SW Montana Elk Hunt - Recap

[huntertx]

A little late, but better late than never. This year my dad, brother-in-law and I took our first elk-hunting trip up to SW MT. We had an amazing trip. We learned a lot about the area and saw beautiful country. We saw a good number of elk, but were never able to close the deal. Our hunt took place the first week of the general season. We hunted the Gravellys for most of the trip, but spent the last two days across the highway in 360.

Days 1-4: We did way too much hiking and too little glassing. We didn't intend to spend hours going from spot to spot, but we had a hard time finding locations where we could see more than 300 yards. We saw elk, moose and deer each day. Hunters were packing out elk all around us. Looking back, we should have stayed put on a few meadows and elk would have been pushed to us.

Days 5-6: A very competent local (who we dubbed "Randy Newberg Jr.") took pity on us and told us about a new spot to try in Unit 360 (we were previously across the highway in the Gravellys). We took his advice and it was more the style of hunting we were expecting. We hiked about 4 miles before sunlight and then glassed until sundown. We saw more elk on these last two days than in the prior 4 days combined.

Parting Thoughts:
I want to than Randy as well as the members in this forum. Randy's message regarding the amount of opportunity in the western states inspired me pursue this hunt as well as others. Additionally, the members of this forum provided excellent information for a novice elk hunter like me. Thanks guys!

For those of you who hunted SW MT this year, how did it compare it to previous years? We heard the early snows pushed some elk down into the valley earlier than usual.

What about the number of hunters? In my research on this site, gohunt, and talking with the biologist I was expecting to see a flood of orange around each bend, but that was not the case. Yes, we saw other hunters every day, but other hunters negatively impacted our hunt on only 1 evening.

We had an amazing time and are looking forward to next year.

 

[Pagosa]

That sounds like a great trip with your family and in my opinion a successful trip. Some of the best times elk hunting is when you don't shoot one. You guys have found a good area and will be taking elk most of the times you hunt in the future. Thanks for posting.

 

[belly-deep]

Some of the best times elk hunting is when you don't shoot one.

Very true. Once you shoot one, you have to pack it out.

In all seriousness, keep at it and learn the country. You’ll start getting elk.

 

[elkocd]

Huntertx

Curious why you guys did not get one when you saw them? Too far away? Did you see any good bulls? I've learned over the years that you better be ready to shoot a bull at last light WAY back from the truck if you want to seal the deal a lot of times. Sometimes it's hard to make the choice to head way deeper in that last hour knowing you're likely to be spending a lot of the night out there.

I'm getting ready to head back for a few days. Won't be too close to where you were, but hoping to find some bulls that have not been pressured too hard yet.

 

[chadv]

thanks for sharing. were heading out tomorrow for that area. a 13 hour drive, set up camp and be hunting by thurs pm I hope.

 

[publichunter1]

Thanks for sharing. Glad y'all were able to spend some time in some beautiful country.

 

[huntertx]

@elkocd- There were some strokes of bad luck and some rookie mistakes. Several times the elk were on private and wouldn't cross back into public (they were so close!). Other times the elk got our scent and we didn't see them until until they were running off. The last day I had a bull in my scope at about 200 yds, but he was facing directly away from me. I tried to side step for a better angle, but he heard me and took off into the timber. In hindsight, I should have stayed put and used a cow call to get him to turn around. Regarding long nights, we were open to spending a long night on the mountain if it meant we had a chance at a bull. Maybe once we have taken a full bull we will be more picky as to their location, but for now we have chosen to deal with the late nights as they come. Lastly, none of the bulls we saw were "trophy" bulls however there were several nice 6x6s that we saw getting packed out by other hunters.



@chadv- Goodluck! Let us know how it goes.

 

[tphelps45]

Sounds like a great trip and you guys have the right work ethic. To consider yourself a novice elk hunter and have a bull in your scope at 200 yards tells me you are making the right decisions.

Elk hunting has been good this year. Archery was tough weather wise but rifle season has produced good results. I think a big reason for this is because harvest numbers were down last year due to the mild fall, so bull/cow ratios were up this year, at least in the areas that I hunt.

From my experience elk hunting and hunting pressure in Montana can be so variable year to year. Some years there are 12 trucks at the trail head and orange in every park, some years I feel like I can mostly get away from the pressure and find kill-able elk. I try to stay flexible, react to hunting pressure, and work as hard as possible.

Good luck next year!