Elk Opener 2008

Opening day of the general rifle season found me on a new ranch we just picked up. This is a 7,400 ranch that butts up to National Forest and is on the transition from heavy forest to open sage brush. Perfect late season elk habitat. Although I didn't find an elk I wanted to take, I did see an encouraging amount of sign and do believe this is a great late season place to hunt.

A biologist also let me know that since public access is limited in this area that there were a significant amount of elk in the area. He also mentioned that since this ranch lies a transition zone between forest and open sage brush this is great spot for elk after snow is on the ground. We just got some Tuesday night!

Here is a short video of my time on the ranch. If you like what you see check out TRIP ID 188 on SportsmensAccess.com Only members can use the Trip Search feature so Join Today!

Win a Pair of Nikon Monarch 10x42 Binoculars

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Shoot Straight!

Joe Esparza

Pending New TOP 10 Missouri Breaks Ram

The rumor mill is churning about a 204 Missouri Breaks ram that was killed in unit 680. Here are some photos of the awesome ram.

Uncomfirmed reports are the ram green scored at a whopping 204 4/8". The only ram larger than this taken in the US was the James Weatherly ram (204 7/8). The Weatherly ram was also taken in Montana in 1993 in Granite County. This make will make five entries in the top 20 in the world from the state of Montana.

Here are the uncomfirmed detailed measurements.

Right: 41 x 17 4/8 x 17 x 15 2/8 x 9 7/8 = 100 5/8
Left 44 2/8 x 17 4/8 x 17 x 15 2/8 x 9 7/8 = 103 7/8
Total= 204 4/8" green

Pending New World Record Elk Taken in Utah

I just got off the phone with the stepson of the Outfitter that shot the probable new world record elk in Utah. The bull's unofficial gross score in the field was just over 500 B&C. Denny Austad took the bull and was the 2008 Utah Statewide Conservation tag, more commonly known as the Governor’s Tag. This bull was a massive 9x14, with main beams of 49 inches and over 133 inches of mass. He unofficially nets 488! This bull became know as the Spider Bull and if you look at this rack you can guess why.

The bull was taken with Mossback Guide and Outfitters owned by Doyle Moss. Amazingly the outfitter had footage of this bull last year and they estimated him at 350. In one year this bull put on 150 inches of points.

Sounds like Denny earned this bull spending 12 straight days in the field searching for this brute. Another amazing point of this story is he actually missed this bull on the 12 day. One of Doyle’s guides saw this bull over 8 miles away from where Denny took the shot. Denny came back and they were able to locate the bull and took him on the 13th day of his hunt. Congratulations Denny and Team Mossback!

My Last Weekend Chasing Bulls with a Bow

Ok your probably going to call me a liar but this is the truth. I saw 143 total elk in 3 days of hunting. I didn't get one with my bow. I needed a rifle this past weekend. A lot of the elk I saw were over 1 mile away when I saw them. The first night I saw 3 bulls with 2 branch antlered bulls one looked like a smaller 6 point and one spike.

Most of the elk were concentrated on upper ridges. They were in the head of the basin about ½ mile from the top. Hunting this late the elk were not very vocal at all. I heard an occasional soft bugle. No grunts. Just a low soft errrrrhugh…no more than 3 seconds. I also heard no cow calls. I saw cows but when I meowed they were quite. With the elk bunched up like that it was almost impossible to stalk them with a bow.

It raining, windy and with fog on day two. The rain started at 2:45 AM and never let up. It rained so hard it came in under the door of the trailer and in the vent of the refrigerator. Visibility was down to about 100-200 yards. Last night as I drew my bow back I realized some how my peep sight had gone missing. I decided to head to Dillon to Uncle Bob’s and get it fixed. I also stopped at Tim Tollets and said, Howdy too. Opening of waterfowl season was today. Perfect weather for that. They mentioned that a lot of birds were in the area and with the weather for the opener should be fantastic.

On my way back I stopped at a spot I've wanted to check on the last few weekends. I wanted to see if I could legally gain access. I could but only walk in so I humped it in about a mile and started to glass. I saw over 55 elk and three 6 point bulls. Unfortunately, they were on the wrong side of the fence. So I’ll I could do was look.

On day three I forgot my binoculars. I realized this about a mile from the truck I decided to hunt without them and just use my range finder. I was at a serious handicap. Don’t do this. Take the time to walk back and get the binos.

I saw 88 total elk on this day. One group on I saw counted for 74. There were two herd bulls in this group that even from 1 mile away you could see were huge. It looked as there were other bulls in the bunch but the distance and the lack of my Swarovski’s put me at a definite disadvantage. I won’t make this mistake again. Here's a small group of elk I crept up on I couldn't narrate for obvious reasons.



I can say that I absolutely love hunting here. It is wild, it is remote it is spectacular; it is why I live here and get out and do this year after year. Here is a bull that I ended up getting 58 yards away from...he saw me before I saw him. Nice 6x6 though.

So the next elk hunting I'll be doing is with my rifle. Here are a few photos for you to enjoy.

A Price Break Considering The Economy

When the Goin' Get Tough, the Tough Go Hunting

I've spent a lot of time on the road in Montana lately. I've hit Miles City, Ingomar, Broadus, Dillon, Divide, Florence, Troy, the Yaak and many places in between. As a reflection of what is happing in our nation, I've noticed the effects on our economy here in Montana. I also know from experience that there's nothing like time spent in the Montana outdoors to put it all in perspective.

