Montana HD 530 Mule Deer hunt

[NWmontanaOutdoors]

My wife drew a deer tag in MT HD 530
this year and I have been doing incredible amounts of OnX scouting picking apart the small bits of topography it seems to have.

I have been unable to find much information on the unit itself or of it’s current deer populous.

any information (not spots) on the unit would be incredibly appreciated! whether the deer seem to prefer the river bottoms or rolling flats more, etc. I am unable to scout prior to season. Thanks folks.

 

[8andcounting]

Ok good luck. I have to ask , why apply to a unit you know nothing about ? I would definitely help if I could but I’ve never hunted it ! Good luck !

 

[NWmontanaOutdoors]

Ok good luck. I have to ask , why apply to a unit you know nothing about ? I would definitely help if I could but I’ve never hunted it ! Good luck !

I am out of country and decided it would be educational to let my wife use my GoHunt to comb over units in the state that looked appealing to her and for her to do the application process through our FWP Website to become more familiar. I was not there but assume she saw the draw potential and decided it was the unit she wanted to put in for. I am a big fan of covering new ground and am happy to hunt units I know nothing about. Thanks!

 

[SAJ-99]

Big area and plenty of deer and public land. South edge of the unit is the Mussellshell and it includes some of the Bull Mountains. Once you go north it gets pretty open, more antelope-type country, but lots of deer both places. There are some big mule deer, but they travel a lot. Sort of depends on the week you are hunting. You will probably need to narrow the zone down to a smaller piece or do a lot of road-hunting.

 

[BirdManMike]

I hunted the western half for antelope last year. I did not see a ton of deer, but I did see some and I saw some real korker bucks, too. One group of big mulies I thought was elk at first. Saw most hoofing it off the road up along ridge lines that had some trees, not too many from the road or in the bottoms.

 

[hoosieratc]

I spent quite a bit of time in 530 this past January on a cow elk hunt. We did see some good MD bucks in the SW part of the unit. We also saw quite a few good WT bucks in the north central part of the unit in some ag fields. Obviously January is much different than Oct/Nov. Hope this little bit of info helps.

 

[NWmontanaOutdoors]

Th

I spent quite a bit of time in 530 this past January on a cow elk hunt. We did see some good MD bucks in the SW part of the unit. We also saw quite a few good WT bucks in the north central part of the unit in some ag fields. Obviously January is much different than Oct/Nov. Hope this little bit of info helps.

thank you for the info, I am currently planning to hunt the southwest portion of the unit and get away from people, there is a BMA tract that looks promising. Thanks again

 

[hooseratc]

Th

thank you for the info, I am currently planning to hunt the southwest portion of the unit and get away from people, there is a BMA tract that looks promising. Thanks again

Just curious how many points your wife had going into the draw. I went in with 3 and didn't get drawn for 530.

 

[NWmontanaOutdoors]

Are you a resident? She had zero points but the draw is 100% for residents until the cap is hit.

 

[hooseratc]

Are you a resident? She had zero points but the draw is 100% for residents until the cap is hit.

Gotcha. NR here, sorry didn't notice that you were from Montana, makes sense now. Thought I had a pretty good chance of drawing based on previous years, but it didn't happen. Good Luck this fall, I'm going to try and fill an antelope tag, MD tag and elk tag in 6 weeks this fall.

 

[MontMulie2651]

Question, I drew this Mule deer tag this year. Now it’s called HD-535. Unfortunately I only have 6 days to hunt this hunt this year due to work and trying to decide if I want to use this or spend that time chasing elk. Going to try and get over there late September to scout. Not looking for anyones spots but just some general knowledge of the area and overall hunting experience. Deer numbers good and fairly low hunting pressure?

 

[BlakeA]

Not looking for anyones spots but just some general knowledge of the area and overall hunting experience.

There is a population of deer within the unit. There will be hunters within the unit as well. The unit itself is North of Billings and has both public and private land. Some areas have water. Can have some windy days and some not so windy days. A few asphalt roads and some gravel/dirt roads throughout the unit. 6 days may not be enough but it may be just right. Good luck on your hunt!

 

[MontMulie2651]

There is a population of deer within the unit. There will be hunters within the unit as well. The unit itself is North of Billings and has both public and private land. Some areas have water. Can have some windy days and some not so windy days. A few asphalt roads and some gravel/dirt roads throughout the unit. 6 days may not be enough but it may be just right. Good luck on your hunt!

Thanks for the info! I live a couple hours from the unit, have just never hunted it. Put in for it due to location and quick access but unfortunately work ruined my plans.

 

[PablitoPescador]

Question, I drew this Mule deer tag this year. Now it’s called HD-535. Unfortunately I only have 6 days to hunt this hunt this year due to work and trying to decide if I want to use this or spend that time chasing elk. Going to try and get over there late September to scout. Not looking for anyones spots but just some general knowledge of the area and overall hunting experience. Deer numbers good and fairly low hunting pressure?

It's not going to be any better than your general season Montana hunt in terms of deer numbers and hunting pressure. Young age class of deer due to WAY too many tags given out. Some decent bucks on private but the public areas get hammered pretty hard in my experience.

 

[Badlandcat]

Wasted some points on that unit last year. Mainly hunted east of 87 to the Musselshell.
Lots of public with lots of hunters.