Heading to Montana in October...Elk Hunting....Yea.

[Ottawa Creek Bill]

My son William and I were successfully drawn for our Montana big game tags (licenses) for Elk/Deer this year. Going to hunt just north of Thompson Falls and west of the Kallespel (Flat Head) Indian reservation.

This will be my seventh trip hunting in Montana, my fourth time to this area and Williams first time hunting Elk in the mountains of Montana........can't wait, gonna start running next week to get in shape.

Bill

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Great, Bill & William!

Congratulations!!!

[Silver Creek Slim]

Congrats, Bill.
BTW, we were in Lakeside and Kalispell in '95. Beautiful area.

Slim

[James Hunt]

Bill: Should you turn up lame come fall, I will take responsibility and step in to procure meat for your family !

I've have only been in Kalispel once, but the country about there is beautiful. You should stop in and see Rick Bachmann of Old West Reproductions as he lives out there, I have never met him but I own a couple of his holsters and when I got lost out there called him for directions, he was very obliging and told me to stop in if I wanted too.

[Ottawa Creek Bill]

James,
Where we hunt is just south of Hwy 2 thats runs through Kallespel and the entrance to Glacier Park. Unfortunately I won't have a lot of time for socializing as we only have 10 days to spend in the mountains...

The area I hunt I am very familiar with as I have hunted there many times. We do plan on stopping at the National Bison Range on the way there as I have a friend that works there I haven't seen in many years and I want to stop and say hello. It is located on the Flathead reservation proper....I plan on taking a lot of photos.

We both have .54 caliber Pedersoli Hawken rifles that we are going to hunt with the first couple of days for deer...and we also have our modern 300 win mags for bigger and better game such as Elk/Moose, and if need be Grizzly. On this tag we can take both Elk and Deer. and we plan on getting a Mountain Lion tag too since this is a prime are for big cats.

The price of the combination tags were $676.00 each this year, sounds high, but if you consider that in 1974 when I first hunted this area they were $375.00, they really haven't gone up that much. In 1974 you could get a guided hunt in Montana (around the Martinsdale area) for $175.00 for a seven day Muzzleloading Elk/Deer hunt, private ranch, complete with horses.

Now check out what they cost. Fortunately for us, I know the area well enough that we don't need a guide.

Now, I'm not a trophy hunter so if any of you custom grip makers are interested in Elk antlers, let me know... and I do have a beautiful set of New Zealand Red Stag antlers as I write this...

Bill