MT Drawing is in progress!

[Tigger]

Results should be out today.

[BMF11]

Results are posted for me at least. Successful! Good luck to all who applied

[7mmfan]

No dice. Waitin on WY now!

[Tigger]

Successful on the general. Not successful on the limited entry. Now to find a place to go.....

[GoGriz1234]

Success on the general! I would be interested to know what the odds are these days - it seems like it has been creeping up for some time.

[JJ Overkill]

We drew the general, didn’t put in for a limited permit. This will be our first time in MT. Should be an interesting hunt.

[Indian Summer]

Successful on the general. Not successful on the limited entry. Now to find a place to go.....

Tig why in the world did you not apply in Wyoming? You could have withdrawn the app until May 8 if you drew in MT and even if you had no points you always have a chance in the random. Good luck!

[Tigger]

We talked about and strategized a lot. But my bum shoulder, daughter, group point dynamic, etc all played into it. We knew we would draw MT and would very likely not draw WY. Probably should have in the end. But it is what it is. MT or bust!

Found a spot I kinda like, just don't know much about it.

[Indian Summer]

We talked about and strategized a lot. But my bum shoulder, daughter, group point dynamic, etc all played into it. We knew we would draw MT and would very likely not draw WY. Probably should have in the end. But it is what it is. MT or bust!

Found a spot I kinda like, just don't know much about it.

You’ll find a spot with elk. I managed to put 15 of them in the freezer from there. But only a few came easy. If I had to pick a week it’d be the last week of rifle season. Way less people and elk are more predictable. The weather doesn’t give them much of a choice.

[RAMMONT]

You’ll find a spot with elk. I managed to put 15 of them in the freezer from there. But only a few came easy. If I had to pick a week it’d be the last week of rifle season. Way less people and elk are more predictable. The weather doesn’t give them much of a choice.

That depends on where and how you hunt.

I hunt public land in SW Montana (west of the divide and south of the Bob Marshall) and getting an elk during the general rifle season is easier the first few weeks than it is the last few weeks.

[Indian Summer]

You’ll find a spot with elk. I managed to put 15 of them in the freezer from there. But only a few came easy. If I had to pick a week it’d be the last week of rifle season. Way less people and elk are more predictable. The weather doesn’t give them much of a choice.

That depends on where and how you hunt.

I hunt public land in SW Montana (west of the divide and south of the Bob Marshall) and getting an elk during the general rifle season is easier the first few weeks than it is the last few weeks.

I’m talking western Montana too. I’ve killed them literally every week of the season. But it’s more systematic than pot luck in the end. If you’ve always killed them early you don’t know what you’re missing. If I had two pick 2 weeks it’d be the first or last. The first for obvious reasons but I’ll still take the last over that. It wasn’t always that way. Eventually I learned the different stages of the migration and that changed everything. They can’t pick and choose where they want to feed then. Less hunters by far is an added bonus. But.... I’ve seen mild weather all the way to the end too and all bets are off when that happens.

[Indian Summer]

Weeks 2 & 3 they are absolutely in survival mode. I’ll pass on those dates for sure.

[GoGriz1234]

IS - when you where chasing them the last week of the season, were you finding and chasing lone bulls, or would they be bachelored up by then so if you find one, you would find a few?

[Indian Summer]

IS - when you where chasing them the last week of the season, were you finding and chasing lone bulls, or would they be bachelored up by then so if you find one, you would find a few?

Herded up again. A really big plus to hunting the very end. Most elk are back on the same program. Usually multiple bulls. Branch antlered bulls including 6 points but not the biggest bulls in the area. The big boys always stick it out up higher. They mostly winter separately too.

After archery season when most bulls split off from the herd to bachelor groups can be the hardest time of the season. I’ve seen as many as 8 bulls together but finding them is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

[RAMMONT]

You’ll find a spot with elk. I managed to put 15 of them in the freezer from there. But only a few came easy. If I had to pick a week it’d be the last week of rifle season. Way less people and elk are more predictable. The weather doesn’t give them much of a choice.

That depends on where and how you hunt.

I hunt public land in SW Montana (west of the divide and south of the Bob Marshall) and getting an elk during the general rifle season is easier the first few weeks than it is the last few weeks.

I’m talking western Montana too. I’ve killed them literally every week of the season. But it’s more systematic than pot luck in the end. If you’ve always killed them early you don’t know what you’re missing. If I had two pick 2 weeks it’d be the first or last. The first for obvious reasons but I’ll still take the last over that. It wasn’t always that way. Eventually I learned the different stages of the migration and that changed everything. They can’t pick and choose where they want to feed then. Less hunters by far is an added bonus. But.... I’ve seen mild weather all the way to the end too and all bets are off when that happens.

Like I said, it depends on where and how you hunt. Hunting around the Yellowstone or Kalispell isn't the same as hunting around Deer Lodge, totally different animal habitat and movements through the hunting season. Where I hunt, during the general rifle season, the archery hunters have already pressured the elk enough to push them in to their holes. Then the so called winter migration is almost non-existent, the bulls stay high and on private property while the rest go in to the valleys and on private property, your only chance of getting anything is if you catch them at sunrise or sunset on the edge of the trees in their holes or at the edges of private property. If you get lucky you might find a bull bedded in thicker country during the day as he chews his cud or is moving between food and bedding.