Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game combination deer/upland game in Montana?

Wanted to get an idea to see if its realistic to plan a hunt for both deer and upland game in Montana. Hunting partner and I didn't get drawn for elk in Wyoming, so we're planning alternative options.

He's got a pretty good pointer (at least on Michigan pheasants) and we're considering heading to Montana to maximize our opportunity on various species.

Noticed that the whitetail archery season starts september 4th, and thought we'd spend the mornings hunting deer and the afternoons hunting birds.

Question is, is this plan feasible? are there areas that lend themselves to both types of hunts?

Any advice would be appreciated..

It is VERY doable, except for one thing. You've missed the application period for this year (3/15 deadline). You could still probably pick up a doe tags and try your plan. That way you'd get to learn an area and be better prepared for when you do draw a buck tag. Also, be aware that if you are putting in for a General Deer Combination license that it is far from a sure draw for NRs.

thanks for the response. Does Montana ever offer leftover license sales?

PM sent

anybody have any suggestions for zones that might offer antelope and upland birds? we've got until June 1 to apply for antelope..

Really anywhere in the eastern 2/3 of the state. It could be somewhat hard to find good access for deer (assuming you'll also be scouting for next year), antelope, and birds in one area, although I'm sure there is such a spot in almost every unit. You've got lots of homework to do.

Will you be doing archery lopes or rifle?

Dober

we're looking at a september hunt, so archery would be option available, unless gun season starts early enough. pheasant opener in michigan is 10/20, and whitetail archery is heating up here that time of year as well.

lets put it this way, there is a reason i want a drilling(preferably a sxs 16 over a 9.3 rifle barrel) for hunting on the north side of Fort Peck......my plan of hiring a gunbearer hasnt panned out

mbuck,

You may want to look into the Freezeout lake area in Central Montana.

Myself and a buddy hunted there about the time the Snow Geese went through every year...that place is amazing.

We'd bird hunt in the AM then mid-day we hunted deer, both MD and WT. Not sure anymore, but you used to be able to purchase a region wide whitetail doe tag.

Heres the results of a 2 day hunt...in 2 days we shot 3 wt deer, 7 pheasants, a few huns and sharptails, limited on snow geese, and some ducks, mostly mallards that late. Its also possible to apply for and hunt swans as well.

Its a mixed bag hunters dream over there. My buddy in the picture, who was new to hunting, took a look at the back of the truck and said, "Wow, just think 2 years ago I didnt even own a firearm!"

nice......

on the north side of Fort Peck on two separate walks, on the same day, less than 5 miles apart i bumped into mule deer, whitetail, speed goats, elk, coyotes, jackrabbits, huns, sharptail grouse, sage grouse, cinnamon teal, mallards and Canadian geese....also heard some cranes but they were way in the hell up there....all this on public ground....only thing rare where i was at were pheasants as they prefer the river bottoms and fields to the lake side timber and cattle grazing areas....

mixed bags are easy to do if you really want to....

And speaking of Freezeout, this morning Boze paper has an article about the white geese that are there now.

I lived in that area for 15 year, enjoyed Freezeout but never once hunted it as I found much better was to be had that wasn't getting the attention that it did. That's not to take anything away from it though as it's still a nice place to visit.

Dober

I went and checked out Freezeout for the first time a couple weeks ago. Evidently missed the first big wave of snows by about twelve hours. Maybe next time.

I did a bird/antelope hunt in the Terry Badlands area a few years ago. We found lots of birds and enough antelope (we weren't choosy). Hunted all block management ground and met some really nice folks. Last day we were there was the pheasant opener. We went down and asked a fellow harvesting corn along the Yellowstone if we could hunt the fringe between his corn and the river. He said, "Sure", and my buddy and I both got a couple of cocks before quitting about noon. I can't figure out why I haven't done it again!

Yeah, I'd shy away from freezeout...it sucks...you cant even hardly talk to your buddy when the snows are flying over:



The birds are usually in small flocks:



It is kind of a bummer to get 5 limits of snows in about 20 minutes: Tough to decide if you should drive about 1/2 mile down the road there and fill a couple b-tags...or try for some upland birds...decisions...decisions. We opted for the b-tag option, shot 2 deer about 15 minutes after this picture was taken on a large section of state land.