New Lodge

The New Lodge

A comfortable camp, first class meals, and great company is all part of the experience with Montana OutWest Outfitters

The Elk Hunting Experience

As elk hunters, being successful is only a small part of the trip. Although Jim has harvested many elk, our experience on this trip will be one to remember. On the first day of the hunt the mountains were socked in with fog. We worked our way up the mountain as far as we could. After spotting some elk in a meadow we stalked in for a shot. The pitch of the meadow made it hard to see the elk so Remi climbed a tree to get a look at the bull only 60 yards away, hidden by the contour of the meadow. He decided to wait the elk out until they offered a shot. After a short wait the bull gave Jim a 100 yard shot and Jim made the shot count.

As darkeness fell Remi built a fire and skinned out the elk. That night the clouds cleared and the full moon illuminated the snow. It was so bright no flash lights were needed for the walk out. It truly was a great elk hunting experience.

Set up on Elk

Paul puts some elk in his cross hairs waiting for the 5x5 we stalked in on to move out into the open for a shot. Cliff took a tough shot at a nice bull the first day of the hunt but unfortunately did not connect. The Father son team had a great hunt seeing a ton of elk and a lot of close calls.

They got the whole Montana -big sky hunting experience. including roasting sandwiches over an open fire for lunch while glassing in the fog and the cold.

Trophy Mule Deer-Montana Non-typical

After hunting hard and passing on a lot of trophy bucks in unit 270 Tony was able to get his crosshairs on this great non-typical deer. Hunting with his son Shane they covered the area looking over multiple trophy bucks every day. This buck presented Tony with a 400 yard shot right before the end of shooting time. Tony made a great shot droping the buck on the ridge. The hunt was captured on video and will be featured in an up-coming web epiosode. The buck scored over 183 B&C Gross.

Last Evening Bull

After his Dad took a nice mule deer buck, John and Remi headed out for the last eveing into an area where they spotted a few nice bulls that morning. After a long hike in, Remi Spotted a bull across the canyon in the timber. The two moved in and set up for a 450 yard shot being unable to get any closer. John took his time and made a great shot on the bull.

Being so far back, dinner was made out of some of the elk's backstraps as Remi skinned and quartered the animal. Jason and Bart came in with the horses at dark to help get the bull out. After a long and tough hike back the hunters finally made it back to camp around 3:00 in the morning.

Mule Deer from unit 250

After taking his elk Enrique also harvested this great 4x4 buck on the last day of the hunt. To top it off the whole deer hunt was captured on film (stay tuned for the launch of our Montana OutWest webisodes Coming mid January).

While chasing the buck the evening before the deer had given us the slip. After a long stalk the deer disappeared until right before dark. The next day the buck was back, this time pre-occupied with some does allowing Enrique time for a shot. Enrique got steady and made a great 350 yard shot.

Elk hunting in Montana

Enrique and his son John had a great week of hunting in Montana. At 60 years old Enrique walked through the mountains like he was a walking in the park. On the First day of the hunt we spotted a group of five big bulls over four miles away. We moved in to find the bulls still feeding out in a big meadow. As we moved in closer the elk slipped into the timber. we decided to wait them out hoping they would come out in the evening to offer a shot. after a little while of waiting Remi caught the elk moving below 300 yards way in the trees. Enrique and John both set up on the bull but Enrique got off the first shot. He dropped the bull in his tracks with one perfectly placed heart shot.

First Deer Hunt- Two Great Bucks from Unit 250

Cody and his dad Ed joined Montana OutWest for Cody's first big game hunt. With Bart as their guide the three set out in search of a trophy mule deer. Cody passed on some nice deer before harvesting this great 3x3. The buck presented a shot but by the time Cody got lined up the buck was on the move. Bart bleated at the deer getting it to stop offering Cody a shot. It was a great first buck and a great hunting experience.

The next day Ed was fortunate enough to harvest a huge buck. When Bart spotted this buck there was no questions it was a shooter. The buck had a heavy 4x4 main frame as well as a forked cheater. Including brow tines this 5x7 officially SCI scored 175 with a 170 inch typical frame. Both Cody and Ed's Bucks came out of unit 250.

Montana Elk Hunt for Gradutaion

Justin took this great 6x6 bull on the first morning of his first elk hunt. We spotted this bull at over five miles away at sun rise. We worked our way in on the herd and got set up 250 yards away. something spooked the elk while we were set up and sent them over the ridge. We moved in to find two good bulls 100 yards below us in the timber. Justin got set up and took a well placed shot at this bull through the tree's.

