Eastern Montana Mule Deer

[TheJason]

I would replace older age class with 4 point or better deer. The reason is that bucks with good genetics will have 4 points at age 2.5, some will have four points at age 1.5. Three point restrictions will concentrate hunting pressure on the bucks that most likely have the potential to get big when they are young and eliminate hunting on bucks that have little chance of getting big.

I can certainly agree with that, as you are correct, many of the 4 points in eastern MT are 2.5 year old bucks.

 

[ShootsManyBullets]

I hunt the Broadus area and yeah it's not what it was 10 years ago but I've never had a year where I couldn't have killed a decent buck. There were several years since the last big winter kill that I chose not to shoot something just for the sake of killing one when it was obvious numbers were down. That was my personal choice and I don't think less of anyone who wants to fill their tag since it's their right.

From my observation across the west the only way to really build up the age class is to manage the tag numbers and harvest numbers. Cutting tags allows more deer to avoid bullets and grow older. Montana manages for opportunity in the general units, not quality.

To speak to the original poster's question. I wouldn't totally give up on those areas as they have deer in them. You may need to do a little more digging into the maps and find areas with longer hikes and less people. It's rarely crowded once you get away from the roads. I can't actually tell you the last time I saw a hunter more than a mile from the road around Broadus.

As far as when to hunt - if you ask 10 guys you'll get 7 different answers. None is wrong either. If you want the opportunity to freeze your butt off pick anytime in the last 3 weeks of the season because any one of them can be so miserable that you won't want to go out. Peak rut activity seems to be at slightly different times every year and sometimes it seems like it just shuts off all of a sudden. I think part of it is when bigger bucks get does locked down we don't see them for a day or 2 and other times they cruise pretty wide ranges looking for hot does. Sometimes it gets warm or really damn windy and they loaf around in the bottom of steep dark canyons out of the sun or wind and out of our sight. The draws in that country are all deeper than they look and hide animals well. Older bucks no how to travel out of sight.

Hopefully you get some decent advice. Stick with it and you'll find a solid buck eventually.

 

[JEL]

Back to the OPs question, read antlerradar's post and then read it again. If you want big deer you won't find them in areas that have high deer densities on public land. You will have to find overlooked areas that are difficult to access, don't look all that spectacular, and are hard to glass from the road.

Sometimes less is more. Big blocks of public land draw big numbers of hunters. Sometimes you are better finding smaller, isolated pieces of public land and focusing on those. During the rut the big bucks can move very long distances and you may find them several miles away from where they started their day at.

It takes more patience, but don't overlook some of the God forsaken prairies that look like they couldn't support more than antelope or rattlesnakes. I've seen a couple of huge bucks in areas like that.

You might also need to re-evaluate your hunting tactics if you can't find a buck around Broadus.

This is spot on. I always liked to hunt the rut and thought that is how you found big bucks. A few years back though on a early youth hunt with my son my views changed. We hunted block mgmt but it looked pretty crappy on the maps and from the sign in box. There did appear to be some isolated habitat and after a bit of a hike we found some. That habitat held pockets of bucks. Some big, some not so big. Anyway, it changed my hunting habits. I now try to hit it hard early and find hard to get to, isolated habitat that doesn't look appealing to most hunters.

 

[Poke 'Em]

If you didn't have the opportunity to do any scouting, I'd probably hit the rut. If you had some time to scout pre-season (or during archery season), I'd probably hunt opening day. If you know where the deer you want to shoot is, your odds will be pretty high if you can get there before anybody else.

 

[gregt9146]

When we started this mission in Broadus we went the week of November 7-16 and yes we were looking for 160 plus but as that week went on we were just hoping to find a buck that was on public land, and the expectations came down real quick. Saw some bucks that size and probably up to 190" but were all on Private land chasing does. That is what surprised us also cause there wasn't really any deer on BLM land down there. We hunted everything on the east side of the Powder River.

