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Anyone have any experience elk hunting the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forrest? Headed there with some buddies for 1st rifle and I know exactly zippo about the area.

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Can you narrow it down a bit, you're talking about several distinct mountain ranges in 8 counties. So much so that the Forest Service has three separate maps to include it all.

There is no "first rifle" in Montana (outside some early rifle hunts in the Wilderness), it's all under the general season which is 5 weeks.

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We will be hunting in the southern end of the National Forrest near Reservoir Lake.

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You're hunting the southern end of the Beaverhead RANGE which is part of the Beaverhead-Deerlodge (significant because of the size of the NF itself).

I take it you're hunting 321? Good opportunity with the ability to take a cow, but a lot of those elk will bug out to Idaho once the shooting starts if the weather hasn't pushed them out already.

Can be a tough go where the lodgepole is thick.




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WTF is "First Rifle?

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He must be thinking of Colorado, perhaps having hunted there before. They have an interesting system where hunters have to pick one of several short rifle seasons taking place over several weeks.

Guess he missed the part about Montana only having one rifle season--though it would be the first one each fall!


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The Reservoir Lk area is right in the middle of some great hunting. You can camp there and walk up the hill and kill an elk....but you better be able to walk....and pack.

It's not Kansas


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Thanks for the info and "WTF" comments about my "first rifle".....yes that comes from Colorado hunting


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looking forward to my "first rifle hunt" for elk, wherever that may be. It'll be at least another year as I have to pay off my taxidermist for my africa trip this year.

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Might see some big black and gray "coyotes" down there... Punch em.
Hunted south of Dillon 2 years, success seems to vary greatly based on weather; saw way too many hunters for my taste.

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TN_Chooter: I live about 30 miles from there (air miles!) and spend a lot of time each year near Reservoir Lake.
I saw a huge Bull Elk several years ago near Gold Pass just west of Reservoir Lake.
I Hunted the first seven days of this Rifle season about 25 air miles from Reservoir Lake.
We got 1 5x5 Bull Elk for 4 Hunters.
I also passed on both a 4x4 Elk and a much broken 5x5 Elk that had lost 6 of his 10 points somehow!
He was no longer "legal" but he was cool to look at with stubs everywhere on his "rack".
One of my partners missed a 5x5 Bull Elk in the thick stuff also.
I heard Wolves most every night and heard them on 3 days while Hunting - never saw one, but expect Elk to be WARY!
IF... you have tracking snow try the thick timber near the Bighole Divide to track "secretive" Elk.
Best of luck to you - it was 62 degrees here today but winter storm warnings are coming into effect tomorrow with predictions of 10 inches of snow!
Again best of luck to you and stay mobile.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy


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Post Hunt Report: Hunted with the incredible people at M&M Outfitters, the whole experience was just simply a great time. We took 2 bulls and 1 cow from our 8 man group, and we had one miss. Weather was typical......nice, warm, cold, windy, snowy and even a little rain all within a 24 hour time period. I was a little leery of using a guide to hunt public land, but we were hunting an area I had no experience with it worked out well. We had hunters with little to no experience as well as very experienced hunters. I would definitley use M&M again, as well as hunt the Beaverhead-Deerlodge area .


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