Beartooth WMA

[Stone_Ice_1]

I have been a lurker on here for some time and finally decided to sign up and start a thread. After 7 years of applying I got lucky and drew a deer tag for Montana HD 455, the Beartooth WMA. I have been in the area before, but never to hunt or during the season. All the information I've been able to get from people so far relates to the elk, which I won't even have the tag for during rifle season.

I'm interested in if anybody can help me with finding the deer. I'm really interested in a big Mule Deer but wouldn't stop from shooting a big whitetail if I came across one. I've seen bucks and deer in the area when fishing. I tried calling the Biologist but he wasn't much help.

Plan on doing a lot of scouting this summer and fall, but any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[rmyoung1]

I have been a lurker on here for some time and finally decided to sign up and start a thread. After 7 years of applying I got lucky and drew a deer tag for Montana HD 455, the Beartooth WMA. I have been in the area before, but never to hunt or during the season. All the information I've been able to get from people so far relates to the elk, which I won't even have the tag for during rifle season.

I'm interested in if anybody can help me with finding the deer. I'm really interested in a big Mule Deer but wouldn't stop from shooting a big whitetail if I came across one. I've seen bucks and deer in the area when fishing. I tried calling the Biologist but he wasn't much help.

Plan on doing a lot of scouting this summer and fall, but any help would be greatly appreciated.

I hunted the WMA last year for elk, and I saw a couple of nice whitetail bucks. One was a pretty 5x4 that I would've shot in an instant. It was the week before Thanksgiving and I was back in the Pollack Meadows. He let me get close because he had a doe bedded and refused to leave her. Beautiful deer.

I didn't see hardly any mule deer and no mule deer bucks. My brother knows a guy who hunts the WMA a lot and, according to him, the big mule deer bucks have been really hard to find over the last year or two. Another hunttalker I chatted with last fall had a buck tag in 455 and ended up not filling it because he was holding out for a mule deer but never found one he wanted to shoot. If you find a nice whitetail, you might want to shoot him

 

[Rat Fink]

Mule deer hunting in there is pretty tough. You should be able to find a nice whitetail. You're story sounds exactly like a guy I know. I think you may be my neighbor.

 

[Stone_Ice_1]

Yup...I'm your neighbor. I had seen some of your posts on other topics and figured it was you but the stache avatar is a dead giveaway.

 

[Rat Fink]

Welcome aboard. You will find a lot of good people and useful info here. We have had the discussion on deer in 455 a few times so you know my thoughts on it.

 

[Deleted member 20812]

I don't think 455 has the size of bucks some folks would think it does. I've spent a lot of fime in the unit and the biggest deer I've seen there would be in the 190s. There is an occasional toad that comes out of there.

I hunted it 8 years ago when deer numbers were through the roof. I ended up shooting a whitetail buck on the second day that I just couldn't pass up. My hunting partner shot a muley that went 180".

Given the state of mule deer numbers right now, I would probably concentrate more on the creek bottoms in November and look for a good whietail buck.

 

[PJ0311]

I don't see the type of bucks in there that I used to 10 years ago when I lived in Great Falls. I still think there have to be some in there but I don't think it's the super unit for muleys that a lot of people think it is. I was told to focus on whiteys going into the hunt but I can't help myself when it comes to mule deer so I focused on them anyway. I didn't see anything too impressive so I shot an ok whitey. I do believe I could have taken a much bigger whitey had I focused all of my efforts on them from the get go. It's a great area, though, and I still put in for the tag because it's one of my favorite areas of the state with Holter, the MO, and Prickly Pear being right there. You can PM me if you want and I'll tell you the areas I hunted. I'm guessing Rat Fink knows way more about the area than I do though.

 

[Craig1251]

Drew 455 bull tag, don't know anything about the area other than what ive read on here looking for any insight? I plan on hunting off a bike don't know if that's a good idea? sounds like it gets hit pretty hard with horse traffic, I do have access to horses but would rather not deal with them if I dont have to.

 

[Tiredofthebickering]

Holy thread revive Batman!

Craig, you might want to go introduce yourself elsewhere on the site first before jumping into these old threads and reviving them. Welcome aboard.

 

[MTGomer]

You have a decent tag. I’d plan to do some scouting. The chances of doing the tag justice when you know little about it are not good.
Watch for rattlesnakes when scouting.

 

[Deleted member 20812]

A bike is great so long as the ground is frozen or dry. If it gets wet your bike could quickly become useless from mud.

It’s a doable hunt by foot, but horses would certainly make it easier. Plan on hunting during the week if you want any solitude.

 

[Craig1251]

I do plan on doing quite a bit of scouting, thanks for the info it is much appreciated!

 

[Deleted member 20812]

Welcome to Hunt Talk!

 

[Ridge Ghost]

Can you archery hunt elk in the beartooth with your general elk license

Your best bet would be to check the FWP regs

 

[Capsfan]

Your best bet would be to check the FWP regs

Ya i did the regs leave gray areas about a mile long went to r4 hq in GF and they only had outdated rules everything gets updated 15th of august ish.. But to answer my own question in case anybody else wants to know yes its open to archery either sex elk and whitetail with your general elk/deer license. Thanks for all the help

 

[Capsfan]

I do plan on doing quite a bit of scouting, thanks for the info it is much appreciated!

You the one with a GS and a bicycle

 

[Deleted member 20812]

Ya i did the regs leave gray areas about a mile long went to r4 hq in GF and they only had outdated rules everything gets updated 15th of august ish..

Not sure how this is gray?

 

[MT Bound]

Find it hard to believe that the R4 office didn't have updated regs in the office. Besides, the updated regs are at your fingertips online, just as JLS pulled up above.......

 

[Capsfan]

Boys, beartooth wma doesnt encompass all of 455 so I just wanted to make sure those regs were for all of 455, wma included and not the outlying area. And hq does not have updated wma rules until aug 15ish the general hunting regs are obviously out. And JLS do you see where it says wma rules and map available at r4 hq implying there could be seperate rules for WMA.

 

[Stone_Ice_1]

The entire WMA is now not on 455 either. The whitetail prairie area is a different HD. This are was purchased just a few years ago and added to the WMA but the regs have not been changed so the WMA boundaries and the HD do not line up.