Northwest Montana hunt trip

[powderhorn]

I grew up hunting that area.. A few years ago I went back in west of Kalispell where I killed my first deer.. There used to be game everywhere and all I saw were wolf tracks. It's pretty sad.

 

[Bowhunter65]

I live here, the wolves have devastated, NW Montana. We hunt pretty much year round, hunt lions all winter. Up until the wolves hit us really hard even with the lions at their highest populations in the late 80's-mid 90's we had great hunting. The Moose have suffered the most. This is very sad. The only way we ever get back what we had is to go with what BC Canada did with a wolf cull. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/caribou-wolf-cull-1.4915683

 

[NW307]

I grew up in the Flathead and learned to hunt there. Every time I go home my head spins with how much things have changed. People are everywhere and habitat is being encroached on from every direction. Heck, the forest that used to be full of deer behind my folks house is about to be mowed down for a new subdivision. I tried to help my brother, who's trying to get into hunting, look for a deer and we saw 10x more mt bikers, hikers, and hunters than we did any kind of game. I have a feeling a lot of folks moving there are used to being in a crowd but NW MT is nothing like it used to be. I can't blame you for not wanting to go back.

 

[rileybassman]

I live in Kalispell. Still lots of whitetail... I don't bother elk hunting around here anymore tho... I see quite a bit of elk around my place, but within a day or two of season start, they all end up on private. Seen predator kills out by Thompson before... But I run into elk out there quite a bit. They are around, but quiet and go on private for much of the season.

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[Praxeus]

Ok....so NW Montana should be a great place to take a predator call and "git'er done".....wolves, cougars......

 

[rileybassman]

Ok....so MW Montana should be a great place to take a predator call and "git'er done".....wolves, cougars......

Pretty much. Whitetail, Black bear, turkey, predator. I mule deer and elk Hunter elsewhere generally... But they are around and I know peeps that are successful every year.


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[dreamingWest]

An update for my Family Thanksgiving/Montana Hunt combo:

My uncle was able to fill an elk tag on a 5-pt bull a couple of days before I arrived for Thanksgiving break. On day 2 I got glass on a legal bull with about a dozen cows and a spike bull. We couldn't close the distance before we lost them. In hindsight I should've been more patient watching them. We really needed more fresh snow to effectively cut tracks. I was surprised that the Mule deer were basically non-existent. We did see a few whitetails but I didn't hunt them hard because that's not what I had come for. It was fun to see them all rutty in the snowy mountains.

I only had four days to hunt so it could have been a lot worse. The lack of wildlife (not just big game) was a little surprising to me. It seemed like there were lots a road hunters ready to shoot anything that moved. Of course everyone justifies this because they're "wolf hunting", but damn those animals are pressured. I'm not sure why you ever see a buck or bull near a road; but it happens.

I did shoot a juicy mallard in the duck blind before I flew home. I had a good time with family and new friends and hope to go back again with more time to find elk. It was cold and beautiful.

 

[mt100gr.]

An update for my Family Thanksgiving/Montana Hunt combo:

My uncle was able to fill an elk tag on a 5-pt bull a couple of days before I arrived for Thanksgiving break. On day 2 I got glass on a legal bull with about a dozen cows and a spike bull. We couldn't close the distance before we lost them. In hindsight I should've been more patient watching them. We really needed more fresh snow to effectively cut tracks. I was surprised that the Mule deer were basically non-existent. We did see a few whitetails but I didn't hunt them hard because that's not what I had come for. It was fun to see them all rutty in the snowy mountains.

I only had four days to hunt so it could have been a lot worse. The lack of wildlife (not just big game) was a little surprising to me. It seemed like there were lots a road hunters ready to shoot anything that moved. Of course everyone justifies this because they're "wolf hunting", but damn those animals are pressured. I'm not sure why you ever see a buck or bull near a road; but it happens.

I did shoot a juicy mallard in the duck blind before I flew home. I had a good time with family and new friends and hope to go back again with more time to find elk. It was cold and beautiful.

What part of the state did you get to enjoy? Northwest, I assume, but sometimes these broad areas get stretched even more...

 

[dreamingWest]

Yep, Northwest. An hour, maybe two, drive outside of Kalispell.

 

[mt100gr.]

Yep, Northwest. An hour, maybe two, drive outside of Kalispell.

Copy that. Thanks.

I only ask because the last few years i have really started paying attention to the 'lack of game/Wildlife' etc comments and observations. I hunt quite a few different areas from northwest to southwest MT and have for the last decade plus. The decade prior, as a youngster, I was much more confined in where I hunted. Things have changed a lot in 23 years here.

I'm just trying to key on areas to watch for my own experience in an attempt to be aware of the changes taking place. There are so many things happening on/to/in/over the land and with wildlife management in these areas that it seems impossible to track the effects of a single factor. The cumulative effects are my concern.....