Send me an email and I'll do my best to point you in the right direction for a successful hunt...

I would be interested in hearing the stories from others here on this forum about their experiences in hunting elk in Montana without a guide. Like, once you have a bull down, how hard was it to get someone to come in with horses to help you get it out. How long did you stay in the bush. How much did you carry in. What methods of hunting did you use. What area did you hunt in. How much game did you see.

Blue

I've hunted elk a couple times in MT

What area are you looking at? I mostly hunted elk in the South western part of the state.

Trips ranged from week long pack trips with our horses to one day hikes, to weekend back pack trips. All though the season

Do you want to hunt archery, or rifle?

While I have never had to get someone to bring thier horses in to get my elk out, I do know a few that pack during the season. Its pretty much a day or maybe two wait, depending on how busy they are.

Unless its 60+ degrees out your elk won't spoil if you get it up off the ground and get it in the shade and cooled out. Out of the countless elk we've packed and shot only a few have spoiled, always the front shoulders and neck, and most of the time it was below zero when it happend as well. To much snow and in experienced hunters.

Do you want to camp, stay at a motel? Hike 4-10 miles a day, ride ATV/truck and hike short ways, etc.

I have gone days without seeing elk and then will trip over them every 100 yards for days at a time. Its really hard to know how many you will see. My last trip, we hunted pretty hard for 5 days and only saw about 25. Other times I have had a couple hundred within rifle range in a days time.

What are your expectations for the hunt? I know you want to be successful! What kind of elk hunt are you looking for?

Blue: Let me relay a few tidbits for your Montana Elk Hunting perusal.

The general Rifle season for Elk and Deer will close on November 28th this year. In the recurring cycle of season closing dates that is pretty late. The latest it ever closes is December 1st and the earliest it closes is November 24th as I recall. The reason I mention this is a lot of the Hunting in Montana for Elk is VERY weather dependent (this is especially so in SW Montana)!

For instance this year in many of Montanas SW Hunting Districts there were (and still are!) record high numbers of Elk! The weather in most SW Hunting Districts again this now past year did not enhance the Hunting, therefore poor Elk Hunting harvests were obtained in many SW Montana districts. In brief no normal snowfall then no normal Hunting harvests in SW Montana! This is the 6th winter of drought here in SW Montana. Yes there is such a thing as winter drought - I find out! This years drought has been categorized as Extreme Drought here in SW Montana! The Elk in many SW districts I will repeat are at all time high populations. The Wolves in some, more south central, districts are cropping the Elk off very effectively though. Choose your area carefully!

I see fellas with horses who put up notices that they will haul out your game. I have heard $100.00 is about average for this. The last Bull Elk I shot (4 seasons ago) two horse Hunters came along and offered to tow the whole Elk to a road 3/4 of a mile away. I had to force them to take $40.00 (twenty apiece) to relieve my guilt for taking them away from their Hunting and helping me! They wanted no reward what so ever.

But that was my lucky day!

Having said those things I must relay I am not a really gung ho Elk Hunter. I have killed 3 Bulls and 1 Cow here in Montana. I am more of a Mule Deer, Bear and Antelope Hunting Big Game Hunting Guy. I will also add this - I have passed up at least 10 legal spike and raghorn Bull Elk over the years in pursuit of Mr. Big Elk!

In the last week I have made 4 round trips (65 miles each way) from my house to Butte, Montana via I-15. I saw on one trip around 2,000 Elk in their winter foothills ranges. If the sun was out I saw Elk! I really enjoy stopping and watching these wintering Elk on both sides of the freeway and both sides of the Continental Divide.

If I were you (and I am not!) I would consider coming out and Hunting the first 10 days of the season (Rifle season - opens on the 24th of October this year) and then come back and Hunt last 10 days of the season to maximize your possibility of success. If you are an Archery Hunter I would hunt 2 weeks during the September 16th to October 1st time frame also if possible! Unfortunately the moon will be full on this years Rifle Hunting Elk closing date! But if normal or more snowfall is on the ground then the Hunting should be excellent due to the large numbers of Elk available. The paper just last week posed this dilemna (on the front page) with the Elk Hunting situation over the last several years. Record numbers of Elk yet poor harvests due to weather! Solutions were started this past year and will be enhanced this coming year. In that some people could legally kill two adult Elk this past season and that program will be expanded this coming year.

Last season (2,003) my friend Ben killed a 6 point Bull Elk on the opener and had been contacted by the Game Department prior to the start of the season to apply for another Elk tag. He was drawn or approved for this second tag which was good for Cow/Calf Elk only in one particular unit! Again the Game Department is in the process of expanding this program somewhat to get the Elk down to targeted population numbers.

I Hunted Elk probably on about 12 days and came up empty last year. I did not Hunt Elk on the opener though and that was pretty succesful for many here in SW Montana. I Hunted the opener in eastern Montana for Mule Deer. Other areas of the state are in different situations but I am not very familiar with the rest of the state Elk situation wise.

