MT 313-45 Elk Permit

[dcarnell]

Hello Fellow Hunters,

I got lucky and drew the MT 313-45 Elk Permit this year and just wanted to see if anyone has had any success down there. Not looking for spots but an honest representation of the unit. Some say there are huge bulls coming out of the park and others say they saw only raghorns and spikes with tons of cows. If you have hunted this unit before I would love to hear about it!

Thanks and Happy Hunting!

Daniel

 

[Flatrock]

Happy Hunting.

 

[runningmt]

Very weather dependent. There are a lot of guides in the backcountry down there, but if you put in your effort, and get to know the area, you can get a good bull. If the snow is deep, and the weather turns bad in late November, you could be in for an epic hunt. My son drew the youth cow permit down there again this year, which he had two years ago. It’s an awesome hunt!

A couple positives, access is excellent, and you will be among 50 people with a permit.

Pray for lots and lots of early snow, and pray for brutally cold weather.

 

[Wildabeest]

Oh boy, here we go!

 

[Gr8bawana]

Oh boy, here we go!

....again!

 

[runningmt]

Hello Fellow Hunters,

I got lucky and drew the MT 313-45 Elk Permit this year and just wanted to see if anyone has had any success down there. Not looking for spots but an honest representation of the unit. Some say there are huge bulls coming out of the park and others say they saw only raghorns and spikes with tons of cows. If you have hunted this unit before I would love to hear about it!

Thanks and Happy Hunting!

Daniel

Hey there,

Don’t let the trolls on this sight discourage you from asking good questions. Your question was a good one, you’re not looking for pins for your GPS or anything.

This is a great site for info, but there are quite a few “know it all” Types that will judge you, and just cannot help themselves but to make rude comments.

Have a great hunt, you will enjoy it. It’s one of the most beautiful units in MT.

 

[dcarnell]

Hey there,

Don’t let the trolls on this sight discourage you from asking good questions. Your question was a good one, you’re not looking for pins for your GPS or anything.

This is a great site for info, but there are quite a few “know it all” Types that will judge you, and just cannot help themselves but to make rude comments.

Have a great hunt, you will enjoy it. It’s one of the most beautiful units in MT.

Thanks @runningmt! Your post was super helpful. I knew there would be the regular trolls on this thread. I honestly just want to know how previous hunters hunts went. Whether successful or not. What made it go well or what happened that made it a bad hunt. Stuff like that is what I am looking for. I applied to this unit because it’s close to my home and have a 1 year old so I can’t do insanely long hunts. I knew cold weather would be key. Hopefully we will get some cold weather and that will push them out. I’m honestly not even looking at hunting the flats. I’m trying to get away from the other hunters and find them elsewhere. That cow tag should be a slam dunk!

 

[MTGomer]

 

[MTGomer]

A big one could be had, but bull:cow ratios are low and the competition is fierce and experienced (HellsaRoaring Outfitters)

I would say buy a wolf tag, but the chickenshit commission cut the quota to 1 and it will be long filled before you get there.

 

[dcarnell]

@MTGomer yeah I wish we had more wolf tags.... doesn’t make sense. Yeah I know the outfitter and know they put a hurting on the bulls along with the the other outfitters in the area. I’m all for getting into hard places and hunting hard. Hopefully the weather will be cold and work in my favor. I’ll go as deep as need be to find them and to not be near the other 45 hunters. Thanks for the info!

 

[406dn]

I held the tag last year and was pretty excited with the prospects.

I hunted about ten days down there with my horses. The first time I went down there was a couple of days before the tag kicked in. I hunted five days or so, until I was convinced that the weather needed to turn nasty to change things. I hunted out of the Eagle Creek campground mostly. The closest I came to pulling the trigger was on a pretty nice mule deer buck. One day I rode in on the Joe Brown trail after glassing a good bunch of elk quite a ways up the drainage. The highlight of that ride was having a wolf cross in front of me at about 200 yards.

The second hunt, my brother and I went down there the day before Thanksgiving. We hunted the remainder of the season. I only know of two bulls killed, neither of them a 6x6. We saw elk most every day, just never any bulls.

It is my suspicion that the previously mentioned outfitter herds the bulls away from the park boundary as best he can. I know for a fact they keep a close eye on what is going on, even thou they did not have a hunter, other than one the last day or two. That guy killed a smaller bull that got herded to him by a couple guys on horseback on Deckard Flats.

I was pretty disappointed with how it all played out. It is beautiful country to ride a horse in, there was that.

 

[406dn]

@MTGomer yeah I wish we had more wolf tags.... doesn’t make sense. Yeah I know the outfitter and know they put a hurting on the bulls along with the the other outfitters in the area. I’m all for getting into hard places and hunting hard. Hopefully the weather will be cold and work in my favor. I’ll go as deep as need be to find them and to not be near the other 45 hunters. Thanks for the info!