Justin's dad Randy also shot at a nice bull two days later in a different area. After closing the distance from a 1/2 mile to 300 yards, Randy took the shot as the bull moved from the timber to the open (video to come).

Ratteling and Calling Mule Deer

Hunting during the rut in a limited draw area has its advantages. This unit 270 mule deer was rattled and called in using a combination of grunts and doe bleats.We had to use calling tactics to call the buck over a property line to where we could shoot him. The big rutted buck came stomping in tearing up everything he could along the way, raking his horns on fences, a tree, and some sagebrush. He gave us a show before the hunter Art Hinckley took the buck. We captured the hunt on film with three different camera angles (video coming soon). The buck scored over 180 B&C Typical.

Photo update of some of the animals

Week one Success Broken Down

Elk kill Success 60%
Hunters shooting at a bull 5x5 or better 80%
Hunters with bulls in the crosshairs 100%
Hunter success on killing both an elk and a deer 40%
All of the hunters this week saw elk every day of the hunt.

Father and Son Elk Hunt

Opening day found Joseph, Luke and their guide Bart in the mountains with a group of multiple bulls bugling in the timber. After chasing the group up the steep mountain and many miles to the top, Joseph got a shot at a nice 6x6 bull through the trees.

Two days later Luke took a Monster 5x5 bull at over 500 yards. The bull he took we had encountered numerous times during archery season. It was a mature bull with a wide heavy rack and great length on the front tines.

The two also each harvested whitetail deer to take home with them.

Montana Elk Hunt Opening Week

Opening morning found Cameron and Doug 200 yards from a heard of elk 30 minutes into the hunt. there were two bulls in the group and close to 30 cows. Cameron had the shot and took a nice bull at 200 yards. The rest of the week was spent locating a bull for Doug. He saw elk every day and had a close encounter with a nice five by five that would not give him a shot with all the cows around.

Overall it was a great opening week with lots of snow and quite a few elk.

Montana Archery Elk Hunt

The first morning of the hunt we got into a monster 6x6 bull but the elk wanted to be quite. The rut seemed like it was on pause. We stalked 40 yards in on a trophy 4x4 mule deer but he never presented a good shot. That evening we got into a herd with a nice 6x6 bull and called seven spike bulls in (the closest only eight yards away).

The next morning we bugled a bull in but got busted by the wind, never getting to lay eyes on the bull who was probably inside 100 yards. That evening we got back in on the nice 6 from the night before but he remained just over the rise. The third day the elk were quite again we tried a stalk on a bull but his cows busted us. The rut had seemed to be in remission for a few days and the elk were fairly quite.



Now when the elk rut goes off it really goes off. The morning of the fourth day found Shaun smack dab in the middle of a rutting elk herd. enticed by an estrus cow call his 5x5 bull came in to 45 yards and stood broadside allowing Shaun to put all his practice to use and hammer the bull right in the boiler room.

After shooting we stayed in position and continued to call just to see what would happen. We called in three more bulls - a 1x3 rag, a 4x5, and a 6x6 with the herd bull still bugling like crazy just over the ridge. It was awesome to watch how the satellite bulls came into the calls one by one to check us out.

First Time Bow Hunt

Neil had one goal this week and that was to get his first bow kill. The first day of hunting he was in elk all day with two shots but to no avail. As veteran bowhunters know, a lot can still go wrong at 20-45 yards. After hunting hard for elk we decided to chase some whitetail deer. Neil scored on his first bow kill harvesting a whitetail from the ground blind. With a bow often times the first kill can be the hardest. Congratulations Neil on becoming a successful bowhunter.

Montana Archery Bear Hunt

After spotting a bear while elk hunting I decided to find someone up for the challenge of taking a bear in Montana with a bow – Spot and Stalk. After meeting up with Ray we headed out for an evening hunt. The bear was still feeding on an elk carcass I had spotted him on the day before. We slowly stalked down to where the bear was. We had lost sight of the bear and figured he was in the thick brush where we last saw him headed. Little did we know, the big boar had circled around to the other side to watch over his meal. At about 15 yards away the bear busted out behind us and climbed up the nearest large pine. It could not have worked out any better giving Ray a 23 yard shot on the treed bear.

Archery Hunt Action

This week was about as close as it gets without harvesting a bull. When you think elk hunting during the rut this week was it. There were several days where the elk were screaming all around us. We had cows come in to around ten yards and big bulls just 30 yards out of range. Jim had an excellent hunt full of action every single day. Sightings of the week included hundreds of elk, mule deer, whitetails, two moose, and a bear- not to mention the grouse!