Post by: klikboom on September 11, 2017, 05:06:02 PM
I'm hoping to get some guidance from those of you that hunt the greener pastures of MT for rifle.
- Current plan is to hunt Block Management land (BMM). I'm pouring over the BMM maps looking for land that has walk-in, with timbered ridges, that accepts reservations. Do you guys feel these are good requirements for a nice buck? I'm not looking for trophy but want a good size buck. What criteria did you use to select your first BMM when you were going blind?
- Do you find that places without reservations get too much hunting pressure?
- Will walk-in areas get me away from hunters? I like to hike for good deer and i love a heavy pack out so i want to use that to my advantage, from what I hear a lot of Montanians are so accustomed to easily getting deer they don't go the extra mile. On the contrary i am so used to going the extra mile for no deer.
- I'm looking specifically at southern region 4 and region 5. This is because that fits the environment i'm after, (some timber and elevation change across the property. Mule deer production is lower for these areas vs open east country but i think timber breeds better bucks. Do you agree?
- Property size: Problem i'm seeing is almost all ranch properties are pretty small. Is this a problem? Should i be pursuing the middle eastern large BLM public land blocks? National Forest? How many days do you typically book in a row for BMM, do you reserve the max three days?
- Is it common that WA hunters in MT hunt BMM? If so do you typically stay in hotels, doesnt look like many BMM allow camping
- What days are the best for rut? I've heard early/mid November so my current plan is Nov 12-19.
- Lastly, are grizz a problem? I hunt black bear and dont think to much of it as long as i have a boom stick but I don't like Grizzlies. Well it's not that I have anything against Grizz, it's that I have something against getting mauled by a Grizzly, and would prefer to avoid it in any and all circumstances.
Post by: wooltie on September 11, 2017, 10:23:50 PM
Post by: Magnum_Willys on September 12, 2017, 06:00:33 AM
Keep eyes out for area of deep sage with a way to glass a couple miles of it.
Lots of game to see. Great state. Manage expectations enjoy the experience.
Post by: Whitenuckles on September 12, 2017, 10:15:11 AM
Post by: Bigshooter on September 12, 2017, 06:28:50 PM
Post by: NRA4LIFE on September 12, 2017, 06:47:47 PM
Post by: klikboom on September 12, 2017, 07:51:54 PM
Post by: jburkett on September 12, 2017, 09:13:32 PM
Post by: opdinkslayer on September 13, 2017, 07:12:26 AM
It's a fun hunt just don't expect a giant you see in the mags or on tv although a 150-170 type buck is possible. We went 3 for 3 last year in 3 days and they were a 20" 4x4,22"3x3 & 24"4x4. Not huge but good respectable Montana bucks. I will be tagging along as head scout/camp cook this year with my sons,nephews & father in law as I applied in another state instead. We wall tent camped last year in late nov in the little belts for elk 1st and the breaks for deer the 2nd half of the trip. Weather was fine and camp is my preference. If it gets super cold then a motel is the best choice. Have fun & good luck. :twocents: :tup:
Post by: 300rum on September 13, 2017, 07:25:11 AM
Make the weekend part of your travel, hunt during the week. Good property gets pressure on the weekends. Don't go on Veterans day weekend, everyone else does too.
Try to stay close to where you hunt. During that time of year, a road that takes a 1/2 hour to drive to town can take three times that overnight with snow (bad) or rain (really, really, bad). The weather is good for hunting, miserable for travel.
The really good BM areas that are reservation only are already booked up for the rut with guys who go back to the same spot every year. You may be able to get on a good ranch but they may put you on a "pasture" that isn't any good.
Post by: Southpole on September 13, 2017, 07:34:26 AM
Post by: Bigshooter on September 13, 2017, 07:39:34 AM
You guys don't seem to hang much value on the timber. Plenty of big bucks in open spaces then? I'll start shopping for the more eastern BMM's.
I'm sure its the blacktail hunter in you that wants to hunt timber. I use to be the same way.
