MT Bull gets wish to be a TV star
Elk
Since Montana elk season is now open, I thought I would post a link to this episode where we found a bull that posed for the camera, hoping he could be a TV star. I decided to grant him that wish.
This is an isolated parcel of BLM land where you can only access by air. And a lot of people do that, either with private aircraft or with commercial transporters. If you plan it right, the transport cost is about $700 per guy, so long as you don't haul in piles of production gear like we are burdened with.
It is raining in most of Montana today, with snow forecast for elevations above 6,000'. I hope that is making for better success rates.
Note to self - When wearing only your light weight clothes, don't stay out on the mountain overnight. And if you forgot that you had an emergency blanket stashed in your pack and failed to give it to your camera guy that cold night on the mountain, he will probably punch you when he finds out about that the next day.
That was a great episode!
i really enjoyed that show.
Well done! Good luck this year.
A good watch for sure
Congrats
Good luck, Robb
That is awesome! I know a place like this in Colorado and we have contemplated flying in, but not in our budget.
SlipShot - I tried to do the same on some BLM land in Colorado, but after burning points for the deer tag I was informed I could not hunt those BLM lands with my deer tag, as those public BLM lands were enrolled in the 3Forks Ranching For Wildlife operation.
Under CO Commission Rule, the RFW operator controls hunting on any enrolled BLM lands. In other words, my public draw tag was not valid on those BLM lands.
If you do plan a fly-in hunt on BLM lands in CO, check to make sure the lands are not enrolled in a RFW program, as you will not be able to use your public draw tag, even if it is public land.
Randy- this is one of the frustrations I find with public land, it seems that things get land locked and the public gets the shaft, these operations seem to get huge parcels of ground without paying taxes or anything on it and get all the benefits to themselves. This situation seems more or less double locked by land and red tape, I follow you on here and on youtube, while my home state of Indiana doesn't quite have the issues you and many others have out west, it sill exists here and burns my rear every time I hear about it. Please keep up the fight to keep public lands public and keep in mind that I and many other folks thank you for that!
Public land should always have an access point. Defeats the purpose of public land if it doesn't.
In CA, there is no such thing as a landlocked private parcel. You may have to sue to get access and pay beaucoup bucks for it, but whatever is deemed the most reasonable access requires the owner of the land over which the access is located to allow it.
It would be a good thing if the Federal government were interested in requiring similar access rights. Heck, it could be a hike in and out only deal, or simply requiring adjacent checkerboard owners to allow folks to jump the corners. An old and ongoing argument. Bad news that there is some 'special' BLM land reserved for 'special' interests. Our public land heritage is disappearing as we watch.
Big Fin, I had no idea. How can that even be legal? BLM is basically giving ownership of public land to private land owners. Does this trade include a financial transaction?
Restricting access to public land is wrong even though its legal. Everyone knows its wrong but some landowners and outfitters purposely do and its always for money.
Randy, thoroughly enjoyed watching your show, thanks for sharing.
Awesome, great adventure! My group was about to do a similar hunt last year. Your show for sure put some more ideas in our head! What would you do different if you had the tag again? Thanks
Great stuff man. God Bless
Just watched it. Nicely done.
Thanks for posting Randy. I enjoy your shows and appreciate your advocacy.
Hope this episode shows up on my DVR... congrats Randy; I'm a relatively new fan but really, really liking what I'm seeing in your love of public-land hunting. I've started listening to your podcasts too. :)
Very cool video - enjoyed that.
I do have an innocent question though (hope it doesn't sound bad): The weather was hot and you weren't willing to kill that cow, then why were you hunting at all...? Were you willing to take the risk of meat spoilage with a bull...? Just wondering, thanks!
Liked the video but love your attitude even more. You hunt for the right reasons.
There are exceptions to the rule, but elk hunting is not for people with weak bodies or minds. Great stuff. Great attitude. Way to not give up. Congratulations.
Great stuff Randy!
congrats and thanks for posting it up!
Kill any grouse lately?:)
Mark
wild1 - Randy can answer if I am wrong, but I thought the idea was they had a set time to get picked up by the helicopter. Maybe his plan was to shoot no elk until a day or two before his ride came back?
Amoebus - Could be. But then why was he hiking around with a bow in his hand....?
I suspect that if they killed a bull, they'd call in the helicopter and leave the area to hunt a cow elsewhere, but that they were hesitant to incur the expense of an extra flight to take a cow out with them remaining to hunt bulls...plus the logistics of who would take possession of the cow and care for the meat.
Just a guess, but I doubt that his intent was to be just hiking around with a bow in his hand.
That makes sense, those birds are expensive.
