Which week in Montana?

[tbarile]

I have the opportunity to hunt private ground in Southwest eMontana September 13-19 or the 20th through the 26th. Which week would you recommend?

[Elkhunttoo]

I would go with the 20th... although I think the 13th would be good too. Not really a wrong answer but if it was me I'm going with the second week

[Csrbowhunter]

I hunted Townsend for 7 years straight and I would start hunting around the 8th to around the 27 and it always got really good the last couple days. Shot three elk all in the last 3 days I was there. Two years in a row shot one the day before I’d was supposed to leave. I don’t think it was because I was getting desperate. Lol
But I did have action from start to finish. But for some reason more action at the end. Hope this helps


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[Lsb]

I'd pick the second week. Unless I had the opportunity to wait on the weather before I picked.

[jmez]

I'd go 20-26. Should be cooler and the elk be plenty active.

[Lefty]

Still a number of variables. How big is the ranch? What type of hunting?, what about elk numbers? type of habitat? How many other hunters, Will you be able to work or hunt with others?

A friend of mine runs a big CWMU , hunting unit in north east Utah. some big bulls the first 10 days of September, then they are gone. and head to Idaho for the rut
Another neighbor hunted an isolated elk herd. That particular year he hunted the private hunt unit early,. He killed the biggest bull by far of any of the other hunters. So there could be that angle also.

I was on a deer depredation hunt that opened in August. We went as a family in September the remainder of the herd had changed their pattern and were no longer in the problem area.

Another friend killed a big bull the first day of his trophy hunt. The bull and his herd had a daily routine. The herd did not return to that field until the next year

Some game "wilds up" of go more into hiding.
My example is our Idaho moose hunts. Most of the big easy bulls are shot in September,.. remember once they are killed they are gone
We hunted Killed one moose in October the other two in November, Why? Because were hunting elk in September and in my mind there is something wrong about hunting moose in the heat.
In reality it is easier to retrieve moose in a bit of snow and hunt those shorter days.

Open habitat game will change their daily routines quickly once there is pressure

[BrentLaBere]

20th would be my vote

[tbarile]

Still a number of variables. How big is the ranch? What type of hunting?, what about elk numbers? type of habitat? How many other hunters, Will you be able to work or hunt with others?

Good questions. I believe the area we will be hunting is 40,000 acres with a resident herd of 500. We will be calling and spit and stalk. There will be 4 hunters max each of the 2 weeks. There are already 2 guys booked the first week so we would be hunting with them. I just checked the moon and it’s going to be full on the 14th which leads me to believe the 2nd week will be better even though there will be pressure the first week by up to 4 hunters.

[DBLGBL]

18th Thru 25th always seems to work for us.

2gbl

[Lefty]

Still a number of variables. How big is the ranch? What type of hunting?, what about elk numbers? type of habitat? How many other hunters, Will you be able to work or hunt with others?

Good questions. I believe the area we will be hunting is 40,000 acres with a resident herd of 500. We will be calling and spit and stalk. There will be 4 hunters max each of the 2 weeks. There are already 2 guys booked the first week so we would be hunting with them. I just checked the moon and it’s going to be full on the 14th which leads me to believe the 2nd week will be better even though there will be pressure the first week by up to 4 hunters.

Now another variable is how will first week hunters be hunting some hunters make a big impact others don’t
When I first hunted the desert all the hunters I met were very good hunters . Some of what I learned was by glassing their methods from a distance
Kind of an interesting factoid 6 were guys from Cali then a father son team who became residents of Idaho to hunt that area for two years. I learned more about those elk in a 30 minute chat , invaluable info

So maybe talk to the guys that hunt the area the week earlier

I hunt th Montana Idaho border and maybe IS could weigh in too
September the elk won’t travel far from the first to the last week of sept.
Ivehunted a few Utah CWMU units private land sure changes things
Being surround by other public. Or private land can make an impact too

I ran into a rancher years back, passed away a year ago, he didn’t care for the fellow who leased his ground for big game hunting
His property was surround by mostly public lands by the 2 Nd week the elk patterned to his property .

The grumpy old fart liked me because I “found his best bull”
He gave me permission to cross his property to hunt a big buck on an old homestead that was forfeited to the county. The only access was through his place I was never able to hunt that piece and I don’t think his son will give permission
I killed my first bull in the Gravalies be fore I knew anything about elk

[blackwolf]

I would pick 20-26 based on a few hunts I have done in Montana and Idaho. A lot of action with rut-crazed bulls in that period. Usually cooler weather to get meat out also. Downside, better chance of inclement weather.

[DWBMontana]

So much depends on weather, either week it could be in the 80's or down in the 30's during the day and snow, I think either week would be good. Are you hunting with a guide or diy, if diy is it your 1st time on ranch? 40,000 acres is a lot of country, slim chance you will figure it out in a week. If diy, you or someone hunting with you should make an attempt to do some glassing of the ranch in August, at least get an idea of where elk are and how they move about on the ranch. Good luck on drawing your tags!