Montana Unit 270

[Hornseeker]

The buck was killed by Matt Ekstrom in 05 or 06'...cant remember.. he's about 31 inches wide.. he grosses in the upper 190's, but nets not too good...

That unit SUCKS now... I know a guy that is a hardcore git r dun hunter that drew the tag this year. HuntPhool and Ray and the boys saw just as good a bucks in eastern MT as this guy saw in 29 days in 270. The quality fell bad.. they doubled the permits  the last two years... *censored*ty deal.... it was our "one" unit that you could bank on seeing some BIG deer in... now you can go see 160-175 bucks.. .real lucky if you see bigger...

 

[Pathfinder101]

I'm gonna take a stab at a theory here on 270 (this is the first time I have heard anything bad about it, but this is the first I have heard from someone who hunted it last year).  Last winter was really, really, really, long.  I know here in Eastern WA we had to cancel our shed hunting camp twice because it kept snowing in April.  I heard MT had a similar winter.  Not piles and piles of snow like we are getting this year, but it just wouldn't go away.
That HAD to play hell on the older age class mulies.  Any chance that is what affected 270 this last season?

[ipkus]

  Any chance that is what affected 270 this last season?

Partially...maybe.

Having hunted it recently (with a friend who drew) and in getting to know a few locals from there that spend a ton of time in the hills, I think 270 became a victim of its own celebrity.

With the reputation comes increased pressure...and poaching.  270 is a huge unit, and enforcement is lacking in Montana just like it is in most states these days.

Combine all of that with the huge tracts of private 'refuge' that border the unit, and it's definitely no longer the unit it was a few years ago.

I don't think this is the first unit to go through this in the West, and it most certainly won't be the last.

[Pathfinder101]

Well, that makes sense.  Maybe a couple of years of crappy reviews, people will stop putting in for it, population can rebuild, and we can run through the whole cycle again..