Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Montana Elk success —

I Hunted from the Paradise Valley south of Livingston and then just a touch east into the mountains at about 6500-7k feet. Over a week my pards and I spotted bighorn sheep, whitetail and mule deer, a wolf, and mountain goats. That’s not to mention elk which were seen almost every day either at dawn or dusk and at various ranges.

My goal was any bull with bon appetit’ in mind. On the second day, a herd moved past us at about a hundred yards with a six-point framed with cows fore and aft. As the bull moved forward between two cedars and the cows separated for a moment allowing a clear view, a 7mm, 140-gr TTSX (a 284 Win, my six-pound mtn rifle) destroyed the spine just above the shoulder. All animals die in their tracks 🙂 but no extra steps were taken here. Despite complete vertebral destruction and the size of the animal (~ 750 lbs) the TTSX exited as has been the case in almost all of my past experiences with this bullet.

I’m very grateful for the opportunity and a safe experience again with a regal bull elk being the bonus.

Congratulations George!

Way to go George!

Congrats. Glad you found them down that low and had a great experience. That's a pretty area. I was looking for them at about the same elevation in the Beartooths, which is east of where you were, and they're still up high. Hoping the storms that are pushing through this week will get them moving and start pushing them down. I hope to get back out Thurs.

BTW, where are the pics??

Congratulations my friend that is fantastic!

I wasn’t too far from there earlier this fall w/ my son Elijah fishing. Stunning country just to be in; chasing & shooting a nice bull must have been amazing!

Great news George, looking forward to some pictures.

Well, done, George!

Excellent!

Congratulations, And bon apetit!

Thanks for your kind comments. Gents, I haven’t gotten around to posting a picture since the PB blowup.

Glad you enjoyed the hunt.
Congrats.

Very nicely done!!

Congrats on the bull!

Awesome! Like them "bon appétit" fellows!!!

😊

Nice to be successful and put some meat in the freezer. George are you on the east side of the Yellowstone River?

Yes, the jumping-off point is a place on East Mill Creek Rd (east of the YS River) near Pray, Mt. and then straight east further up into the Custer Gallatin Nat’l Forest only about 25 mi as the crow flies from YS Park.

I've hunted and killed elk in that area George...

good job on the elk...…….were you guided?...…..bob

Good job, but what about dinner at the Rib and Chop house?

Brad, as you know it’s a beautiful area and game-rich including wolves and Grizzlys.

If there is a thing that saddens me about the West, it’s that every beautiful, desirable spot to live in (including the Paradise Valley), is chopped up by hobbyists. Some with multi-million dollar homes but many with run-down homes-to-shacks with near junk-yard appeal.

Shrap, I apologize. That’s on me. I dropped the ball. Would have loved to get together again as with last time with you, John, Eileen, Handwerk, and 30338 and his son.

Perhaps next time, Lord-willing. You never know.

Yes, Rising Son Outfitters, a three-generation ranching and guiding family that I’ve been with twice now. Remarkable country; exceptional hunters.

George,

Just talked with Dober, he says next time is a must get-together...

Indeed.

However, it's not that the rest of the country isn't the same, just that in the wide open, sparsely treed West you can see everything!

Gallatin County has tried to control growth, and in some parts of the county has limited breaking up large parcels of ground into "ranchettes." Park County has historically been less concerned about growth. Truth of the matter is the more large landowners that put their parcels into conservation easements, the better.

I would love that. If we get back “there” I’ll do my best to help arrange that.

PM sent.

You’re right of course, but the mountainous west with its picturesque river valleys and meadows seems to appeal to the most people who want to feel some connection to “the wild.” What I hate to see is the chewing up of winter range for elk, deer, etc by a checkerboard of homes, businesses, and so forth; like Estes Park for example. Not to mention the rag-tag junk piles that are fairly ubiquitous in the West..

But that’s what you have with individual freedoms. If there is any upside to European socialism and it’s rules and regulations, it’s that you don’t usually see countryside trash. Still, I wouldn’t trade for anything.

Link:
https://i.postimg.cc/8cCkDrCt/84-DF9-DE6-9855-4-E5-F-8-C2-A-B713-F8-F34438.jpg

My 284:

https://i.postimg.cc/cCJ3jCGN/472-B235-A-A911-4-F5-C-8-A40-5-F06010382-B1.jpg

Spec’s for those so-bemused: Rem 700 SA; Wyatt box; PTG bolt; 23” tube, all per Rifles Inc.; Leupold 6x32 LR with LR Dots. Total weight as pictured is 5.8 lbs.

Nice looking bull, thanks for posting the pic.



Another reason elk are more difficult to get to/ find. People want to blame the wolves and grizzlies, but fail to admit that development and roads through, in and around elk habitat have had a large impact too.


Germany is a prime example. The forests are meticulously managed and maintained. Still doesn't compare to the gool ol' USA.

Nice bull and I like the rifle, but the rifle photo is backwards! (I know its a lefty!:))

Congrats for sure on a nice bull.

Thanks kindly Brad.

No problem George...

if you put an [img] before the link and an [/img] after the link, they'll appear.

Photobucket did this automatically...

PS, I know EXACTLY where you shot that bull!

Skylines be bad.

True dat...

Good deal. Nice bull!

Congrats George!!!

Nice bull! Sounds like you had a fun hunt, and overall had the Montana experience.

The junk pile in Paradise Valley that always makes me laugh is the collection of broken down trailer houses just outside Chico Hot Springs. It's an utter mess and looks like a bomb went off, but kind of makes me happy to think of all the well to do sorts having to look at it every time they drive by for their spa experience.

The elk are most likely scattered all along that east side of the valley this time of year.

Awesome work George that’s fantastic!

its getting cleaned up...….slowly but surely ……..bob

Nice!!

George it appears you're one of the few to harvest a bull in region 3, let alone an elk. Just read that elk harvests are down in region 3 and in region 5 presumably due to warmer weather. I'm really hoping this latest round of storms and cold temps get them moving around, especially down.
Region 3 elk harvest remains slow
Region 5 check stations see more hunters, lower harvest than in 2017

Yeah, the snow in that pic was gone by evening replaced by rain or drizzle over the next four days.

Congrats! Beautiful bull and stunning scenery.

Wow, congratulations.

Outstanding! It sounds like you had a fine experience with the outfitters, and I'm glad to learn that there are still a good number of elk in the area. You did well!

I was a little surprised that the altitude was relatively modest where you found them. I'm pretty ignorant of such things, but down here in NM where I expect to do most of my hunting (at my age), we live at 6800 feet. NM does have much higher mountains, but being acclimated really makes it more pleasant.

Some say that we are actually in the golden age of elk hunting, in that there are more than in past decades. OTOH, some areas seem to have very sparse herds this year. I'm guessing that the various conservation efforts, both good and bad, have a lot to do with the variations.

Were you out there for the entire time of your booked hunt? Did the weather vary much?

Yes, we were out there for six days. The weather was damp — mostly drizzling or outright rain — and not my idea of elk-hunting weather running into the first week of November at that elevation but the upside was it was pretty quiet moving about. But then so is dry snow. 🙂. I love elk hunting in fresh, dry snow...but I’m not complaining.

George, Congrats! You've done well in Montana. And great looking rifle as well. Good luck if you get out pheasant hunting the rest of this year.

Excellent!!

George,
I missed this earlier - congrats on a fine animal!

Well done and congrats on the table fair. Thanks for posting the pics.