Montana: The General Big Sky Thread

[Texasdan]

For those better in the know...a small number of these units have substantially better rates for NR than Res.

Is this attributed to outfitter hunts?

How reliable are these stats in general? There seems to be quite a bit of variance.

[Pop-r]

From what I have read some of those number's are somewhat inflated due to late season permit hunt's.

[Texasdan]

Ya I read the same thing.

I wish it was broken down so you could see just how few bowhunters some of these places see.

[Indian Summer]

To tell the truth I think NR hunters hunt harder. We have a few bucks wrapped up in tags etc. & limited time to get the job done. Lots of locals don't take it as seriously and hunt weekends only. In archery some are holding out because they know they have the entire 5 week gun season to fall back on. On the flip side... outfitted hunts do have somewhat of an effect too. I know our success rates are always WAY higher than the overall %.

[elk.addict]

To tell the truth I think NR hunters hunt harder. we have a few bucks wrapped up in tags etc. Lots of locals don't take it as seriously and hunt weekends only. In archery some are holding out because they know they have the entire 5 week gun season to fall back on. On the flip side... outfitted hunts do have somewhat of an effect too. I know our success rates are always WAY higher than the overall %.

I agree totally. Most people I know around here don't hunt that hard, and I think it has to do with them being so used to the long season. It's easy to drag your feet a bit and think, 'well maybe I'll hit it hard next week'. I'd say the success rate of local folks I know is about 20%.
Now I have several non-resident buddies that come out to Montana each year to hunt with me. They usually only have 7-10 days for hunting, so we hit it hard and are serious about it. I can only think of 2 instances where someone didn't fill an elk tag, so that puts us 4 guys around a 90%+ success rate. Of course, most non-residents probably don't have a buddy like me out scouting for them all season long either

[Pop-r]

Elk.addict, I need a new buddy! Lol

[Texasdan]

To tell the truth I think NR hunters hunt harder. We have a few bucks wrapped up in tags etc. & limited time to get the job done. Lots of locals don't take it as seriously and hunt weekends only. In archery some are holding out because they know they have the entire 5 week gun season to fall back on. On the flip side... outfitted hunts do have somewhat of an effect too. I know our success rates are always WAY higher than the overall %.

That also crossed my mind.

I've discussed it with my hunting partner about using your service. He is on the fence .

We'll see. I'm doing cyber recon regardless.

Got it narrowed to a few units if for no other reason than the exercise of the task.

Again, Joe great talking to you two weeks ago

[Texasdan]

I edited the name of the thread so as to house all of my questions in one place and not clog up the board between now and October with a new thread each time I have an epiphany.

[mtelkkiller]

I think also you should look at those areas and see which ones have a higher density of private land as well. If the elk have lots of private land to hide on it really affects the success rates.

[Texasdan]

Anyone care to comment on tactics for southwest Montana in early to mid October? (Oct 4-19)

[Lefty]

Anyone care to comment on tactics for southwest Montana in early to mid October? (Oct 4-19)

Be ready for some cold or a freak snow storm. You could have 2 foot of snow in the high ground. Get excited for weather changes.
Ive rifle hunted some of SW Montana, Wolves and bear in most of that country you may want to consider those tags too.
I was told the big bulls start to stay in the blowdown in October, seemed to hold true in the area we were

There are some landowners looking for archers, the local CO and some motel operators may know. When we were hunting the Idaho Montana border (Idaho tag) the motel owner knew a number of landowners who wanted white-tail hunters, archery deer or elk , always want someone to chase their lions and shoot their wolves,

[Texasdan]

Are you referring to purchasing a LO tag in addition or simply say "hey I'll come hunt on your land so you don't have to" without an extra tag. Sounds interesting. I will have to explore!