Post by: Harbor_hunter on September 14, 2017, 09:16:35 AM
Post by: opdinkslayer on September 15, 2017, 06:01:07 AM
Post by: blacktailhunter on September 15, 2017, 11:43:31 AM
To answer the OP questions. I've only been to Montana once and we exclusively hunted Block Management, saw plenty of animals just going that route and never saw hardly anyone else. Just hopped sign in property to property. We stayed in a hotel in Havre, 1st couple of days would have been fine to camp but then a snow storm rolled in and I'm sure glad we had room. That place became miserable very fast.
Good luck in your research and have fun on your trip
Post by: klikboom on September 16, 2017, 10:02:23 AM
So there is a bunch of private "association" land surrounding some of these BLM areas, should I write a letter to the address they have on file requesting walk in hunt access? Do people do that?
I'm going to try to get a reservation or two if I can, found some smaller units. It is not too far from some major highways and towns but hoping it's not too busy for weekday hunting.
Is there any way to pick up a second meat deer via doe tag? I'd really like to stock up on meat. I see there are some deer B licenses left but that appears to be a totally different license.
Post by: fishsticks on September 16, 2017, 11:36:17 AM
Was browsing onx last night, that is a cool map program found lots and lots of BLM land and state land, looking near border of region 5 and region 7, draws have bushes and timber and some of the local summits as well. Looks like great deer country.
So there is a bunch of private "association" land surrounding some of these BLM areas, should I write a letter to the address they have on file requesting walk in hunt access? Do people do that?
I'm going to try to get a reservation or two if I can, found some smaller units. It is not too far from some major highways and towns but hoping it's not too busy for weekday hunting.
Is there any way to pick up a second meat deer via doe tag? I'd really like to stock up on meat. I see there are some deer B licenses left but that appears to be a totally different license.
If you don't already have it, call fish wildlife and parks to get a copy of the current block management book. It's also online; but it explains block management, the types of access, where it is and how to gain access.
Post by: Wingin it on September 16, 2017, 12:21:31 PM
Post by: klikboom on September 18, 2017, 11:40:04 AM
Was browsing onx last night, that is a cool map program found lots and lots of BLM land and state land, looking near border of region 5 and region 7, draws have bushes and timber and some of the local summits as well. Looks like great deer country.
So there is a bunch of private "association" land surrounding some of these BLM areas, should I write a letter to the address they have on file requesting walk in hunt access? Do people do that?
I'm going to try to get a reservation or two if I can, found some smaller units. It is not too far from some major highways and towns but hoping it's not too busy for weekday hunting.
Is there any way to pick up a second meat deer via doe tag? I'd really like to stock up on meat. I see there are some deer B licenses left but that appears to be a totally different license.
If you don't already have it, call fish wildlife and parks to get a copy of the current block management book. It's also online; but it explains block management, the types of access, where it is and how to gain access.
What i was trying to say is the private land is not block management land, just private land with a published owner.
Post by: klikboom on September 19, 2017, 09:23:49 AM
Post by: opdinkslayer on September 19, 2017, 02:24:36 PM
Post by: JLS on September 19, 2017, 02:27:34 PM
Post by: klikboom on September 20, 2017, 05:37:57 PM
Post by: opdinkslayer on September 20, 2017, 07:11:41 PM
Post by: dune on September 28, 2017, 01:29:41 PM
Post by: opdinkslayer on September 29, 2017, 05:45:09 AM
Post by: klikboom on October 05, 2017, 03:28:25 PM
Post by: pianoman9701 on October 05, 2017, 03:39:21 PM
Post by: opdinkslayer on October 06, 2017, 06:33:15 AM
Post by: Gamblin Guy on October 06, 2017, 07:19:18 AM
We were in MT in November 2014 when it was -20, after it gets below about -5 its just cold.....
