Royal Outfitters Montana Elk Hunting

Well spring bear season ended yesterday.  In the end we saw plenty of bears, but did not harvest any.  

In total we saw 13 bears in 2 weeks of hunting.  Two shots were taken but both were clean misses.  The last week and a half of the season was marked by cool wet weather.  It rained or snowed each day, with only an occasional break in the clouds. 

One of the highlights of the season for me happened when Tim, Russ and I were shooting some gophers on a vast grassy ridge.   After the first shots were fired, our friends the Golden Eagles showed up soaring overhead waiting for gophers to fall.  I took the first gopher we shot and while the eagles were watching tossed it about 20 yards from the land cruiser.  Immediately one of the eagles altered his course, and swooped down to pluck the rodent off of the grass trail.  The eagle did not even land just plucked him cleanly off of the ground and flew off to feed its young ones i assume.  We had this very thing happen two more times that day.  It is always spectacular to see these huge majestic raptors at such close range.

A lot of the areas that are normally green this time of year and attractive to bears are not very green yet.  We have had a cold spring and things are just a bit behind normal it seems.  So, we decided to fucus on lower elevations this afternoon, where there is more green.  What do you know, we found a bear.  We spotted nice jet black bear grazing on a meadow this evening and after careful deliberation made out stalk.  The only thing that went wrong is that the bear did not hang around long enough for us to get a close look at him.  I think we well find him tomorrow.

Very warm again today.  We saw no bears again today.  lots of elk and deer again, probably 50 or so elk.  Larry saw a one black bear and got a neat picture of the bear and an elk on the same meadow.  both of them grazing within 50 yards of one another.  The pic was taken through his spotting scope. 

Thunderstorms tonight and cooler weather tomorrow.  I hope that the bears will be more active tomorrow since they wont be roasting in the sun.  I will keep the updates coming.

We covered a lot of country today, some on foot, and some driving.  We did a lot of glassing.  In the end we did not see any bears but saw apporoximately 35 elk including a bachelor group of 5 bulls.  And of course a pile of mule deer, and a few whitetails.  One bull moose, a beaver, and a mother fox with a litter of pups that were playing with a dead gopher.  I will try to get the fox pictures posted soon. 

Larry showed up with his crew and did some scouting.   They saw a nice brown bear and put the sneak on, but the bear didn’t hang around. 

It was a fantastic day with temps in the70s and some fluffy clouds in the afternoon to temper the heat.

Just one hunter in camp today, my  good friend Tim  who usually comes each fall for archery elk season.   His hunting partner Russ will be showing up tomorrow night.  Anyway Tim and I convered a lot of country today both driving and on foot and spent a lot of time with binoculars to our eyes.  At the end of the day we had seen about 25 elk, countless mule deer, a dipper, a ton of fantastic scenery and last but not least, one very beautiful blonde color phase black bear.  He was a young one and probably only a hundred pounds or so, so we let him go.   He is ceartainly one of the most beautiful bears I have ever seen, Alaska included.    You shoulda been there.

There is a citizens ballot initiative being circulated about the state of Montana.  The objective of the initiative is to do away with the outfitter sponsored elk license now available to non-residents.  It would also raise the prices of the general drawing tag to about $900.  MOGA (the Montana Outfitters and Guides Association) is leading the battle to stop this initiative. 

If this is passed it will eliminate the requirement of outfitters to accompany their clients,  and jeopardize the very successful Block Management program that opens private land for public hunting.  It will also, of course be a kick in the guts to a struggling outfitting industry. 

You can find out more about details about the initiative and how you can help by visiting  www.stop161.org.

Tis the season for the RMEF to hold its fundraising banquets across this great nation of ours.  This year Royal Outfitters has donated a Montana elk hunt each, to the Rochester NY chapter, and the Sammamish WA chapter.  Deb, the kids and I are traveling to Sammamish this weekend to attend the banquet and tell folks more about our operation.  It is always a lot of fun to attend a RMEF banquet and to help raise money for the preservation of habitat for elk and other species.  It is a lot of fun to visit with folks that are passionate about elk and elk hunting.  The kids are looking forward to seeing some friends and getting their first look at the Pacific Ocean.

Montanas final draft of the 2010 hunting regulations will be available of March 16th.  However, applications for the 2010 elk licenses are available.  This week I will be sending applications and outfitter certification forms to those of you that have booked an elk hunt for 2010.  The good news is that the outfitter sponsored tag has decreased in price.  It is now $995 for the elk only, and $1225 for the elk/deer combo.  The special permit application date is still June 1.  If you want to hunt mule deer along with elk, you will need to apply first for the elk/deer or big game combo license, then before June 1, apply for the special permit for mule deer in unit 210, or 212.  I will be sending out alerts to keep you posted on the application process.  Of course you can always call or email with questions.    406-288-3819 or elkhunter@blackfoot.net

We had a fantastic couple from Tennessee staying at the lodge over the weekend. They had never been to Montana and were very excited to see some wildlife, especially bighorn sheep. One afternoon I asked if they would like to take a short drive to look for some wildlife. I planned to take them to a nearby area where deer and elk winter and I was confident that we would see them. They enthusiastically agreed, so for the last couple of hours of daylight we drove and searched for critters.

We were just getting to the area where I expected to see elk on the wide open hills when I spotted three large stout bodied animals on a hilltop about a half mile away. I grabbed the binoculars and was dumbfounded when I saw 3 bighorn rams grazing on the hillside. This is an area that is a couple of miles from the nearest bighorn sign I had seen, and even there they are rarely seen. In fact over the last 5 years I have never seen anything other than the occasional bighorn track in that area which again was a couple of miles away. Well the folks were tickled to see the sheep and we were able to get a few pictures in which the sheep were at least identifiable as sheep. It was such a surprise to see the sheep there, and even more ironic that this couple had just expressed a specific interest in seeing sheep. I guess the Lord works in mysterious ways.

We did see some whitetails, mule deer, and a coyote too. It was fun to share the first taste of Montana with some special people.

October 11, 2009

I knocked an arrow and on my knees did a mock draw a couple times and decided I was ready.  I had several recently, well used trails down in front of me and had picked out some  lanes and was thinking it could be an exciting evening.  Cold but exciting!  I had been watching a squirrel gather cones and had been listening to some coyotes off in the distance when I heard a muffled sound off to my left.

 I had noticed an old mine back behind me that had a nice hole and started to wonder if she was coming to check out this spot again for a den.  I stayed there and watched for her and her cub for about 15 minutes and decided that I was not going to walk out in the dark without any form of self – defense so I started up the hill that I was on and looked down into the old mine. It would be an ideal spot for her and her cub to den.   I plan to go back with my bear spray and my new Judge pistol-it shoots a 45 long colt and a .410, to see if there are any tracks around that old mine.  It would be pretty cool, if I am right.  Maybe not but it will be fun to see.

 On my way back to the vehicle,  I stopped and watched 6 mule deer browsing.  The wind was just right and they were only about 70 yards away.  They never saw me, so I just watched them.  It was pretty cool!