Breaks or SE for elk?

NDhunter · Jan 1, 2010

After 3 years of being unsuccessful for a general tag (with bonus points!!) I feel that this is my year. All I want is to get out and have a good time with some of my buds, but also want the OPPORTUNITY to have 1 shot at a decent bull (archery). I have unlimited time to hunt, the question is where? I want to have the option of a limited hunt on top of the standard general areas, and a chance of seeing a great bull. Everything I have read about (that a guy has a realistic chance of drawing) up to this time points me towards the Breaks or SE MT. What are your thoughts from those that have been to both, or either? I know that I will contend with more people in the Breaks, and less elk in the SE. What area is a better hunt in your opinion?

northwesthunter · Jan 4, 2010

I hunted the breaks this year for the first time and didn't really care for it. We were down on the actual river breaks and the elk were really spooky after having been hunted for a month before we got there. They would bugle at nite and for a short while in the am then they would go into the willows and be gone til dark. The locals that always hunt there had boats and tree stands and blinds and said they rarely call. You will see bulls and some nice ones but they act more like mule deer than elk in my opinion. I am sure it may be different in other places but I would rather try my luck in the mountains. Good luck nwhunter

NDhunter · Jan 4, 2010

What time frame were you hunting? I am guessing 1st week of Oct...How bad were the bugs? One of my buds has a boat that he could bring with. Would that have made your hunt better?

northwesthunter · Jan 4, 2010

We went Sept 25 or so and the guys we talked to said that we were getting there at the right time as the bulls were starting to fire up. The bugs down on the river were bad and yes a boat would be a big help and tree stands if you are going to hunt along the river. The thing about the breaks is that it is not rugged enough to keep people from going all over the place so it is hard to get away from where the elk have been pressured if you hunt off the road. A boat would help you get into some less hunted area I think but I am a rookie too! nwhunter

mtmuley · Jan 5, 2010

The Breaks are plenty rugged enough to get away from other hunters. mtmuley

NDhunter · Jan 5, 2010

So what is the better tag to have? 620-15, 631-21, or 632-21? I see that 620 offers the most tags by far, and best odds...that usually means not as good of a hunt-but not always.

northwesthunter · Jan 5, 2010

Sorry I guess I should have said that where we were it was hard to get away from where people had already pressured the elk because of lots of roads and it was not very rugged country to limit accessibilty. Defenitely lots of elk and pretty country and it is huge country that I am sure has way better spots than others. nwhunter

Romulus · Jan 6, 2010

I have hunted the breaks 3 times archery for elk as well as many other states. Once you learn a little bit the Breaks will give you as good a chance to see a great (350+) bull as anywhere. However these elk are hunted hard for about 9 or 10 weeks each year if you count archery and rifle and the bigger herd bulls are the spookiest elk I have ever seen by far. If you are willing to kill a smaller satelite bull conventional archery methods work well but if you want one of the herd bulls the tree stand method seems to work best. I have had chances at multiple 280-310 bulls on my trips there but each time I was in amongst a large herd with a great herd bull within 100 yards of me so I passed on the smaller bulls. I went home empty each time but I have seen great bulls killed mostly by locals in tree stands along the river bottoms. Love hunting the breaks just have not been a good enough archery hunter to connect with one of the many good bulls I have seen. At times a lot of hunting pressure and other times no one around.