Hunting Montana

[BDR]

I have always dreamed of coming to montana for a backpack(maybe horseback) hunting/fishing trip. I have looked at a few websites of some outfitters and it seems to get very expensive real quick. Any advise for someone on a tight budget?

[DrKen]

OK. I grew up in Helena and have hunted and fished a great deal of that area. You do not need a guide per se but they are allotted a big portion of the non resident lic. A huge portion of the western 1/3 of the state is federal/state land so finding a area to hunt is easy. Nor do you have to limit yourself to wilderness areas. This helps a great deal. Very good hunting is available in areas accessed by the roads. Was out there hunting ground squirrels and camping this summer and had 3 bull elk in the meadow where I camped. one was a trophy the other 2 were spikes I was 100 yds from a wilderness area on a good road in my jeep. If you want to combine hunting/fishing it means you either go in the bow season or early gun season. By the end of gun season the high country is in deep snow and fishing is out. Also by that time, hopefully, the elk have come down from the real high country. If it is a backcountry hunt you want, several option are available, you can backpack in, hire a outfitter to pack you in on horses and pack you out with no guide, or horse rental is available in some areas. You could also just hire someone to pack out any game you shoot. If you are more interested n a big deer and fishing, consider hunting around Ft Peck. The land around the lake is all BLM and not many roads. Boat in, camp and then hunt dawn and dusk for deer and fish during the day. Farther west, when you are hunting elk the fishing is mostly stream fishing with flies and worms etc same routine, hunt morn,eve, fish the rest. Hope this helps some. BTW, the forest service has good maps of each forest with all roads and trails marked. Thus, you have a lot of options for a low budget hunt.

[Guest]

Hutned and fished the Fort Peck area a few tears ago. The fishing on the river was pretty good,fished walleye,northerns and other options there.We took the boat down the river and camped for 2-weeks ,also hunted elk.Our return trip was to Glasow hunting for whitetail. Found plenty of land to hunt with no charge and saw some of the nicest bucks I have ever seen along the famed Milk river. If you are interested in pheasant hunting, that also was pretty good. This was one of the best trips I have ever been on for a combo of hunting and fishing without spending a fortune.

[mjhowe]

BDR,

LOTS of options...Montana sells two kinds of non res tags, the outfitter sponsored which go around $900, ate guaranteed and you have to pay that outfitter his fee. Typically a combo elk/deer hunt with a reputable guide will set you back 2500-4000 dollars

Or you go it yourself and put in for the drawing that will cost about 600 for a combo deer/elk tag.

If you can do it, a back country back pack hunt during the early rifle season gets you to hunt rutting bugleing bulls in September, but only in the Bob Marshall or Beartooth wildernesses. Not for the faint of heart.

Let me know what you are looking for and I will help ya do it....anything is possible!

[big drift]

Hey Mike,

just wanted to say Hi I grew up in Lakeside/Somers area my folks used to ownthe Village Inn in Lakeside. Is there any truth in that Blacktail Mt. is now a (colorfull metaphor) ski resort.

P.S.

sorry for thread jacking

[mjhowe]

Hey Big Drift!

Oh yeah, it opened about 4 years ago, its mainly a small hill, 3-4 lifts mostly a locals place. With the north facing slopes, it gets pretty good snow and they have done a good job on it, its nothing fancy and a great place for the family to ski. You would NOT recognize Lakeside, they are trying to completely redo the Marina, make it a resort type thing. I actually am the Postmaster in Kila, and I can look right up to the top of Blacktail MT from one of the windows in my office.

Big Drift as in Going to the sun road right?

Happy Fishin

[big drift]

Yeah, Thanks we lived right next door to the marina and the hotel back in the day when rosie owned it. my dad and his friends used to hunt Blacktail when the airbase was open. Talk about a small world. i might me up with ya when we come out this summer. gotta show the kids where I grew up and meet the family at Bozeman. is the kids fishing crick still going there at the county park can't remember the name of it.

