scottb

nice looking bears buddy!! Hope you have a great season.

Congrats to you and your son! I am so very glad that you folks were able to come on out to NW MT and experience all that it has to offer. i sincerly hope that you can once again return to the area and enjoy another great MT. experience.

Congratulations US NAVY SEAL team 6, job well done!!!

Just heard on the news this morning that congress took the gray wolf off the endangered species list in Montana, and Idaho!! They have turned the responsibility of the management of them over to the states FWP departments. This is some of the best news I could have heard. Looks like wolf season will be back on the table!! Now if Montana's legislature can get off their butt's and work with fwp, we might even be able to hunt them this fall!!

You picked a fine rifle and a great calibur. I've been hunting big game here in Montana for over 30 years, and for almost everyone of them i hunted with a Savage 110 in 30'06. Was absolutely never disappointed in performance of the rifle, and shooting federal Premium loads i was never disappointed in the ammo. The old 30'06 is absolutely more then enough gun to bring down a moose, i've taken 2 moose over the years with mine, as well as several elk, numerous deer, and 15 bears. Heck i've even used it to take antelope in Eastern Montana, and coyotes here in the west. Once you start shooting it, it will be come addictive, again great choice!!

Ben, you know what my answer would be, and i hunt the animals that you are talking about.

I shoot the exact same ammo for target as i do for carry. It has never made sense to me to shoot a bullet that will not function the same as the bullet i'm going to use to protect my or my families safety. The reason for carrying a weapons is to defend ones self, so why in the world would someone put thier training, and practice into a bullet that they have no intention of using to do the job. I shoot 220gr federal hydroshock out of my .45acp.

I tried some wolf ammo in my 30-06 one time. The first shot fired fine and had no problems with ejecting the case, the second and third rounds were a different story however. Had some issues getting the second one to eject, and the third one was a nightmare. The case expanded so far that i had to kick my bolt open with my boot, then stomp on the bolt handle to get it to eject the case. I see you guys are using them in an AR platform and i have never shot anything but made in the USA on mine, so i can't give any field advise there, but i will say this, i will never again shoot russian ammo out of any of my guns, other then my ak's and sks's. It just isn't worth screwing up one of my bolt guns to save 10.00 on ammo.

Because i forgot to also ask, what effect do you feel the wolves are having?

Doin this as a favor for my wife who needs the answers for a college assignment. So the question is, How do you as a hunter feel about the wolf recovery out west, or specifically in Montana?

Well in the case of not just my kids deer, but of most of the game our warden up here takes when there have been mistakes, the entire animal is taken into the local butcher shop and processed, then it is taken down to either the food bank or the senior citizens center, or both places. No animal is wasted and we are very lucky that we have a warden that not only does a magnificent job, but truely cares about people that live in the community that he works in. We could have easily kept quite about the deer as we already had it at home, but, and here is the kicker, i am trying to raise my kids that it is paramount to the future of our hunting heritage that we ALWAYS do the right thing. I really don't know how i could have faced my boy had i told him to just get the deer into the house and we'll keep it, not after explaining to him for years before he ever fired his first shot and in the last 5 years of his hunting about being responsible when it comes to hunting. Plus, at least here, he got to see the better side of taking responsibility for his actions.

I agree with all of you, it was absolutely the right thing to do, but...............the bright side is, that it gives me something to rib him about for quite some time !!!!

My son went out hunting saturday with a family friend and pulled off a bonehead mistake. He was uphill from two whitetail deer, the first one was a decent 3x3 buck and the other was a big doe. The shot was about 80 yards down hill, and the rifle was zeroed for 300. Well, the kid just over shoots the buck, and drills the doe in the neck, drops her like a bad habit. This year, in the districts that we hunt, fish & game closed the taking of does to anyone over the age of 15. My son just turned 17. Anyway, he dresses it out and brings it home, we call the warden and he stops by. The kid explained what happened and the warden understood it was a mistake. He issued my son a warning, confiscated the deer, and took his deer tag. The kid is kinda bummed about that, but i told him it was better then getting a huge fine, and losing hunting privleges for 2 years, besides it was just his deer tag, he got to keep his elk tag and can still hunt them. I talked to him after the warden left, and he said he was more affraid about comeing home and telling me then he was about the warden. Yes, the warden could issue him a ticket, but he has to live with me.......lol

I'm going to go the other way of all the guys. Yes the RR is more accurate, and you can customize it like crazy, but it is still an ar platform, and when you look at the combat reliablity of the ar vs the ak, the ak wins hands down every single time. If you want a rifle that you will have to take extremely good care of so it will shoot everytime get the ar. If you want a rifle that will fire if you forget to clean it after 50 trips to the gun range and then dropped in the mud and washed off with a garden hose get the ak. Dependability when i absolutely need the weapon to work is the single most important factor i look at when choosing a firearm, and for that reason alone i choose the ak.

Do not ever shoot any of the russian ammo in your savage, it will not like it and you will have problems everytime. I had the same thing happen on a hunt, and the way i got my bolt free was to lift the handle and STOMP on it to froce it open. I got home and check the brass from that bullet and it had expandend to the point that it split open after the shot. The only thing that will ever shoot russian ammo of mine is my sks, and my ak.

I've hunted here in Montana for over 30 years and have guided hunters during many of those 30. The one thing for absolute sure is that the .270 would be an absolute great gun to bring on this hunt. That being said, let me give you the same advise i gave to all my hunters. If you have two rifles that you can shoot and shoot well, bring them both. It is always nice when you aren't hunting your home area to have a trusted back up, just in case. Hope this helps.

That in an absolute downpour or blizzard when you are half hypothermic that your fire starter will work or that you can work it? For me the answer is an absolute yes! I tend to carry at least 3 road flares in my main pack and 2 flares in my fanny pack. At the temps and time frame that the flares burn at, it leaves no doubt that i can have a fire going in the worst of weather conditions. Other fire starters that i have seen or played with work if everything is at the worst marginal. Personally, i want something that will work when things are at the worst. The flares don't take up much space, they weigh almost nothing and in an "emergency" i know i can get them to work. I do also carry petroleumjelly coated cotton balls and a flint and steel lighter for just starting a small fire when i just need to warm up a bit, but my emergency fire starter is and has been for years, road flares.

Go for it, as long as you make shot placement paramount. Regardless of calibur shot placement should be top on the list just so you get a clean, humane kill.

mine have never appeared to be any slicker then a regular wood stock, i do think that they are just a tad heavier.

Well if you want to look at nw montana, take a look at Kootenai High Country Hunting. Contact Dave Hayward@ 406-882-4868. He's a great outfitter and his guides really know what they are doing.

Not sure how well it would work on a deer, but the match grade 168gr bthp is the most accurate bullet on the market for the .308 and it does a magnificent job on humans.....lol

I've used the 180gr. partition for years. It has never failed me. 20+ years of hunting bears, 13 dead. All taken with the federal premium 180 gr partition bullet. Clean, fast, kills.

Way to go bud, great pic and congrats!!! Hope you had a great time!!

The deer will eat on the browse until the first green up of the other vegetation in the cut area. They will still continue to occasionally hit the browse, but their main focus is going to be the new growth, as the nutrional value of the browse from the cutting has deteriorated over the winter months and has very little value now. They will even come back to it this fall and winter, but it won't be the draw that it was due to the lack of nutrients.