Montana hunt: Postscript

I have stayed in touch with my father-in-law, Bob Guditis, of Great Falls, MT, since my family and I went there for an antelope hunt in late October. The deer and elk season opened while we were there and Bob and his daughter, Jessica Gray, and her husband, Jerry, continued to hunt after we left. They've been e-mailing pictures to me of their success. Jerry and Jessica each bagged a cow elk and Jerry also got a dandy mule deer buck. Bob also shot a nice whitetail buck.

I'm very happy to hear of their success. All three of them, plus Bob's wife, Sharon, did so much to help my family and I have a great trip and a great hunt. I'm thrilled they could receive this kind of reward for their charity toward us. Not only that, they will have some great eating ahead. Elk is at the top when it comes to flavorful game meats, and they shot young cows, which may be the best eating of all. They already have tried some and said it's fantastic.

They are capitalizing on an amazing phenomenon in Montana -- too many elk. The state believes that more elk need to be shot, particularly, cows, and so it extended the season by two weeks. Hopefully, that will give Bob time to fill his tag. I found out that over-the-counter elk tags are not hard to get in Great Falls, so I may try for that next year. If it's delicious meat you're looking for, this is the ticket. Even the small cows Jerry and Jessica shot still weigh about 400 pounds each, which should yield more meat than even a big Minnesota whitetail buck.

I highly recommend a Montana elk hunt. You also can get a mule deer or whitetail tag to go with it and they even sell a combination deer and elk tag. I will warn you that the rules and regulations for Montana are complicated and detailed, so it pays to look at them before applying for a tag. Visit Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks' web site at: www.fwp.mt.gov.