friend texted me from out of the blue: Bitteroot wilderness

[pointysticks]

he is working on a trip for bowhunting elk. big event involving some pack horses and drop camps.

damn. Montana tags are not cheap! $826 for a non-res? am i reading that right? March deadline for the draw...i gotta read the stats, but what are the odds?

[WapitiTalk1]

Sticks, I'm pretty sure the draw stats for the OTC elk tags in MT are still close to a 100% success rate. I haven't hunted there since 2011 when they changed everything but I'm pretty sure since then, the draw rate success has been through the roof. That's Indian Summer's stomping grounds so I'm sure he'll chime in on the draw rate and perhaps on the bitterroot area a bit.

[BrentLaBere]

898.59$
If you do it online they add a certain % to the cost. That includes bow tag and all.
This is for the Elk Combo

[MTLongdraw]

That's district 240. I think its about as low of elk numbers you can get. Don't get me wrong there are a few elk in there but I wouldn't plan on having much action. Beautiful places and nasty rugged country. Apply by March 15 to be safe but you will likely be able to get leftover tags well after that. It is a guaranteed draw for mule deer but you have to apply by 3-15 for that. If you get that tag its the only place in the state you can hunt Mule Deer

[Indian Summer]

Longdraw is on the money. I sure wouldn't put all my chips on that area. Very low numbers. If I was going to hunt the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness I'd do it on the Idaho side. Cheaper licenses and gun season starts on September 15th. I wouldn't bother bowhunting any of that. if you see a bull you damn sure better kill it because it could be the only one you see.

One of the problems with what we call the "West Side Canyons" is that each drainage is nestled between some serious rocky crags. You don't just relocate in there. It can be all but impossible to get over the top into other holes. But as you would imagine the elk have their little escape routes. Goat paths... literally. If you bump elk in those spots you could be in for one heck of a long lonely week because they will abandon that canyon altogether.

If he is dead set on hunting there shoot me a PM. There is only one spot I'd really consider hunting. You actually have to ride over the top into Idaho and then back up over into Montana.

One other thing about that place: There have been quite a few burns over the years. Do NOT go in there without a good cross cut saw. No chainsaws allowed and if you are in there and a good wind storm rolls through you could very well have to cut your way out. If that happens you'll wish you went golfing instead!

When you say "drop camp" do you mean with an outfitter? If so who?

No doubt it is some beautiful country in there. But there are certainly better places to hunt elk. Same goes for deer. My brother lives at the mouth of Fred Burr canyon just north of Blodgett and you couldn't pay us to hunt in there or any of the others for that matter.

[pointysticks]

Thanks. Just the boots on the ground info I needed.

[njdoxie]

why so few elk in that country?

[Ridge Ghost]

There's so few elk because most of it isn't that good of habitat. Narrow, steep, rocky, dry canyons. Most of the decent elk habitat is limited to the very heads of these canyons and a few hanging valleys and isolated cirques here and there. I live close by and the area is great for hiking in the summer, but there are more productive places to go for a hunt.

[WapitiTalk1]

why so few elk in that country?

Another factor (in addition to the rugged country Ridge Ghost mentioned) may have been surfaced in the study mentioned below. Excessive predation appears to be having a negative impact on the elk herd popuations.

http://outdoorchannel.com/article.aspx? ... lk-Decline

[MTLongdraw]

Ridge is exactly right. Quite a few bears but even the goat population struggles. Used to give out multiple tags in both the north and south parts of the unit but now they give out two for the whole unit. Awful odds of drawing and once you pick a drainage that's where your at until you walk out and go to the next one. Not to much up and over in that country.

[MTLongdraw]

Thanks for sharing that RJ. Wish lions were a little easier to hunt!

[Indian Summer]

Ridge Ghost nailed it to a T. Terrible habitat. The very heads of the canyons are really the only places to hunt. Bump elk out of there and it's game over. That picture says it all. If elk ate rocks it would be a hell of a hot spot.

[WapitiTalk1]

If elk ate rocks it would be a hell of a hot spot.

What? They don't eat rocks.... Shoot, now you tell me. I've been hunting in the wrong places

[Indian Summer]

And yet another hunter gets an education here on Elknut Forums.