it is about a mile wide. Additionally, all along the stretch of road that goes through this BMA is a safety zone, so you could not hunt from the road. It sort of rubs me the wrong way, since I am not hunting that BMA but am accessing the 100,000s of acres of public land beyond it. I could access that public land from a different point on a different road and they would be none the wiser. Lastly, if landowners value in BM takes into consideration the amount of hunters that sign in in a given season, then this Area is inflated artificially. I'd bet over half the people who sign in do not hunt the BMA, they're just using the public easment that runs through it. When I sign in I comment "Not Hunting".

 

[Poke 'Em]

They've more clearly stated in the BMA guide this year that state lands enrolled in BM require BM permission. I think that's absolute horsefeathers, as it ends up restricting access rather than improving it, but that's the rule. I guess I should write a letter to the BM program director about my feelings...

 

[RobG]

Carbon, sort of related, there's a BMA near my house through which a public road travels up into public lands, and that road connects to other roads on public lands accessible from other points. This is a National Forest Road that is open to the public year round. But, during hunting season, if you are a hunter and you want to drive that road, you are required to sign into the BMA, whether or not you are actually hunting that BMA. The road intersects the BMA where it is about a mile wide. Additionally, all along the stretch of road that goes through this BMA is a safety zone, so you could not hunt from the road. It sort of rubs me the wrong way, since I am not hunting that BMA but am accessing the 100,000s of acres of public land beyond it. I could access that public land from a different point on a different road and they would be none the wiser. Lastly, if landowners value in BM takes into consideration the amount of hunters that sign in in a given season, then this Area is inflated artificially. I'd bet over half the people who sign in do not hunt the BMA, they're just using the public easment that runs through it. When I sign in I comment "Not Hunting".

I've been learning more about a similar thing and in addition to skimming money he might be trying to establish that permission is required to access those areas. Once that is established he will argue there is no public easement therefore it is not a public road. Then he'd close it down. Call the forest service and see if that is a historical access. This might be something to be really concerned about.

This is happening in the Crazies with the trails. I'm trying to figure out what can be done.

 

[Nameless Range]

I've been learning more about a similar thing and in addition to skimming money he might be trying to establish that permission is required to access those areas. Once that is established he will argue there is no public easement therefore it is not a public road. Then he'd close it down. Call the forest service and see if that is a historical access. This might be something to be really concerned about.

This is happening in the Crazies with the trails. I'm trying to figure out what can be done.

That's interesting Rob. In this instance I feel strongly that the owners are not trying to establish that the public needs permission for access. This is a well known public access. It's a numbered FS Road, signed as being open to the public, and has been for my entire life and before that. It's a popular well-known road. That said, the skimming issue seems problematic, and if I am honest my main gripe is having to stop and make it known what drainage I am driving when I hunt public land (you can look back through the log at previous hunters' names, their date and time, etc.), when the other 8 months of the year I drive that road I do not have to.

 

[RobG]

I've had good luck on BMAs for deer if you find the right one, but elk attract a lot of hunters and usually they are just chased off the property by the masses.

 

[SteveE]

I think they let your friend keep the loper because that rule has no enforability the way I understand the law.

I could be completely wrong and am not interested in dealing with the hassle of finding the true answer.

State land is state land. If it has access how can they ticket you?

I think it is a GREAT program but it is definately an issue. I believe a few landowners go block management type 2 specifally to keep people off those state sections.

I spent a week in the Havre area one year and had numerous type2 people tell me no access due to family coming the next week (Thanksgiving) and the wanted to hunt it.

The BM around Colstrip is a joke also. Residents leaving old junk vehicles in the waiting slots so they get most of the access. Warden actually told us we would need to park our rig for 1 1/2 days in the waiting area if we wanted a spot.
Lmao. We went and found some public.

Some great spots and some shady spots but overall a great program. We need to get some $$ in these landowner pockets that allow hunting!!

 

[RobG]

That's interesting Rob. In this instance I feel strongly that the owners are not trying to establish that the public needs permission for access. This is a well known public access. It's a numbered FS Road, signed as being open to the public, and has been for my entire life and before that. It's a popular well-known road. That said, the skimming issue seems problematic, and if I am honest my main gripe is having to stop and make it known what drainage I am driving when I hunt public land (you can look back through the log at previous hunters' names, their date and time, etc.), when the other 8 months of the year I drive that road I do not have to.

Both issues are head scratchers. It would be worth looking into why he is allowed to do that. The public trails being blocked in the Crazies are also listed and numbered.