Thanks!
Luckily, it's a long firearms season, as I noted, from September 15th through the Sunday after Thanksgiving. And I can hunt a LOT, and know the country well.
Plus, it's an area, as many are in Montana, with plenty of public land. In the 32 years we've lived here, Eileen and I have taken pronghorns, whitetails, mule deer, bighorn sheep (though both were ewes), black bears, elk, and her second moose, on public land within an hour's drive of our house. Along with at least eight species of upland game, and quite a bit of waterfowl. But this isn't unusual in Montana, or several other western states.
One of the more interesting things is how much we've learned about where all the game lives not just by specifically hunting for that animal, but by encountering them while hunting other stuff! Have run into moose while hunting upland birds from ruffed grouse to pheasants, and big game from whitetails to elk.
