Hunting the Bob Marshall Wilderness area in Montana

Nevada results are out, my buddy did not draw down here, Looks like we are on like donkey kong! Looking forward to spending some time in some beautiful country in the Bob this fall!:D
 
The Bob can be an awesome place to be or a miserable hell, I know several guys who usually run a couple camp in during early rifle and none are going in this year. A buddy and me used to set a trap line up the Deerborn then hang out and run lions for a week then pick up fur on the hike back out, it was an awesome time and no grizz to worry about just hypothermia and food :D
 
I enjoyed the time I spent in the Bob to the max, the wolves have me fit to be tied. Doing an early mz hunt in NM for mulies, few and far between but big , definitely different looking country than the Bob, enjoy and good luck...
 
Good luck to you guys as well! Mother nature can throw some curve balls at ya, we just try to bring "layers", rain gear, and what not and just hope for the best! We usually dine on the "Mountain House" Meals, that way with out taking a huge amount of weight we can bring a signifigant amount of food, they are actually not too bad, we bring in tortillas and make a kind of wrap with them and it almost seems like a normal meal. The jetboil is an awesome piece of gear for cooking! Enjoy the fall wherever it takes you!
 
I hunted the bob in 05 Thanksgiving week. Had a great time! Wonderful country and someday I want to go back in there again. Got an OK muley buck and took a cow elk on last day after passing on a couple of raghorns. Did see a couple of nice bulls one morning but could not get a shot before they disappeared. Hope to here how things turn out for you.:)
 
Good luck in the BOB. I lived in Helena for awhile before having to move to MN. Big country with alot of wolf(s). Im not sure where i would go to find the elk. Seems like they are getting pushed by those big dogs pretty hard. To bad you cant hunt in some of the outskirts of town. I have seen some big bulls in back yards!
 
Hey,

Stumbled on this thread and was curious if you ever made it to the Bob. If so I'd be interested to hear what your experience was hunting in that area.

Thanks
 
Haven't been on here in awhile. We weren't able to make it happen that year. I was hunting with a buddy that lives in Montana, he had put in for a deer tag down here and he wanted to wait until the results came out down here before we "locked in" our dates with the outfitter that was doing the drop camp. He did not draw here, (he didn't want to do both trips in the same year) By the time we got back to the guide he had filled up with fully guided hunters and did not want to take on any more hunters.

We do, however, have our trip lined out for this year and have locked that **** in and put our deposit down! Looking forward to getting in there and checking out some new country! Doing the early season rifle hunt in there. Going to take my 375 Cheytac to sit on a high spot and wait for a Long Range opportunity. Taking my Winchester Model 70 30/06 as light carry rifle for when we are beating the brush. Should be an awesome trip!











Should have the long game covered, if it doesn't break my back getting to the top of the mountain so I CAN sit on a high spot! Good news is that it is the same weight as the Barrett WITHOUT a scope, so I know that it can be done, I have humped that heavy bastard all over hells half acre! This beast weighs in at 26.5 lbs with the scope! Should make a man out of me anyway! Hopefully this time I atleast get an opportunity to use it. (I packed the Barrett to the top of some gnarly **** in the Absaroka Beartooth one year and didn't even fire a shot!)

 
Good luck, and that's a nice long range rig but I'd make sure you are in shape and capable with the lighter rifle. I hunted the Bob in 2008, saw a decent number of elk and took a nice 6X6 and muley. The next year the wolves moved in (west of Dupuyer) and I hunted 3 more years seeing progressively less elk, none the last year in a week of hunting. I know a lot of locals, and NOBODY was seeking elk. One guy spent 2 weeks on horses, first on the west side of the divide then coming east, and finally shot a 6X6 that was with 2 cows above his camp the last night, the only elk he ever saw the whole trip.

Hunting the Bob these days I'd be prepared to walk, walk, walk. I'd go back to the area for bow as the locals report good elk still during bow but they seem to migrate south earlier now that the wolves are there.
 
Good luck, and that's a nice long range rig but I'd make sure you are in shape and capable with the lighter rifle. I hunted the Bob in 2008, saw a decent number of elk and took a nice 6X6 and muley. The next year the wolves moved in (west of Dupuyer) and I hunted 3 more years seeing progressively less elk, none the last year in a week of hunting. I know a lot of locals, and NOBODY was seeking elk. One guy spent 2 weeks on horses, first on the west side of the divide then coming east, and finally shot a 6X6 that was with 2 cows above his camp the last night, the only elk he ever saw the whole trip.

Hunting the Bob these days I'd be prepared to walk, walk, walk. I'd go back to the area for bow as the locals report good elk still during bow but they seem to migrate south earlier now that the wolves are there.

I have a light rifle as well, I like to have one to "sit on the high spot" for "spot'n'shoot tactics, and one that I can carry in brush. I have been told the area we are going in has a large burn area from 2 years ago, yeah, I have read results have been challenging at best, we really want to go in and see some of that country. Should be in hiking distance of the Chinese Wall and Needle Falls. We had a similar experience a few years back in the Absaroka Beartooth, hunted our asses off and saw one elk on the whole trip. Part of it is just getting back there and enjoying some of that country and we will **** sure drop a hammer on the wolves if we get the chance. I would almost consider it a more successful trip if I get a wolf over an elk.




Winchester Model 70 30/0 with Nikon Buckmaster 6x18x40 with BDC reticle, I ordered a 20 MOA base for it, I just zeroed the other day and only has 6 MOA of useable elevation above zero. Will be running the Kenton Industries BDC turrets (Recently became a Pro Staff member for Tru Breed Unlimited, and Kenton is sending me out a set to test this year) Looking forward to using them. They should work well at the distances I am going to be using them at.

Happy hunting this fall to all of ya!
 
I do the early hunt every year and it gets hard every time there has always been low numbers of elk on the south end of the bob but there used to be some very big bulls but in the last 10 years they have went from 380 bulls to small rags and 300's. I will not be doing the trip this year. I hope you picked a good guide to take you in there are some sh&#y ones in that area I would look at ford creek outfitters travis is a good guy and if you look at there pics on the web site you will see the decline in bull size over the years
 
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