Drew NM elk

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Just found out that my hunting partner and I drew NM nonresident archery elk tags again for this fall. We drew 2 of only 10 tags available for the unit/season to nonresidents. It's the first two weeks of September...I got my bull last time in the last two weeks on the late hunt in the unit.

I'm a little worried I'm going to draw something else now :eek:. I apply for around 30 big game licenses in 7 western states every year. Utah results aren't out yet and I applied for 8 species there.

Good thing I'm retired. :)

[WagonCrazy]

Good thing I'm retired.

And if you get all 7 of those other tags, and you consume them all, you're gonna get fat too. :p

[NickP]

And if you get all 7 of those other tags, and you consume them all, you're gonna get fat too. :p

That's some pretty lean meat (protein) and it's ability to make one fat is a stretch (pun intended). Fat in the body is produced by the attending items ingested in concert with the protein, i.e. those nasty carbs.

[chevynut]

Wild game meat has 1/10th of the cholesterol of beef. And yes, it is very lean. When we make summer sausage they have to add beef suet to it. It's hard to make hamburgers out of it because it's so lean it falls apart. But it's gooooood. :)

Paul, I apply for around 30 tags every year, including in my home state of Colorado. I've been applying in Montana for bighorn sheep, mountain goat, and moose for 14 years and have never drawn a tag. I've been applying in Utah for 8 species for 8-10 years and have never drawn a tag. In Colorado, I've been applying for moose for 19 years and have yet to draw. I have drawn bighorn sheep twice and mountain goat once in Colorado. Residents get most of the tags in virtually every state. New Mexico only issues 6% of their big game tags to nonresidents, and most other states are at 10%. Colorado is the "giveaway state" with unlimited elk tags to nonresidents.

Most people think you just buy a license and go hunting. For many species, it takes many years to draw a tag and once you shoot an animal you don't get to hunt for that species in that state again, or have a 5-7 year waiting period. It took me 18 years to draw my second bighorn sheep tag in Colorado, and the last time I drew mountain goat was 1999....so I'm due. :)

[Troy]

My last hunt was bighorn sheep in Montana. I drew a tag that wa 16 tags out of 16,000 apps. Got my sheep on next to last day of hunt!! Then I moved to California, all I hunt for now is a parking spot!

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Wow Troy, that's amazing you got to hunt sheep in MT! What unit did you draw in? Did you get a good ram? I've been applying for the most coveted tags in the Missouri River Breaks. But almost any unit is like winning the lottery. Montana apps are due May 1.

[Troy]

Yes it was, my stepfather was surprised as he had applied for years and never got one and this was my first try!!! I don't know the unit number but it was in the Arsenic Mountain area above Gibson reservoir. It was near the Sun River Game Preserve. This was in 1981 so it's been awhile. I got a 3/4 curl ram, not big but very healthy we watched him and his herd for four days going up and down the canyon going to Gibson reservoir then back up to the peak. he was definitely the big thing in the area that we saw. We had kind of decided he was the one on the second day but held out as long as we could for something bigger but never saw any bigger. BTW way I was a Montana resident at the time. We had a guy here at work (now retired) that would put out 20-30K in license apps every year all over the US. He hunted all over. He got a huge moose in Alaska one year, it toured all over the US at hunting shows.

[chevynut]

You must have hunted the Sun River herd in one of the #400 series of units west of Great Falls. There have been some big rams taken out of those areas over the years.

Yeah the license application fees can kill ya. There was a time I had $10K or more "hanging" out there.....some you get back but not all of it. Arizona makes you buy a $164 hunting license BEFORE YOU CAN EVEN APPLY for any big game tags. That money's gone. It costs me $226 just to apply in Montana now, money I don't get back. It's getting crazy. I may have to try to start applying for lesser demand units or I'll never be able to hunt sheep in MT. Congrats!

[Troy]

Yes it was west of Great Falls and Augusta. Anyway good luck on the hunt!!!

[WagonCrazy]

The getting fat comment was a joke Nick...:)

In my early 20's I bought a brand new Remington Model 700 30 ott 6 rifle, because I started hunting deer with some friends who were hunters. We'd apply every year for X10 tags (most desirable in the southern half of CA- in the Sierras kind of southeast of Yosemite NP). We also applied for D8's as backup. Did that for about 5 years and never got the X10 tag.
Never got a deer either. So many others hunting in the area every year. We'd get up a 2am and walk in the dark to our positions, then let the late guys flush 'em out with all their noise coming thru. But usually it was still too dark to see the deer. You could hear them banging around in the brush below you as they high tailed it out, but not responsible to shoot when you can't see.

