Trespass Fee's For Mule Deer

[gottatree]

I have a chance to hunt Montana for mule deer this fall and was wondering if the fee's are fair? This is a non guided hunt and we have access to 84,000 acres. He has multiple bucks that will go over 30". He only allows two bucks over 30"and four bucks under 30" harvested each year. What is a reasonable trespass fee for a ranch this size and bucks of this caliber? Over 30"? Under 30"?  Thank you in advance. 

[bobcat]

I really have no idea but with the size of it and the limited number of bucks taken per year, I could easily see some people forking over 5 grand for a trespass fee. Ridiculous yes, but if there really are 30 inch bucks with almost zero competition from other hunters, it ought to be worth that. Maybe even more.

[fair-chase]

Figure on a dollar per acre.    Kidding, I have no idea. I'm just tagging to follow along.

[Boone]

Have no idea on trespass fees but there is an awful lot of public land available to hunt. You might try one of the big Hutterite communities. They usually have lots of acreage and allow you to walk on through the "free to hunt" program. 

[huntnphool]

I have a chance to hunt Montana for mule deer this fall and was wondering if the fee's are fair? This is a non guided hunt and we have access to 84,000 acres. He has multiple bucks that will go over 30". He only allows two bucks over 30"and four bucks under 30" harvested each year. What is a reasonable trespass fee for a ranch this size and bucks of this caliber? Over 30"? Under 30"?  Thank you in advance.

hope you are not one of those guys that puts stock in that 30" number, it really has little to do with describing a mule deer buck. Most 180+ muleys taken each year are less than 30". In fact I've got plenty pics of 30" spindly 2 and 3 points, so don't let fact that he threw out that "30" number cloud your judgement.

[jackelope]

How many other hunters?

[bugs n bones]

2500 would be absolute top dollar or your paying for "blue sky" on a deal like that....

[furbearer365]

Its worth what you are willing to pay. There are guys out there that buy governers tags well into the 6 digits.  Some would say the a 30 inch Mule Deer is worth 10,000, others would only pay the price of a tag. So with that said, what are you willing to pay with the information that you know?

[bugs n bones]

I wanna see game cam pics and lots of them for 10000

[JLS]

Really it's up to what you are willing to pay.  I wouldn't pay a dime, as there is plenty of public and Block Management land if you are willing to work for it.  I have more fitness and ambition than I do money, you may differ and it might be more appealing to pay the trespass fee.

Some of the nicest bucks I've seen in Montana would not break 30".  Again, I guess it depends on what you are after.  Some of the really wide bucks have spindly antlers and shallow forks.  I've seen a few bruisers that had incredible forks, good mass, and the classic "box" shape to their antlers. 

[gottatree]

The 30" number is how the rancher charges. 30" is just a number to me. I want a mature buck that I like and if I decide to pull the trigger I don't care how wide he stretches the tape. The ranch produced a 183" gross buck for my sons best friend last year that was only 26" wide. Way to ruin a 13 year old for his first buck. I have limited time as we own three business that require a lot of my time.

 The rancher wants $2500 over 30" and $1500 under.

[gasman]

If its worth the money to you, then go for it, that is all that matter 

[huntnphool]

What part of Montana?

[gottatree]

The only reason I tossed this out is he is charging way more this year than he has before. I take a week every year to hunt with my son. Truly that week is priceless so I think we will probably go for it.

[gottatree]

South east

[carpsniperg2]

I would take the under 30" option and find a dandy and whack him for 1500.00. That's not to bad of a price. A lot of great deer can be taken under 30"!!!

[bobcat]

That's a huge amount of area to have almost to yourself- 131 square miles.   

$1500 seems like a fair price to me.

[gottatree]

The under 30" is what I'm thinking about doing. If a true hog happens to walk past then I can always upgrade.

[kramer]

I would say if you could get it less then 3000 your doing good. My buddy has an outfit out of hindsdale mt. There guided mule deer hunts are 6700 and they are booked three years out. A lot of the landowners charge 3000 dollars just for the deer . Then the guide fees. Also these hunts you pay for food and lodging on top of the 6700. So it's 3000 for the deer and 3700 for the guides. All the land they have leased up all over the state the average is 3000 per deer to the landowner. But your chance of shooting a 180 plus is as close to a guarantee as you can get.

[Fowlweather25]

I wouldnt pay more than 1500. You have to do everything yourself and ive seen quite a few "wow factor" bucks on block management in SE Montana. I went to college in eastern MT. There is a lot of opportunity over there if youre willing to do some research and burn some leather.

[kramer]

In down in Utah at the hunt expo. I checked into the trespass hunts. No food or lodging just trespass is 2500 and an additional 1000 if you kill.  But any buck is fair game on most trespass hunts.

[hunter399]

If you have the money just take a donkeydeer horse, find the biggest deer u can. For what your putting into it.

[mkcj]

I have a ranch in Wyoming I can hunt and my boys have hunted and he charges $2500, he owns not leases 100k acres that his cattle run on and he doesn't want you shooting anything under 170" and he lets you shoot 4 doe Antelope at no charge.

[NWWA Hunter]

Headed to the hunt expo myself. Who has trespass hunts?

[Bean Counter]

If its an unguided hunt, how does a hunter know which bucks he can shoot as far as the 30" rule go?

[Skyvalhunter]

Sounds like a fish story I tell from time to time

[dreamunelk]

I have a chance to hunt Montana for mule deer this fall and was wondering if the fee's are fair? This is a non guided hunt and we have access to 84,000 acres. He has multiple bucks that will go over 30". He only allows two bucks over 30"and four bucks under 30" harvested each year. What is a reasonable trespass fee for a ranch this size and bucks of this caliber? Over 30"? Under 30"?  Thank you in advance.

Something to think about.  84,000 acres and on a total of 6 bucks allowed?   Something sounds wrong to me.

[kramer]

Milk river outfitters. I have hunted one of there trespass spots. We passed a mid 160 buck . We hunted it at the end of season. They only allow 5 hunters a year. I can get you there booth number here in a few when I walk over there. The other montana booth next to them does them to for same price. All good hunts. Talk to Jared at milk river.

[blindluck]

how much should a guy pay for this type of buck? Guided or trespass fee.

[ML_Hunter]

Sounds like a fair deal to me. $1500, unguided, not many other hunters around, sounds like you've hunted there before so you know the lay of the land and have a good chance of taking a deer or two, and your spending quality time with your son  . I don't see anything wrong with that. For 2500 however, I would be asking for a guide. But like you said, if a nice one crosses your cross hairs, you can always upgrade!

[SkookumHntr]

sounds like an awesome property! I wanta go!! lol

[bearpaw]

The 30" number is how the rancher charges. 30" is just a number to me. I want a mature buck that I like and if I decide to pull the trigger I don't care how wide he stretches the tape. The ranch produced a 183" gross buck for my sons best friend last year that was only 26" wide. Way to ruin a 13 year old for his first buck. I have limited time as we own three business that require a lot of my time.

 The rancher wants $2500 over 30" and $1500 under.

This seems very reasonable to me. If there are 30+ bucks being taken on a regular basis he could probably get more than $2500 if he really tried.