As for boots/socks, I would stay away from neoprene, your feet will sweat which will only make the cold worse. Get yourself some good wool socks and wear your regular hunting boots. Walking a lot at -20 isn't much fun....once you kill something at those temps, its amazing how much you can sweat dragging though.
Post by: 7mmfan on October 06, 2017, 08:21:59 AM
I've only hunted in 0 degree weather a couple times, but that's downright cold. If you kept moving, it was fine, but if you stopped, it got cold fast. -20 is uncharted territory but my gut tells me that that could be downright dangerous to get any to far from the truck for any to long. One nice thing about those temps is the deer will be easy to find. They'll be moving all over on south facing hillsides.
Post by: wooltie on October 06, 2017, 08:41:06 AM
Goi
Post by: Gamblin Guy on October 06, 2017, 08:46:27 AM
Having neither hunted nor visited MT in November, what are the odds that weather will be down right down to 0 in mid-November, around Miles City?
Goi
I have been out there every year since 2011, typically between Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving, the last two years during that time frame temps were in the 60's. Basically, plan for everything and take clothing and gear for both extremes, it can change over night....
Post by: wooltie on October 06, 2017, 08:48:42 AM
I've hunted in 15-20 degree weather here in WA, but never below zero.
Post by: Gamblin Guy on October 06, 2017, 08:52:57 AM
Post by: wooltie on October 06, 2017, 08:55:11 AM
I hope to have the opportunity to not shoot the first four point I see.
Post by: Gamblin Guy on October 06, 2017, 09:07:19 AM
Take good glass, we spend hours glassing, sometimes before we even get out of the truck.
Post by: wooltie on October 06, 2017, 09:08:37 AM
Don't load your gun the first couple days, it helps. :chuckle:
Take good glass, we spend hours glassing, sometimes before we even get out of the truck.
In your experience, do you glass for hours just to find deer, or to find 'the deer' to go after?
Post by: SemperFidelis97 on October 06, 2017, 09:16:42 AM
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Post by: Gamblin Guy on October 06, 2017, 09:30:56 AM
Don't load your gun the first couple days, it helps. :chuckle:
Take good glass, we spend hours glassing, sometimes before we even get out of the truck.
In your experience, do you glass for hours just to find deer, or to find 'the deer' to go after?
We glass until we find the one we want to go after. It can be big country, we hunt region 4 closer to the breaks, glassing (from the diesel campfire if its -20) is the only way to go.
Post by: 300rum on October 06, 2017, 10:01:00 AM
Post by: deerslyr on October 06, 2017, 12:24:41 PM
Is there any way to pick up a second meat deer via doe tag? I'd really like to stock up on meat. I see there are some deer B licenses left but that appears to be a totally different license.
Pick up some whitetail B tags, they taste better than mule deer any how. The mule deer get hammered on public ground and we had another rough winter last year. I have no idea why FWP issues mule deer doe tags for region 7 that are valid on public.
Post by: opdinkslayer on October 07, 2017, 07:34:11 AM
Don't load your gun the first couple days, it helps. :chuckle:
Take good glass, we spend hours glassing, sometimes before we even get out of the truck.
In your experience, do you glass for hours just to find deer, or to find 'the deer' to go after?
We do lots of glassing even at home hunting blacktails but it's definately a must on the breaks. The ground is far deeper and broken up than meets the eye and can really hide deer when you think theres nothing there. Walking down ridges and changing prospective is very effective.
I've hunted it twice and a buddy 4 times the last 5 years and of the dozens of people over those years we have been over there with or at the same time from our area nobody has not filled a tag. Some were smaller 3 pt meat bucks but many 18-24 inch 3x4 & 4 pts with a 27'' 3 point being the biggest. Be patient, don't be afraid to get out of the pickup and use your optics. Set a goal each day on whats a shooter and stick to it. Everyone I know that jumps the gun on pulling the trigger always sees a bigger one while helping other guys glass. It's a fun hunt but not really a trophy hunt. But if ya put out the effort and stay patient ya never know what ya might luck into. :dunno: :tup:
Post by: Thenewguy on October 07, 2017, 08:59:11 AM
Don't load your gun the first couple days, it helps. :chuckle:
Take good glass, we spend hours glassing, sometimes before we even get out of the truck.
