Montana- what you wished you'd have known ahead of time

[Magnum_Willys]

Wind!  There’s a reason many camps have hard sided RV’s for base camp.  Its hard to find a spot with enough shelter to pitch a wall tent in many areas of central and east Montana.  That wind blows!

[CamoDup]

When you're hunting in eastern Mt and it rains the mud turns to gumbo and it is almost impossible to drive in. Stay on the main roads and DO NOT get off into the soft spots. You will get stuck. Same goes for when there are snow drifts but that's anywhere you go.

[Mtnwalker]

Wind!  There’s a reason many camps have hard sided RV’s for base camp.  Its hard to find a spot with enough shelter to pitch a wall tent in many areas of central and east Montana.  That wind blows!

Nothin like sleeping in full clothing incase the tent blows away in the middle of the night, been there a few times  haven't lost one yet but good grief we've been close

[Karl Blanchard]

Wind!  There’s a reason many camps have hard sided RV’s for base camp.  Its hard to find a spot with enough shelter to pitch a wall tent in many areas of central and east Montana.  That wind blows!

Nothin like sleeping in full clothing incase the tent blows away in the middle of the night, been there a few times  haven't lost one yet but good grief we've been close

Well about lost one in 2022.  Was a sporty tear down trying to get the tent broke down while simultaneously keeping it from heading to North Dakota   Had a side tear as well as a few other spots.  Found a sew shop that had canvas, needle and thread. Got a hotel for the night with a large indoor pool area that we commandeered for a work space and my daughter (12yo at the time) went to work.  She fixed it up so nice I've not needed to have it professionally repaired. Proud dad moment. 

50-60mph winds but the real issue was the stakes being inadequate.   Got some home brew Anchors now that solve that issue. I'd not hesitate to set her up with high winds in the forecast.

[Mtnwalker]

Nice work young lady! I'm sure she was excited to leave that hotel and pool to get back in the wall tent after that 

[Sundance]

I used to live in Montana before moving to Idaho. I have hunted there as a non resident most years since I moved. I know you narrowed your areas down but Montana is a big state and many areas of the state are just so completely different from each other. I have hunted central montana in a t-shirt in november (rare) but also its been way below zero with 70 plus mph winds (more common) on the same dates but different year. . I lived a few years in regoin 4 and its usually hot in september and cold in november but you cant totally count on that either.   Northwest montana I have been in a snowstorm during archery elk in september . I would bring gear to hunt "normal" weather but be prepared for anything weather wise. Northwest Montana bring a chain saw for your vehicle you will use it. I would bring a dirt bike to get more places to start hunting from  but the 4 wheeler sxs is better to be able to pack gear and animals. I dont know in your hunting area of northwest montana any kind of restrictions they have on dirt bikes but we used them ,when I lived there, to get in deeper and then spike hunt from there. I have been hunting more central montana and southeast recently.  Chains, shovel important in that country because 4 inches of snow quickly becomes a 4 foot snowdrift😂 I dont normally bring a 4 wheeler or sxs for that area. We also hunt the southeast and I dont feel it is worth it to drag a 4 wheeler or sxs down there either. Probably not too much help but what I bring with me hunting in montana changes a lot depending on when and where I am hunting. Its just big and totally different. Sounds like you will be hunting september archery elk northwest and I am assuming november for deer on the eastside?

I've narrowed down to 3 units with 1 being my main focus for elk. In that general area I've marked 12 spots/access areas to start out from. The plan is to use my truck with a canopy as a base, being able to sleep in the truck with an optional diesel heater/gene combo. I have a cimmaron and a silex, that way I can spike out either solo or with my hunting partner. Typically I'll carry 3-days of food when I head into a new area, but if I'm not in elk or seeing sign I'll typically bail within a 36 hour period to another spot. The plan isn't anything different from WA, keep moving until I find elk and be flexible to changing it up. At this time I'm not planning on bringing a quad/bike, most the areas I've looked at it doesn't appear there will be a benefit to having them. I was able to connect with an acquittance that lives in that general area and he has given me a ton of advice. Thankfully he's a successful elk hunter from WA so the comparisons have been invaluable.

Deer is still very much on the back burner, if I'm not successful during archery elk then the 2nd trip would also be focused on elk. If I'm successful during archery elk then the 2nd trip would be a bonus hunt and I'm leaning heavily toward hunting an area with good whitetail opportunities. There are some limited entry BMA type 2's that I'll apply for which could sway my decisions. I've heard nothing great about the mule deer situation in the eastern part of the state, I'm not highly motivated to drive that far to shoot a younger class deer. At this point deer is very much still in the white board stage and will probably remain there until I sort out the BMA opportunities and my archery elk season.