One year, I was sitting on a rock outcrop at just before dawn, and kept hearing other hunters above me coming thru. Then I heard the sound of several sets of hoofs on the ground 30 feet above me. A fully grown female and 2 little ones stepped out on the rock above where I was sitting into full sunlight. Was surreal. I stared at them, and they stared at me and this went on for about 20 seconds, then she got a whif of me and bolted back up and then around me so quick that (even if it was a buck) I couldn't have reacted that fast.

That's the extent of my hunting career.
Sold the rifle to my brother in law in my mid 30s. Kids came long and I wasn't going out shooting much anymore.

Now I just carry a 40 pound pack and walk thru the forest thinking I'm having a good time. ;)

[Troy]

Hey Lazlo,

I saw on the "What have you done to your Nomad" thread that you're looking for property in Montana. My step father is selling his 1000 acre ranch with property on both side of the Jefferson river. It also goes up into the tabacco root mountains. It has moose, elk, white tail, antelope, sheep, fowl, and fishing. It has private access into forest service land. Go to this you tube video of the property and wildlife. Enjoy!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx-gaOuJA4I&sns=em

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Looks great Troy, but how do I find out how much it is or whatever? I went to the realty website at the end of the video and there's nothing there. This site says it sold: http://www.landsofamerica.com/property/340-Point-of-Rocks-Road-Whitehall-Montana-59759/1023327. Bummer, that looks like heaven and I would have been seriously interested in it.

We looked at a 640 acre parcel and a 1000 acre parcel this past week. I didn't like the 640 acre parcel but the 1000 acres is beautiful.

[Troy]

Lazlo,

Contacts are
Don Parsons 406-366-3216 don@mtland.org

Lloyd Parsons 406-366-3194 Lloyd@mtland.org

tell them Troy, Bob Neary's stepson sent you!! I spent my 16th summer working on Don's cattle ranch.

[BamaNomad]

I totally agree.... really beautiful... like Heaven! Why would anyone who owned that want to sell it??

[Troy]

BamaNomand,

That's what he (my stepfather) does, he'll find another one that's even better. We moved a lot when I was a kid I went to 12 different schools. We even owned a fishing and snowmobile resort in Central Oregon (Deschutes National Forest) called Paulina Lake Resort.

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Hey Troy, you probably know this by now but your stepdad's ranch sold :cry:. I called the realtor and talked to him about it and it was on the market for 2 days. It looks like he really made a great sale on it for only holding it 5 years (according to the realtor). I've been talking to the realtor who took us to look at properties while we were up there and we may be making an offer on the other 1000 acre parcel. I just want to understand a few things about it. It adjoins 200 acres of BLM land that is landlocked and it's pretty much all wooded with a great building site on it. I found out we just missed an ideal 921 acre parcel that I would have loved to have just a few miles from there.

[BamaNomad]

Are you considering moving CN? Or just looking for hunting land?

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Bamanomad, I want hunting land and want to move there too. It's too full of Kooky Kalifornians here in Colorado. The whole Montana county where we're looking at property has about 4,500 people. We're at over 250,000 people here in Larimer County and growing fast. If we can't find a place with a nice home we like we plan to buy bare land an build on it.

[BamaNomad]

Will that put you too far away from the New Belgium Brewing Co? :)

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I can buy New Belgium beer in Montana :). Not sure about Odell's beer though. Those two breweries make my current favorite beers, Citradelic and 5 Barrel. There's at least a half dozen microbreweries in Billings too. :)

I've always said that if you want to get away from people, you can't go where everyone else wants to go. There's always a tradeoff. Everyone seems to want the warmth of Arizona or Florida. Now there's over 10 million people in the Phoenix area and a zillion in Florida too. They want to golf and bask in the sun. I'd rather be in the mountains any day, even if it means enduring some harsher winters.

[BamaNomad]

I have to agree with most of that.. :) My first time in MT was last summer when we attended the CNA Convention in Billings (it was EXTREMELY hot during July there last year!).. After the convention, we drove on up to Glacier NP, then back down thru Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons... It was a good but long trip. I wanted to drive back thru Ft Collins to see if we could visit the New Belgium Brewery (I like their beer also!).. but the friends we were traveling along with wanted to go a different route.. :(

A long time friend (A true blue Ford guy) moved from north Alabama to Montana last year, after first building a *special* garage there for his two *original Cobras*). He told me the first time he and his wife met up with the local MT car club, they each drove one of the Cobras! (Don't you bet they got some attention from that?)... :)

[Troy]

Hey Troy, you probably know this by now but your stepdad's ranch sold :cry:. I called the realtor and talked to him about it and it was on the market for 2 days. It looks like he really made a great sale on it for only holding it 5 years (according to the realtor).

