Quick Tips
- Late in the season, roads can become very snow-packed -tire chains are recommended
- GPS with landowner overlay
- You are in a good quality moose district, so spend the time and harvest a good bull
On The Ground
This district is located in southwest Montana and is just north of Bozeman. It encompasses the entire Bridger Mountain range. The district extends from the Shields River on the east to the Missouri River on the west and Interstate 90 on the south.
Moose numbers are doing well in this district, and it is proposed to raise the tag numbers from three to four in 2015. There is good quality bull moose in this district with bulls taken in the past to mid 40”s and currently the Montana Pope and Young record is from this district. A large portion of the moose habitat is on national forest land. There is good access to this district throughout the entire season.
Terrain
The district starts at the rivers on all sides and rises to peaks of over 9,600 feet at the top of the Bridgers. The area adjacent to the rivers are gently sloping open terrain until the foot hills start. On the west side of the Bridgers the mountains jut up out of the valley floor rising sharply, mostly very steep terrain. On the east side the mountains extend out for several miles with lots of fairly gently sloping hills. There is also a small set of forested hills to the east called the Bangtails.
Roughly 203 square miles
16.2% public land
Elevations from 4,000-9,650 feet
Vegetation
The riparian areas along the various rivers as well as most of the streams are mostly willows, cottonwoods, dogwood, rose and brush. There are irrigated agricultural fields adjacent to all the major tributaries. Adjacent to these are mostly open grasslands with a mixture of sagebrush and some juniper and cedar. Upon reaching the base of the mountain it is mostly forested with fir, spruce and pine. There are numerous wet lush pockets on the east side of the mountain.
Access
Much of this district is national forest lands with good access on the west side and some access on the east side. Bridger Bowl ski area is on the east side and a lot of private ground south of the ski hill, north of the ski area is national forest with decent access. Moose can be found along the river and stream corridors also and this is basically all private but some access is allowed if asked.
ATVs will be handy and are allowed in most of the drainages, but check the regulations at the Bozeman Forest Service office
Most of this district can be hunted on foot via vehicle access
Highway 89, 86, and 290 will get you access to most of the trailheads in this district
Camping and Lodging
There are numerous places to camp throughout the district on the national forest and there are several Forest Service campgrounds in the district. Bozeman is on the southern edge of the district and has numerous motels, gas, restaurants and sporting goods stores.
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