FWP WARDENS OFFER AN INSIDER'S VIEW ON BIG GAME SEASON
By -- Diane M. Tipton, FWP Information Officer
Montana's Fish, Wildlife & Parks wardens have an insider's view of hunting season. Their advice is based on firsthand experience with thousands of hunters, and they have collected some great hunting stories, too.
Among the luckiest hunters ever seen by an FWP warden is Lee Anderson's account of the hunter in the North Fork of the Flathead, in northwestern Montana. This hunter defied the odds by coming across an elk while driving down the main North Fork Road.
"The North Fork is not exactly teaming with wildlife, but elk and deer can be harvested from time to time," Anderson said. "The country is steep and thick with brush, so if you do get an animal it is no easy feat to get it into the truck and to the freezer."
Anderson said a large 6-point bull elk ran across the road and into one of the few semi-open flat spots in the area. The hunter got out of the vehicle, ran a short distance up the hillside and shot. While dressing the elk, a power company employee drove down the road in his service truck. He fired up the boom and loaded the bull elk whole into the back of the hunter's truck. The hunter drove two miles to the North Fork check station to check his elk.
"Anyone from this area knows it is almost impossible to get a legal shot at an elk next to the road. But to have a boom truck come along and load it whole, two miles from the check station, is never going to happen again," Anderson said.
By -- Diane M. Tipton, FWP Information Officer
Montana's Fish, Wildlife & Parks wardens have an insider's view of hunting season. Their advice is based on firsthand experience with thousands of hunters, and they have collected some great hunting stories, too.
Among the luckiest hunters ever seen by an FWP warden is Lee Anderson's account of the hunter in the North Fork of the Flathead, in northwestern Montana. This hunter defied the odds by coming across an elk while driving down the main North Fork Road.
"The North Fork is not exactly teaming with wildlife, but elk and deer can be harvested from time to time," Anderson said. "The country is steep and thick with brush, so if you do get an animal it is no easy feat to get it into the truck and to the freezer."
Anderson said a large 6-point bull elk ran across the road and into one of the few semi-open flat spots in the area. The hunter got out of the vehicle, ran a short distance up the hillside and shot. While dressing the elk, a power company employee drove down the road in his service truck. He fired up the boom and loaded the bull elk whole into the back of the hunter's truck. The hunter drove two miles to the North Fork check station to check his elk.
"Anyone from this area knows it is almost impossible to get a legal shot at an elk next to the road. But to have a boom truck come along and load it whole, two miles from the check station, is never going to happen again," Anderson said.
