Montana Elk Hunting - Advice for a new Hunter

[Brewster33]

Hi Everyone,

My name is Adrian Brewster and I am new to this website. I am incredibly excited to have drawn a general rifle elk tag for Montana this year and am really hopeful I can get some advice/guidance from you all. I didn't grow up hunting so everything I have learned is from research and asking questions. I have had a few successful deer hunts these past few years and I have spent some time camping in the rockies, so I am feeling ready for this hunt but I would really love some advice on the best location to set up.

Now I completely understand that someone wouldn't want to give up their prized hunting spots. I am really just hopeful that someone could share some advice on areas that would be welcoming to a first time elk hunter. Lower grizz density, lower hunting pressure. I don't need to bag an record size, enormous bull. My hope is the camp fairly close to the truck and do day hikes out with a light pack. My buddy that is coming with me drew a mule deer tag, so we can be a bit opportunistic.

My wife and I love Montana. So much so that we saved and saved and just bought 20 acres on the Gallatin River Ranch in Manhattan, MT. Our hope is the eventually build on it and raise our kiddos there (currently 2 and 6mo). So I will eventually be a resident there and I am sure over the years I will find my favorite places hunt. But for this first year, since I am taking just about all of my PTO and spending it on this trip, I just really want to come home with some meat for the freezer.

Please feel free to PM me if you prefer that over posting publicly. And please trust that any information or locations that you ask me not to share, I won't.

Thank you all! I really appreciate it.

 

[Pony Soldier]

Just to get started - spend the next couple weeks reading every comment you can find. After you have nearly reached your saturation point - ask something about something you never found.

 

[Huntnnw]

Be mobile and cover ground until you find elk. Get to high vantage points in the dark and glass at first light and same with evening glass until you cant or have found elk, lotta times elk will appear in the last 10-20 min of light when lots of guys are hiking out already. Once you have located elk you have a starting point.

 

[williaada]

Figure out how to locate elk and you are further ahead than the majority… time in the field is going to be very helpful.

 

[Brewster33]

I have hiked around Yellowstone and Glacier quite a bit. We probably have about a dozen trips to both parks over the years. Usually the trails we hike are high traffic and haven't had any issues with bears.

I suppose I should be more specific about what my request is here. I see there being two main priorities, though they may in a sense be competing with each other. One is finding an area with a lot of elk.. duh! And I know locating the elk is the job of the hunter. The other priority and hopefully where I can get some advice here is where to have an enjoyable hunting experience. Less populated, lower grizzly population, more welcoming terrain, etc. Ive seen a few posts where folks are asking about the western slope of the bridgers and people jump in to say that's a shit place to hunt, but there's rarely ever any advice to follow it up.

 

[KHNC]

Find a good outfitter to learn from. STAY FAR AWAY FROM CODY CARR IN MONTANA!

A good guide can shorten the learning curve for elk drastically.

 

[87TT]

My advice, lower your expectations. Treat it as a learning experience and not as a shopping trip. What your asking for is a unicorn. If it was that simple, everyone would do it. A
shot at an elk would be a windfall but the experience will be invaluable. It’s all about the “hunt” not the kill.

 

[InkedElkSlayer]

Private land around the Crazy Mtns or White Sulphur.
Take @KHNC ‘s advice very seriously.

 

[Hippie Steve]

Just kill as many elk as you can, please, our mule deer need the relief.

 

[CAElkhunter]

locate all the roads and logging roads around where you want to hunt and then get as far away from them as you can......

 

[Greenhorn]

I'm also a really really nice guy and won't share your best elk hunting places and suggestions. Feel free to also private message me your best places, even if there are grizzly bears..

 

[gtriple]

Have you even tried to do your own research?

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Guys on here aren't going to spoon-feed you details on units, no matter how nice and well-intentioned you may be. In addition, you may need to eat a few tags before you put any elk meat in the freezer unless you have an outfitter or are exceedingly lucky.

Most of what you're looking for can be had with some hard work offline. I would personally start by narrowing down the areas you're willing to hunt to a top 3 or 5 based on topography you and your buddy can realistiaclly handle. Next go to MT FWP and do some research on estimated harvest reports for those areas. While there may be some exceptions, the areas with high harvest rates likely have large populations of animals. Find a few places where elk and mule deer harvest overlap and join the crowd.

 

[SuperDUECE22]

So just to be clear you are looking for :
-Area with lot of elk
-Enjoyable hunting experience
-Less Populated
-Lower Grizzly population
-Welcoming terrain
-General Unit

Would you also like me to put you in my will? & Hell, while you're at it I suppose you'll want a run @ my wife too.

 

[S.Clancy]

If you just bought 20 acres in Gallatin County you have the $$$ to go guided. I would do that.

