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Which week for Montana General Elk?

BuckeyeRifleman

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Feb 12, 2019
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I lucked out and snagged a Montana General Elk combo leftover tag, and my hunting partner lucked out and snagged a 399-00 B Tag. We will be coming from Ohio hunting SW Montana for rifle season. Current plan is to get out two days before the opener (Oct 24), scout, hike a ways in and set up camp, and hopefully use the opening day pressure to our advantage. Our goal is to simply kill an elk this year. I’ve got a total of 10 days actually hunting, not including scouting. I’ve got several areas e scouted so if I have no success seeing animals the first 3 days the plan is go somewhere else.

Question is does this seem like a solid plan, or should we just wait another few weeks and let the opening season madness quiet down some? I’ve accepted the fact opening weekend might be a bit of a zoo, especially in the districts we are looking at, but I figure more elk are killed that weekend than any other time in the season. If we don’t tag out the first few days I’ll probably have some solitude later in the week regardless. Looking to hear experiences from those of you who have BTDT!

Thanks!

Appreciate any and all advice.
 
I would make sure you are not hiking way back into a spot that it is legal for motorized traffic or all your hard work hiking will be for nothing. I would even scout around and make sure there is no fresh tracks going around gates cause if they are you can bet they will come motoring up opening morning.
 
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I would make sure are not hiking way back into a spot that it is legal for motorized traffic or all your hard work hiking will be for nothing. I would even scout around and make sure there is no fresh tracks going around gates cause if they are you can bet they will come motoring up opening morning.

Yeah I’ve taken a pretty hard look at the published motorized use maps as well as OnX to make sure we aren’t going to be where the ATV crowd can roll into us.

Good advice!
 
I am blessed to live in Montana and hunt SW Montana very often. Depending on which units your looking at you have several options. I echo what Scrappy said on not hiking in unless your focusing on a non-motorized area, especially for opening weekend. SW Montana is a Zoo on opening weekend, but A LOT of elk get pushed around to head to sanctuary areas and private ranches. If you're looking at BLM and see a potential road, there is a high probability that it is open to motorized use. I would hunt either opening weekend or until the snow flies. If the snow doesn't hit, the last part of the season would be your best bet.
 
SW Montana is crazy during the general season, You'll find people where you never expect to see them. I'm lucky to live in the area and I know some spots where I can get away from the crowds. Best bet is to, just pick an area, and go hunt it, the elk will be for the most part already in their safe spots from being pressured from archery and the shoulder season, but once in awhile someone will push them out and they'll be running around trying to find their next safe area.
 
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I have found that opening day is crazy no matter what part of the state you are in. That being said, its still my favorite day to hunt! I've grown up in Montana and we have hunted SW Montana for the past 17 years and have hunted all the different weeks of the season in that area over the years. We vary what week we go down but did go down one year on opening week. Unfortunately work schedules didn't allow us to go down on Friday so we had to drive and set camp on opening day. We talked to a bunch of people that killed or shot at elk opening day but then we didn't see an elk until the Wednesday of that week so I think it took the better part of 3-4 days for the elk to stick their heads out of the dark timber again. The pressure did definitely calm down by Tuesday as it seemed with a lot of people pulled out on Monday for home.

I think you have a solid plan to prescout and make the most of opening day. You just need to have your opening day plan and then the rest of your 9 days plan. The days following opening day need to be looking at the thick, dark hell holes or areas with some sort of sanctuary feel (steep access or deep in away from the road). You could wait until later in the season but that tends to be more of a crap shoot of hitting a good snow storm to get the migration going and, honestly, if you get enough snow to kick in the migration it can be a pain to deal with and get around in. We have the luxury of knowing our area so well that weather doesn't give us a huge advantage so we will go later in the season and not be dependent on the snow. Being your first time out I think your best chance to connect is going to be opening morning rather than waiting until later in the season. You also have the advantage of being ok with a cow which gives you a huge leg up on success rates but opening day you will have a decent shot at getting on a bull as well. After things settle down the last 5 days of your hunt should be decent hunting as well. Good luck!
 
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