Eprevost_tec
Member
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2018
- Messages
- 60
Hello all,
I am looking to head back to Montana again this coming season, barring being successful in the 2020 draw.
Last year was my first trip west, and my first time hunting elk. I have been hunting hard for about 20 years now, and have good success here in Ontario Canada, but the dream and addiction of elk hunting has bit me hard.
Last year I focused hard on e-scouting and finally hunting the north part of unit 560. I have multiple reasons for selecting unit 560 and dont need to get into them here. Its a long two full day drive from home to 560, and going any further west make the drive more than two days, limiting time on the ground.
The plan is to head back to 560 this year. The principle is that I will have climbed up the learning curve a bit and will know what to expect, and have a good idea of terrain, access, logistics etc. My bit problem is that last year we did not see any elk. We cut one set of track, and saw some amazing mule deer but no elk.
The big question I have is, does it make sense to go back to 560, or pull the pin and find another area and start over? We hunting a number of areas around the main and west boulder roads. Is there really a chance on finding elk there, or am I wasting my time.
Alternatively we did spend one day around 540 and saw a good herd on private land. I was thinking that if I did have to pull stakes, I would focus on the little belt mountains and areas around unit 448.
My biggest hurdle to date is finding the general area where elk are. The spot on the spot, or e-scouting makes allot of sense to me, and we have found wildlife where we e-scouted there should be, but we cant seem to get on paper in terms of where the elk generally are.
Thanks all, this is one of the best hunting forums on the internet.
I am looking to head back to Montana again this coming season, barring being successful in the 2020 draw.
Last year was my first trip west, and my first time hunting elk. I have been hunting hard for about 20 years now, and have good success here in Ontario Canada, but the dream and addiction of elk hunting has bit me hard.
Last year I focused hard on e-scouting and finally hunting the north part of unit 560. I have multiple reasons for selecting unit 560 and dont need to get into them here. Its a long two full day drive from home to 560, and going any further west make the drive more than two days, limiting time on the ground.
The plan is to head back to 560 this year. The principle is that I will have climbed up the learning curve a bit and will know what to expect, and have a good idea of terrain, access, logistics etc. My bit problem is that last year we did not see any elk. We cut one set of track, and saw some amazing mule deer but no elk.
The big question I have is, does it make sense to go back to 560, or pull the pin and find another area and start over? We hunting a number of areas around the main and west boulder roads. Is there really a chance on finding elk there, or am I wasting my time.
Alternatively we did spend one day around 540 and saw a good herd on private land. I was thinking that if I did have to pull stakes, I would focus on the little belt mountains and areas around unit 448.
My biggest hurdle to date is finding the general area where elk are. The spot on the spot, or e-scouting makes allot of sense to me, and we have found wildlife where we e-scouted there should be, but we cant seem to get on paper in terms of where the elk generally are.
Thanks all, this is one of the best hunting forums on the internet.