Tradewind
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2015
- Messages
- 7,026
Had 12-15 headlamps following me up the mountain on the opener. What a zoo
MT opener
- Thread starter Point Creep
- Start date
MTelkHuntress
Well-known member
Yeah I had a terrible experience last year on opener. People trying to run up the mountain to beat you in the dark, elk bugling, 20 plus gun shots, several wounded elk....yeah no thanks. I'll take a weekend of not seeing any people (even no game) over that.
Point Creep
Well-known member
You guys maybe need to pick different places to hunt, rocket science expertise not required. Has nothing to do with “opening day”.
yours truly,
Captain Obvious
yours truly,
Captain Obvious
antlerradar
Well-known member
At least you were not looking up at all the headlamps.
Little Big Man MT Chris
Well-known member
Straight Arrow
Well-known member
They just have trouble running up and down the Gallatin steep stuff that you hunt ... with Greenhorn success.
D
Deleted member 16014
Guest
I don't think I've seen 15 people total in 10-ish days of rifle hunting. I probably haven't seen more than about 15 mule deer either so it's not all gravy to your collective south, at present.
sapperJ24
Well-known member
hiked up to a glassing knob in the dark, waited for light, saw the elk I was looking for, spent the rest of the morning closing the distance, another hunter (teenager, maybe?) got to him first, tried to enjoy the rest of the unseasonably warm day.
Point Creep
Well-known member
You can’t kill them from the couch. But sometimes the couch might’ve been a better plan?
Sitting at home on the couch in agreement...
Hem
Well-known member
I was considering planting myself in a location where the elk would be chased to this morning.
Instead I worked out and went to town so the three of us could get tattoos.
I had to see if my wife would actually go through with it.
Figured I'd let the dust settle with the opener.
Doublecluck
Well-known member
I had to take my wife and daughters to Boise for a baby shower for our oldest. Geezus ima be a grandpa. Anyhow wanted someone to get one so I sent a onx pin to one of my guys. He sent me this at 8 am. His first bull. He must of not seen the big one.
BAKPAKR
Well-known member
It always amazes me to see elk killed where the closet tree is a mile or two away.
Congrats to the hunter.
MTLabrador
Well-known member
The couch would have been more productive, but at least I didn’t run into other hunters. 60 and windy isn’t ideal for hunting heavy timber with very few elk. I’ll be back when there’s some snow.
Big Sky Guy
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2018
- Messages
- 1,145
Glassed up 8 bulls feeding from private and they moved onto USFS thick timber. One “big” one to me that I went after and entered timber several hundred yards above the others. Never was able to see where they bedded before I lost them. Did my best to hike up and around and drop down where I thought he would be. Snow softened up by time I got over there. Lots of tracks, I thought fresh but maybe a day old at most idk. Never saw or bumped any elk but had a great day nonetheless.
Happy to be home on couch now. Even without bull. Was 3k ft. gained and 3k lost so would have been hell of pack out.
Happy to be home on couch now. Even without bull. Was 3k ft. gained and 3k lost so would have been hell of pack out.
Rack Daniels
Well-known member
Took my two older boys, 11 & 8, out for the opener to all new spots none of us had been. Oldest still has a deer tag in his pocket from an unsuccessful 2-day youth hunt. It was more of a recon day trying to see what parcels have been “bozeman’d” and what parcels were still accessible to the public. Of those, which are suitable for what kind of game and/or would they best be served for morning hunts? evening? all day? Wind? Water? The basics… We bumped a buck at first light trying to get to the back of the parcel. Must have been a decent one, he was smart in his every move. Never even gave us a chance; we were lucky to see the white butt as we heard the crashing of his escape. We make it through that field and over the next rise, across another small field and get to the edge where it drops down a steep but only 25-30’ tall or so canyon toward the river. As we come through the trees toward the drop off, I see ears barely skylining over the drop-off. I hold a hand up to signal “Stop”. As I pull up my binos to verify I’m not seeing a good looking tree branch or something, they start trotting out into the small opening and up into the draw on the other side of the finger we just came down. This catches me off guard as i try to throw my binos back down, tear the cover off the scope, quietly jack a round and try to get my son to cautiously come further down the hill where he’d have clear 90 yard shot on the second deer that came out- a small buck that he was happy to try for. He has this deer in his crosshairs, setup on a backpack and lucky he didn’t lay on cactus, for only a minute before he ran off up the small draw followed by several more does. We jump up and take off back up our draw knowing there’s the big opening at the top they’re heading for. By the time we get there they are already on the other side of the field and too far for a now heavy breathing 11 year old with limited shooting experience. Still, we were all excited at being *this* close to him filling his tag opening morning right at first light… never did see any elk, but found some turds in the last spot at the end of the day… I do enjoy learning new areas and seeing new country. The hiking around here is much easier than back in the Gallatin. And seems to be WAY less hunting pressure than I’m used to. That was 2025 opening day for us. Cheers all. 
