Good Evening everyone,
Im currently a United States Navy Corpsman and I'm looking for a good place to take my dad in 2 years when I make it back to the United States. Im new to this mule deer thing and never been too Montana but growing up I've seen Nate Simmons and always knew that was something I had to do. My dad and I have the capabilities to shoot up to a 1000 yards and have great glass, we just have no idea where to go. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for taking a look.
V/R
HN Estrada, Damon
Unites States Navy
First off, thank you for your service, and I hope you make it back safe.
I am new to hunting the west (first trip will be this November) but have been researching Montana mule deer as this is where we are going for our maiden voyage. Montana is interesting in that since the tag prices increased, the NR general deer tag is essentially over the counter. This year there was over 1000 tags left after the draw. On the general license you can hunt almost 80% of the state. The limited entry units are few and far between in the eastern half of the state which makes up much of the harvest. My partner and I did it different ways, he was nervous and put in for the NR general deer tag, and got drawn, and I bought a leftover a couple of months later.
On the general tag you can hunt almost the entire eastern half to third of the state save a limited entry area by fort peck. There is lots of BLM land, and also block management (private land opened up to hunting with self administered or landowner administered permission). I have found it to be a very inviting opportunity as a NR. No draw odds, unit strategies, etc. Though trophy potential is not as good as other areas, opportunity seems to be nearly limitless. I already have 10s of 1000s of acres picked out to check out this year. I'm hoping I don't get to all of it, but with the glass and shooting ability I don't think you'd be in too bad a position if you went this route. The terrain is also fairly easy in most areas, but select areas of river breaks and some of the badlands can pretty rough I hear.
I guess it depends on what you are looking for. If it is to get out and see new ground and lay eyes on a few animals with a chance at brining home a decent buck, then MT is a good place to go without stressing over units and draw odds, and from there you can pick what area you want to focus in on.