[Karl Blanchard]

Nice work young lady! I'm sure she was excited to leave that hotel and pool to get back in the wall tent after that 

we didnt see a high that week over 5° so the answer would be no she was not thrilled  She tagged out hour 1 of day 1 though so she got good practice stoking the wood stove with grandpa all week 

[Karl Blanchard]

Don't overthink it too much Sundance.  MT isn't any different than anywhere else.  Only difference is you're a lot farther from home so you need to pack to be fully self sufficient. Like any road trip have your emergency stuff in the truck ie basic tools, a jump pack is a great addition, Shovel, chains, tow strap, etc.  If you have a small chainsaw that's always a nice little item to pack as well.  Other than that just go hunt.  If roads are dangerous don't drive em. If it gets cold wear more clothes. If it's hot wear less clothes  

Cooler space for elk meat is a must for September. Not sure how much experience you have dealing with elk meat in hot weather but it can possibly take a lot of cubic inches.  150-200qt of cooler space is a good range to shoot for if you need to ice meat.  If nights are cold you can get away with not using ice. Just hang meat at night and place in coolers during the day. Most importantly have fun. Montana is a blast always 

[Sundance]

Thankfully keeping the meat cool is under control. We have plenty of coolers and the ability to pre-chill and get flake ice. The one thing I'm thinking about is processing the skull to meet CWD criteria for crossing state lines. I usually macerate my own skulls at home, so debating on bringing the boiler for skulls, using a pressure washer, or just hitting the easy button and dropping it off at someone with beetles. Otherwise just excited at the opportunity to try something different, it will get really interesting if I actually draw anything here in WA.

[Stein]

I used to live in Montana before moving to Idaho. I have hunted there as a non resident most years since I moved. I know you narrowed your areas down but Montana is a big state and many areas of the state are just so completely different from each other. I have hunted central montana in a t-shirt in november (rare) but also its been way below zero with 70 plus mph winds (more common) on the same dates but different year. . I lived a few years in regoin 4 and its usually hot in september and cold in november but you cant totally count on that either.   Northwest montana I have been in a snowstorm during archery elk in september . I would bring gear to hunt "normal" weather but be prepared for anything weather wise. Northwest Montana bring a chain saw for your vehicle you will use it. I would bring a dirt bike to get more places to start hunting from  but the 4 wheeler sxs is better to be able to pack gear and animals. I dont know in your hunting area of northwest montana any kind of restrictions they have on dirt bikes but we used them ,when I lived there, to get in deeper and then spike hunt from there. I have been hunting more central montana and southeast recently.  Chains, shovel important in that country because 4 inches of snow quickly becomes a 4 foot snowdrift😂 I dont normally bring a 4 wheeler or sxs for that area. We also hunt the southeast and I dont feel it is worth it to drag a 4 wheeler or sxs down there either. Probably not too much help but what I bring with me hunting in montana changes a lot depending on when and where I am hunting. Its just big and totally different. Sounds like you will be hunting september archery elk northwest and I am assuming november for deer on the eastside?

I've narrowed down to 3 units with 1 being my main focus for elk. In that general area I've marked 12 spots/access areas to start out from. The plan is to use my truck with a canopy as a base, being able to sleep in the truck with an optional diesel heater/gene combo. I have a cimmaron and a silex, that way I can spike out either solo or with my hunting partner. Typically I'll carry 3-days of food when I head into a new area, but if I'm not in elk or seeing sign I'll typically bail within a 36 hour period to another spot. The plan isn't anything different from WA, keep moving until I find elk and be flexible to changing it up. At this time I'm not planning on bringing a quad/bike, most the areas I've looked at it doesn't appear there will be a benefit to having them. I was able to connect with an acquittance that lives in that general area and he has given me a ton of advice. Thankfully he's a successful elk hunter from WA so the comparisons have been invaluable.

Deer is still very much on the back burner, if I'm not successful during archery elk then the 2nd trip would also be focused on elk. If I'm successful during archery elk then the 2nd trip would be a bonus hunt and I'm leaning heavily toward hunting an area with good whitetail opportunities. There are some limited entry BMA type 2's that I'll apply for which could sway my decisions. I've heard nothing great about the mule deer situation in the eastern part of the state, I'm not highly motivated to drive that far to shoot a younger class deer. At this point deer is very much still in the white board stage and will probably remain there until I sort out the BMA opportunities and my archery elk season.

My advice would be to not put too many eggs in the Type 2 BMA bucket.  Lots of funny business with many of them depending on what region you are looking at.  The state allows the landowner to completely run the registration themselves, not like the reservation system in WA which is broken in different ways.