 

[NDGuy]

 

[Preston]

I would either recommend using an outfitter and hunt private land in Region 3,4, or 5 or consider hunting a cow. I was in your shoes about 22 years ago as a nonresident hunter and I contacted biologist and read maps and looked at harvest statistics. I’ve been a resident for 10 years and was a fairly successful elk hunter before moving up here to Montana, and hunting has gotten way more difficult since about 2018/19/20. I’ve taken another nonresident friend hunting in some of Montanas most productive elk units and he has failed to even fire a shot in four seasons of elk hunting. It’s pretty difficult and sometimes depressing when you hunt your ass off and don’t even see an elk in a week of hunting.

Success rates are single digits on bulls and into the teens with cows. It will most likely be a scouting trip while carrying your rifle. I apply in other states bc the hunting is better there

 

[ProStaffSteve]

I did this for my first time last year, couldn’t pull a tag this year. Scouting would be my key takeaway. Been in Utah the past 6 month’s recreationally hiking/skiing/fishing in my free time. I think I could kill one here if they had elk tags for sale. Spend time on long hikes that go high up & don’t show up well on mapping. Would have been nice to do this for my hunt. Elk turds from winter are still present so, find the poo or better find the elk with glass. Then you’ll have an idea for later in the fall where to start. Oh, I also hunted the first 3 weeks of the season and should have done all five or just the last 3

 

[Brewster33]

Some great info here! Some, not so much, but I expected as much.

Im not looking to be spoon fed. Welcoming terrain doesn't mean Im not willing to put in the work. Ive been training for months already and am generally in athletic shape. I just haven't navigated off trail mountainous terrain a lot so I figured it would be good to include that.

I also haven't asked for the coordinates of huge elk populations. I am excited about the hard work. Im just not from the state so I would hate to spend 10 or 12 days in an area that is known for not having any elk and I was just none the wiser.

I have been given shit and ridiculed for being a novice hunter since I started 3 years ago. Its like trying to learn a new instrument and someone says "oh I've learned some great tips and tricks over the years but I won't share them with you and shame on you for asking." But for every 10 comments I get like that, there is one or two that give me a helpful pointer.

Apologies if I somehow came across like I was taking the easy way out and wanted to be spoon fed long kept secrets. Im the kind of guy that is willing to share my coveted family recipes, but maybe I leave out an ingredient or two. That gives the cook an opportunity to make a decent meal with room to get creative and try their own thing. I suppose I was hoping for something similar here.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

I'm a lifelong hunter from Iowa and went on guided pack-in hunt in the Bob in '21. I was incredibly blessed to kill the only elk spotted during an 8 day hunt in remote wilderness area. There were 8 hunters in camp, and we covered/glassed an immense amount of ground during the hunt. There are better areas with higher elk populations for sure, but you need to keep your expecations of killing something very low. Most guys in camp had elk/deer combo and bear tags, and again, my elk was the only animal killed and the only opportunity.

I also haven't asked for the coordinates of huge elk populations. I am excited about the hard work. Im just not from the state so I would hate to spend 10 or 12 days in an area that is known for not having any elk and I was just none the wiser.

You could very easily go to a "good area" and spend 10-15 days without a sighting or opportunity. For a new guy in a new area, I would stay as long as realisticallly possible- 3 weeks if you can. Come up with plans A, B, C, D, etc..., because once the shooting starts the elk will scatter and head for private. Weather is also a huge factor. If you spot some elk, it may take a few days to get their pattern down, and other hunters, weather, etc..., can completely blow them out just when you think you have the puzzle put together.
Novice tip #1- book as much PTO as you can, up to 3 weeks or more is ideal.

I took my daughter on a cow hunt in the Big Horns last fall in a "good area". We hunted extremely hard in tough terrain for 9 days dark to dark. We were on good sign every day and spotted elk on 3 days out of 9. However, we never had any decent opportunities. Inside the same unit thiere is a chunk of private where residents said over 200 elk were hanging out, unavailable to any hunters but easily in view from roads and glassing points.
Novice tip #2- stay positive and be prepared to move. Don't throw all your eggs in one basket.

If you pass by guys hunting in the same unit, introduce yourself and be willing to share some intel. We met some guys from Michigan last fall that gave us a lead that led my daughter and I to a sighting of elk, but we were too novice to set up correctly. If we simply would've waited for the elk to come to us (down hill to water in evening) we may have had an opportunity. Instead, we used overly aggressive whitetail tactics and passed the elk on our way up the hill while they were going down hill (out of our sight).
Novice tip #3 and #4- be cordial, courteous, and respectful when you run into other hunters. Your manners may be rewarded with some good local intel. Watch videos, read books, etc..., and learn about elk movement patterns, behavior, and preferred food sources during the season your hunting.

Think about these tips and what I and others already mentioned re: harvest reports, talking to biologists, etc... This isn't rocket science or magic and you're already doing a lot of things right.

Good luck