Dinkshooter
Well-known member
I saved one of them as well. You had to, it was better than a naked lady picture.
I think I had this same tag in 2008. Not enough imagination to get it done like this I guess.
Montana Rifle Elk - Gonna be a good one
- Thread starter Big Fin
- Start date
- Status
I saved one of them as well. You had to, it was better than a naked lady picture.
I think I had this same tag in 2008. Not enough imagination to get it done like this I guess.
thecrittergitter
Well-known member
Randy, For what its worth................I always thought there was a 24 hr wait as well. However, it is very clear in the MT FWP Regulations that there is no specific hours, it is just that you cannot hunt the same day as when you flew. Logistically that would mean you could have flown in Friday and hunted saturday, course your there now so a bit irrelavent but just thought i would throw it out for future
Page 10 in Regs
"Aircraft may not be used to locate big game animals for the purpose of hunting those animals during the same hunting day after a person has been airborne".
Maybe there is another regulation somewhere i that i missed??
Page 10 in Regs
"Aircraft may not be used to locate big game animals for the purpose of hunting those animals during the same hunting day after a person has been airborne".
Maybe there is another regulation somewhere i that i missed??
idnative1948
Well-known member
I for one hope it all comes together for you guys, considered the hoops you have had to jump through on this one.
stillkickin
Well-known member
Good luck guys!
Ultrahunter
Active member
Lets see it
So how was the ride in? First time in a chopper? I never been in one, had a few offers for rides but never took them up. this is one topic I am sure many will be watching as I know I will with as much interest from the outfitter reaction and the hunt itself.
csutton7
Active member
love it--go knock 'em in the dirt......
Just done with dinner. Spent the evening looking for the big one. Only saw two bulls on public, but lots and lots on private. Some were far, far, away out in the prairie dog country and some were very close to the public/private boundary.
The ride in was about as smooth and easy as it gets. Two trips for three guys and all our gear. Had to bring in water, so that took much of the space/weight.
Interesting to see that the fence lines are off by over a quarter mile in some spots, or my GPS is off by that much. And for some reason, the fence lines all are too far into the public ground. Some of them are so old and fallen down, that it is hard to even tell it was a fence.
The moon is full and the bulls are out on the prairie bugling like crazy. Anyone who thinks it is too late in the year for bugling elk has probably not hunted in late October. Shot one that was bugling last year on the opener and will hope to do the same this year.
We have been warned by many folks to expect some sort of inquiry from landowners or outfitters. I really doubt that will happen. Our camp is a half mile west of the property boundary and a half mile south. Not sure why anyone would waste their time to come and mess with us, when there are lots of elk on the private.
Bart cooked dinner. We are all suffering from stomach pains. Might make for a long night. An amazing full moon, clear skies, and warm temps. Great stuff for camping, but not sure if it will be what we want for hunting.
Gonna get serious about it tomorrow. Hope to find where the big one is coming onto the public to rest for the day, and with any luck he will be habitual in that activity and do the same thing on Saturday morning.
Elk move so much, it is hard to really expect them to do the same exact thing every day. They will have similar patterns, but doubtful they will use the same trail at the same time and bed in the same spot.
If nothing else, so far it has been a blast. Big smiles on all our faces as we think about having all this ground to hunt, and knowing if one of those big bulls comes across to the public we will be waiting.
Our air taxi.
Full power for all our technology.
The stove that fits in a pack. This thing works really slick, really fast.
Bart making dinner.
The ride in was about as smooth and easy as it gets. Two trips for three guys and all our gear. Had to bring in water, so that took much of the space/weight.
Interesting to see that the fence lines are off by over a quarter mile in some spots, or my GPS is off by that much. And for some reason, the fence lines all are too far into the public ground. Some of them are so old and fallen down, that it is hard to even tell it was a fence.
The moon is full and the bulls are out on the prairie bugling like crazy. Anyone who thinks it is too late in the year for bugling elk has probably not hunted in late October. Shot one that was bugling last year on the opener and will hope to do the same this year.
We have been warned by many folks to expect some sort of inquiry from landowners or outfitters. I really doubt that will happen. Our camp is a half mile west of the property boundary and a half mile south. Not sure why anyone would waste their time to come and mess with us, when there are lots of elk on the private.
Bart cooked dinner. We are all suffering from stomach pains. Might make for a long night. An amazing full moon, clear skies, and warm temps. Great stuff for camping, but not sure if it will be what we want for hunting.
Gonna get serious about it tomorrow. Hope to find where the big one is coming onto the public to rest for the day, and with any luck he will be habitual in that activity and do the same thing on Saturday morning.
Elk move so much, it is hard to really expect them to do the same exact thing every day. They will have similar patterns, but doubtful they will use the same trail at the same time and bed in the same spot.
If nothing else, so far it has been a blast. Big smiles on all our faces as we think about having all this ground to hunt, and knowing if one of those big bulls comes across to the public we will be waiting.
Our air taxi.
Full power for all our technology.
The stove that fits in a pack. This thing works really slick, really fast.
Bart making dinner.
NVLongbow
Well-known member
Good luck guys!
elk_hunter
Active member
Sweet! Tomorrow should be a good one!
cadman59501
New member
Good luck fellas. Sounds like a blast.
