MONTANA 622-20 CMR rifle tag

[Cdhanson]

Hi all,
Long time reader first time poster. I'm looking for advice on unit 622. I was super lucky this year and drew the 622-20 rifle tag for elk on the CMR. I had to go check the regs to make sure I had put in for the right tag. As a Montana Native, my first years hunting from 12 to 15 were in the breaks area with my dad. Hunting antelope/mule deer in the north central part of this district. I remember hunting rolling hills and up popped 17 bulls. I was shocked and said some day I will draw this tag, and now at 36 I have! I also will have no opportunities to do any summer scouting because I'm a wildland firefighter and as such am extremely busy around the country as well as here in montana. If anyone has any tips or general areas that they are willing to part with I would be extremely greatfull. Also is opening week of rifle a good time to go? I plan on arriving a few days prior to scout and get a feel of the caliber of bulls the area has. What can I expect for size? Id like to hike in a ways and spike out on any bulls im in love with for opening morning. How far in is far enough to get away from the crowd? Much appreciated for any helpfull comments!

 

[TimberJunkie]

My bother in law killed a nice bull in 621 near the refuge on CK creek a few years back. The elk are scattered around in those units. Just be patient and figure 9n covering a lot of rough miles in the truck, and walking out to lots of point on ridges and glassing for hours. I hunted with him and we saw 8 elk in the first five days total, on the 6th day, we saw a group of 4 bulls. He shot the biggest one we could see, it scored 328.

Ask the locals, and call the Malta FWP biologist, they can lead you in a good direction.

Good luck. Have fun.

 

[Cdhanson]

Thank you very much, that sounds very encouraging! Just work my butt off and have faith something will turn up im excited to have! Btw is there any kind of water sources on the cmr I could filter water?

 

[j-kam406]

Last year I had the 621 Bull rifle tag and was successful. My best advice is get a detailed map and look for the pockets farthest from any main roads. The breaks in general have good bulls 320+ but there are also lots of people with cow and general deer tags running around. As soon as I was able to find pockets a few miles off a road I got into good herds of elk and they honestly were pretty easy to spot and watch. Good luck over there.

 

[Cdhanson]

Thanks for the advice, will be a good tactic! These breaks bulls arent like timbered bulls in the mountains are they. Where they like north faces or pockets?

 

[missjordan]

Sent you a pm


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[BuzzH]

Sounds to me like you haven't been in the breaks for a while...its changed.

IMO/E many hunters who have drawn this tag in the last decade are hunting on memories of what the breaks used to be. I think most people set pretty high and unrealistic goals on the quality of the bulls found there.

Its still a fun hunt, but its not what it was.

I drew the tag in 2011 for the first time as a NR. I saw 87 bulls all on public land in 10 full days of hunting. The best bull I saw was on the first day and he would have been in that 310-320 range. The best bull I saw on the entire hunt was on private in the Larb Hills and I think that bull would have been maybe 340.I ended up killing a 5 point bull on the last day I could hunt.

My brother drew the tag in 2013, pretty much the same thing. Lots of elk, lots of bulls, and he killed a good 6 point in the 280-290 range.

I drew the tag again in 2014 (NR). Same story, lots of bulls, lots of elk, but nothing of the extra large variety. I killed a decent 6 point on about day 7. Found a group of bulls while I was packing mine and helped a guy I didn't know kill the best one in that bunch. It was a 320ish type 6 point.

Based on those 3 hunts in the last 5 years, if I had the tag, I would shoot the first bull I saw that was over 300 for sure.

As to where to hunt...those elk are extremely nomadic, here today gone tomorrow. They get pressured from the cow hunters and deer hunters. I just tried to hunt 4-5 different spots a day, pay attention to the wide open stuff. I think the elk get stuck out in that open country and just bed. Get permission on the Block Management lands, there are sign in boxes out there.

Its a very fun place to hunt, and there are plenty of elk around, just have realistic goals. A friend of mine had the tag in 2000 and at that time, killing a 330-340 bull was a pretty reasonable expectation. My friend passed a lot of bulls in the 300-340 range, we were seeing multiple bulls per day like that. When I drew in 2011, it had changed a lot. A person would have to work hard all season and get a bit lucky to kill a 340 bull there now. Anything bigger...you hit the lottery.

Montana and the FWP have caved to landowners in that area and with the mountain of archery tags they issue, combined with high cow permits, and rifle bull tags...they've changed the breaks into just another elk area. They have ruined the breaks just like the rest of the State, elk are a pox and need to be killed. Sad, but the reality of how elk are "managed" in Montana these days.

Good luck.

 

[CForest]

Buzz makes a lot of good points. There is so much archery and cow hunter pressure that the elk often get pushed either deep into public or more so onto private ground. Especially when you get close to the larb hills. There are multiple ranches along there that allow little to no access. A couple of them have zero hunting pressure and by mid rifle season there are usually 800-1200 head on there. My suggestion would be go early and/or late. The first couple days of season may be your best chance, the last week is also generally decent because hunting pressure often weakens as season goes on especially if weather sets in. As far as trophy potential goes it is all over the board. You should see a lot of 300 class bulls but the 350 plus is the hard part. They are most definitely in there and a few get shot every year, but are few and far between. I have hunted 622 quite a bit and just because you aren't seeing elk don't get disappointed with a bull tag. Almost everyday I have jumped a bull holed up by himself or with another bull or two. Especially the bigger guys. Feel free to shoot me a PM if you have some specific questions about the unit. Last year I quit hunting the unit just because of the private land issues and excessive hunting pressure.

Good Luck!