Later

big drift

[mjhowe]

Cool, I used to work in Bozeman before coming up here. Not sure about the kids creek, but there are some other places that are set up for kids, one is almost right in my back yard, Dry Bridge park in kalispell, they stock all the old egg hen rainbows once the hatcheries are done with em.

I fish Flathead a lot in the early summer, a new state record was caught by a 70 year old lady this summer 43 lb Laker, what a PIG!!!!

The old airbase is now a Youth with a Mission Base, training up and sending out christian youth missionaries all over the world. We know quite a few people there...You gotta come check it out, you wont recognize the valley, when were you here last?

[blue_healer_guy]

Mike, 2 fellow postal workers, a carrier and a postmaster (brothers) were wondering if you can give us any info on drawings etc. for next yrs hunting seasons and deadlines. We have hunted Montanta a few years ago, Broadus area but I imagine things have changed since then. Thanks, Joe

[BDR]

Thanks for the info! I'd better start a fund

[mjhowe]

Shoot me an email and I will send you the link for Mt FWP

about 600 for a deer/elk/birds/fishing combo tag, do it yourself . must apply by 3-15-05 you can then add what else you may want, turkey, bear etc.

Do you want a high country forest elk hunt or a open country mule deer hunt or ??? I can help you with anything you need once you draw. Do you have an area in mind yet?

If you want a cool hunt, try to draw a breaks elk tag, take your boat to Ft peck, cast blast blast and blast, deer birds elk, fish........I may do that next year myself come to think of it......

[mjhowe]

might help if I send you my email addy, huh?

[email protected]

[Stratosman]

I have never hunted Montana but a friend of mine and his brother own a ranch out there and there dad owns like 20 thousand acres out there and I was thinking of doing a mule deer/whitetail archery hunt, the one ranch is along the tounge river and he says there is alot of deer there, I was wondering is an archery tag over the counter or is that a draw? It has always been a dream of mine to shoot a muley.

[mjhowe]

You draw foe your non resident deer tag, than the archery is OTC as long as you can A) show an archery tag from another state, or a bowhunter safety certificate.

The tounge is one of THE deer hot spots in the state and you have a buddy whose Dad owns SECTIONS!!!!????

Take me WITH YOU PLEASE!!!!!!!

[mjhowe]

Oh and did I mention the Tounge River resevoir is THE crappie fishery in MT. Its also home of the state record Northern!

Its right on the wyoming border. Sounds like you got one heck of a hot spot!

Previous PLEA still applies!!!

[Stratosman]

Sweet man,

None of them really hunt either, he owns a business here and takes some clients out for the rifle season but they hut doe only, they don't bother with drawing for buck tags. The big ranch is just pasture, the river doesn't flow through that one, pretty much wide open, good for goats though. The small one is the one with the river, I don't know what it looks like and he goes there maybe 3 times a year, but he says theres a ton of deer there. I guess theres the typical Montana river bottom with cotonwoods.

Thanks for the input mj, maybe we will have room, I really only have one friend that is a hardcore bowhunter that would want to make the trip, I'm thinkin a week?

When does archery deer open?

[mjhowe]

archery only opens the first Sat in Sep and runs 6 weeks, but you can hunt with a bow thru the rut, until the end of rifle season which is the weekend after T-giving. You wont be dissapointed!

[muskybuck]

mjhowe, Welcome to Fishing Minnesota. I am very happy to see Montana included.

Montana is a great state. I was working there 15 years ago and the saying was that Montana is the way the United States "used" to be. I remember that if you were stranded on the road with car trouble there never was a car that would drive by you. The first car would stop, take you to where you needed to go and take you back to your car again to make sure you got it going OK. Ever since that summer I have considered Montana to be number one.

I am very interested in finding someone to talk to about Mule deer and Antelope rifle hunting out your way. My sons and I have been trying to figure out how to go about it. Maybe now we can get the inside scoop on some of this.

Once again, Welcome!!