In your experience, do you glass for hours just to find deer, or to find 'the deer' to go after?
We do lots of glassing even at home hunting blacktails but it's definately a must on the breaks. The ground is far deeper and broken up than meets the eye and can really hide deer when you think theres nothing there. Walking down ridges and changing prospective is very effective.
I've hunted it twice and a buddy 4 times the last 5 years and of the dozens of people over those years we have been over there with or at the same time from our area nobody has not filled a tag. Some were smaller 3 pt meat bucks but many 18-24 inch 3x4 & 4 pts with a 27'' 3 point being the biggest. Be patient, don't be afraid to get out of the pickup and use your optics. Set a goal each day on whats a shooter and stick to it. Everyone I know that jumps the gun on pulling the trigger always sees a bigger one while helping other guys glass. It's a fun hunt but not really a trophy hunt. But if ya put out the effort and stay patient ya never know what ya might luck into. :dunno: :tup:
I highly disagree with there not being trophies there. They are just deep
Post by: opdinkslayer on October 07, 2017, 04:59:08 PM
Post by: Thenewguy on October 07, 2017, 06:34:10 PM
Post by: Gamblin Guy on October 07, 2017, 09:51:34 PM
You are kidding right? Locals don't care about putting their deer in the books. I see deer each year that would easily surpass the best deer (of the year) in most states. Because you haven't seen them, doesn't mean they don't exist. There just isn't a state hat offers better deer hunting otc and on public land.
We taped a deer at the local meat cutters last year that was over 30, the local that shot it was just going to cut the horns off because his wife didn't want another head on the wall. We got talking and he showed me that two he had shoulder mounts done with......one was a non-typical gnarly old buck that I couldn't begin to guess what the score was, the other made the one in the back of his pickup look small....book score doesn't mean much to a lot of these guys, I guessing there are a lot of "book deer" killed in a lot of western states that never get scored.
Post by: opdinkslayer on October 08, 2017, 07:52:33 AM
Post by: dune on October 10, 2017, 02:04:49 PM
Post by: klikboom on October 10, 2017, 09:06:07 PM
Post by: Southpole on October 11, 2017, 06:40:07 PM
Post by: Gamblin Guy on October 11, 2017, 07:48:26 PM
Post by: dune on October 12, 2017, 01:08:07 PM
Post by: Southpole on October 12, 2017, 01:36:45 PM
Post by: CaNINE on October 13, 2017, 06:25:34 PM
Post by: dune on October 14, 2017, 02:31:04 PM
Post by: klikboom on October 19, 2017, 08:18:14 PM
Post by: klikboom on October 19, 2017, 08:20:11 PM
Making my first trip to Montana this year. Leaving next Wednesday bound for SE of Miles City. Reserved some days at a private ranch through the block management program. Had to sit on the phone hitting redial for an hour but finally got through. Also hunting the Custer-Gallatin NF and surrounding country. Keeping expectations realistic and looking forward to seeing and hunting new country with my dad. He's getting close to 70 now so looking forward to making some good memories with this experience.Be sure to post your results, that's the general area we will be at. Good luck out there, remember shoot the first legal you see, leave the big ones to breed. 😬👀👀😁
Post by: klikboom on November 14, 2017, 05:18:47 PM
We arrived Sunday here in the area. Saw loads of deer along my i90. Got to motel and talked to some MT locals who come up here every year. They said they saw loads of bucks and kid got a 4pt and the dad a forked that he thought was 4pt when he shot.
