I am starting my research/planning for antelope & deer hunting for next Fall. I am looking @ two areas in Reg. 7: BMA Units 406, 416 &450(Crow Crk. & Timber Crk.)in Carter Co., roughly midway between Broadus & Ekalaka, & adjoining BLM & Custer Nat'l. Forest lands, latter near the S. Dakota border. The other possibility is BMA Units 200 & 230 in Prairie & Custer Co's., which also have some adjoining BLM lands. Both of these areas have large BMA blocks. My prmary focus is antelope; I am not looking for record book trophies. Would appreciate any input/advice anyone can give about these areas and whether they are good choices. Or, should I consider elsewhere. Also, I am not against paying reasonable access fees for a good place to hunt-but, prefer to hunt public land. Will be traveling with my 5th wheel(bringing the wife), using it as my base camp. Are there places to park RV's in these areas? I have never hunted BMA's; anything special I need to know about them, that is not covered in Fish & Game Dept's literature? How is the hunting in these areas after the opening week?

For deer and antelope, you're going to be hard pressed to find a better area than region seven. There is a ton of good BLM land to hunt and no shortage of wildlife!

region seven is famous for its antelope and deer populations, so you should have no troubles if you go there. having hunted regions four and six, i can say that they are also chock-full of wildlife.

the BMA units can be your best friend; even montana residents such as myself and my family use them with great sucess every year. do not neglect federal and state lands that are near or even bordering these BMAs - in montana, your hunting opportunities can increase exponentially due to these adjacent or nearby lands. with the abundance of state, federal and BMA land available, you should NOT have to pay any access fees other than montana's state lands access fee. i don't know what it is for non-residents, but for residents it is 2$, so it can't be too much.

these areas are, in my opinion, good any time of the season, but on opening day things do have the potential for being crowded depending on the popularity of the area you go to. in the areas i hunt, i have the luxury of no crowds (we saw only two "other hunters" all season long in the areas we hunted) and great opportunties.

just about any town, village or hamlet near any area will ahve spaces for RVs. as another potential option, i did notice a couple of people parking trailers on landowners' "front 40;" i imagine they paid a small "fee" for this.

the only thing you really need to know about BMAs is to check the regs for each one. MOST of them have a sign-in box and parking area, but some have you go to the house and talk to the landowner. this is so he knows who is where and also in case he has any special information, such as location of livestock etc. on all the ones i've gone to, it was simply sign in, park and walk in. sometimes, you can get permission to drive in with a pickup or atv for game retrieval, other times, you have to drag. it doesn't hurt to ask in case you get an animal near the end of the day or if the weather turns bad - in one case, the landowner drove us out and helped us retrieve the animal. also, some BMAs will be very specific as to what can be hunted there. i commonly see admonitions such as "no pheasants here," or perhaps "antelope only." in most casrs, there are no restrictions, but it is important to check on all BMAs just in case. the sign-in box will also ahve a copy of a map or google earth image of the place with borders, roads, trails, parking areas, sign-in boxes and safe (no-hunting) zones near buildings or other areas. be sure you know where you are at all times!

finally, when signing, in, i try to be sure to include a "thank you" on the card to the landowner and the state for the opportunities provided by the BMA program. if i chance to meet the landowner, i always be sure to thank him personally and chat with him about any issues such as livestock, game retrieval etc. since i hunt with my children, i also have them shake his hand and thank him. in my case, since these are usually people we know, see in town, go to church with etc., it is important to let them know that even the "locals" benefit from their participation.

that's what i can think of off hand - if anyone else has anything, they will be sure to fill in any blanks that i might have inadvertantly left behind. if you have any other specific questions, let me know and i will try to answer them.