Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire In Montana!

Word I am getting from Montana is that the roads are gumbo mud and the basement is flooded.

Faster without Nebraska IME (from I70 at least}.
MO, IA, SD, via I29, I90, to SD 31, and SD, WY and MT/US 212 to I90, MT 3 to US12 to Harlowtown.

I left Va this morning headed for Montana. Made it nearly to Iowa. On the road again tomorrow for an antelope hunt near Billings next week. It'll be my first antelope hunt and my first hunt in Montana. I can't wait!

Denver will do that to you. Go around!

Take 80 east out of Cheyenne!

Country roads are good too...

Anywhere from 4-6" of rain in the last week.

I haven't been on a gravel road much less off trail since last Monday(?). Too muddy to even get to my favorite grouse hunting spots. A guy hates to rut the roads up if you don't have to.


But I'm sure the weekend warriors(aka archery hunters) have made a royal mess of things......




Wife and I drove up to Scobey yesterday to see how much wheat is left to cut. It's a mess.....

On the bright side we met maybe a dozen cars in about 100 miles.

Good luck on the hunt and post some pics!

Good luck!


Treat that antelope right and you will not believe how good they eat.

2 things:

1. In MT, assuming you're quartering the critter to get it home, you HAVE TO LEAVE proof of sex NATURALLY ATTACHED to the rear quarters. If you don't do this and G&F checks you, you WILL BE FINED!!

2. Have a 48qt cooler w/some ice in it and quarter the critter no later than upon return to the vehicle and get it on ice.

Subsection for #2.

A. Don't gut your Antelope, prop the chest open then haul it around whole with the hide on in the back of a pickup or worse on one of those receiver hitch racks (yuppie racks). Exception would be if you've got a skinning/hanging/processing facility with running water to wash things down thoroughly relatively close.
B. Don't think that wrapping your antelope up in a blue tarp and hauling it in the above manner is going to keep the dust, exhaust fumes or anything else "out" of your critter. That blue tarp is going to allow in just as much dust as well as sealing in lots of meat-tainting heat, blood, and moisture. Bad, bad, BAD!!!!
C. Antelope hair sheds VERY easily. It's oily and even a few strands can put a foul tasted upon the meat. GET THE HAIR OFF of every scrap of meat.

If you get your antelope meat CLEAN and cooled quickly, it will be fantastic. Hanging a CLEAN hairless carcass or quarters is fine. If you decide to leave the hide on and let it "age", you might as well grind the hair into it because you've ruined it.

Simpler yet is to build a fire and consume the antelope on the spot.


You must always carry salt and pepper in your pack. Maybe a little garlic.....if you are fancy.

Around Billings we had one day of rain where we got over an inch IIRC. This was last week. It's been warm and sunny since. Temps in the 90's today, but back down to the 70's next week.

I might be nuts, but I prefer Montana east of a north south line through Big Timber. Many of the areas in the mountains are very nice areas but they are infested with weirdos, liberals, and or California/ Western Oregon types. THE area around Dillon is about the only area I would live in on the west side of the state from what I have seen.

Oh, OK, PARKMAN. Have lived in Wyoming since 1940 and never heard of Parkland, nor could it be found by Mr. Google.
Had me worried for a minute there.

Old regulation. Different this year.

Passed through Bozeman. No camo in sight. Skinny jeans, man buns, and skanky lib chicks. Not as bad as Portland.

.

Troubling that this appears to take effect 3/2020
Maybe because the regs were written before the law changed, I recommend people research more or continue to fillet your scrotum.

Looks like sb333, Legislature website provides 3/2020 as effective date.

Section 87-6-406 - [Effective3/1/2020]Failure to retain evidence of sex

(1)
(a) Except as provided in subsection (1)(b) and subject to the provisions of subsection (2), a person who kills a game animal in this state shall retain evidence of the sex of the animal with the carcass until it is processed.

KRAK- yes, that will be the statute in effect next year. And as it states, evidence of sex will need to be retained with the carcass. For this year, and should have been the case in many years previous, the statute in effect only precludes destroying evidence of sex. There's been no statutory requirement to keep it naturally attached.

Copied from this year's regs:

Evidence Required of Game Animal’s
Sex (MCA 87-6-406)
• It is unlawful to destroy evidence of the
sex of a game animal so as to make the
determination of the sex of the game
animal uncertain.
• FWP recommends proof of sex
accompany the carcass from the field to
the point of processing.

Antlers considered proof of male sex for ungulates?



And why 6 or 10 different booklets? Seems dumbish.

No. Does in rare instances sometimes have antlers.

Specifically in the Montana regulations is my quandary... Licenses are per antlers or not, so I am thinking yes.

I appreciate the good wishes and advice. I brought a 60 quart cooler and will follow the recommendations. I hope to get something worthy of a photo!

Well, we rode around all day, south of Harlowton and Ryegate, down to Big Timber, went up to friend’s cabin above Livingston south of 90 and broke down just east of Livingston on the trip back. “Got” to pull the driveshaft on his 98 pickup and take a ride ten feet behind an older Chevy that pulled us down 90 to friend’s parent’s place at Big Timber, where we borrowed dad’s car and got back to Harlowton. All sorts of fun. Saw a LOT of antelope, mulies, and empty space. Spectacular country. Several fresh elk rubs near the cabin above Livingston. Will be taking him up on that offer to hunt out here, without a doubt. Frigging game is everywhere out here, and the space and quiet is unbelievable.