BuzzH
Well-known member
Cant believe my breaks elk hunt is over, what a great 2 weeks to spend in some really unique country.
Figured I'd spend a bit of time writing up some thoughts on the breaks as many here likely will eventually draw and hunt there.
I first hunted the breaks for elk with a friend in 2001 and on that hunt we found quite a number of good bulls, one in particular that would have pushed 370. We also saw lots of bulls in the 300-340 range, at least 2-3 over that. We saw a good population of elk, not huge numbers but solid for sure.
Flash forward to my hunt, some 10 years later. The first morning of my hunt, in the first place I glassed, I saw 7 six point bulls, all first year six's in the 260-270 range. About an hour later as I was driving to another glassing spot, I found another 6 point that would have gone probably 310, very similar to the bull I shot in Wyoming last year. He was within easy rifle range of the truck, but so early in the hunt, I passed. In all, the first day, while just trying to get familiar with the area, I saw 14 bulls, 8 of them 6 points, and no spikes.
I spent the next several days passing 4-8 bulls per day, and seeing really good numbers of elk. I saw 6 points every day but one. All the country that looked like it should hold elk, did have elk in it. As with most areas, once I got away from the roads a mile, I saw only a couple other hunters out walking. Most days, I saw no other hunters out walking. I hunted anywhere from 3-6 miles one way from the truck most days (straight line distance on the GPS). The first 5 days I never saw my camp in the daylight.
I couldnt help but notice that the total number of elk had really increased since 2001 when I was there last. But, it was also pretty obvious that the quality of the bulls was just not what it was in 2001. The peculiar thing to me was the amount of 2-4 year old bulls, lots and lots of those. One would think with the high number of younger bulls, there would be a pretty good number of 5-7 year old bulls as well. Not the case. I thought about why that could be and the only conclusion I can come up with is that they are getting picked off by the archery hunters as well as the rifle hunters as soon as they reach 5 years old. The permit numbers are really high for both archery and rifle. Could potentially be a poaching problem out there as well, not sure of that, but just odd that a couple age classes are just about non-existant. Seems to me that other areas I've hunted that had high numbers of younger 5 point and 6 point bulls, there was also a good number of bulls in the 300-320 range.
In all I saw 87 bulls on public land while I was hunting. Of those 26 were 6 points, the largest being the 310 bull I passed on the first day I hunted. I saw probably another 30-40 bulls on private. Of those bulls on private, I saw one that I thought would be 340-350 and was with 2 other bulls around 300. I saw one other bull on private in a herd of over 200 elk that was a 330-340 bull for sure, great bottom 3 tines and awesome main beams. Those were the biggest I saw in 2 weeks of prowling around over there.
I'm sure not complaining about the hunt, as it was a great experience. I've never seen that many bull elk in Montana in a single hunt, or season for that matter. I also saw a ton of bighorn sheep, including some really cool...and old, rams. I was surprised that I saw as many deer as I did, with the hard winter and all. The deer numbers are still really low compard to what I remembered in 2001.
Heres a few photos of the country:
The elk, in particular bulls, liked this type of stuff:
I found several six points while glassing the thick juniper and ponderosa pine stands on the north slopes like these:
I would glass it for a half hour or so, then move to get another angle, glass, some more...move again.
It paid off many, many times on this trip. I could have shot this bull 2 different days, found him in adjacent draws.
Sunset in the breaks, not a bad place at all to be in the evening while glassing for elk:
Finally, with my days off winding down I decided to shoot this bull after spending many great days elk hunting the breaks with my Dad and another friend:
It was a neat deal getting the bull as I shot him on a small piece of accessible BLM ground while the herd he was with, was coming off some private ground that is outfitted. Always makes me smile to take an animal in those out-of-the-way places on my public land
, in particular adjacent to "pay to play" places.
Shot him from the flat spot just to the left of the "v" on the skyline in the center of the picture. Shot was 363 yards, I had plenty of time to set up the shot, got a solid rest, made my elevation adjustment and shot him through the lungs:
Pack out was pretty easy, easy enough I carried half out in one trip, bone in front and hind, a backstrap, neck meat, etc:
Couple bonus critters:
I feel pretty fortunate to have had the opportunity to hunt elk in the breaks, I'll keep applying and hope to draw it again. Its just a really special place to get to chase elk on public land and I wouldnt trade the experience for anything.
