Whitetail hunting in SW Montana

[flyfishmissoula]

I am heading to block management unit 33 which is just outside of Sheridan, Montana during the last weekend of October to fill some whitetail doe tags. Everything I have heard and read so far is that all of the whitetails are on private property and locked up, and that any block managements areas get hit so hard that its not worth even trying. To quote the FWP officer I contacted "whitetail deer are a private land resource". I always thought wildlife belonged to the state and citizens of the state, but what do I know. I live in Missoula and so I am used to plenty of whitetails running around National Forests and public lands, but I have never hunted this region before. Is it true that the whitetails only stay low around the rivers or are there regions/districts that I should focus on in that region where deer move onto public land. I am willing to hike some surprising distances to simply fill doe tags, but I am concerned I will be wasting my very limited hunting time (3 year old at home and a new 1 week old baby as well). Thanks for any insight.

 

[406LIFE]

I xan confirm that the vas majority of WT will be on private land. I fill my doe tags doan there on a ranch in the fall. If you dont have access to one i wouldnt say its worth it. But i would also knock on some doors, you never know what they will say. The people down that way might be the best in the whole state. Thats why i spend 30+ days down there every year.

 

[phutch30]

That particular BMA has a lot of deer. However its booked darn near every day of the season. Also you don't get to hunt the whole BMA your assigned an area, and depending on which one you end up on, can change the outcome. But there are good numbers of deer around there. You wont find many whitetails on public land in SW MT. There are a few places you can, but usually theres more orange there than brown. Hiking wont help you here. 99% of the whitetails are on the bottoms and 99.9999999999% of the bottoms are private. They issue a lot of doe tags because access to the ranches that carry most of the deer is very limited. You can try knocking on doors but I wouldn't expect much success. Most river bottom is either locked up or in BM.

 

[flyfishmissoula]

Thank you for the heads up and info. I may check out some of the other Block Management units that are open to the public on my way to or from there. Mainly I am interested in starting to learn some new areas in Montana and I love filling the freezer with whatever meat is available. I have been here for 11 years and I feel like I have just hunted the same ridges during that time frame. Thanks again!

 

[phutch30]

You are likely to find that they are pretty well booked.

 

[Mthuntinfool]

you can also find small areas of state and BLM land in the river bottoms that hold some deer as well.