Been hiking for 3.5 hours. Have not heard or seen any game. Have followed the north boundary all morn and are now on the west side of the public. Lots of sign, but no elk.
The feed down low on private is hard to compete with. We did see two bulls on public last night, so we know some are here, though it is much thicker and rogher tererain.
No doubt, we have our work cut out for us. Nothing in hunting is ever as easy as it seems.
The feed down low on private is hard to compete with. We did see two bulls on public last night, so we know some are here, though it is much thicker and rogher tererain.
No doubt, we have our work cut out for us. Nothing in hunting is ever as easy as it seems.
Calvin
New member
Good luck Fin! I'll be watching this one unfold!
elk_hunter
Active member
Fin and crew, it's all good - keep at it!
Ridge Runner
New member
Sounds like an adventure of a lifetime. Once they open up on the pvt hopefully they will push them into the little honey hole you are in waiting for them. GOOD LUCK!
As frustrating as things were this morning, the afternoon and evening made it worth the effort to hike to some other spots. We all split up and we all got into huge herds of elk. The amount of bugling is amazing for late October.
The footage we have of some monster bulls this evening is spectacular. They are bedding in some of the roughest of the public terrain, then bailing off and within ten minutes are way out on private. I think they reverse that pattern in the morning.
The hope is to crawl the 600' of elevation above camp and be on the ridges and try to watch where they are coming up to bed. From that vantage, we can work our way to the trails they are using to get to their beds.
We were told we would attract some attention, and it only took a day. A plane buzzed the camp and buzzed the elk we were watching many times this evening. I have no idea what the hell they were doing, but a word of advice to them - if you are going to buzz someone that close, you might want to make sure they don't have video cameras rolling, as if you have bad intentions, your tail numbers are real easy to read and video at those ranges. After many more passes over the elk, they went and landed out on one of the private areas. Not sure what they hell they were doing, but the elk sure didn't seem to pay any attention to them.
A second plane came from the same location and was flying much higher than the little orange and white one. Maybe they were just out for a pleasure flight, but it so, they really found pleasure in looking over us and our camp. Makes me laugh to think that people have nothing better to do.
As I type this, we can hear bulls bugling over the ridge from camp. It will be a long restless night. I saw a bull that I would really like to shoot, but the odds of running into him in the morning, with all the escape routes he has, is very unlikely.
Didn't take much for pics today. Too busy hiking and trying to sort out where elk are and where they are not.
With the elk we saw tonight, I hope we have a decent chance of filling both our tags. I guess time will tell. And as always, I am praying for a little luck. Good luck will provide more hunting results than all the hard work we have put in. Bad luck can wipe out all that hard work. Guess we will know in a couple days, what amount and what kind of luck we have going for us.
Just checked the forecast - Ouch. We might want to give it all we have tomorrow, as the wind seems to be plotting against us by Sunday. Monday is windy also, but they haven't given the estimated speed. I probably don't want to know.
Chance of rain/snow, through Wednesday. I am enjoying this late fall weather and really don't have a need for a winter storm. Save that stuff for December.
Hope to have some great pics to post in the morn.
The footage we have of some monster bulls this evening is spectacular. They are bedding in some of the roughest of the public terrain, then bailing off and within ten minutes are way out on private. I think they reverse that pattern in the morning.
The hope is to crawl the 600' of elevation above camp and be on the ridges and try to watch where they are coming up to bed. From that vantage, we can work our way to the trails they are using to get to their beds.
We were told we would attract some attention, and it only took a day. A plane buzzed the camp and buzzed the elk we were watching many times this evening. I have no idea what the hell they were doing, but a word of advice to them - if you are going to buzz someone that close, you might want to make sure they don't have video cameras rolling, as if you have bad intentions, your tail numbers are real easy to read and video at those ranges. After many more passes over the elk, they went and landed out on one of the private areas. Not sure what they hell they were doing, but the elk sure didn't seem to pay any attention to them.
A second plane came from the same location and was flying much higher than the little orange and white one. Maybe they were just out for a pleasure flight, but it so, they really found pleasure in looking over us and our camp. Makes me laugh to think that people have nothing better to do.
As I type this, we can hear bulls bugling over the ridge from camp. It will be a long restless night. I saw a bull that I would really like to shoot, but the odds of running into him in the morning, with all the escape routes he has, is very unlikely.
Didn't take much for pics today. Too busy hiking and trying to sort out where elk are and where they are not.
With the elk we saw tonight, I hope we have a decent chance of filling both our tags. I guess time will tell. And as always, I am praying for a little luck. Good luck will provide more hunting results than all the hard work we have put in. Bad luck can wipe out all that hard work. Guess we will know in a couple days, what amount and what kind of luck we have going for us.
Just checked the forecast - Ouch. We might want to give it all we have tomorrow, as the wind seems to be plotting against us by Sunday. Monday is windy also, but they haven't given the estimated speed. I probably don't want to know.
Chance of rain/snow, through Wednesday. I am enjoying this late fall weather and really don't have a need for a winter storm. Save that stuff for December.
Hope to have some great pics to post in the morn.
elk_hunter
Active member
Awesome news, Fin! Go get 'em!
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