Hunting Washington Forum

Big Game Hunting => Deer Hunting => Topic started by: Bigshooter on May 30, 2009, 03:03:52 AM

Title: Montana C.M.R. Land
Post by: Bigshooter on May 30, 2009, 03:03:52 AM: Some of you will find this interesting.

http://www.fws.gov/cmr/documents/Final_09_hunting_regs.doc
Title: Re: Montana C.M.R. Land
Post by: Pathfinder101 on May 30, 2009, 01:46:02 PM: Quote from: Bigshooter on May 30, 2009, 03:03:52 AM
Some of you will find this interesting.

http://www.fws.gov/cmr/documents/Final_09_hunting_regs.doc

Are you planning a hunt?
Title: Re: Montana C.M.R. Land
Post by: Bigshooter on May 30, 2009, 03:07:04 PM: yeah
Title: Re: Montana C.M.R. Land
Post by: Pathfinder101 on May 30, 2009, 05:53:25 PM: I looked into the CM Russell area too for this fall. Unfortunately, the season closes on the 15th, so you may miss the best part of the rut. Looks like a great area to hunt, but looks like access could be a problem. the weather in that area can get wet pretty fast and from what I understand any road that isn't paved will turn to gumbo and be impassible. The other access would be by boat on the reservoir, which sounds to me like it would be the best way to hunt, but you will need a pretty good sized boat and have to know what you are doing if the weather gets bad (wind, waves, ice, etc...). Like I said, I looked into it a bit, but it sounded like a bit of a logistic hassle (since I don't own a large boat, don't know the area, etc...)
I know there are a few guys on this site that have hunted it, and they came back with some nice bucks if I remember right.
Title: Re: Montana C.M.R. Land
Post by: Bearhunter on May 30, 2009, 08:22:49 PM: Most areas, large boats have been unlaunchable the last couple years, except last year, the water level in the lake has been to low. Its a great place to go hunt and see dozens of bucks a day, just lots of smaller bucks. Big ones are there you just have to weed through lots of little guys. Good luck.
Title: Re: Montana C.M.R. Land
Post by: bowhunterforever on May 31, 2009, 11:19:49 PM: Quote from: Bearhunter on May 30, 2009, 08:22:49 PM
Most areas, large boats have been unlaunchable the last couple years, except last year, the water level in the lake has been to low. Its a great place to go hunt and see dozens of bucks a day, just lots of smaller bucks. Big ones are there you just have to weed through lots of little guys. Good luck.
My buddie that lives buy the lake said it came up like 12 feet so far this spring and the melt off water hasnt even got there yet, so you should beable to launch at more boat ramps the fall i would think.
Title: Re: Montana C.M.R. Land
Post by: Roger on June 03, 2009, 12:56:26 PM: Have hunted the cmr several times and there are a lot of deer there and some really big bucks in there also. I have not been able to connect on one of the big ones. My method has been to hunt the cmr up until it closes and then go outside after it closes and take a decent deer.
Title: Re: Montana C.M.R. Land
Post by: Pathfinder101 on June 03, 2009, 07:57:13 PM: Quote from: Roger on June 03, 2009, 12:56:26 PM
Have hunted the cmr several times and there are a lot of deer there and some really big bucks in there also. I have not been able to connect on one of the big ones. My method has been to hunt the cmr up until it closes and then go outside after it closes and take a decent deer.

Roger,
When you go outside the CMR do you hunt private, BLM or Block Management?
Title: Re: Montana C.M.R. Land
Post by: Roger on June 04, 2009, 12:46:44 PM: BLM and Block Mgt.
Title: Re: Montana C.M.R. Land
Post by: Dmanmastertracker on June 04, 2009, 01:00:50 PM: The Primary Road going into CMR is a bitch. Steep, gumbo crap, all of it. If you want to lose a windshield, drive that road, then a gravel road right afterward :yike:

It does look gamey, we hunted just outside of there and saw a lot of sign and does, lot's of pressure in some areas of BLM just outside of there. I have some small thumbnail photos of that road I'll try and throw up, I can't recall the name off the top of my head, but it's a USFS main line.
Title: Re: Montana C.M.R. Land
Post by: Dmanmastertracker on June 04, 2009, 05:04:15 PM: Fairly crappy pictures, somehow I permanently shrank them, but these are all from CMR.
Title: Re: Montana C.M.R. Land
Post by: Pathfinder101 on June 04, 2009, 05:39:12 PM: Quote from: Dmanmastertracker on June 04, 2009, 01:00:50 PM
The Primary Road going into CMR is a bitch. Steep, gumbo crap, all of it. If you want to lose a windshield, drive that road, then a gravel road right afterward :yike:

It does look gamey, we hunted just outside of there and saw a lot of sign and does, lot's of pressure in some areas of BLM just outside of there. I have some small thumbnail photos of that road I'll try and throw up, I can't recall the name off the top of my head, but it's a USFS main line.

