Well, another year, another point for each quality tag. Sitting on 10 for elk now and 8 for deer. We did get drawn for cow tags in the Taneum so there's always that, but I guess now it's time to purchase some surplus tags and hit the road for Montana in November.
We're going to hit the foothills of the Beartooth Range west of Absarokee in the 520 unit, as a friend got a hookup on some private land near the borders of Gallatin NF and Custer NF. All things being said, we're going to spend about 7-8 days there with elk and deer tags. I'd expect down in along the creek bottoms that there will be whitetails crawling like rats, but supposedly the ranchers are having big problems with elk overgrazing more than anything else. I'm always game for a little population control especially when there's elk steaks involved! With a lot of rolling hills and draws in the area (plus what looks like a really large old burn based on google earth), I'd expect there to be some decent muley hunting as well. I just hope all the sage wasn't decimated by the fire. We'll be there Nov. 17th-24th, so it'll be frigid I'm sure, but at least it'll be peak rut season for the deer.
Dad spent a lot of time further west near Alder, so he's had his fair share of MT trips. Now that I've got some money to finally spend on hunting out of state, I'm looking forward to my first Montana experience! This will be an all new area for us to explore. We'll be stoked to glass the draws and hit the creek bottoms hard and hopefully return to WA with plenty of meat. If anyone has spent time in this part of MT, it'd be awesome to hear about your own experiences. Congrats to all who drew WA tags.
Cheers
