Montana deer and Elk 2016

devon deer stalker

Well-Known Member
Well, i just pressed the button again and applied for a Montana Big Game combo, i won't know if myself and my companion will be successful for a few weeks but the application had to be in by March the 15th.
It will be more expensive this time, the Tag went up and the exchange rate sucks, but you only live once.
I would encourage people to try it, there is so much public land hunting available, you don't need a guide/outfitter, well you could, but it would cost you thousands of pounds.

You can make the trip pretty cheap after you pay for airfare/tags, any advice just contact me.

Here are a few pics to whet your appetite.











Cheers

Richard
 
Very interested in this . But have been put off by the cost of using an outfitter. P.M. on way
Tusker
 
Looks stunning Richard. Hope your application is successful and you get another trip of a lifetime by the look of things. Gaz
 
Very interested in this . But have been put off by the cost of using an outfitter. P.M. on way
Tusker
Didn't get the pm.

Looks stunning Richard. Hope your application is successful and you get another trip of a lifetime by the look of things. Gaz

Thanks Gaz

Here is a link to previous costs
Montana Deer/Elk hunt costings
Bear in mind the $ exchange rate sucks at the moment.
Research is key with this hunt, some area's have been hit hard by wolves, others less so, some are busy with other hunters, but after the first few days things settle down and people go back to work.
Beware, there are things that can hunt you!
Buy bear pepper spray, it's rare that attacks happen, just be bear aware, a bear crapped near my tent when i camped out (on my own) up in the Madison mountains, if i hadn't raised my food up a tree and 100 yards away it might have been a different story, watch the film the Revenant for a grizzly attack!
Pick your partner wisely, get fit, you won't see a fat hard core rocky mountain hunter, they are mostly fit as a fiddle, hiking at elevation up mountains and hauling out the meat.
Meat, you can be fined for wasting the meat, you need to eat it, give it to friends, or donate to a food bank, if you let it spoil, you can be fined!
There are loads of rules and regs but don't let that put you off, there are millions of acres to hunt!

Lots info here Montana Fish, Wildlife Parks

Cheers

Richard
 
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Just to give you guys an idea of what a skinned Bull Elk looks like!
It wasn't mine, this was in a food bank, i field dressed mine and took all the meat off the bone, had too, almost 4 miles from the camp and vehicles weren't permitted where i got mine down.


More pics to follow as requested.

Cheers

Richard
 
OK, thanks for all the pm's, emails and phone calls!
I need to just clarify something, i cannot accompany anyone on this trip, or any trip i plan in the future, apart from the existing very good friends i already have, i hope it doesn't appear selfish of me, it isn't meant to be, i just can't take the risk of going with someone i don't know really well.

So i suggest any other questions be raised on this thread rather than pm's etc, you will all then get a better idea of who else is interested and perhaps you could form your own group and plan/prepare between yourselves, which is half the fun, any advice post up a question, i will do my best to help, but one thing i cannot answer 'Richard, where do you hunt?' it takes a lot of research and also my Montanan friends would lynch me if i gave out that information!

So back on track, and purely in relation to Montana as that's the only state i have, and will ever hunt, i suggest your first site is as above, Montana Fish, Wildlife Parks
Then learn about Elk, a great site is Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation > Home
there are links to youtube clips as well
Also this site Welcome to Backcountry Hunters and Anglers
So after a few hours looking at the above links you can start to plan your hunt.
An invaluable aid is Google Earth, and when used with a GPS you can download this https://www.huntinggpsmaps.com/
You need to know your limitations, i am 56 this year, but i have no doubt i will be in great shape to cope with the mountains by the time October comes around, if don't get fit it won't work.
The locals call truck hunters, slob hunters, which might be a little harsh as some might be elderly/disabled and cannot hunt the mountains, but what they mean is some 'overweight/out of shape hunters glass from the truck and won't even consider walking a mile from the road, hint, get away from the roads/trails/vehicular access and you find Elk.
Take it from, hunting deer is a lot easier than Elk hunting, anyone can get a deer in Montana, but that doesn't go the same for Elk!
Finally, if you know anyone that has a contact/friend in Montana their help will be priceless.

So any questions post them up!

Cheers

Richard
 
Sounds like an awesome trip, I've read up on US hunting regs a few times but that's as far as I've got!
I'd love to go and hike/camp in country like that and looking at the links it seems it would not cost a lot extra to get a deer tag and make it a hunting trip, one day I'll do it!
 
Thanks for the advice Richard much appreciated. This is one of those trips I have wanted to do for a while. To know that there are guys actually getting out there and doing it is great. 2018 elk hunt is now on the cards. Time to start planning.
 
If I could afford to spend a month out there I would do it Richard! Having listened to your tales before it certainly sounds fun. Hope you win a few tags.
 
