My buddy and I have hunted 301 south of Bozeman for the past 2 years for Elk. Last year we saw waaay to many people for our taste and it caused the elk to be very tight lipped. We are looking into going to 315 and the Crazies if we don't get drawn for our permit hunt. We do have an outside chance we might be able to get on a private ranch but it's not looking too promising right now.
I have read the threads about private landlocked lands and how you can't cross diagonally, etc. I want to have all the private land understood etc. for wherever we end up going. I have been on the Montana Cadastral site looking at the map of the Crazies. There is a lot of private land blocks in the middle of the National Forest. Is this accurate? I would have thought the inter-mixing of private/NF land would have been on the edges of the National Forest? Please let me know as the intermixing seems to be far more interspersed than I previously thought. I know there are GPS maps which map the private lands, etc. but I was just curious as to how much you guys trusted these online mapping resources.
Thanks
Crazies are what you say they are. Not the easiest to transverse. I bought my GPS chip precisely for the areas you mentioned.
I do know a guy that rifle killed a Huge bull there last year, so it's not impossible.
Double check your GPS map against a real map before you hunt a piece, especially the state lands. Some of them are not state TRUST lands, and don't allow hunting. The GPS cards often just show "state" lands which will include those that can't be hunted.
Also, corner hopping is still prohibited, though most county attorneys would most likely not prosecute anyone for it. But bet your last dollar a landowner catching you doing it will make a big deal out of it and ruin your day - for what is worth.