Just how busy are the Little belts of Montana??

H

HNTGFX

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Ive been doing quite a bit of research and will be hunting this mountain range beginning the 7th through the 23rd. I have spent the last 23 years chasing elk in NE Oregon with a wide variety of busy seasons and sometimes an outrageous amount of elk hunters. I am not one to stick to the road systems and have been able to punch 14 archery tags during this time.

In the mood for a new adventure Im heading to the Little Belts this year, and it seems like its a popular place.

Questions I have to ask are:

Is there cold storage in any of the towns off HWY 89

Are there issues with bears (grizzlies) and I'm sure wolves

Is it really as busy of a place as I've read?
 
1. I’m sure there’s cold storage in WSS. I don’t remember any in Neihart.

2. Grizzlies have been seen, certainly not prevalent. Food storage orders are in effect.

3. Yes, it is very busy.
 
If you're going way out to Montana to get away from North eastern Oregon because of crowding, I'm guessing I'm wasting my time hunting the Minam in mid September...???
 
White Sulpher Springs would be the closest cold storage to the Little Belts. There may be a Grizzly or two in the Belts but I'm not aware of any conflicts with one. Yes Wolves are present as are Mountain Lions and Black Bears. Pick up a Wolf tag just in case. If your willing to get off the roads I think you will have a good hunt. Take a compass/map and a GPS as it can be easy to get turned around, plus if you tag out it will help you find the shortest route out with your animal.

Dan
 
Little belts have quite a few elk scattered over most of the range. Can be tricky sometimes but if you work hard there are plenty for the taking. Hunting close to private/ transition areas has worked well for me in the late season. I’m sure archery has them dispersed in smaller groups, but I’ve not archery hunted there
 
Shazbutt-Steve said:
If you're going way out to Montana to get away from North eastern Oregon because of crowding, I'm guessing I'm wasting my time hunting the Minam in mid September...???
Click to expand...


HA! Youre the smart one. I hunted the desolation and northside units for years. Ive also been in Pine Creek - gorgeous country! I have the Sled Springs rifle tag in my pocket for this October. Dont get me wrong, I Love Oregon in terms of memories of the hunt... BUT I moved to Vancouver WA 7 years ago and began hunting OR as a Non Resident. The prices have steadily climbed and the numbers of animals have decreased.

Montana is the NEW adventure and new scenery. Will probably hit idaho, Wyoming or Colorado next year
 
HNTGFX said:
Ive been doing quite a bit of research and will be hunting this mountain range beginning the 7th through the 23rd. I have spent the last 23 years chasing elk in NE Oregon with a wide variety of busy seasons and sometimes an outrageous amount of elk hunters. I am not one to stick to the road systems and have been able to punch 14 archery tags during this time.

In the mood for a new adventure Im heading to the Little Belts this year, and it seems like its a popular place.

Questions I have to ask are:

Is there cold storage in any of the towns off HWY 89

Are there issues with bears (grizzlies) and I'm sure wolves

Is it really as busy of a place as I've read?
Click to expand...

Not much for wolves in the Little Belts (at least nothing to be concerned with) and the same with grizzly bears.

I'd agree with the WSS cold storage advice and if you are on the north end Great Falls has plenty of options as well.

It can be busy but so can pretty much every place in Montana if you don't get away from the roads.
 
Lots of better places than the Little Belts, lots of the public access is also motorized access (aka dirt bikes, atvs, etc). Its a zoo during hunting season
 
Interesting... coming from a NR who's never known what it's like seeing this place not busy I was there last year and I'd classify it as not busy... if you get away from the trailheads. Will you see a shit ton of camps and trucks, absolutely, but in the 90 miles we hiked we crossed paths with 3 hunters and we were into elk.

Granted I've never archery hunted any other spots other than the LB and last year was my first time. All the trucks were definitely a bummer but once we got to where we wanted to hunt we never saw a soul, the 3 people we crossed paths with were on the trail close to the trailhead.

Get yourself an MVUM and highlight all the open roads/atv trails/motorcycle trails and get away from all these.
 
Is there cold storage in any of the towns off HWY 89

Your over a mile high in most places you'll be hunting Normally cooling your game and hanging it is plenty for a day or two.
Great falls is as close as White Sulfur springs and much larger.

Are there issues with bears (grizzlies) and I'm sure wolves

With all the people hunting the area you will not see a grizzly bear very few sightings .Wolf would be only a young Male looking for new area so very uncommon too.

Is it really as busy of a place as I've read?

90% of the hunters are road hunters or ridge walkers . If you get off the road a mile or two it tapers
WAY off.
There are tons of nice elk to be found and LOTS of forest land to hunt . We get elk there every year for many years.
Gota have a map to use your 4wheeler and to avoid the privet land scattered about the forest.
 
Thanks everyone for the useful information. Just returned from a long weekend out of state so these comments were a great way to start my week off.

Im excited for the adventure of seeing some new ground; being in the area for two weeks will give us ample time to hopefully fill two tags and have some great stories to tell. One thing I've learned over the years is that people DO NOT like going off trail past a mile and personally i have punched more elk tags between 10am-2pm while others are napping.
 
HNTGFX said:
HA! Youre the smart one. I hunted the desolation and northside units for years. Ive also been in Pine Creek - gorgeous country! I have the Sled Springs rifle tag in my pocket for this October. Dont get me wrong, I Love Oregon in terms of memories of the hunt... BUT I moved to Vancouver WA 7 years ago and began hunting OR as a Non Resident. The prices have steadily climbed and the numbers of animals have decreased.

Montana is the NEW adventure and new scenery. Will probably hit idaho, Wyoming or Colorado next year
Click to expand...

Makes sense. If I didn't live here I would hunt other states. Hopefully Eagle Cap treats me well in 2 weeks. If not, I was lucky enough to get an antlerless tag in Idaho in October. Doing both archery and rifle this year...what more could a guy ask for? Good luck to you in Montana....
 
Just returned from two weeks in the LB's. Camped up on King Hill and covered over 100 miles on foot. There are elk here but they are tricky. I had an opportunity at a small 5 pt bull and let him go. Chased lots of elk and found some great areas. Not entirely sure if i would hunt this area again, but did learn alot. Like someone mentioned; there re better places to hunt.

I would not not classify this area as busy in any way. Seemed like we had most areas to ourselves on most days. Many will not get off the trails so if youre willing to roam, it can be good. Lots of steep areas where getting a bull out may be more of a task than anticipated. Was a good hunt and a great adventure
 
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