No luck in MT 680/690

[wildaggie13]

Well I thought this unit was the best in the state, but after 32 miles of hiking and finding very little fresh sign it felt like I was in a OTC unit it Colorado. What happened? Did the 100 day drought push them away or maybe the smoke from fires?? I hiked onto state land in 690 and also hiked alot of the bullwhacker road south of the Wilkes Bro's ranch. I also hiked east of their ranch but didn't see any fresh sign nor water. Found a couple rag horns just NE of Wilkes ranch, but not enough elk to chase with a bow. Didn't hear 1 bugle either. If anyone can explain this to me I would appreciate it. It's the last week of the season and I have debated going back bc I heard that the elk move into the public areas right before rifle season. I didn't want to fly from Texas to Montana for a couple days of hunting if the elk weren't in the area still.

 

[BuzzH]

You weren't hunting the right areas...

What I would have given to have a tag in that unit in about 1995-2000...good lord I saw some great bulls in there while deer hunting. The area I used to hunt is probably still very good and I'm sure holds some monster bulls still, just not sure if I could get access to it now. Last I heard some of the places I hunted are now leased.

 

[montana_bow]

Bummer to hear that but I think you just are in the wrong areas. I know a guy who had that tag and he was on some good ones. He put his time in scouting this summer though. And 32 miles might seem like alot but I think that's about 3 days of hard elk hunting.

 

[wildaggie13]

He was hunting public areas or got access to private ranch? If he was hunting public I would love to talk to him so I can figure out how I messed up. I probably won't draw that tag ever again, but don't want to make the same mistakes in the future. I would love to sit down with my maps and break it all down. I felt really confident in the areas I was hunting from game warden knowledge, to onX maps, to google earth. Thanks again!

 

[Dan O]

That's why it's called hunting, there are no guarantees no matter how many miles you log. The only guarantee is if you don't go try again you will eat the tag. If you return remember you only need to find one Bull and if the hunting Gods smile on you that's the only Bull you will need to find.

Good Luck,
Dan

 

[corndog1]

Dang I had that tag last year wish I would have seen something about this before the season started

 

[belly-deep]

Sounds like elk hunting to me

 

[CForest]

I dont know that area real well, but have some friends that do. So much of that unit is private and a lot of that is leased up by an outfitter. From what I understand its a very tough tag to fill on public nowdays especially in archery season. I would go more southeast if i were you....

 

[LuketheDog]

but not enough elk to chase with a bow.

Well how many can you shoot at a time? I've found that one elk is plenty to chase around...