MT - Changes in Hunting Regs/Units/Seasons coming this month

[Southern Elk]

Certainly not adolescent… I think you’re arguing for the sake of it. Some of y’all may be aging, I understand that. The bigguns are still in there, but they get smarter as our technology brings us further into their bedrooms. Montana has no shortage of public lands. Let’s make it happen this year, look forward to seeing your buck this year. It’s a lose lose for you besides your own trophy. If you shoot a small one sucks for you cuz they are out there, and if you shoot a big one it only negates the topic of your argument. Good luck

I’m not going to get in a big argument with you, but you are wrong. Lots of folks would be happy with those deer, but they are not big mule deer, period.

 

[huntin24/7]

I’ve been a MT resident for just about 14 years now in NE MT. I definitely put my time in, although I don’t get out scouting as much as in the past with 3 kids at home. I have noticed a big difference in quality in the short time I’ve lived here. I’ve known 2 guys that hunted public or easily accessed private that consistently killed big bucks of that 4+ age class. Both guys had schedules that allowed them to scout probably 30+ nights a summer and hunt at least part of every day of the rifle season. Of those big bucks I know of, they were all killed after many days watching property lines and taken after they finally left good private land.

I find it a bit hypocritical that guys who want some older age class deer in the herds on public land are somehow labeled selfish, but guys that want a tag every year to kill any buck aren’t. Shoot whatever makes you happy and I’ll always be the first to congratulate you, but it’s something to ponder.

 

[Flatbrimmer]

I’m not going to get in a big argument with you, but you are wrong. Lots of folks would be happy with those deer, but they are not big mule deer, period.

What’s mature? You know they lose size and mass as they move past their prime right? Mature to you is no teeth left in the head and smaller than prime rack? I know it’s not a BIG one but shit dude it ain’t a baby and it MAY have gotten bigger next year but after that it MAY have gotten smaller thereafter. What’s mature to you? 5 with a prime set or 8 with smaller then 5 but he’s MATURE.. mature to me means reached sexual maturation. When a spike leaves the cows and becomes branch antlered that’s mature enough to be with the boys… I can understand the argument about mature meaning OLD.. in which case you can’t tell from rack. I can show you a WT that’s aged at 8+ and you’d say he’s 2-3.

 

[The Hedgehog]

Those bucks that come late from Saskatchewan are gonna get hammered with round balls soon.

 

[Nick87]

What’s mature? You know they lose size and mass as they move past their prime right? Mature to you is no teeth left in the head and smaller than prime rack? I know it’s not a BIG one but shit dude it ain’t a baby and it MAY have gotten bigger next year but after that it MAY have gotten smaller thereafter. What’s mature to you? 5 with a prime set or 8 with smaller then 5 but he’s MATURE.. mature to me means reached sexual maturation. When a spike leaves the cows and becomes branch antlered that’s mature enough to be with the boys… I can understand the argument about mature meaning OLD.. in which case you can’t tell from rack. I can show you a WT that’s aged at 8+ and you’d say he’s 2-3.

The old I shot a buck smaller than I wanted... must be real old and going down hill. I've heard that one a lot on 1.5 old and 2.5 year old bucks always get a kick out of that.

 

[timmy]

Ill drink to that Southern Elk, probably isn't a 200 inch buck in MTView attachment 191019

Let’s see your public land Montana 200 inch migratory buck. How to screw your hunting spot 101.

 

[huntandfly]

I find it a bit hypocritical that guys who want some older age class deer in the herds on public land are somehow labeled selfish, but guys that want a tag every year to kill any buck aren’t.

Is that how it is? Because I think it’s selfish for (edit) *a nonresident* to think they deserve a tag every year, and I think that many people also feel that way

 

[BuzzH]

What’s mature? You know they lose size and mass as they move past their prime right? Mature to you is no teeth left in the head and smaller than prime rack? I know it’s not a BIG one but shit dude it ain’t a baby and it MAY have gotten bigger next year but after that it MAY have gotten smaller thereafter. What’s mature to you? 5 with a prime set or 8 with smaller then 5 but he’s MATURE.. mature to me means reached sexual maturation. When a spike leaves the cows and becomes branch antlered that’s mature enough to be with the boys… I can understand the argument about mature meaning OLD.. in which case you can’t tell from rack. I can show you a WT that’s aged at 8+ and you’d say he’s 2-3.

No, that's a bunch of bunk. Big elk and big mule deer are big even when they're 8-10 years old. That whole nonsense about bucks and bulls regressing hasn't been my experience.

