How Big A Deal Is This?

[hitman]

I was at a dinner get together with a friend last night and I told him about Montana doing away with the guide sponsored tag program. He said that this could be a big deal and that it has the potential to open up some great limited quota mule deer tags for non-residents. I've been concentrating on Wyoming for a big mule deer, but should I now be seriously looking at MT?

Hit Man

 

[Big Fin]

Nobody knows how it will shake out. My projection is that it will increase drawing odds for the non-residents applying for the general tags (which then allow you to apply for the limited entry tags), but at the expense of a higher cost on the self-guided hunters.

I don't think it will make it any easier to draw any of our limited entry mule deer tags. Those are hard to draw, are very few units that are limited entry, and since non-residents are restricted to 10% of those tags, will probably not do anything to increase the NR odds.

And, our limited entry deer units are not nearly as good as the limited units in WY, CO, ID, UT, NV, AZ, NM. Our biggest deer are killed in one limited entry unit, but you have much better odds of shooting a big mule deer in the Montana general units (though still a tough chance) than you do of applying for the limited entry tags and hoping to draw and shoot one there.

Good luck.

 

[hitman]

Thanks for the info. I will likely get one chance to take the On Your Own hunt of a lifetime for a monster mule deer in the next five to ten years, and I want to make it count. I want to experience a hunt where I see 10 to 20 bucks a day, and where I can pass on smaller bucks for several days waiting for that once in a lifetime buck. There has to be some place where this is still possible for the DIY hunter, without paying a premium land owner voucher price or waiting for 30 years for that tag. I'm 42 years old and I don't have 20 years to wait. Thanks again for the info.

- hitman

 

[Big Fin]

Thanks for the info. I will likely get one chance to take the On Your Own hunt of a lifetime for a monster mule deer in the next five to ten years, and I want to make it count. I want to experience a hunt where I see 10 to 20 bucks a day, and where I can pass on smaller bucks for several days waiting for that once in a lifetime buck. There has to be some place where this is still possible for the DIY hunter, without paying a premium land owner voucher price or waiting for 30 years for that tag. I'm 42 years old and I don't have 20 years to wait. Thanks again for the info.

- hitman

Guess it might depend upon what you call "that once in a lifetime buck."

I have hunted areas where you see 10 to 20 bucks per day and where you can pass on smaller bucks. But, those units usually aren't littered with huge bucks.

The AZ Strip has some huge bucks, but you will be lucky to see 20 bucks in a week of hunting, let alone 10 per day. I averaged about 3 bucks per day, over the 10 day hunt.

The best west slope CO units usually won't have that many bucks per day, unless you are counting forkies and spikes. And, you might wait 20 years to draw a 4th season tag where the most favorable of favorable conditions might come together, but again, big bucks are not that easy to find.

Montana has that many bucks per day in some places, and if you see a 170 buck, you best be shooting. Most wouldn't put that in the "once in a lifetime category," though in reality, that kind of buck is once in a lifetime for most hunters.

Rumor has it that the Henry Mountains of Utah could be such a place as you wish for. But, it will probably take 50+ years to draw that unit, or any other rare place that has that combination.

I don't know that such a place exists, even on any of the landowner vouchers that are available in the west.

I feel the best option is to be in the mountains as many days as possible, on even average units of the west, knowing your time afield multiplies your odds of crossing paths with the "buck of a lifetime." Saving your points forever, only to risk having warm weather, delayed migration, habitat loss, or a multitude of other possibilities diminish your experience, is a big gamble.

Good luck. I hope you find that "buck of a lifetime."

If you find that magical DIY unit, let us know.

 

[mdunc8]

I'd have to agree with Randy. Coming from back East, I think my idea of a wallhanger is much different the most of the guys on here (as will be displayed in a few months when I get my little antelope and mule deer back from the taxidermist ). Many of the guys on here wouldn't even think about shooting the animals I shot this year much less getting a shoulder mount, but that's what makes hunting great. We each get to decide what a "trophy" is. However, my wife has that card now since I wasted the last remaining wall space she has allocated for heads on my animals from this year. If you've never hunted out here, which has been the case with me, I'd imagine you'd have a great time with a general Montana tag or another relatively easy tag to draw that would allow you a little more flexibility with your hunt. There's plenty of areas where you can see the numbers of deer you're looking for and find a respectable 4x4 if you hunt for four or five days.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

hitman---We would all like to find that kind of a honeyhole, but it ain't gonna happen very danged often, if at all!!!