WT Near Missoula, MT--Help me show-up my wife.

[PantonValentine]

Long story short. This will be my wife and my first year hunting. In order to prove my worth as a provider I need to bring home an animal. All kidding aside I figure between archery and rifle season I should have a decent shot at a whitetail buck/doe right? Anyone have any tips for the area? After reading a few books I feel like I'm ready to hunt the Midwest/east but feel like maybe the mountains here need to be treated a little different? We hike regularly in the Rattlesnake/Marshall Mountain/Deer Creek area so I'm somewhat familiar with the those areas. I'm starting to keep my eyes open now notice things. Should I be looking at other places? Help a new guy out?

 

[belly-deep]

I would use the search function to look through old threads. There's a couple of good mountain whitetail hunters who have given advice on this subject before.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Deer are deer. Don't over think this. If you can find trees and spend enough time in the woods you will find whitetails. No need to get too far into the backcountry. In fact, whitetails thrive in the foothills and lowlands. Do some hiking and driving around mountain roads this summer. Start keeping a record of where you are seeing deer and this fall go back to the same areas. The deer will be there.

 

[Gerald Martin]

And.... be prepared for your wife to kill a bigger deer than you. It will happen so take it like a man.

 

[----]

I would find a remote creek bottom with adjacent ridgelines on National Forest land below about 5000' feet and learn it well. You can find whitetail higher than that, but that tends to be about the elevation where they taper off. Deer in the mountains also seem to like a combination of open terrain to rut in, and real brushy creek bottoms to bed and browse in. Learn what a whitetail rub looks like, and start looking for them this summer. Also look for old, dry scat. Chances are if you're seeing scat and rubs there will be deer there in November.

Being as most the units around Missoula are buck only now, hunting from about November 15-25 will greatly increase your odds of finding a buck.

You can still find decent whitetail hunting within 20-30 minutes of town, but in my experience the extra 30-60 minute drive to get further away from town is well worth it. Doesn't really matter which direction you go.

Don't look for the obvious spot where everybody else seems to go. By far my best whitetail spots are spots that get overlooked for whatever reason (difficult access, having to wade a river to get to, not an obvious parking spot, etc.).

 

[Ridge Ghost]

Yep, you should having no problem finding whitetail to hunt in the area. You can find them in the areas you mentioned, but as others have already told you it will help to think outside of the box to avoid the crowds a bit.

If you are only finding does in your scouting, don't worry. The bucks will be there in November.