Figured I'd spend a bit of time writing up some thoughts on the breaks as many here likely will eventually draw and hunt there.
I first hunted the breaks for elk with a friend in 2001 and on that hunt we found quite a number of good bulls, one in particular that would have pushed 370. We also saw lots of bulls in the 300-340 range, at least 2-3 over that. We saw a good population of elk, not huge numbers but solid for sure.
Flash forward to my hunt, some 10 years later. The first morning of my hunt, in the first place I glassed, I saw 7 six point bulls, all first year six's in the 260-270 range. About an hour later as I was driving to another glassing spot, I found another 6 point that would have gone probably 310, very similar to the bull I shot in Wyoming last year. He was within easy rifle range of the truck, but so early in the hunt, I passed. In all, the first day, while just trying to get familiar with the area, I saw 14 bulls, 8 of them 6 points, and no spikes.
I spent the next several days passing 4-8 bulls per day, and seeing really good numbers of elk. I saw 6 points every day but one. All the country that looked like it should hold elk, did have elk in it. As with most areas, once I got away from the roads a mile, I saw only a couple other hunters out walking. Most days, I saw no other hunters out walking. I hunted anywhere from 3-6 miles one way from the truck most days (straight line distance on the GPS). The first 5 days I never saw my camp in the daylight.
I couldnt help but notice that the total number of elk had really increased since 2001 when I was there last. But, it was also pretty obvious that the quality of the bulls was just not what it was in 2001. The peculiar thing to me was the amount of 2-4 year old bulls, lots and lots of those. One would think with the high number of younger bulls, there would be a pretty good number of 5-7 year old bulls as well. Not the case. I thought about why that could be and the only conclusion I can come up with is that they are getting picked off by the archery hunters as well as the rifle hunters as soon as they reach 5 years old. The permit numbers are really high for both archery and rifle. Could potentially be a poaching problem out there as well, not sure of that, but just odd that a couple age classes are just about non-existant. Seems to me that other areas I've hunted that had high numbers of younger 5 point and 6 point bulls, there was also a good number of bulls in the 300-320 range.
In all I saw 87 bulls on public land while I was hunting. Of those 26 were 6 points, the largest being the 310 bull I passed on the first day I hunted. I saw probably another 30-40 bulls on private. Of those bulls on private, I saw one that I thought would be 340-350 and was with 2 other bulls around 300. I saw one other bull on private in a herd of over 200 elk that was a 330-340 bull for sure, great bottom 3 tines and awesome main beams. Those were the biggest I saw in 2 weeks of prowling around over there.
I'm sure not complaining about the hunt, as it was a great experience. I've never seen that many bull elk in Montana in a single hunt, or season for that matter. I also saw a ton of bighorn sheep, including some really cool...and old, rams. I was surprised that I saw as many deer as I did, with the hard winter and all. The deer numbers are still really low compard to what I remembered in 2001.
Heres a few photos of the country:
The elk, in particular bulls, liked this type of stuff:
I found several six points while glassing the thick juniper and ponderosa pine stands on the north slopes like these:
I would glass it for a half hour or so, then move to get another angle, glass, some more...move again.
It paid off many, many times on this trip. I could have shot this bull 2 different days, found him in adjacent draws.
Sunset in the breaks, not a bad place at all to be in the evening while glassing for elk:
Finally, with my days off winding down I decided to shoot this bull after spending many great days elk hunting the breaks with my Dad and another friend:
It was a neat deal getting the bull as I shot him on a small piece of accessible BLM ground while the herd he was with, was coming off some private ground that is outfitted. Always makes me smile to take an animal in those out-of-the-way places on my public land
, in particular adjacent to "pay to play" places.Shot him from the flat spot just to the left of the "v" on the skyline in the center of the picture. Shot was 363 yards, I had plenty of time to set up the shot, got a solid rest, made my elevation adjustment and shot him through the lungs:
Pack out was pretty easy, easy enough I carried half out in one trip, bone in front and hind, a backstrap, neck meat, etc:
Couple bonus critters:
I feel pretty fortunate to have had the opportunity to hunt elk in the breaks, I'll keep applying and hope to draw it again. Its just a really special place to get to chase elk on public land and I wouldnt trade the experience for anything.
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