WHERE, WHEN, AND HOW WE HUNT

Deer - General Season | Deer - Archery Season | Antelope - Archery Season
Spring Turkeys | Prarie Dog Hunts

DEER - GENERAL SEASON

Like every dyed-in-the-wool deer hunter, you've probably had that dream. You know the one, where you've just scrambled up the side of a remote ridge in a far-away place, then belly-crawled 25 yards through the brush to wiggle into position near your guide. He points slightly to your right and tells you to raise your head-slowly. You slip off your hat and, binoculars at the ready, you ease up just above the foreground brush for a quick peek. Sure enough, just 200 yards distant, the gray-faced old mule deer is still in his bed, antlers arcing outside his two-foot wide donkey ears, ten points glistening in the sun. You brace your rifle, and nudge the safety forward. Even before your finger finds the trigger, you can feel your palms against those hard, polished beams ... visualize the beautiful mount, alert and lifelike, hanging in a place of honor on your den wall. Then you pick a tuft of hair, let the crosshairs settle, and squeeze off a perfectly placed shot.

Your Cedar Breaks story may unfold just like that. .. or, it may be entirely different. Why? Because we're blessed with hunting lands that are widely diverse in their topography: rolling breaks and badlands abut steep pine ridges, and serpentine river bottoms wind through mixed agricultural lands. You can sit in stands or ground blinds, make short stalk from the four-wheel drive trucks we use for access, or day-hike arid sage ridges or steep mountains of mixed brush and evergreens .... your choice. We can accommodate the needs and physical capabilities of any hunter. If you are a good hiker, you may have more opportunity to harvest the biggest bucks, but marathon fitness is not required to harvest trophy-class animals.

That' s because great mule deer inhabit all these varied terrain features. Where they are at any gIven time is affected by both the weather and onset of the 'rut.' BIg bucks may be more available during the breeding season, but we take trophy-class deer from the September Bow opener until Thanksgiving dinner is just a memory. If big deer are your passion, the rut hunts produce very good mule deer and whitetail bucks for riflemen, and patient, stealthy bowhunters can use our carefully placed stands to score from opening day to season's end.

All of our hunts are fair chase, no fence, and are conducted across 100,000 acres of premium private ranch land that's managed for mature bucks. Besides excetional mule deer hunting, we also have several ranches that produce trophy whitetail bucks in the 150" class every season. Our one and only goal is to see you have a great time while harvesting the buck of your dreams. Simply put, we spare no effort in positioning you to take that once-in-a-lifetime trophy. Once you see what we offer, I Know we'll soon be welcoming you into our warm lodge, and introducing you to some of the best deer hunting in North America!

DEER - ARCHERY SEASON

In an archer's hunting dreams, success comes after tedious, creeping two-hour stalk. The buck is now bedded just 28 yards distant. Only his antlers show above the brush. After another hour, the buck's antlers rock forward, and he stands to stretch. Alerted, you were ready, and your arrow is already on the way toward the crease behind the his shoulder before he sees you. The buck launches into the last frantic run of his life, but robbed of oxygen by a precise double-lung hit, he loses his footing 50 yards down the hill and slides nose first into the brown grass.

Bow seasons start in early September for deer. Bucks have not been hunted, and they are still in bachelor groups and moving predictably. See a buck moving from a field to a certain ridge on one day, and he'll likely follow the same general routine daily until he's disturbed, or the weather changes. Once you've found where he eats and sleeps, you are well on your way to punching your tag. Stalking deer after they bed for the morning has been the undoing of many a wide-racked trophy. Warm weather also makes sitting blinds over water a very productive method for both mulies and whitetails.

Ground blinds or tree stands between lush feed and thick bedding areas produce shots at both species, but are more often used by whitetail hunters. Exclusive archery seasons end before the late October rifle seasons open, but archers can hunt during rifle season, and pursue bucks during the rut.

In Summary: Both hunting time-frames have advantages. Early hunts are great because there is no better time to tag a big, fat, lazy buck before he gets wised-up by hunting pressure, Later, rifle hunts during the October pre-rut and November rut will again up the odds of catching the biggest bucks flat-footed, cruising for does since November finds both whitetail and mulies moving more in daylight hours.

