Montana good ol days.

[starvingoutdoorsman]

Here is a photo that was ran in the Billings Gazette I want to say in 1967 or 1968 from a hunt my grandfather, grandmother, 2 uncles, and a friend of theirs had in Gardiner. We still have the big guys antlers hanging in my parents garage.

 

[Festus]

Is that Kuiu or Sitka??

 

[putm2sleep]

Is that Kuiu or Sitka??

That's what I'm sayin'!

Old school - cool school!

Great post.

 

[wapiti11]

Thanks for posting, very nice.....

 

[The Hedgehog]

Wow. Awesome photo, 5 big bulls, whole. I'd say Jardine road.

 

[Bambistew]

Thanks for sharing. Wonder how many elk there was back then?

 

[starvingoutdoorsman]

Thanks for sharing. Wonder how many elk there was back then?

Hard to say. My dad said he remembers the days of watching about 1000 head of mature 6 points wandering out of the park after they reopened the flats (I think that was the area that was closed for a while?). Said that he never seen a cow, spike, or calf in the group. He mentioned this one day after we just got done having a heard with several hundred split in half and we never seen a legal bull in the group. I have not been up there since though. I know the numbers sure are not looking to great nowadays even though some big bulls still come out of the area.

 

[Walkitoff]

I'd say Jardine road.

I was wondering that too. I grew up in Gardiner, and can't place this photo (there's not much to go on). Never had that kind of success while there -- the good ol' days I guess.

 

[Don K]

Wonder how many elk there was back then?

I wonder how many hunters there where back then?

Great picture..

 

[starvingoutdoorsman]

I wonder how many hunters there where back then?

Great picture..

Me to. I went up once and it was hard to get away from the pumpkin patch. We ran into hunters no matter where we went about 12 years ago. Have not been up since. Can only imagine what it was like in the back then.

 

[starvingoutdoorsman]

I was wondering that too. I grew up in Gardiner, and can't place this photo (there's not much to go on). Never had that kind of success while there -- the good ol' days I guess.

Well the photo was taken in Billings I believe. I would be willing the bet it was in that area though. I do not think my grandfather remembers much of those days anymore.

 

[kydeerhunter20]

If you guys are interested in Elk hunting I would put in for the drawing for Knott County Ky, nice elk here we have a 9x9 running around, we have lots of elk here in eastern ky

 

[Southern Elk]

Very cool picture! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Kevin W]

'67 was a great year!!!! ALOT of critters must have just decided to give it up after hearing a great hunter was just born!!!!

 

[mtmander]

Yes 67 was the 1st year I went to montana to hunt and I hunted the Gardiner area

 

[Straight Arrow]

I recall hunting high up in Eagle Creek drainage in the mid-seventies north of the Gardiner - Jardine road and glassing south across the river into Yellowstone Park. In the late afternoon every ridge and draw was full of hundreds of elk, moving north toward the river, poised to migrate up toward Dome Mountain. The number of vehicles "patrolling" the road in anticipation of an elk migration "ambush" was both incredible and concerning, so I quit hunting there.
In the late eighties, I took my son, Jeff, of high school age back to the area after a significant snow storm in the Gardiner area. I took a nice bull and Jeff shot his first trophy bull elk, but only after losing a severely wounded bull to road hunters after following it two hours down the mountain. Again the number of hunters congregated along the road was of concern; and after having bullets whizzing over our heads as we hiked up a ridge, we decided to hunt elsewhere in the future.
For me, as a hunter who enjoys solitude, the good ol' days of that era weren't necessarily that "good".

 

[sra61]

I think it was '88 when Yellowstone burned? I lived in Billings then, and we heard the elk were coming out. You always heard those rumors. We went down to check it out, and what an experience! We hiked up towards #%$^@&$-head Butte and watched at least a couple hundred head string single file across the head of the draw. A buddy that was with us killed a 6x2 bull out of a group of 14 bulls! He got so excited that he just shot the first bull he had a shot at! After we drug it down the mountain we drove to Jardine and counted 43 mature bulls either drug up to the side of the road or in the back of trucks! I hunted for a couple of weekends before hiring one of the Johnsons to take me up Bear Ck. on horses. I killed a big old 5x5 within maybe 1 mile of the trailhead. I had him aged and FWP said the tooth looked like he was 14 yrs. old, but they didn't think one could live that long in there so they figured maybe 12. I thought that was weird. There were lots of stories about stupid things that happened around Deckard Flats. We just steered clear of that and hunted away from the Park line. Those big bulls came out all night long. We would find them miles away from the line just feeding out in the open. It was cool! We talked to a guy that worked at the mine at Jardine, and he said they got a bunch of snow right before the opener and after the park burned like it did, all of those big bulls came out first. He killed a big 6x6 opening day out of a bunch of big bulls that he guessed at 300 head! Those days are gone, probably forever. I am glad I got to see them though.

 

[starvingoutdoorsman]

I recall hunting high up in Eagle Creek drainage in the mid-seventies north of the Gardiner - Jardine road and glassing south across the river into Yellowstone Park. In the late afternoon every ridge and draw was full of hundreds of elk, moving north toward the river, poised to migrate up toward Dome Mountain. The number of vehicles "patrolling" the road in anticipation of an elk migration "ambush" was both incredible and concerning, so I quit hunting there.
In the late eighties, I took my son, Jeff, of high school age back to the area after a significant snow storm in the Gardiner area. I took a nice bull and Jeff shot his first trophy bull elk, but only after losing a severely wounded bull to road hunters after following it two hours down the mountain. Again the number of hunters congregated along the road was of concern; and after having bullets whizzing over our heads as we hiked up a ridge, we decided to hunt elsewhere in the future.
For me, as a hunter who enjoys solitude, the good ol' days of that era weren't necessarily that "good".

I am not a fan of the shooting gallery areas either and for all I know this picture was a result of sitting on a road. Still a cool pic from back in the day IMO.

 

[Straight Arrow]

Don't get me wrong ... I also think that your photo is very cool. And it reflects a family hunting camaraderie that is a healthy and refreshing dynamic. Belated congrats to them.

I have a photo somewhere which I took back then in Gardiner where I shot the photo thru the bull elk antlers in the back of my pickup as the foreground, with several elk in the background bedded down on the snowy lawn of the motel right in the middle of Gardiner.

 

[hank4elk]

Great pic!
I'm just a youngster,lol, and hunted MT 10 yrs later,76'.
OTC tags and one of those quilted orange vests. I think the deer/elk NR was $35?
In the hills around Boulder/Basin. It was not a walk in the park,but we filled 6 of 5 tags and my 1st 5x5 bull.
I got the elk bug the 1st time I went to the Diamond S Ranch/Hotel with some locals for a steam,steak and...well, a woman.
I spent the night looking at racks & pics from real old days. A huge dark mount on wall above me,they said it was a BlackElk.
Waitress took me home,lol,I was the quiet one.From CA.
I wonder if that place is still there? Wonder what Ruby is up too? The good old days.