First Montana archery Elk Hunt. Would you.....

[Olydog09]

Go to the Anaconda-Pintler wilderness or the Lee Metcalf wilderness? The hunt will be mid Sept. archery and a back pack style hunt. I have some basic starting spots for both areas but am curious if anyone has been to both or either and what may be expected. (Other than a physically hard hunt). I am not so concerned with trophy potential but would rather have an experience with a fairly high quantity of decent bulls with the possibility of a monster thrown in. Any info would be most appreciated.
(Phantom, I still appreciate your input on n.w. MT and will be using that for weekend hunts and if I do not connect on my vacation time hunt)

[BrentLaBere]

If I wasn't afraid of those stinkn grizzly bears I would go to the Lee Metcalf for many reasons and one of them including fly fishing. I know you wouldn't go there to fish but a good thing to stop by the Madison for the salmon fly hatch after a scouting trip. I used to see elk to the west of 191(Gallatin RD) North of the Meadow turn off but that was in the later part of the fall, not during Archery. I knew a few people that used to rifle hunt by Cameron with a little bit of success but all with cows too. So, overall I am no help to you, haha. Wish you luck though.

[WapitiTalk1]

Go to the Anaconda-Pintler wilderness or the Lee Metcalf wilderness? The hunt will be mid Sept. archery and a back pack style hunt. I have some basic starting spots for both areas but am curious if anyone has been to both or either and what may be expected. (Other than a physically hard hunt). I am not so concerned with trophy potential but would rather have an experience with a fairly high quantity of decent bulls with the possibility of a monster thrown in. Any info would be most appreciated.
(Phantom, I still appreciate your input on n.w. MT and will be using that for weekend hunts and if I do not connect on my vacation time hunt)

Scott, Indian Summer may chime in as he's probably spent some time in one or both of the wilderness areas you mentioned. The couple of areas I shared with you, further north, both hold elk and are great long weekend hunt spots to hit from where you live. If you can get over to do some scouting there this summer, I think you'll find the furtherest "east" area I sent you will satisfy your wilderness area desire Be cautious of the brown bears there.

[elk.addict]

I do all my hunting/fishing/hiking in the Pintlers, because it's close to home. There are a few big bulls (I see a couple 340-350 bulls each year), but for the most part you're hunting much smaller bulls.

[Ridge Ghost]

Elk.addict is right concerning trophy potential in the Pintlers. Another thought- you need a special permit to hunt the unit 270 portion of the Pintler Wilderness. It's a 100% draw for 1st choice applicants, but you need to put in by March 15th.

[Olydog09]

I do all my hunting/fishing/hiking in the Pintlers, because it's close to home. There are a few big bulls (I see a couple 340-350 bulls each year), but for the most part you're hunting much smaller bulls.

Thanks for the info. At this point in my elk hunting career I need experiences with elk and need to concentrate on just putting bulls on the ground. So that sounds like a decent place to dig into. Thanks to all the replys and the heads up on the draw Ghost.