2018 Montana Advice

[kingderek]

If you know unit 380 then I’d say apply for it and hope to get lucky. There are some great bulls in there and plenty of public land to hunt. “Wild Aggie” hunted the public in 680 this year and said it was a very tough hunt. The access in that unit can be very difficult, and the blm is huge in 680, but elk can be scattered and trophy bulls can be tough to find.

Thanks for the advice. Yer right—some really nice bulls in 380. Even though the permit is a long shot, it’s a long shot for a reason. Think you are right, will probably apply for 380 but try and learn areas like 680 over the next few seasons and make a more informed call at that point. Given Wild Aggie’s experience (thanks for the heads up), not sure I’m willing to make the change now.

I did wonder—and would be interested in folks’ thoughts—what the 380 permit would be like if they split the permits up into archery only and rifle season only tags. Maybe have a limited number of permits for both. I dunno, just a random thought about whether the draw odds would change much and whether it would make for a potentially better hunt/experience for those who do draw it. Or, it could be a completely worthless endeavor.

Thanks again everyone.

 

[tphelps45]

I have thought about the same thing. I don't know how I would feel about splitting the hunts.

I have always thought they should stagger the cow and spike hunts from the guys with the bull tag. I have run into out of state hunters, on general tags, looking for spikes or cows in archery.

 

[HSi-ESi]

In general, I'd rather keep my points low - and putting in for tags that give a good quality hunt (less pressured elk). I was building points in elk until I drew a decent tag in 2012. After that, I've not had more than 1 point for elk. So far, I have enjoyed that. If I were holding 13 now, I wouldn't switch units unless I knew I would enjoy the other unit (ie spent time in there and wanted to hunt it). There's too many good spots to hunt on a general tag in MT to stress about it.

Different story on Moose/Goat/Sheep. Those I just put in for units that I like to hang out in - or somewhere I really want to learn the country.