Special Offer on Access to the Best Hunting & Fishing in Montana.

In acknowledging what is happening in Montana and the rest of the county, we would like to offer those of you that have expressed an interest in our site this $40 off coupon. This coupon will give you an opportunity to join the site for just $59.00 for an entire year! Please feel free to forward this great offer to a friend.

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So don't delay. This offer expires on Opening Day for Deer and Elk - October 26, 2008. Enter Coupon Code F51922BCE4 and take $40 off your membership. Join Now!

Shoot Straight,

Joe Esparza

Owner

SportsmensAccess.com

Bugling Bulls Part 2

Over the weekend I was out chasing bulls. Action was fast and furious. In two days I saw over 68 head of elk and approximately 15 bulls. The biggest bull I saw was a whopper. I estimated him to have a B&C score of between 330 and 340. This bull had two satellite bulls near his heard that were both six points! I saw these two bulls fighting and the herd bull just sat and watched.


I got up close and personal to this herd bull, 68 yards. I could see his rack just going back and forth over some brush. I needed to close the distance but the wind and an errant cow that came up from behind me ruined that chance. I was close (125 yards) to these elk for approximately 4 hours but just didn't get a shot.

I also saw 13 deer with only one decent 4x4 this is a permit area so it was a no go on the deer. I also saw 2 moose.

Yaak Whitetails, 80 degrees, and the Bull and Bitterroot Rivers

Hi all I've decided to start posting again. I had take a small break from writing and am now back on it!

Over this past weekend drove up to the Yaak to scout out some Whitetails. The hot weather, over 80 degrees watching the field as the sun went down, kept the whitetails down and in heavier cover. We did manage to see some deer but not the trophy caliber that we were hoping for. So when it’s hot and the animals aren’t moving what do you do? Fish!

We went down to the lower Bull River and then hit the Bitterroot river. The Bull was low but in the lower reaches the fish though few in number did rise to hoppers. My two best fish were a cutthroat at 17 inches and a nice plump brown that went 21 inches. To tell you that I wasn’t surprised to see him come out of the depths of the Bull would be a lie. I was expecting little fish but plentiful fish. So when I saw this guy come up to gulp my hopper I was surprised to say the least.

Fishing new water can sometimes be a humbling experience. I was with a friend of mine I have known for over 20 years and hadn’t seen in probably 15 years. Way too long. But like most guys time makes no difference. Well maybe some gray hair and a few more inches around the waistline. We just picked up where we left off.

We hit the Bitterroot with the expectation of a big hatch and a cloudy day; perfect conditions. The water was very flat and glass like, leaders were long and thin. We managed to make a good day out of it with fish averaging 17-19 inches. We caught and released over a dozen fish, mostly rainbows and cutthroats. Fish were rising regularly and gulping tricos to start and then. We cast throughout the day to pods of fish most were finicky some were not. A long float with few boats on the water.

Bugling Bulls

I was out hunting public land for the opening weekend of archery season. The good news was I saw lots of elk; the bad news was I didn’t get one tagged! I did see one bull harvested, a 5x5 taken by a gentleman from Butte. According to him, “it came in on a string”, from his partners calling, “Just like Outdoor TV”.

I did see over 23 elk that weekend and of those 9 were bulls, two were over 300 points with the largest one pushing 330. This area is a general season area open to all those willing to put in some hard work and get out there and find the elk. If you look at the video I misspoke and said I saw 23 bulls I meant to say elk.

The elk were talking in the morning and in the evenings with not much in between. This should change as the month progresses.

If you don’t have a spot to go use the RAM maps to find some promising areas and take out your binoculars and spotting scopes and head to the woods. Be sure to use the elk distribution overlay Region 3 is in general over objective and has the largest herd of elk in Montana.

Archery Antelope 2 years 2 Bucks

The beginning of August 15 found me in Ingomar, MT. On one of my favorite hunts of the year. Archery Antelope. The season runs from August 15 to November 9th. So plenty of time to take to the field in the unit of your choice.

Drawing a 900 antelope tag is relatively easy draw in Montana, at least this year. Time to pause and thank the Montana Bowhunters Association for lobbying to create this great opportunity for us archers! THANK YOU! If your an archer and your not a member please consider joining an individual membership is $25 for one year or $45 for a business memebership.

Something to note if you hold a Montana Antelope tag. Blue tongue has taken a toll on antelope in some areas. The norther part of region 5 was effected along with other areas. Check with Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks and our website to get the latest antelope report biologists to get the detailed information on the areas you plan on hunting. With the price of fuel you don't want to head to the field without getting some solid information first.

I did notice that antelope numbers were down on the ranch that I hunt. However in two days I did see over 65 bucks but noticed that the does and fawns were less plentiful. I took my buck on the second morning of the hunt. The ranch that I hunt on is huge, with over 250,000 acres of land. I personally hunt a "pasture" that is 3 miles wide and 7 miles long...that's over 21 square miles of habitat. I was the only one there! If your interested in booking this hunt join the website and look up hunt 189. So far I've taken two bucks in two consecutive years on this ranch.

Here is my buck from last year.