ANTELOPE - ARCHERY SEASON

Early archery season (mid-August through late September), the most productive method for archers is sitting in a ground blind over water. Temperatures climb into the 70s or higher most days, and antelope absolutely need to drink once or twice daily, sometimes more during the mid-September rut. Patience will result in opportunities at bucks in the 14-16" category at ranges of 15-30 yards. If you practice shooting from a blind before you come, your chance of success increases, and understanding what makes a trophy buck is a real plus. Bucks with horns over 13-14" and decent prongs and mass will usually exceed the 67-point Pope & Young minimum.

Have you taken antelope over water, and want to try something different? For real excitement, try decoying herd bucks during the rut. Dominant antelope bucks will often angrily charge a decoy displayed near their harem. Dominant bucks often run in to just 10 to 30 yards distant and capable archers who can stay cool, and shoot quickly, can take advantage of these up close and personal opportunities. After just one of these fast-paced encounters, you'll be hooked.

In some areas, spot and stalk hunts are an option. Stalking antelope in short prairie grass may be one of archery's greatest challenges. Patience and endurance are keys to success, as it's common to make many attempts on bedded bucks before a good shot is presented. Be ready to shoot out to 60 yards to maximize your chances.

In Summary: Pronghorns are arguably the most unique and colorful big game trophy in the west. They are under-utilized and under-appreciated, but offer bowhunters great hunting excitement and variety for a very reasonable cost. Highly recommended!

SPRING TURKEYS - ARCHERY OR SHOTGUN

It’s been said that turkeys are the big game of the upland bird hunting world. If you’ve ever sat with your back against a tree as a big tom comes sneaking in to investigate your best seductive hen talk....seen him warily eye every blade of grass and leaf for signs of danger, then fan his tail and strut on in....you know it’s true. The excitement builds with every passing minute. At last, the shot presents itself, and in a second the long-beard tom is kicking in the grass. The reality of your accomplishment sinks as you put your hands on one of the most elusive and beautiful trophies any sportsman can take.

Here, at Cedar Breaks Outfitting, we focus on big toms, and we only take a few each spring season to keep our flocks strong and productive. Hunting with shotgun is very much like spot and stalk hunts for big game with calling added. We know most of the roosting areas, and try to be close at morning fly-down, but walking river bottoms and blind calling to breeding flocks will often get a response. That allows us to press in close, set up, and call toms in for a shot. In many ways, it’s a lot like elk hunting...and, for dedicated bird hunters, just as exciting.

Archers can be successful using the same methods, though drawing a bow unseen by an approaching tom will add to the challenge. Archers may benefit from use of a blind to conceal motion, and a decoy will help place a bird in a predictable spot for a shot opportunity.

Hunts occur in April and May. There are several hundred Merriam's turkeys on our home ranch, and many more on our leased properties. If big beards and long spurs excite you, focus you sights on a spring gobbler hunt in Powder River country. Very affordable fun at a time of year when the weather is mild and most hunters are months away from opening day. Try it once, and you’ll want to make it a rite of spring every year!

PRARIE DOG SHOOT - A TEST OF ACCURATE SHOOTING

The wide open, wind-swept grasslands of eastern Montana offers precision shooting opportunities like few marksmen ever experience. Here, prairie dog towns cover thousands of acres and give home to hundreds of thousands of these ever hungry sod poodles. Dog towns are notoriously bare of vegetation because the ever expanding rodent population crops everything edible within a substantial area around their burrows, and their holes present a real hazard to livestock. For that reason, prairie dogs are not the landowner’s favorite resident.

Our many hunting leases afford precision marksmen nearly unlimited ability to test their skills, their equipment, and their ammunition in ways not possible at formal rifle ranges. Varying wind angles, lighting, and ranges from a few yards to nearly a thousand yards will test any rifleman’s accuracy under field conditions, and firing hundreds of rounds a day affords a training situation sure to improve any shooter’s long range competence. Bring several rifles, a portable bench, and plenty of ammo for a Big Sky shooting experience you’ll never forget.