Last year in Winnett we went November 13-21st deer everywhere and wasn't going to be picky just something respectable. We saw one deer in that 135" to 145" range that we spotted early in the hunt like 2nd day, were making a plan on getting on him not knowing there was a road right below where he was at until we saw a truck driving on it and they stopped and shot him as we watched through the spotting scope. Everything we saw after that was spikes and fork horns, except for a few that we on private land that we saw in the headlights in the morning driving to the area we hunted he most.

We spent most of last year hunting in Chain Butte BMA in the Swinging H cattle company part, saw more elk than deer.

I would really like to find a deer 150" or bigger but would go a little smaller, but I wont just shoot a deer to fill the tag regardless of the price, I go cause I love just being out there with my friends and family, and I've met a lot of great people from different parts of the country and seen a lot of new and really awesome country, The nicest deer we seen last year was on the back of a guys truck probably about 170" class mule deer as we were packing up to come home, and he stopped to talk to us.

 

[gregt9146]

Also last year we never ran into one hunter in that part of Chain Buttes, saw lots of people driving he roads but no one out glassing or moving around, we also got in pretty deep probably 2 1/2 to 3 miles away from the road some days a bit further.

I;m sure I miss a lot of deer while im glassing I'm still trying to figure out how to glass all those damn tree's, being from ND the deer are pretty much in the open, or if they are in the few tree's we have the tree's are more of those 6' scrubby cedar tree's or cotton woods and are a lot easier to see than in all those pines, How do you hunt all those pines?

 

[iowabuck]

Does it have to be Montana not that there is anything wrong with it but late season over the counter in Arizona is good

 

[have gun will travel]

You try and glass at first light when there up and moving. Once they bed down you look at every limb, branch, bush, and discoloration. Basically untill your eyes start to bleed. Visine helps with the dryness. It's a painstaking process with little results at times. Your basically looking for deer parts. An ear or antler maybe a snout. The easiest way is to break the landscape into a grid pattern and look at every inch twice.

 

[antlerradar]

I would hunt the BLM near where you saw the big deer the first week. There is a good chance that that big buck is on BLM the first week and he left for the does on private in Nov.
If that private is outfitted it is unlikely he is still around but if it is not there is a good chance he will make the season.
The first week can be hot and the old bucks don't move much but at least there is a chance he is where you can hunt.
When you are hunting look for big tracks and rubs and when you find them slow way down and spend most of your time on your butt with your glasses.

 

[1976]

Welcome too over the counter general tag hunting. It takes time and a lot of patience to scour over maps and learn the country you have picked to hunt. The nice deer aren't around every corner, if they were everyone would be there right. Just have some patience and like you said enjoy the hunt, the one thing I always look for is the place you really don't want to pack a deer out of because 9 out of 10 people will think the same and that could be good. And another spot would be that what the hell would a deer be on that property for its to close to the road, I have watched and shot some really nice deer within a half mile of major roads on public land that were overlooked by passerby's thank god. Public land hunting is great and very rewarding when all the work comes together, just don't give up.

 

[Mule Deer]

Two things.

I love antler restrictions. Why? I hate shooting young deer. Give it a chance to live. I've seen it work in Washington first hand in the NE. This thought that you are just going to kill all the older bucks is just baffling to me. Older bucks are smarter. Nothing else really needs to be said. Some good genetic bucks will be killed younger but to think that will be the norm is also baffling. Yes I used that word twice.

Another thing. Montana is still recovering from two very hard back to back winters on the mule deer and severe ehd for the whitetail. If you had hunted Montana before the bad winter's you would understand. The deer are just now making a come back but everyone from Washington is coming over to a shoot a baby meat buck. That's there right. Lots of young bucks right now. Hopefully a few stay living. Its going to be a while if ever to get back to where it was.

Also have to keep in mind. Right when these bad winter's were hitting they passed a law taking away 2500 tags from outfitters. Easier to draw a tag for people but also 2500 more people hunting public land. It's a different state now. Mature bucks are going to be the exception until we make a change.

 

[antlerradar]

Older bucks are much smarter but during the rut they are only as smart as the doe they are courting.

Montana didn't take tags away from the outfitters. We made them cheaper. I would say more nonresidents are hunting with outfitters or leasing private land themselves than ever before.