Did you hunt the CMR Dman? Or was it closed already when you were there?
Title: Re: Montana C.M.R. Land
Post by: Dmanmastertracker on June 05, 2009, 07:13:41 AM: It had already closed, we hunted BLM and BMA's near there and drove through it to get from one to the next. Incredible veiws, good photo ops there.
Title: Re: Montana C.M.R. Land
Post by: WAcoyotehunter on June 05, 2009, 07:22:18 AM: Quote from: Dmanmastertracker on June 04, 2009, 01:00:50 PM
The Primary Road going into CMR is a bitch. Steep, gumbo crap, all of it. If you want to lose a windshield, drive that road, then a gravel road right afterward :yike:

Many of the roads in that area are native material and like dman said, GUMBO. if it starts to rain get to a hard surfaced road quickly- they turn nasty in a hurry!!
Title: Re: Montana C.M.R. Land
Post by: Pathfinder101 on June 05, 2009, 10:20:36 AM: appreciate the info guys. I assume you were hunting after the 15th (the day that CMR closes) because of the rut. Do you guys think the rut would start on CMR before the 15th, or would someone who hunted there miss it? Was the BLM and Block Management land crowded?
Title: Re: Montana C.M.R. Land
Post by: Dmanmastertracker on June 05, 2009, 11:10:48 AM: When we were there last, the locals said the muleys started rutting earlier, you could possibly catch part of the muley rut that last week before CMR closes. The Chain Buttes and surrounding BMA's are huge, you should easily find a spot there, but some of the smaller BMA's are more popular and will be fully booked out early, if they are call-ahead spots. I found the BLM chunks to be some of the best, most guys do not concentrate their efforts on these and thus they can be really good, if you are persistent. Some of the chunks are small and you just have to catch a deer passing through at the right time, but they do eventually, every small block of BLM I hunted had decent legal bucks on it.
Title: Re: Montana C.M.R. Land
Post by: Pathfinder101 on June 05, 2009, 12:00:57 PM: Thanks again, DMan. Great info. Have never hunted MT before and wasn't really expecting to get drawn, so every little bit helps. I am planning to scout once this summer.
Did you guys have any luck (pictures for motivation)?
Title: Re: Montana C.M.R. Land
Post by: Dmanmastertracker on June 05, 2009, 12:43:25 PM: We did OK, though I did see bigger deer and just couldn't make it happen, in a couple cases.
Title: Re: Montana C.M.R. Land
Post by: Dmanmastertracker on June 05, 2009, 12:46:11 PM: This guy was near one of our hunting areas.
Title: Re: Montana C.M.R. Land
Post by: Pathfinder101 on June 05, 2009, 01:10:46 PM: That whitey is a stud, and the 3rd buck from the left looks real good too. Thanks for the pics, that is perfect motivation!
Are those BMAs that you have to call and reserve generally worth it? I would hate to commit myself to hunting a piece of land that was all shot out. How many people do they generally let sign up for a peice of land on a given day?
Title: Re: Montana C.M.R. Land
Post by: Dmanmastertracker on June 05, 2009, 02:20:35 PM: To be honest, I wouldn't bother with the reservation only places. If you would like more detailed info, PM me, I'm not hunting over there anytime soon, so I don't mind sharing.
Title: Re: Montana C.M.R. Land
Post by: Fletch on June 09, 2009, 08:15:25 AM: Ive hunted the CMR in the recent past. Where we hunted there were multiple roads in and out, almost all of them impossible to travel in the rain. We loaded the truck with provisions to spend the night...get in while the ground was frozen and spent the night or stayed until they refroze...Where we hunt there are nice bucks, the first year there we both brought back 25 inch bucks last year we were too early and just caught the start of the rut as we had to leave. I think they close it early so they preserve some of the bucks during the rut...that being said it is a fun area to hunt lots of bucks and elk too.