If you know, you know

[Newman's Own]

My friend was recently down by Dillon, MT and was elk hunting....said it was the usual....tons of people from all over. he said all the spots he'd usually go had a vehicle line...just one big circle jerk. but oh well....that's the age we live in now.

he eventually met up with a group of hunters/campers and they told him if he'd been there two days prior he'd have witnessed a massacre. A popular camping spot was inundated w/ about 40 plus campers/tents, etc and a herd of 200+ elk went through at dusk and every person out there and on the road started herd shooting and ass shooting elk. just awful and disgusting.

my buddy eventually met up w/ FWP at a check station and he asked about it....fwp cited 30+ out of staters for poaching, etc .....27 elk dead and more wounded. i guess it was a shit show. without spot-burning ....anyone down there witnesses or hear more about what happened? I'm headed down next week to other side of that range...snow is gonna keep me pretty much locked to one side of the ridge or other and gonna end up bringing my snow shoes and sled.

sad face.

 

[stoep]

Haven't heard of this particular instance but my friend talked to a FS LEO two weeks ago who was driving that area who described multiple similar smaller scale instances on the border of BLM / Private. Landowner harvests an elk on a ranch, elk bolt, and then a slaughter as soon as they cross to public by a group of folks sitting in their trucks idling. So a measure of the levels of integrity amongst the average hunter were showing.

 

[westbranch]

Never hunted there, but driving through and seeing some elk I can see how it would happen. Saw a herd on Oct 29 that we guessed at 250+ on private. Similar story made the news in Central MT a couple years ago.

 

[rjthehunter]

I wonder how many elk were wounded or will later succumb to their injuries as a result. Sure is a lot of idiots just slinging lead at some elk. This instance makes bowhunters look a lot more humane.

 

[Newman's Own]

Haven't heard of this particular instance but talked to a FS LEO two weeks ago who was driving that area who described multiple similar smaller scale instances on the border of BLM / Private. Landowner harvests an elk on a ranch, elk bolt, and then a slaughter as soon as they cross to public by a group of folks sitting in their trucks idling. So a measure of the levels of integrity amongst the average hunter were showing.

i've witnessed many a thing like this while glassing over the past 20 years. not interested in hunting that side of the range....i watch from a distance.

 

[geewhiz]

Happens every year it seams.

I would, however, like to hear some more details on this incident. Send me a PM if you wouldnt mind. Yes I've filled my elk tag.

 

[The Hedgehog]

my buddy eventually met up w/ FWP at a check station and he asked about it....fwp cited 30+ out of staters for poaching, etc .....27 elk dead and more wounded.

Surely no residents of MT would have such participation in an event like this.. Damn out of staters..

 

[Newman's Own]

I wonder how many elk were wounded or will later succumb to their injuries as a result. Sure is a lot of idiots just slinging lead at some elk. This instance makes bowhunters look a lot more humane.

i think fwp told my buddy it was 27 taken illegally and then about 13 more that were wounded and had to be put down....i don't know much more outside of that.

 

[Newman's Own]

Happens every year it seams.

I would, however, like to hear some more details on this incident. Send me a PM if you wouldnt mind. Yes I've filled my elk tag.

when/if i learn more i'll shoot ya a msg. main reason why i came here was to see if anyone had heard what in the flying @#%@#$% was going on.

 

[BirdManMike]

Surely no residents of MT would have such participation in an event like this.. Damn out of staters..

Ya, my observations are that its typically not out of staters engaged in these incidents....

 

[Newman's Own]

Ya, my observations are that its typically not out of staters engaged in these incidents....

could be the case. this incident in particular doesn't fit that observation.

 

[The Hedgehog]

Ya, my observations are that its typically not out of staters engaged in these incidents....

I don't have a sarcasm font, so yeah..

 

[BirdManMike]

when/if i learn more i'll shoot ya a msg. main reason why i came here was to see if anyone had heard what in the flying @#%@#$% was going on.

This is a regular occurrence.

A lot of times it 'good ol' boys' passing the word round that a herd is on so-and-so's place and will be shootable in the morning.

Other times, its those darn out-of-staters that watched @Big Fin 's Fresh Tracks episode on hunting fence lines from the warmth of the truck then were inspired to spend $1100 on a tag to experience this epic hunt for themselves. Thanks, Newberg.

 

[Newman's Own]

This is a regular occurrence.

A lot of times it 'good ol' boys' passing the word round that a herd is on so-and-so's place and will be shootable in the morning.

Other times, its those darn out-of-staters that watched @Big Fin 's Fresh Tracks episode on hunting fence lines from the warmth of the truck then were inspired to spend $1100 on a tag to experience this epic hunt for themselves. Thanks, Newberg.

i know the area very well. this was not a herd coming off private land and thus was not a word of mouth...this was right place, wrong time. and this post is not here to serve as a middle finger to out of state hunters. this is the info relayed to me via my buddy via fish and game. trying to gather more info for posterity sake.

 

[thusby]

A dozen guys unloading on a herd on private isn’t gonna make the gossip circle. It happens all over, every year.

 

[Scott85]

I got a pretty good spot around Dillon, I will never gun hunt it again. The road hunters were terrible. We could see 2 roads and the vehicle traffic never stopped on either one all day long.

 

[BackofBeyond]

This one guy that I know, talked to another guy, who heard from his cousin, who talked with a FWP officer and it turns out if my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle.

 

[kwyeewyk]

This instance makes bowhunters look a lot more humane

Yeah this is why I always question the notion that archery has more wounding, every year I hear shot bursts of 4 or more during both deer and elk rifle seasons, in WA and other states, and figure there's probably at least one wounded animal if not more coming out of it, pretty rare to get more than one shot in archery much less wound multiple animals. Opening weekend saw a wounded bull in one of these large herds on private near public in western MT that some complete jackass (happened to be from CA, pretty sure he was loaded on something) took credit for wounding, but his story was too confusing to understand for sure what had happened. Bunch of rigs along the road watching them on private. Next day heard 3 shots nearby and ran into an older guy and his son, following a weak blood trail a couple hours later. We ended up jumping the bull on our way out, never saw him but found the blood, and pretty sure a different hunter killed it shortly after based on hearing a single shot from where it ran.

 

[Stocker]

 

[Newman's Own]