 

[Mule Deer]

Older bucks are much smarter but during the rut they are only as smart as the doe they are courting.

Montana didn't take tags away from the outfitters. We made them cheaper. I would say more nonresidents are hunting with outfitters or leasing private land themselves than ever before.

I've never seen a young bucks poke a doe to leave an area.

 

[MTGunner]

Hate to admit it but I have passed on 150plus mulies in my quest for something with real character. You just have to pick a good area, spend lots of time glassing, hiking, researching in the mid MT areas and you will get you trophy. Have taken many mulies and am getting picky in my old age. I do like them wt does to eat. Easy to drag also. MTG

 

[antlerradar]

I've never seen a young bucks poke a doe to leave an area.

One of the best deer I ever took did that. Ran the doe right off the private and on to the public at nine in the morning. Stood right behind the doe watching me at less than 200 yards. If that private had been leased it is unlikely he would have made it to the end of the fourth week of the season.
Bucks run does off not to avoid hunters but to get away form other bucks.

 

[gregt9146]

Mule Deer,
I understand the bad winters and all the deer mortality, hell we had the same here in ND plus all the oil activity in our Mule deer range. Both states have since taken away the opportunity to harvest does, and our Mule deer may not be where they were in 2008-2010 but the quality of the deer has gone way up, and so have the #'s in the last couple years. It just takes 6 years for a resident of ND to draw a Mule deer buck tag, and almost 4-5 years to draw a Whitetail buck tag.

So I guess my question is this. Why did the quality of the herd in ND rebound so much quicker with less deer, than that of eastern Montana?

 

[BlakeA]

Mule Deer,
I understand the bad winters and all the deer mortality, hell we had the same here in ND plus all the oil activity in our Mule deer range. Both states have since taken away the opportunity to harvest does, and our Mule deer may not be where they were in 2008-2010 but the quality of the deer has gone way up, and so have the #'s in the last couple years. It just takes 6 years for a resident of ND to draw a Mule deer buck tag, and almost 4-5 years to draw a Whitetail buck tag.

So I guess my question is this. Why did the quality of the herd in ND rebound so much quicker with less deer, than that of eastern Montana?

That's kind of comparing apples to oranges. Here in ND we typically only give out 100-150 buck tags per unit...and they are BIG units. There are literally thousands of hunters both resident and non resident that pound the public lands with buck tags in there pocket all over eastern MT for 5 weeks. Our season with an extreme limited number of tags is 16.5 days. If they restricted each of their units to limited quota low tag numbers with zero doe harvest and cut it down to a 16.5 day season, they would see similar results to what we have seen. It's night and day though. Two totally different systems.

 

[8andcounting]

Mule Deer,
I understand the bad winters and all the deer mortality, hell we had the same here in ND plus all the oil activity in our Mule deer range. Both states have since taken away the opportunity to harvest does, and our Mule deer may not be where they were in 2008-2010 but the quality of the deer has gone way up, and so have the #'s in the last couple years. It just takes 6 years for a resident of ND to draw a Mule deer buck tag, and almost 4-5 years to draw a Whitetail buck tag.

So I guess my question is this. Why did the quality of the herd in ND rebound so much quicker with less deer, than that of eastern Montana?

Because with over the counter tags the residents and NR's both want to fill that tag and since no B tags and no doe on the gen tag ever 2 and 3 point buck us getting killed . That's why

 

[8andcounting]

And Greg , FYI , I have a friend that hunts ND in sw corner of the state and ge gets a buck tag every year . Just gotta look around there's a few units that are nearly 100% draw on whitetail bucks

 

[gregt9146]

I agree that there is a lot of small bucks being taken, but not to the extent that none of those deer ever get a chance to mature, and with the size of the deer herd in Montana you would think you would see more of those deer. Especially with the amount of cover in the areas I've hunted.

Most of the far western parts of ND you can draw a whitetail buck tag in, but the populations in those units are small and mostly around the river bottoms and ag land, with the SW corner probably being the best, but most of that land is private and very hard to gain access.