Montana first-timer

[Tbob]

Well i drew myself a MT deer tag and this will be my first time heading over there to hunt. I’ll be hunting solo and still have no idea where I’m going to end up as of yet. If you have any suggestions im all ears!!
I’m just curious though, what’s the best week to be out there? I need to request some time off for work and just have no idea when would be best? I was thinking about the week before thanksgiving, but again, I’ve never done this so not sure. When do y’all usually head over to hunt deer? Thanks!

[grundy53]

Well i drew myself a MT deer tag and this will be my first time heading over there to hunt. I’ll be hunting solo and still have no idea where I’m going to end up as of yet. If you have any suggestions im all ears!!
I’m just curious though, what’s the best week to be out there? I need to request some time off for work and just have no idea when would be best? I was thinking about the week before thanksgiving, but again, I’ve never done this so not sure. When do y’all usually head over to hunt deer? Thanks!

Wish I could help you but I'm in the same boat.

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[bearpaw]

Varies a little from western to eastern Montana with eastern being a few days little later, but in eastern I like from Nov 10-25 the best. In my experience you can kill bucks most any day of the season it's not storming too hard.

[ffhoofer]

Mid November worked for my group last year. Also, I would suggest a gps with a landownership chip. OnX maps worked well but if you don’t have service you’re screwed

[SuperX]

 

no cell service functionality is pretty broken when it breaks.

[Wolfdog2314]

Same boat here. Will be heading over after a week of rifle elk here in WA. November  9-23rd ish. Short of throwing darts at the map... looking at from central to eastern. Would love to not have to drive allllll the way east.

[Bigshooter]

no cell service functionality is pretty broken when it breaks.

Garmin GPS and a chip and you never have to worry about it.

[Antlershed]

no cell service functionality is pretty broken when it breaks.

Garmin GPS and a chip and you never have to worry about it.

Just save the maps before you head over there. I see no reason to carry a handheld GPS anymore. 

[Stein]

Last few days of the season is far the busiest as it coincides with the rut.  That said, I won't hunt then again as there are crazy numbers of people around.

Get the OnX chip or on your phone and have at it. 

[vandeman17]

Whitetail or mule deer?

[SuperX]

no cell service functionality is pretty broken when it breaks.

Garmin GPS and a chip and you never have to worry about it.

Just save the maps before you head over there. I see no reason to carry a handheld GPS anymore. 

saving the maps is only a part of it, when you're off the grid you don't have a base map, last season I ended up having to drive to signal just to get google maps to load so I could see where I was.  Not to mention the super slow acquisition time when you make a waypoint.  Not realizing I had to stand still until the signal was accurate enough, I created waypoints I later found were hundreds of yards from where I was when I created it.  Don't get me wrong, good product for private/public... just not a GPS replacement.  Now I use both.

[Stein]

no cell service functionality is pretty broken when it breaks.

Garmin GPS and a chip and you never have to worry about it.

Just save the maps before you head over there. I see no reason to carry a handheld GPS anymore. 

saving the maps is only a part of it, when you're off the grid you don't have a base map, last season I ended up having to drive to signal just to get google maps to load so I could see where I was.  Not to mention the super slow acquisition time when you make a waypoint.  Not realizing I had to stand still until the signal was accurate enough, I created waypoints I later found were hundreds of yards from where I was when I created it.  Don't get me wrong, good product for private/public... just not a GPS replacement.  Now I use both.

OnX is software, it will work as well as the hardware GPS it is run on does.  I have used it on iPhone 7 & 8 and it acquires signals faster and more reliably than the handheld Garmin I used to pack around.

[bornhunter]

Well i drew myself a MT deer tag and this will be my first time heading over there to hunt. I’ll be hunting solo and still have no idea where I’m going to end up as of yet. If you have any suggestions im all ears!!
I’m just curious though, what’s the best week to be out there? I need to request some time off for work and just have no idea when would be best? I was thinking about the week before thanksgiving, but again, I’ve never done this so not sure. When do y’all usually head over to hunt deer? Thanks!

I too am a solo first timer with big game combo. I got to MT yesterday for some scouting and door knocking. Hoping an early start may help. Winter still here right now. Snowing hard tonight with mid teen lows tomorrow. Elk have started to move up. Lots of deer in lowlands in SW MT. This is going to be fun hunting! Good luck everyone.

[Antlershed]

no cell service functionality is pretty broken when it breaks.

Garmin GPS and a chip and you never have to worry about it.

Just save the maps before you head over there. I see no reason to carry a handheld GPS anymore. 

saving the maps is only a part of it, when you're off the grid you don't have a base map, last season I ended up having to drive to signal just to get google maps to load so I could see where I was.  Not to mention the super slow acquisition time when you make a waypoint.  Not realizing I had to stand still until the signal was accurate enough, I created waypoints I later found were hundreds of yards from where I was when I created it.  Don't get me wrong, good product for private/public... just not a GPS replacement.  Now I use both.

When you save the maps to your phone, you absolutely have a base map. You have to go into your OnX and select “Off Grid”. I used my phone and pre-saved maps in Idaho last year with zero issues, including savings waypoints and making tracks.

Tbob- sorry for the slight derailment. I don’t have any advice to offer, as this is my first year headed to MT as well.

[SuperX]

no cell service functionality is pretty broken when it breaks.

Garmin GPS and a chip and you never have to worry about it.

Just save the maps before you head over there. I see no reason to carry a handheld GPS anymore. 

saving the maps is only a part of it, when you're off the grid you don't have a base map, last season I ended up having to drive to signal just to get google maps to load so I could see where I was.  Not to mention the super slow acquisition time when you make a waypoint.  Not realizing I had to stand still until the signal was accurate enough, I created waypoints I later found were hundreds of yards from where I was when I created it.  Don't get me wrong, good product for private/public... just not a GPS replacement.  Now I use both.

When you save the maps to your phone, you absolutely have a base map. You have to go into your OnX and select “Off Grid”. I used my phone and pre-saved maps in Idaho last year with zero issues, including savings waypoints and making tracks.

Tbob- sorry for the slight derailment. I don’t have any advice to offer, as this is my first year headed to MT as well.

Sorry, did all that, the base map is your saved map, if you want to see anything outside that when you're off grid, you have no base map.