Opening day of Montana’s general rifle elk season is one of those mornings that gets under your skin — the kind where you’re up at 3 a.m. staring at OnX, second-guessing every decision you made the week before. Luke and his hunting partner from SPKGear went into opening day with a simple plan: get on public land, find a bull, and close the distance on foot. No outfitter, no private access, no guarantees. That’s Montana elk hunting the way most of us do it, and this video captures exactly what that grind looks like when it actually comes together.
What makes spot-and-stalk elk hunting on Montana public land genuinely hard — and genuinely rewarding — is that there’s no shortcut. Montana’s general deer and elk season typically opens the last Sunday of October, giving hunters one of the longest rifle seasons in the West, but those early days are everything. Bulls are still moving, the rut hangover is real, and if you’ve done your glassing homework, you’ve got a window before hunting pressure pushes elk deep into the timber or onto private ground. The hunters in this video clearly put in that pre-season legwork, and it shows in how quickly they locate a bull worth chasing.
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks manages millions of acres of public land accessible to any hunter with a valid elk license — and for general B tags, that access is widespread across most of the state. The challenge has never been the permission. It’s the country itself. Spot and stalk on open terrain demands patience, wind awareness, and the physical fitness to close a gap fast when the opportunity presents itself. Watch how Luke and his partner handle the approach — it’s the kind of decision-making that doesn’t get talked about enough in hunting content, and it’s directly applicable whether you’re hunting the foothills east of the Rockies or the breaks along the Missouri.
If you’ve been sitting on a general elk tag and wondering whether public land DIY hunting is still viable in Montana, this video is your answer. It’s not easy, but it’s absolutely happening. Give it a watch before your next scouting trip — and then go put some boots on the ground.
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