Sweet Grass Hills, MT

I have a couple of questions for those of you who have hunted the Sweet Grass Hills in northern Montana. In that specific district, rifle bull elk tags are few in number. The deer hunting closes two weeks earlier than the typical MT rifle season. And your general elk license allows for the harvest of antlerless elk. So, here's my question: After the deer season closes, does the hunting pressure drop off significantly? And does the area provide a good hunt for a cow elk?

I'm thinking that not too many will want to head up there with only a cow elk as your legal quarry. But I'm planning hunts for young boys and myself. We would be thrilled with an elk harvest of any kind. Does anyone have any thoughts or opinions? Thank you!

Access is difficult as much of the Sweet Grass Hills is private land. Elk can be difficult to find and when you do find them....see my first comment. I love the hills and have had some of my most memorable deer and antelope hunts there but have never chased elk around and don't often see elk when hunting other species up there. Maybe others on the forum have had better experiences up there than me when it comes to elk. If you have young kids (under age 15), they can shoot cows in many western Montana districts. I have some ideas for you if you want to consider other areas. Shoot me a PM and I am happy to share some ideas with you.

There are way better places to do a youth cow hunt than the Hills. mtmuley

Walked in on the public a few years back 4 hours before dawn to get on top and still got passed up by outfitters on horseback,lucked out and killed a couple bucks that got chased up the hill to us by a pickup on the private side of the fence.Place was a three ring circus never going back.

Tough hunt for a cow elk. Not only is it rough country from the access points, but there's a lot of private land boundaries to deal with.

I spent a lot of time in that country as a kid with my dad and grandfather. They knew all the ranchers as they lived in a now long gone town called Ferdig. Went to the Hoot Colony's alot too. It's a shame the circus it has become. mtmuley

Thanks for the feedback guys. I really appreciate. Because I want my boys' introduction to Montana elk hunting to be a smashing success, I'm going to now hijack my own thread. (Is that possible?) So... what would you do if you were me? Again, cows or bulls... doesn't really matter. I'd just love for my kids to have an enjoyable experience. Punching a tag isn't necessarily the focal point, but you know... they're kids. I'd love to give them the best chance possible to get into elk and enjoy their first experience.

mtmuley said:

I spent a lot of time in that country as a kid with my dad and grandfather. They knew all the ranchers as they lived in a now long gone town called Ferdig. Went to the Hoot Colony's alot too. It's a shame the circus it has become. mtmuley

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Was Ferdig the mining town up on Gold Butte?

rmyoung1 said:

Thanks for the feedback guys. I really appreciate. Because I want my boys' introduction to Montana elk hunting to be a smashing success, I'm going to now hijack my own thread. (Is that possible?) So... what would you do if you were me? Again, cows or bulls... doesn't really matter. I'd just love for my kids to have an enjoyable experience. Punching a tag isn't necessarily the focal point, but you know... they're kids. I'd love to give them the best chance possible to get into elk and enjoy their first experience.

Click to expand...

You're going to work hard for a "smashing success" with two young boys in elk country. That is just the nature of elk hunts. Even if all you'll need is a cow, that might require a lot of work on public land. If it were me, I'd get a wall tent and put it up somewhere outside of Dillon. Kids will enjoy staying in a tent with a wood stove and all of the fiddling around that comes with it. There will be tracks. There might be elk sighted. And if you luck out, someone will get a shot. But in the end, making it more of a "western" experience will probably beat staying in a hotel and driving out to hunt every day, regardless of tags punched.

I would go down to Region 3 and hunt any of the units that offer cow or branched bulls on a general tag. You should run across some elk and maybe get one. I like Belly-deep suggestions.

belly-deep said:

Was Ferdig the mining town up on Gold Butte?

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Ferdig was Northeast Of Oilmont. There was a store and post office there when I was a kid. Last time I was out there, there was two houses left. The one my grandparents lived in and one other. I spent a lot of time in that North country, including the Hills. Sure is a special place. mtmuley

The Hills have been our annual deer camp since I was a kid. My dad's good friend from high school in Shelby has a ranch along the Canadian border and has always been very gracious about letting our family take some whitetails, muleys, antelope, birds and bunnies. Regarding elk, my dad has shot 2 cows on the property, usually opening weekend. I have seen some very nice bulls as well but they seem to move out pretty quick once the lead starts flying. Believe it or not I have never actually hiked up on East Butte. The times I considered it I bailed pretty quick once I saw the amount of cars and campers at the few access points on the north side. There is some state land and the colony is a BMA but finding elk there during general season is a roll of the dice. The numbers in that district are over-objective and many of the landowners bitch about the elk eating their alfalfa, etc. My take is if you have a problem with the elk allow more access for hunters (as is my take in any other area). If you can get permission from a landowner it can be excellent deer hunting and given a big snow event, a lot of elk will come down off the butte and you may luck out. Personally I much prefer mountain elk hunting. My dad drew the either-sex tag last year and didn't see an elk (he's 68 and isn't hiking up the butte any time soon). Really pretty country up there. I've made a lot of good memories there over the years.

My dad and my son with his first deer last year.

Meat buck on the last day of our trip

My twin bro with a rooster

Purty

You're lucky to have the private access. Most of the properties we used to hunt have either been sold, or are leased to an outfitter. I remember a pile of mule deer antlers in my grandfathers yard in Ferdig. I need to dig through some old pictures. I remember some big sets. My buddy had the elk tag awhile back. We saw elk. Mostly on the Meisner BMA. There was way to many hunters out there for my taste. mtmuley

If your idea of "smashing success" is punching tags you should go with an outfitter,cow hunts arnt nearly as expensive as a bull.There isnt a spot in this state on public land with a general tag where you are guaranteed success.If the kids can shoot cows and you good with that consider the areas that are draw only for bull and still allow youth cows,less tags = fewer hunters = better odds.