Good luck this coming year! If the weather is more normal there should be good Elk Hunting in SW Montana.

Hold into the wind

VarmintGuy

Ivan

I want to hunt with a Rifle. I want to be able to get away from the road on foot. I don't mind camping by myself. But I am incapable of getting an elk out by myself.

I have been told that the area by Miner next to the Gallatin National Forest has quite a bit of public land.

My expectations. I am beyond the point of worrying whether I get someting or not. Rather, my expectations are to have a wonderful time in the woods, and if I see a good Elk then all the better,and if I don't, try again another time.

Blue

I've been twice to public forest in the Bitterroot valley area, actually my only elk hunting experiences.

First trip was in 2001, went with a friend and his brother. They have a complete tent camp outfit. They have a WWII surplus Marine Corp tent with a cook stove. Pretty comfortable, except first thing in the morning.

We drove the logging roads to the trail heads and then hiked in. We were extremely fortunate as my friend got a 5x5 the first day and his brother and I got twin spike bulls the second. My first elk hunt and I spent only about 1 full day hunting, and 3 full days packing out. No horses, we backpacked it all out about 3 miles each way. "Part of the adventure" my friend says, tell that to my aching back.

Second trip was this last fall. Very cold!. Nose hair frozen cold most mornings. Makes you work pretty quick on getting the fire going. Didn't see anything for a couple of days, then found a hidden meadow on the map and managed to sneak up on very respectable 6x6 bull. Pack trip out was about 4 miles each way, GPS said 3.1 miles directly from the spot to the truck. Matter of fact my wife said the taxidermist called today and said it is ready to be picked up.

Couple days after I got my bull, I almost got trampled by a herd of cows and calves. I was on trail between them and where they wanted to go. They could smell me but not see me, so they just took off in a stampede and came crashing across the trail about 15 feet away. I counted about 15 in the group.

If you hunt public land the snow will determine what you have to do. Less snow means you have to go in deeper to find the game. More snow means they come down lower but it might be harder to get around. Also you'll see more hunters the closer you stay to the roads. Our group generally tends to push in past where most hunters will go on foot, but I think that's a necessity if you want to see game.

You'll need good maps, and they must show the forest service trails. The blowdowns and terrain make it pretty difficult off the trails, although I did get mine by cutting across country.

All in all a great adventure, and I can't wait to go again.

Hi blue. Are you interested in a hunting buddy? I am Norwegian, and have been hunting Elk in Colorado once. did not harvest anything, but found the nature and experience rewarding. The density of game was impressive! The people I hunted with were great guys, but seemed to like it best near roads, and to enjoy the comfort of the cabin... I will be in Oregon next october, and could do the hop to Monatana (or anywhere else) if I find some good big game hunting. I would like to go without a guide, but this is not easy to organize from abroad, since I would like to trek into areas where there are not many people and set up camp. An extra bonus for you woukld be that you would get to keep most of the meat, I do not think that I would be alble to ship an elk or a deer in my inflight bag Send a PM if you are interested in a hunting buddy.

Hi,
Can non-Americans hunt without a guide justanothernorwegian?
It must be a pain to arrange for transport, licences etc.
BTW do you give the meat away or is it permitted to sell it?

Hi Boghossian.
Yes, non-Americans can hunt without a guide. The same requirements that apply for non-resident Americans apply for non-Americans ihn most states. In Colorado that means passing a hunter safety course. My Norwegian hunting lisence suffice, and I was able to by tags over the counter. It is a hassle to organize everything, and it would be much easier to go guided. But my favourite hunting has always been to go with a few friends and hunt hard and good. Living in a tent is fun! The hunting lodge with satelite dish and resident cook is not my idea of fun. I can rent a car, buy a tag, and get out there. Trouble is, I dont know where "there" is. So, as I read this thread it struck me that this guy describes the kind of hunting, on the kind of budget, that I want to do. He does not say that he want a hunting buddy, but I can ask anyway, right? It is not legal to sell game in the U.S. I would have to check and see if it is possible to bring some along, a backstrap perhaps? But most of it would have to be left behid. Some hunters donate meat to charity, which I think is a good idea. If somebody takes care of the organizing, I would give the meat to him and leave it to him to decide what to do with it. What I want is the experience of the hunt, and perhaps a trophy. I dont much care if the game we hunt is
deer, elk, bear or whatever.

My two cents...... I think the average out of Stater is far better off in the long run to get either a Ranch hunt set up, or spend the money on a guided hunt. I have seen so many folks who come out here year after year and get nothing. Or see few elk and end up shooting a small bull or a spike.

A broad statement I know. Unless; You have some sort of "in" to some good elk territory, a resident friend who knows what he's doing, or a Rancher who will point you in the right direction , then assist if your lucky. Otherwise the vast majority of hunters go home with their tags.

The average elk kill runs as low as a mere 13% or 14% of ALL hunters who go out. Thats resident and non resident alike.

There is surely a lot of Public Land out here but WHICH piece to hunt is the problem.

FN in MT