So that was to start the week we though for sure we are in right place! We got on the BM land and hunted super hard Monday. Hiked total of 12.5miles. We saw two bucks all day. I passed on a 3pt with EG at 1:30pm then hour till last light I turned around and looked back at the the plateau we had been glassing from 20 minutes ago and I saw a doe skylined on the ridge. I was something like 1200m from her and saw other deer in the draw that ran from the ridge so I said lets go and ran straight at then stopping every couple hundred meters to range. The more I sprinted the more committed I became mentally to killing something. As I'm jogging / fast walking I dialed in my turret to my 300y drop. My buddy was following close behind and I Hollered to him to range me as we were going. The deer knew we were coming but somehow were holding. The doe on top was getting nervous and started to move so I dropped threw down pack and my buddy called out 325y. I got thr buck in scope and I was still conflicted but now is saw one side had 4pts so I said ok. Held tight squeezed one off, and the 180 accubond did a dandy job.
So the pressure is off. I know everyone said hold out but dang we were working hard and saw few bucks. We went out again today, skipped the bmm even though we had reservations and tried just random patches of public land. Again we saw only 1 buck today, small buck. So we're probably doing something wrong. We found out a lot of the public land is in very small portions here.
Tomorrow we head south to an area. We have two days of reservations on bmm. Hopefully we can get a nice one for my buddy. Fri/sat we have open to try to find a buck however we can. Any backup recommendations? Any advice on how we hunt the parcels of public more efficiently via ONx?
Post by: slowhand on November 14, 2017, 07:43:55 PM
Post by: klikboom on November 15, 2017, 04:07:19 AM
Post by: opdinkslayer on November 15, 2017, 06:31:34 AM
Post by: C-Money on November 15, 2017, 06:59:12 AM
Post by: jkthomps on November 15, 2017, 09:56:43 AM
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Post by: dune on November 15, 2017, 01:55:13 PM
Post by: klikboom on November 15, 2017, 05:08:41 PM
Jump from glassing spot to classing spot. My areas have more deer in them I was born and raised in mt I go back to the same place and see a ton of deer this year was good dad shot a 4x5 Sun night and I shot mine Mon night 4x5 I'm from central MT. Some areas are just hard to turn up deer. The only time I didn't fill my MT tag was hunting in the rocky mountain. Seen deer but no shooters. Best advice find a river bottom on state or BLM. And shoot a big white tail
End of hunting report: well today we saw what people talk about when they say Montana has deer. We saw multiple hundred of deer today. Country down here is really open and you couldn't glass a piece of range without deer. Unfortunately, we did not see a lot of big bucks. My buddy had a nicer 3pt Muley at 300y then ended up being gifted a forked at 150 after the bigger one bounced. So we checked out other areas here and we did see multiple 4pts but they all knew they were on private land. Suffice it to say we didn't find the honey hole yet but we got a taste of how many deer MT can hold. Don't know where we will go for next year yet. We are thinking farther east maybe farther north than where were at, and definitely will be getting a B tag.
Anyone have suggestions with good OTC b tag and good mule opportunities in same region?
We're in 575 the place is crawling with deer but shockingly the B tag is draw only.
We didn't ever get into whitetail though would like to one of these years.
Post by: dune on November 15, 2017, 08:02:46 PM
Post by: huntandjeep on November 16, 2017, 07:48:39 PM
Jump from glassing spot to classing spot. My areas have more deer in them I was born and raised in mt I go back to the same place and see a ton of deer this year was good dad shot a 4x5 Sun night and I shot mine Mon night 4x5 I'm from central MT. Some areas are just hard to turn up deer. The only time I didn't fill my MT tag was hunting in the rocky mountain. Seen deer but no shooters. Best advice find a river bottom on state or BLM. And shoot a big white tailGood advice here , We got here last night. Today was my 1st time hunting Montana ( 2nd time for another and 1st time for the other ) Today alone I've seen 50+does , 12 Muley bucks ( 6 4x4's ) and 5 Whitetail bucks . Buddy did get a nice 3x4 this morning .
Post by: doubletall on November 21, 2017, 11:46:32 AM