Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Montana elk populations

I’m curious as to what areas of Montana have the most elk. I have heard that the southwest might have the most. Which areas have the most hunting pressure?

There is no place in MT that has abundant elk and low hunting pressure.
As for the most elk I would go with Central Montana.

Yes Central MT has the second largest elk heard in the state. The problem is most if not all of it is behind locked fences.

If I knew of a place in Montana with lots of elk and low hunting pressure... I would sure not tell any one of it...

Buy a tag... put on some boots...

I have a general tag and myself and two pairs of boots are headed to Montana on Monday morning.

That's a good deal... you are smart to bring two pair of boots. It's a big state.... hard to narrow it down to just a few spots. They had a severe drought in Montana... Forage for elk to eat is gonna be sparse...

Good luck and let us know what you find... (generally speaking of coarse)

With all the brown growlies in that state, I'd think there was lots of elk, especially around the SW part. They seem to keep chewing on all the elk hunters - thinning out the competition I suppose.

I even saw MT F&G put out a statement this year saying "expect to see bears". As much as I love MT, I stay away from elk hunting much of the western half for that reason. I cant imagine running into one in tbe dark. I've been too close to several, one with 2 cubs and I'm not a fan of those encounters. They are certainly to be "respected", mostly from a goodly distance. I feel like hunting in dense grizzly country is simply an odds game - given enough exposure, you're going to have a run in. In the end, I'm not afraid of grizzly's, I'm just really afraid of them

If I were a NR hunter Montana would be low on my list of states to hunt.

I hear you on that. The problem is that point creep for the western states getting g bad enough that I wish to have a few favorite hunting spots in all of the western states. That way I could more feasibly hunt for elk every year.

The east slope from Browning to south of Augusta have Griz. out on the prairies. So that means they are in the foothills too.

Hell they are central MT too. Pretty soon there won't be a place in MT where they aren't. As the crow flies the Feds killed a griz 20 miles from my house. They are in the Snowies and the Little Belts.

Good info on the bears!

Colorado has OTC tags. Wyoming has much better hunting. I'd put in for Wyoming and hunt CO if I didn't draw unless you just want to go for a nature walk with a rifle.

Such a place doesn't exist.

Grizzly can be found just about every place that has elk in MT. However in many places like the snowies these are just transients. With that said you always have to be aware. Hunting places like the gravely range or anywhere near the south west border of the state you need to be very aware.

Whaaat? Oh yes it does.

Maybe the N Bar.

They may or may not be transient. A rancher east of the snowies saw a young griz on his place and 15 years ago a rancher south of us says he has seen pictures of grizzlies in the snowies. Pictures are not conclusive though. But, the F&G does consider the Little Belts griz country now with food storage requirements. Griz have been seen on the east side of the Little Belts which is just a short distance from the snowies.

Yeah the N-Bar. Large herd, big bulls and locked up.

They were that far east 25 years ago. At least were told that in Choteau just before packing into the Bob Marshall.