You guys should listen to Richard. It really would be easy for anybody to hunt in the US. Your biggest problem would be learning how to drive on the correct side of the road. I hunt in different states that I have never been to. There is so much info on the web about where to hunt and how to hunt, it's a no brainer. As I have said before, a polite gent from the UK knocking on a door and asking permission to hunt would likely get very positive results. If your like me and don't like asking strangers for a favor, hunt the public lands. MT. ID, WY, OR. have tons of it. Some in MT, and Wyoming are excellent! And I'll give away the best kept hunting secret in the US, It's NEVADA. I believe your cost to hunt these states is equal to what I would have to pay. Why am I giving away the biggest sleeper state to hunt in? Because you need points to get picked for a tag. I have 4 points in NV. for the species that I have on my list. You can never catch up to me and I only have time to do the hunts once. A guy only lives so long and only has the ability to hunt hard for so long. It is expensive to hunt in NV. but you get what you pay for. The last antelope hunt I went on in WY. took 4 years to be drawn. That is the down side, you have to be drawn. You do have a chance to be drawn each time you apply, however, your chances increase for ever year that you are not drawn. That is how it works in most state, not all of them. To me, the only reasonable animal to hunt in MT. is antelope, the rest are far too expensive and just not worth it in my opinion. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Montana is so beautiful. Want to see pretty scenery, come out my way. Each state is different so it takes a little study, it can be done. Another bummer is that some states that just let you buy a point, require you to buy a license before you can buy a point. Example: I am getting ready to buy points for deer, antelope, and elk in Nevada, the cost last year just to buy the points was $180. Haven't checked the prices yet for this year. Some states in some areas don't require a draw, you can just buy your tag over the counter. Most of Western Oregon is like that for deer and elk. The hunting is very difficult and success is likely 3 or 4%. It's so difficult, I don't even bother with it anymore, plus it will be raining. Places like Wyoming allow you to buy doe tags as well. If you played your cards right, you might be able to shoot a buck antelope, some does, and perhaps a mule or whitetail doe or two. The options are many. Another thing, if you don't mind paying a few pounds, you have a whole new situation. For less than $200, you could hunt in Wyoming every year for antelope on private property. Apply for a unit 45 buck antelope tag, you will draw it because it is mostly private property, there is some public land there but not a lot. Contact the Laramie Chamber of Commerce and ask which ranches allow hunting for a fee, there will be several. Pick the one you like. Wait for the opener, step off the plane in Laramie, rent a car and drive to the ranch. THAT'S IT. It's that easy. Driving in Wyoming is really easy, you don't have many roads to get lost on. Congratulations to you Richard, looks like a very fun and exiting trip. One last thing, if you gents got on some hunting forms for the areas you want to hunt and made a few friends, I would be very surprised if you didn't get invited on a hunt. Caution, if your in the politically crowd, my advice would be to save those conversations for your friends back in the UK. Doubt you will win any points on our hunting sites. Cheers
 
. Caution, if your in the politically crowd, my advice would be to save those conversations for your friends back in the UK. Doubt you will win any points on our hunting sites. Cheers


Thanks for pointing this out. Perhaps it should be reciprocol arrangement.
 
I have not hunted out West in quite a while, but a few points you may not think of:

* Take some light layers of clothing and keep more with you than you think you might need. In the Fall and Spring, temperatures can swing greatly. I have walked out just a few miles and seen the wind out of Canada drop the temperature from 56 F to 21 F in less than an hour, then to zero, then to -25 F by sunrise.

* Practice shooting up and down hill and in the wind. In places like Wyoming and the Dakotas, the wind is often 15 mph or more and there are down drafts and thermal currents which will make you entirely miss a deer at 300 yards, shooting across a small canyon.

* If you are a bird hunter, consider taking a shotgun. Everyone thinks elk and mule deer, but there is excellent upland hunting out there, enough that you can shoot enough for dinner without a dog. And the waterfowl hunting in places is outstanding. You can always pay for guide and dogs on a ranch and hunt chukkar and pheasant and ducks.
 
Are there any chapters of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation over in the UK? There are chapters of RMEF and Safari Club in larger cities all over the U.S.

When you join, even if you don't get to a meeting, you will get the magazines, and be able to plug into some web forums, etc. You may meet more people in your back yard who have hunted or fished where you are considering.

Also, it is cheap to join Trout Unlimited, and a lot of the streams they fish out West are in the habitat of the elk, deer, and pronghorn. Again, you will be joining a fraternity of people from all over who travel to fish and know a lot about how to do it the right way, where you can stay, camp, rent vehicles and horses, etc. Depending when and where you go, it might behoove you to pack a fly rod.
 
I don't have any particular web sites that I visit on a regular basis, other than this one. What I do is google "deer hunting in Idaho". It may take a little while but you will find some good sites. Or google " antelope hunting in Wyoming unit 45".

First thing is to decide what you want to hunt, then in which state you want to hunt. Then do some intelligence gathering online and narrow down the exact area in which you plan on hunting. Get your maps, GPS and do some more web intelligence gathering. By the way, in most states in the Wild West, you have to pick a unit in which you want to hunt. Say if you chose unit 45 in Wyoming, then you could only hunt in unit 45, not the whole state. That actually helps you in some ways, it forces you to focus on 1 area, and the areas are usually very large. There is a company that sells chips for your GPS unit for $99, it shows all the land ownership for that state, including the names of the land owners. I rely on it! One big no no here is trespassing. Don't do it! A tire on a pole, A stick pained orange or red on the top, cultivated land, all signs of private property, stay off it.
 
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Thanks for the advice Southern, as you Americans say 'this isn't my first rodeo':D
The first time i hunted there it was 21c in eastern Montana, at the beginning of the hunt, by the last day in the Madison range it was -23c!
What did catch me out was my water tube, it froze so i couldn't get any water until i drank direct from the water hydration bladder, that was a little annoying.
I hear you in relation to the wind, i hunted my mule deer near a place called 'two dot', the damned wind was a problem, it all worked out though.
Just started on the long road to getting fit, mind you i only have to lose a stone.
Cheers
Richard
 
DDS,
Did you get any sizeable able browns on that trip?
Sorry, are you talking about brown trout?
Or am i missing something?

BTW, Southern, as far as i am aware the RMEF aren't represented in the UK, I was a member of the RMEF, but thought that this time i would change, so i joined the Back Country Hunters and Anglers.

Cheers

Richard
 
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