2025 River Ranch Hunting

HUNTING ON RIVER RANCH

IMPORTANT 2025 HUNTING APPLICATION DEADLINE!

April 1, 2025 Hunting Application Deadline! Deer Unit: 580

Antelope License deadline is June 1. Antelope hunt unit: 590 for rifle, 900-20 Bow.

Sandhill Crane permit deadline is July 24. Sandhill Crane hunt unit: 586-01. (Permit is free, but you must apply and if you draw, you can shoot 2).

Montana Bowhunting Application:

• https://fwp.mt.gov/buyandapply

2025 HUNTING SEASON INFORMATION

• River Ranch Bowhunt Only Plan

RIVER RANCH HUNTING GUIDELINES

100% only Bow Hunting

Hunting Limited To: Whitetail Deer, Mule Deer Buck, Antelope Buck, Black Bear Boar, Coyote

No Hunting For: Mule Deer Doe, Antelope Doe, Bobcat, Fox

RIVER RANCH HUNTING OVERVIEW

This is a Non-Guided hunt (Steve is not a registered guide/outfitter). Steve will provide maps and point out tree stand locations and ground blinds. All stands (ground blinds and tree stands) are marked as way points on both the OnX Hunt app and the HuntStand Pro app. Please have these apps pre-loaded on your phones or tablets. As of 2023, there are 10 tree stands and 8 Ground blinds for deer, and 4 ground blinds for antelope. There will be no “Spot and Stalk” hunting for deer on the River Ranch. OK for antelope.

For the 2022 season, Steve leased another 640 acres for hunting from the ranch to our West boundary. None of this area was hunted in 2022, and tree stands, and blinds must be set up, which will occur in 2023. This will add another 3-4 tree stands and 2-3 ground blinds for the deer hunting opportunity.

Hunting Habitat: The ranch consists of 1274 deeded acres and 640 acres of a state lease.  The ranch has 3.2 miles of the Musselshell river running through if with many bends and turns along the way.  Much of the river bottom is filled with willows and cottonwood trees. Lots and lots of cover for deer. Away from the river bottom, we have 150 acres under pivots with Alfalfa and alfalfa/orchard grass. And 100 acres under pivots, with just natural grass.  Looking forward, additional acres will be converted to alfalfa/grass mixes and food plots with cereal grains and Brassicas.

The fee plan: was developed to give friends an opportunity for a great hunt and spend time on a beautiful Montana ranch for minimal fixed cost if they do not harvest an animal. If animal harvested, they pay a landowner trophy fee. Hunters are happy paying a trophy fee if successful. There is not another place in Montana that you can have a private ranch hunt (for elk, deer, antelope, and bear) of this quality, for a low cost of entry, and when an animal shot, the total cost is still under market, as compared to a guided hunt on a private ranch.

Number Of Hunters:  Deer hunters will be limited to no more than eight in a season. Regarding Antelope hunters, the limit will be no more than six per season but drawing the Antelope tag takes 2-3 years of preference points. In the past years, generally only 1-2 hunters.  Hunting is allowed only when Steve is on the ranch. The goal is to have trophy animals on the place and to not over harvest.

River Ranch Property Boundary (including state lease)

​Ranch Housing: The ranch house and finished basement will sleep 6-7 folks and has two full bathrooms, both with showers. It also has a washer and dryer for clothing. Internet is provided via Star Link. Cell phones work at the ranch house.

River Ranch Shop: the shop is heated, and within the shop there is a room (12 by 20 Ft) designed for hanging/skinning game. This room has running hot/cold water with a double stainless sink, 72-inch stainless table to butcher on and floor drain. Additionally, there is a large freezer to store caps or such.  From the ceiling, there are two winches for hanging game up to skin.

Regarding Hunting: (Bow Hunting Only for Deer/Antelope) Deer bow season opens the 1st Saturday of September. Antelope bow opens 8/15 each year.  The ranch has a very healthy population of white tail deer and antelope. It is very common to see 50-150 white deer in the fields north of the river in the fall. It is very common to see 10-20 antelope in the large section of land (about 900 acres) south of the river, depending on time of year and hunting pressure (the antelope move in herds from ranch to ranch, so the numbers vary from year to year). Mule deer numbers are very limited. Some years you have 6-8 in the bottom area, some years you see none. Very hit and miss on mule deer. Regarding antelope in the south section of ranch, the ranch property is surrounded by 3 sides by the Duncan Colony of the Hutterites. They allow rifle hunting by the day, at a rate of $50/hunter per day hunted. As such after rifle season opens on the 2nd Saturday of October, the antelope tend to move onto the MMJR which has not had any rifle hunting since 2016.The state section of the ranch north of Hwy 12 also has a group of 10-15 antelope depending on pressure. In bow season, very little pressure, rifle, plenty. Regarding white tail deer,  once the rut hits a peak (around 11/12 give or take) you will always see 5-10 bucks in a sitting. The rut starts around 10/31 give or take, and goes through the season end (the Sunday after Thanksgiving). Steve has seen many bigger bucks Thanksgiving week. Prior to Steve buying the ranch in 5/2015, there was rifle hunting on the ranch with permission. Since that date, no rifle deer hunts have taken place.

Regarding Waterfowl Hunting: Each Fall there are thousands of ducks and geese that migrate through the area. There are also local ducks/geese that nest and stay in the area all year long. This area of Wheatland County has one of the largest populations of migrating Sand Hill Cranes in the state of Montana. The season opens 9/1 and close around 9/28. If you draw a permit, you can shoot 2 cranes.  The state section across Hwy 12 that the ranch leases has a 60-acre pond in its center area, that has fresh water flowing into it all year long. Come Fall, starting in October (depending on cold weather fronts coming out of Canada), 1000’s and 1000’s of ducks/geese and 200-300 Sand Hill Cranes rest on this pond and swamp area. They fly out in the early AM to feed on nearby crops. Same in the evening.  And from the end of the 3rd week of October to month end November, hundreds and hundreds of ducks (mostly Mallards) fly into and out of the Mussel shell river on the ranch as the river is not frozen yet, like the ponds are. The river forms many bends and turns that the ducks land into. It is very common for certain bends to have 100-400 sitting ducks resting. The ducks start to fly into and land around 8:30-9:00 AM, and again just before dark. Geese and duck fly into the field under the pivots in both the AM and evening.

Regarding Pheasant Hunting: Each year Steve buys and releases 200, 14-week-old pheasant on the property. The objective is to establish a natural producing pheasant population. He started these releases in 2016. We have hold over of cocks, but limited hens for nesting. It is a tough challenge, as everything (hawks, owls, fox and coyote) like to eat pheasant. At present there is only limited pheasant hunting for those that contribute to the cost of the released birds, if Steve opens that option. 

River Ranch Gallery