Quick Tips
- Spend the time and locate a good bull, this is a good unit with good quality
- Bring good optics, maps showing land ownership, and equipment to get a moose out as soon as possible
- The Gravelly Mountains are known grizzly bear habitat, so hunt with a buddy and pack bear spray
On The Ground
This unit is located in southwest Montana and encompasses the entire Ruby Mountain range as well as a portion of the Gravellys and the Snowcrest Range. This is a large unit with very diverse habitat, but excellent diversity for a good moose population.
This unit has a very good moose population and has good quality bulls. This unit is capable of producing bulls to the mid 40” class and occasionally one pushing 50”. Moose numbers are stable with good recruitment. Harvest in the past has been near 100% success.
Terrain
The terrain is extremely diverse from the river and stream bottoms, to literally hundreds of drainages sloping out from all of the different mountain ranges in this unit. Most lower and intermediate slopes are decent for hiking. There are steep remote mountain basins that are heavily forested. There are numerous wet boggy areas scattered throughout the entire unit both in the open slopes and in the forested areas.
Roughly 1589 square miles
62% public land
Elevations from 5,000-9,700 feet
Vegetation
The areas along the Ruby River have good willow cover. There are pockets of willow and quaking aspen scattered throughout the entire unit. Most of the lower slopes and extensive open areas are grass and sagebrush. Mid slopes are forested with conifers of fir, pine, and spruce but have many wet meadows and an intermixing of the quaking aspens and willows again. There are also heavily forested areas with grassy wet meadows in the valleys. There are extensive Mountain Mahogany patches that the moose browse on at mid slope elevation on the south facing slopes.
Access
A majority of the unit is BLM or Forest Service. The area around Ruby Reservoir is private but some access is allowed. The lower Ruby portion has quite a bit of private, but there is Block Management available. There are numerous roads throughout the entire unit. There are also several Forest Service trails through the unit and some areas that a horse would be of great benefit.
ATVs may be extremely useful but check with the Forest Service office in Dillon for current regulations
Be in good physical condition, the mountains are steep and the only way to access a lot of it is on foot or horseback
Highways 287 and Highway 41, to Gravelly Ridge Road, Blacktail Road, and Sweetwater Road will get you throughout this unit
Camping and Lodging
There are numerous places to camp in the unit on public ground and there are Forest Service campgrounds in the unit. Ruby Reservoir is in this unit with good fishing. Dillon and Ennis have several gas stations, restaurants, and motels.
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