If it's like last year, it is not hard to have an area to yourself.

 

[dcarnell]

I held the tag last year and was pretty excited with the prospects.

I hunted about ten days down there with my horses. The first time I went down there was a couple of days before the tag kicked in. I hunted five days or so, until I was convinced that the weather needed to turn nasty to change things. I hunted out of the Eagle Creek campground mostly. The closest I came to pulling the trigger was on a pretty nice mule deer buck. One day I rode in on the Joe Brown trail after glassing a good bunch of elk quite a ways up the drainage. The highlight of that ride was having a wolf cross in front of me at about 200 yards.

The second hunt, my brother and I went down there the day before Thanksgiving. We hunted the remainder of the season. I only know of two bulls killed, neither of them a 6x6. We saw elk most every day, just never any bulls.

It is my suspicion that the previously mentioned outfitter herds the bulls away from the park boundary as best he can. I know for a fact they keep a close eye on what is going on, even thou they did not have a hunter, other than one the last day or two. That guy killed a smaller bull that got herded to him by a couple guys on horseback on Deckard Flats.

I was pretty disappointed with how it all played out. It is beautiful country to ride a horse in, there was that.

Thanks for the heads up @406dn! I appreciate you filling me in on your experience! Hopefully it won’t be that way and they don’t try to herd them away.... if I have to I’ll get as far away from them as possible. I just want the opportunity at a mature bull and I’m willing to put in the time scouting. Hopefully the weather will be cold and there will be a lot of movement late November.

 

[MTLabrador]

Things around Gardiner are tough, even more so than just 10 years ago. That’s not to say you couldn’t still find a nice bull if you work hard, but I wouldn’t be picky.

 

[SteelWool]

Welcome

 

[EYJONAS!]

Its a good tag there are bulls there, I think it's more of a factor if your gonna find what you want. It's not what it was 20 years ago but every year one or two get some real dandys. Snow will obviously be your best friend might help you to maybe visit with the folks at HellsaRoarin and see what they have going on for a hunt they're real nice folks. I got a hard time thinking Warren and his son are out "wrangling" bulls in the night when they're coming across but who knows probably just sour grapes that get beat every morning.... good luck to you and keep us posted should be a fun tag!

 

[dcarnell]

Its a good tag there are bulls there, I think it's more of a factor if your gonna find what you want. It's not what it was 20 years ago but every year one or two get some real dandys. Snow will obviously be your best friend might help you to maybe visit with the folks at HellsaRoarin and see what they have going on for a hunt they're real nice folks. I got a hard time thinking Warren and his son are out "wrangling" bulls in the night when they're coming across but who knows probably just sour grapes that get beat every morning.... good luck to you and keep us posted should be a fun tag!

Haha @EYJONAS! I doubt they are either. Fingers crossed I will be the one who gets a chance at a good bull. Im not sold on hunting deckard flats. Hopefully there are some other spots far off the beaten path they will use to migrate over. I will definitely keep you posted and thank you for the heads up. It defintely sounds like the snowier and colder it is the better chance I have.

 

[406dn]

Its a good tag there are bulls there, I think it's more of a factor if your gonna find what you want. It's not what it was 20 years ago but every year one or two get some real dandys. Snow will obviously be your best friend might help you to maybe visit with the folks at HellsaRoarin and see what they have going on for a hunt they're real nice folks. I got a hard time thinking Warren and his son are out "wrangling" bulls in the night when they're coming across but who knows probably just sour grapes that get beat every morning.... good luck to you and keep us posted should be a fun tag!

I don't know about the night time. But I know what I saw during the day. It was not what nice guys would do.

I don't have sour grapes. It isn't the end of the world not to kill a bull.

From what I saw the cow to bull ratio is 100:1-2. Most afternoons you could see a hundred to several hundred elk staged in the park. At most there would be three older bulls visible.

They should put all of the bull hunting down there on a permit system.

 

[EYJONAS!]

I don't know about the night time. But I know what I saw during the day. It was not what nice guys would do.

I don't have sour grapes. It isn't the end of the world not to kill a bull.

From what I saw the cow to bull ratio is 100:1-2. Most afternoons you could see a hundred to several hundred elk staged in the park. At most there would be three older bulls visible.

They should put all of the bull hunting down there on a permit system.

Wasn't directed towards you in anyway. Im not denying you saw something....You just hear it more times than a guy would think. Reality is while the area is vast there isn't one nook or cranny that crew doesn't know about. They have that place more dialed than the elk probably.

 

[406dn]

Wasn't directed towards you in anyway. Im not denying you saw something....You just hear it more times than a guy would think. Reality is while the area is vast there isn't one nook or cranny that crew doesn't know about. They have that place more dialed than the elk probably.

No problem.

They do work very hard and know the area better than the elk. But they have been a significant reason the bull to cow ratio is in the dumpster.