Shelter for SW Montana

[whaack]

Past few years my BIL and I have hunted CO archery elk. This year we both drew MT. We are headed out to SW MT the first half of September.

I have a Hilliberg Niak and a SO Silvertip. The ST setup saves almost a pound in weight.

For those who have hunted archery elk in SW MT am I better off with one over the other?


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[ewade07]

If you dont have to worry about the cold id go with the Silvertip. It usually doesnt snow then but its a possibility. Bugs are usually not bad that time of year either. I use a Cimarron all throughout the year for reference. If it starts to rain you might be a little cramped in the ST with two dudes and all your gear in there though.

 

[jaypope]

My vote is the Niak. That’s what I ran last year in SW Montana and it did really well in the 6-8” of snow we got the first week of the season.

My very first elk hunt was in mid to late September in SW Montana and there was a crazy snowstorm that dumped over 12” on me. My advice… be prepared for snow!!!

 

[Spence14]

Hunted SW MT last year mid Sept. and ran the SO Cimarron. Worked out great. I think the tarp will do just fine if you are backpacking in. I also showed up about a week after the early September snow that @jaypope mentioned, so I didnt have to deal with that. Might have been a different experience.

 

[whaack]

To clarify the shelter will be me only. BIL has his own.


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[Clovis]

Either should work fine if you have conditions like I had in SW MT. I have done that trip a few times in September/early October with a tarp and it worked fine. Light tent like Niak would be fine too, but the tarp did the trick for me--bugs weren't an issue, held up to the weather., flexible pitch options. Lots of bears around where I was--had one woofing near front of my tarp in the night. Obviously a tent won't keep out a bear but might have felt better after that experience with a tent around me, though I went back after that with a tarp again (and saw even more bears than the time before).