When There Was Time To Hunt

By Diane Tipton, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Statewide Information Officer

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Back in the 1900s, O.D. Robertson guided hunts on the Rocky Mountain Front. He described one of his secret spots on the north fork of the Sun River in detail in an account published in Outdoor Life Magazine in 1913 titled "Elk Hunting In Montana."

Robertson came by his work as a guide honestly. When he was 15, he worked on the Two-Bar Cattle ranch on the Smith River where he rode with 40 other cowpunchers, including Charlie Russell. Later he worked as a bookkeeper in Marysville until the town burned in the 1890s, and he was a friend of Chief Plenty Coups of the Crow tribe. He participated in the gold stampede to Alaska, and then married in 1904 and settled near Great Falls to ranch.

The hunt he wrote about began Nov. 3, 1911. It may have been a dream-hunt even for an outdoorsman of his day.

Robertson led six men from the "Falls" to Glenn Creek, a small fork of the north fork of the Sun River, close to Goat Mountain.

Driving two four-horse teams loaded for a two-week hunt, the trip north took three and a half days. The wagons and harnesses were stowed near an old cabin used by the Forest Service and the gear loaded on horseback for the last 15 miles to where the hunting camp was set up just before dark.

The next morning dawned frosty in the 10- by 12-foot sleeping tent equipped with "a great many specialties" that Robertson declined to describe. A second eight- by 10- foot tent sheltered supplies, oats, packsaddles and other gear including a "knock-down" camp stove that folded to four inches by two feet long and two feet wide.

The hunters all carried .30-.40 Winchesters and used .30-.40 U.S. army cartridges.

As the guide and "boss packer," Robertson directed the men to suitable hunting locations. He sent three fellows up Glenn Creek; two others to Goat Mountain, and he took a man with him toward the head of Moose Creek.

"The elk tracks were so thick you could not follow one to save your life, and they were getting fresher all the time," Robertson said.

He soon spotted buckskin-colored fur in the timber and pointed it out to his partner who fired twice, but wildly.

"I grabbed him by the shoulder and shook him severely, for I saw he had a very bad attack of elk or buck fever," Robertson said.

The hunter got down to steady himself, got the big bull elk in his sights and brought it down. They skinned and hung the meat and Robertson took the head on his back for the return trip to camp late afternoon. On the way, he shot a white-tailed buck.

  Also on the first day of hunting, a man Robertson described as a fine marksman and dedicated hunter, brought down a seven-point bull elk with one shot.

"That evening we built a fine campfire and roasted elk ribs," Robertson said. "I thought Ed and Mac would founder themselves on them before they got enough."  

After six days—three spent hunting and another three hunkered down in a blizzard, it took the men three trips to pack all the game meat and heads for mounting from camp downhill to the wagons.

Lacking today’s flexible cameras, this party waited for two additional days in hopes the sun would shine so they could get a picture. The weather never cleared, so they headed back to Great Falls without photographs. The return trip took five days.

"We had the finest lot of meat ever brought out of that section," Robertson recounted. The party had harvested seven elk, 21 deer, four mountain sheep, one goat and one bear.

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Editors Note:

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks records show that the 1909-1910 Game and Fish Laws of the State of Montana set limits for a hunting season from Oct. 1 to Dec. 1. Limits were one elk, mountain goat, and mountain sheep per person. Hunters could take three deer per season. It was unlawful to kill at any time: moose, bison, buffalo, caribou, antelope, beaver, quail, Chinese pheasants, Hungarian pheasants or turtle doves, and a number of other birds and song birds. The primary resident hunting license to hunt and fish was $1, and the primary nonresident license to hunt and fish was $25.