Montana’s rifle elk/deer season begins the last week of October, and concludes the weekend following Thanksgiving. The elk rut is basically over, but an occasional bugle can still be heard. Most bulls are still with the cows, but gradually they are separating themselves into bachelor groups. We glass to locate these bulls, and then plan our stalk. We use stout, dependable horses to travel greater distances, then hike the last bit to close the gap. Our primary focus is generally elk, and when successful, we then turn our attention to deer. Hunters have the opportunity to harvest either a muley or whitetail buck.
We are very selective and harvest only mature bucks. Most of our rifle hunts are based from our ranch. Depending on weather conditions and game movements, we also have the option of packing up the mules and hunting from one of our back-country camps.