I guarantee you, 99% of the buck mule deer in Montana and elsewhere that are 8+ years old are NOT deer that 99% of the hunters are going to be passing on.

I shot a bull that was 10 years old in Wyoming...can't know if he was bigger at a younger age, but I doubt his antlers lost mass.

The best bull I've ever killed was 9 years old...over 370 gross and I bet if he made it to 11-12 wouldn't have been much smaller.

Paging @JM77...I've seen bulls he's killed that were old and he has sheds from previous years, they don't loss score and mass much, if at all.

 

[huntin24/7]

No, I think it’s selfish for a resident or nonresident to feel entitled to an antlered tag or non antlered for that matter regardless of how herds are doing. For what it’s worth, my comment wasn’t directed at you or your experience in any way. I’m speaking in regards to comments I tend to regularly hear.

 

[antlerradar]

I think most of the guys/gals that have been hunting Montana for the last 25-30 years aren't expecting 170 mule deer and 350 bulls every year. What they're expecting is some kind of half decent age structure with more animals living beyond 2-3 years. In particular those animals that live on public lands...a 6 year old bull elk or mule deer buck living its life on public land in Montana is an anomaly and should be called "lucky".

I am pretty confident I could have pulled the trigger on a 170+ mule deer every year in the 90's on the Custer. Would have to hunt my ass off to get one now and would probably still fail.

 

[Flatbrimmer]

As a resident I feel much more entitled than I do about a non resident with more paper than I have….. damned skippy

 

[Flatbrimmer]

I am pretty confident I could have pulled the trigger on a 170+ mule deer every year in the 90's on the Custer. Would have to hunt my ass off to get one now and would probably still fail.

I’ll find this thread in 2-3 months
Edit. YOU find this thread in 2-3 months and show everyone wrong. Get em!

 

[The Hedgehog]

Constructive

Facts usually are.

 

[The Hedgehog]

Ill drink to that Southern Elk, probably isn't a 200 inch buck in MTView attachment 191019

Your place needs a TV show or 3, the tourism industry all about it, maybe go hunt and huntin fool, and maybe an army of guys in early December with muskets cleaning up the ones you missed or showed up after you left ….for a few years. Then, …guess who will be the sniveling little bitch.

i ordered a pound of blackhorn 209 today and don’t yet have a rifle. I’ll be one of those guys you want to kill.

 

[The Hedgehog]

And I’ll be bringing friends..

 

[antlerradar]

Mine definitely isn’t, but would the consensus be that you guys expect that in a 2 and a half day hunt on public land, an experienced hunter should have opportunities at multiple deer larger than what my dad got? Honest question, because I don’t know if that’s how it used to be

I remember days in the 80's and 90's were I had opportunities on several bucks 20 inches better than your dad's. Those type of days didn't happen every time you went out, but if conditions were good there was a chance.
When I would scout in the summer there was many days were your dads buck wouldn't even be in the top five for deer I would find.

 

[huntandfly]

I remember days in the 80's and 90's were I had opportunities on several bucks 20 inches better than your dad's. Those type of days didn't happen every time you went out, but if conditions were good there was a chance.
When I would scout in the summer there was many days were your dads buck wouldn't even be in the top five for deer I would find.

If you are telling me that you used to pass up multiple 185” deer some days, then you are right, MT is a nightmare now. I’m not saying I don’t believe you, but that clearly isn’t a reality now.

With the explosion of popularity in western hunting, do you think something like that is ever realistic again? Maybe it is, but I think it would be very difficult to balance opportunity with those type of results

 

[huntandfly]

You are also a stronger man than me. 180 inch deer are going to have a tough time seeing a pass from me, but I didn’t grow up in an era or a location that provided me the opportunity to look at a lot of bucks like that

 

[Deleted member 20812]

If you are telling me that you used to pass up multiple 185” deer some days, then you are right, MT is a nightmare now. I’m not saying I don’t believe you, but that clearly isn’t a reality now.

@antlerradar and a good friend of his used to locate a half dozen or more 180-190 deer each year on the Custer.

 

[Flatrock]

I remember days in the 80's and 90's were I had opportunities on several bucks 20 inches better than your dad's. Those type of days didn't happen every time you went out, but if conditions were good there was a chance.
When I would scout in the summer there was many days were your dads buck wouldn't even be in the top five for deer I would find.

Were there even 10% of the hunters back then compared to now? I can hardly even imagine what it must have been like back then. Such an enormous amount of beautiful country with very few hunters.