Montana, talk to me about your mountain whitetail.

[squirrel]

Right, they really hate pine trees where I hunt them too.

It could be a thing in CO, but I can't see why or how a whitetail in NW Montana or the Black Hills in SD/WY would be any different than one in CO.

Maybe, would like to hear an explanation of why though.

Obviously the deer aren't different so the habitat would be the most likely reason. Elevation and vegetation combination. I would think on a nice balmy -30 windy day snuggling up to an Engleman spruce would be an obvious choice, except they dont. They bed under a cottonwood or a juniper 100 yards from the spruce.

The elevation angle could also be a factor. To get to 8500' these deer will need a shovel.

 

[squirrel]

A food source study would be pretty interesting on these deer, given their limited mobility/range. No alfalfa, certainly no corn or beans/milo. No feed bunks to poach any of the above from cattle, cows here get nothing but grass hay and water. Years ago I had a small herd of WT come in daily to a circle about 50 yards diameter. They fed there as long as the dogs and/or activity would allow most evenings, and were extremely tolerant of disruptions, sauntering over to grab some bird seed off the feeder tray for desert. I never went over to see what they were after. Few years went by and the owner dozed it and put in a rodeo corral and covered up the circle with a foot of sand. I havent seen a WT within 100 yards of that spot in the last 20 years.