Safe boating on Fort Peck/ Missouri River question

[Luke_with_a_lab]

Hey guys, I hope everyone is having a great hunting season so far. I am headed over to the fort peck area here in a few days on the 14th. We are planning on going after mule deer using my 18ft modified v hull jet boat with an 80hp motor. The plan, for now, is to go out along shore somewhere from the fourchette bay boat launch and set up a camp. Currently, the weather looks ok but winds do look like they could reach maybe 15 miles per hour on Monday (the day we are coming out). I was just hoping to get some ideas of what the conditions on the lake might look like at those wind speeds. Will it be fairly safe if we stick close to the shore? Any advice or past experiences would be great to hear!

Also, would you expect the road to Forchette Bay to be in passible condition after the snow yesterday?
Thanks

 

[buffybr]

I wanted to do that years ago, putting in at Robertson Bridge to avoid the gumbo roads. Luckily my hunting partner called someone up there before we planned to leave and was told that the river had frozen. Even if the lake is open, you want to make sure that there is not any water in your motor overnight that could freeze. Sounds like a great trip.

 

[Frenchy]

I've used a 16ft modified V jon-boat with a 60hp jet on Ft. Peck and the River. It definately can get dicey in the wind, but at 15 mph I would still proceed with the hunt. Its good to stay next to the shore, but It can add MILES to your travel if you don't cut across the little inlets. If you got a guy sitting up front, he's going to take a pounding but you will make it.

 

[Luke_with_a_lab]

Thanks for the advice. My only problem now is I think it might be iced up.

 

[Luke_with_a_lab]

I thought I would just give a follow up on how the hunt went. Getting to Forchette Bay was good until the gravel ended. It had snowed 5 or 6 days prior and the roads were pure mud. I'm sure as many of you know that gumbo is unforgiving. We realized due to pulling the boat there was no turning around so we had no choice but to try to push through on the roads and get to the boat launch. After almost getting stuck in the sage flats multiple times we ended up making it to the launch. We got the boat launched and loaded and luckily there was zero wind. We had a pretty easy boat ride 6 or 7 miles to our hunting spot. That evening we glassed a few different bucks and we were optimistic for the next day. The next day our party of 4 split up and were able to fill our deer tags, no monsters but we were happy for the limited amount of time we had. Anyhow we fished our second day out there then boated out on the third day. By this point, the roads had dried nicely and we passed several people pulling in with boats. Not sure if they'll get stuck in there because I know there was weather coming in!