Montana Wapiti Size

[muzzy]

I am hunting elk for the first time with a bow in Western Montana in mid-September. I am lucky enough to go with a resident and a neighbor who has been there several times. He claims that the elk don't get large antlers in that area which is around Ennis and not too far from Yellowstone. I am surprised to hear that. Is antler growth with elk similar to the nutritional needs/minerals as do whitetail? I believe any elk taken with a bow is a trophy, but was wondering if there were elk in that area with large scoring potential?

[Cooter]

I couldn't tell you for sure but it certainly smells like talk to me.

[Wallydog]

Muz,

Sure, different areas are know for greater antler growth...just like whitetails & mulies. Nutritional factors as well as genetics contribute. My guess is if your friend has only been seing small bulls he's been seeing satelite bulls and not the herd bulls. Any bull with stick and string is a great one. Make sure you are in shape for our little hills out here. Good luck.

WD

[muzzy]

WD,

Yup, Im workin' on it now. I think the hills of Montana will definitely be culture shock to me. It's gonna be a whole different ball game than hunt'n MN whitetails. Thanks for the reply.

Muzzy

[woodview]

Muzzy,

be careful... it'll become an obsession if you're not.

I'd agree with the posts above - some areas do tend to have better animals but once you actually see the difference between a herd bull and the others you'll understand.

Had one last year broadside at ~ 30 yards that was a monster, but alone. When he finally picked up my scent and turned he was pretty gashed up on the one side. All I could think is that I'd love to see the one that drove him off.

Spent two summers in montana and saw nice animals all over - at the time I had saved a bunch of money and spent most of my time out there camping, fishing and taking photos so I probably spent more time in the field than the average guy. One thing you may discover is that they can be hard to find so having a friend who can put you in the right area is great. They can be like ghosts - 60 of them in one area for a day, then some pressure, and 'just gone' - then it's trying to find out where they went.

As Wallydog said, any bull with the bow is great. One of the guys we hunt Muley's with is a pretty hard core bow hunter - last year after the 2nd or 3rd 4X4+ he saw, stalked and couldn't get closer than 75 yards to, he finally came back and declared it was time to go to "the dark side"(next day was last day in camp). He got pictures of 2 of them at a distance and it'd be hard for the most devote stick and string guy to not understand. There was stunned silence in camp when he said that - he's that strong on bow only.

p.s. per arrangement with him... if his dad reads this he never picked up the gun!!!

Would love it if you were to post on how the hunt went, I think I'm actually developing a nervous twitch because it doesn't look like I'll make it out west this year and while trying to research where I could pick up a tag over the counter I got distracted by getting a new bird dog.

Even if she does better than expected in the grouse woods I'll be thinking of the mountain a lot this fall.

[BLACKJACK]

Goto bowsite dot com, those guys are big game hunters from all over and would be able to answer your question. A lot of the guys on that site are hard-core elk hunters.

[muzzy]

Thanks for the posts guys!

I will definitely give an update of how I do in September or what I see for elk. I cannot wait to witness the sheer size of these creatures. I am highly anticipating the sounds of their buglin'!

Woodview, sorry you won't make it out this fall but congratulations on you getting a bird dog. What kind? I have been seeing quite a few grouse this year in the Brainerd area.

Blackjack, thanks - I will check out the HSOforum

Later!

Muzz