No I didn't know that he had sold it. I don't talk to him much since my mom died. He probably made a nice profit, he always does. He (Bob) was a realtor as well and was one of the top sellers in the state of Montana. Bob could sell you something you already own for twice what you bought it for :D he was that good. Anyway good luck with your property search.

[chevynut]

He probably made a nice profit, he always does.

He made over 3 times his original purchase price. I found the website of a realtor he bought it from and thought that was the selling price now. Talking to our realtor yesterday he told me about a couple of guys who bought a 9700 acre ranch up there and sold it a year later for over 5 times what they paid or it. I guess it's a matter of finding the right buyer.

[Troy]

He made over 3 times his original purchase price.


HOLY S@#T, I guess maybe I'll have to get in touch with him again!!! LOL. I think he already bought another ranch in Oregon.

[WagonCrazy]

I guess it's a matter of finding the right buyer.

LMAO- You mean the ones escaping from California with all their equity in hand, driving up the prices? You better hurry up and buy Laslzo, before even YOU get priced out! :p

[BamaNomad]

I just checked for myself... I'm already priced out.. For my budget, I can only afford 2 Acre ranch, and only wildlife is a hungry coyote... :)

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LMAO- You mean the ones escaping from California with all their equity in hand, driving up the prices? You better hurry up and buy Laslzo, before even YOU get priced out! :p

Yup! The Kalifornians have already driven up the property prices in NW Montana like they have everywhere else. There are still some places where prices are reasonable. I was just informed by our realtor that the owners of the land we're looking at are willing to entertain an offer in our proposed price range, so we'll probably be making one next week. My wife is freaked out. LOL! :) :)

I guess it's Coloradoans driving up the prices where we're looking. While we were up there we ran into two people from Colorado that recently moved there. They had the same complaints about Colorado as I have.

At least when I move I'm not going to try to change the culture there like the Kalifornicators do everywhere they go. I'm looking for a place where the culture is the way I want to live. Look at Jackson Hole. The mayor (probably some dipshit liberal) just took down a picture of Trump even though they have a history of posting pics of the current president. They had no problem with the picture of Obumbler. They Kalifornicated Jackson Hole too, but I saw that coming long ago.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2017/06/12/trump-portrait-removed-by-jackson-hole-mayor-do-not-live-in-dictatorship.html

[BamaNomad]

Maybe we in the remaining 'conservative' states need to implement our own 'statewide immigration' policies to keep out the Kooky Kool-aid Kalifornians and other liberals who want to move in and contaminate our politics? :)

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http://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/f1c2468b4a6f9300622fc16ee430bdd7.jpg

[Troy]

Hey wait Lazlo, I'm from Montana and transplanted into California!! Does your border mean I can't go back to my home land?!?! The last two years I lived in Montana we lived in the Bitter root Valley in a village called Darby. When I left there was an influx of Hollywood stars buying ranches and building huge summer vacation log homes. They were taking over in the early '80's!! The ranch we had there was only 50 acres but with a 1/2 mile of Bitter root river frontage. We used to walk to the river and catch fresh dinner!! We raised sheep and Llama's. The way I figure it, if a I hang out in California eventually they'll all be living in Montana with you!!! :D

[chevynut]

Troy, I'll give you and Paul (Wagoncrazy) a "pass" on this :). I've met Paul in person and he's not one of those loonie tunes idiots who live there. Not sure about you yet. :D I had a boss who was born in Colorado and went to California for a couple of decades, then moved back here. His attitude about a lot of things was clearly influenced by being there, but at least he was a hunter and loved guns. Too bad all the Coloradoans and Montanans who moved to California couldn't change the morons.

[chevynut]

Left home yesterday and I'm in my New Mexico hunting area this afternoon. Elk season doesn't start until Friday so I'm doing some scouting of a few areas I found on google earth for a couple of days. I have 65 water holes marked in my gps. I have phone service today but I'm not sure if I'll have it later as I move deeper into the unit where there's lots of mesas and valleys. I'll be here alone for a week until my hunting partner comes down next Thursday to hunt the last week. Not sure what I'm going to do if i gets my elk before he gets here. :eek:

[NickP]

Splendid spot in God's country, enjoy, be safe and shoot straight.

[Troy]

Good Luck, Enjoy!!!