Montana HD 600

[mgiuliani]

I would greatly appreciate any feedback from hunters who have experience in HD 600. I have not set foot in this district and it will be our destination for deer hunting this season. From google earth scouting it looks like the coulees near Fresno Reservoir and the Milk River could be the ticket. Hoping to scout it on foot prior to our November hunt but it's a long drive to get there. I also talked to the local wildlife biologist and he mentioned that populations in general are recovering pretty well from a bad winter kill a few years back plus the EHD outbreak.

Hopefully someone on this forum would be good enough to give me a few pointers on this area. Would be great to know what kind of numbers of whiteys and muleys are roaming this country. Would be awesome to hear that there are some quality bucks if a guy puts in the time.

 

[Highwood]

I have been hunting the 600's for a long time. Fact is, the deer in the private lands are recovering. I see NO evidence of the deer, both WT and MD re populating the public lands.
A few reasons, first, the deer on private had better numbers and better Winter food then those deer in the back country during the tough Winter. Not to mention hunting pressure, antlerless permits, predation etc.
So get on a limited hunting pressure situation and there could very well be some good mature bucks.
Best of luck on your hunt.

 

[mgiuliani]

@Highwood - that's exactly the useful info I was looking for, thanks for your response. We will do our best to gain access to limited pressure lands.

 

[JEL]

I would concur with Highwood. I just don't see that deer numbers are getting that much better. I grew up in the area and still have contact with some landowners in the area. They don't see it either. The area I hunted last fall seemed to have less deer than the year before. I suppose there are pockets with good numbers. Also, while you will find some BLM and state land around Fresno and the river, a good share is privately owned. Good luck though and have fun.

 

[Rat Fink]

I know some of that area pretty well, one of my buddies is a landowner around Fresno. We talked about deer this weekend while scouting for another hunt. He is not seeing many deer around their place. And the comment about most of the coulees around Fresno being private land is correct, however a lot of people don't respect that and trespassing is an issue in those areas. I am looking forward to hunting up there myself, someday, once deer numbers rebound enough that my buddy says he is ok with taking a few deer.

 

[mgiuliani]

@ Rat Fink - When you talk about a rebound is this still from the bad winter kill of 2010/11?

 

[Rat Fink]

EHD mostly for whitetails. But it was a combination of disease and winter kill over a few years that dropped the numbers for both species of deer.

 

[mgiuliani]

One other interesting point made by the biologist I spoke with about HD 600 was that late season weather, rut, and migration tendencies have been known to culminate and bring some mature Canadian mule deer across the border. This is by no means something a guy would want to bank on, but it would be awesome to hit the jackpot we all dream of (perfect place - perfect time).

Any hi-liners out there encounter big hoser mule deer as mentioned?

 

[belly-deep]

One other interesting point made by the biologist I spoke with about HD 600 was that late season weather, rut, and migration tendencies have been known to culminate and bring some mature Canadian mule deer across the border. This is by no means something a guy would want to bank on, but it would be awesome to hit the jackpot we all dream of (perfect place - perfect time).

Any hi-liners out there encounter big hoser mule deer as mentioned?

I've heard a few guys talk about that phenomenon. I'm not sure I buy it though. I could see some deer crossing the border when the rut kicks up. But the guys I've talked to believe there is a weather-induced migration. I'm not convinced our weather is that much milder. Maybe I'm missing something.

 

[Deleted member 20812]

One other interesting point made by the biologist I spoke with about HD 600 was that late season weather, rut, and migration tendencies have been known to culminate and bring some mature Canadian mule deer across the border. This is by no means something a guy would want to bank on, but it would be awesome to hit the jackpot we all dream of (perfect place - perfect time).

Any hi-liners out there encounter big hoser mule deer as mentioned?

Yes.

Alberta has (or had) pretty restrictive seasons on mule deer in that area. I've seen some huge bucks along the border, late in the season. They aren't everywhere, but they are around.