Like much of the rest of Montana, the reason folks move to Jefferson County, stay here, or come back after leaving often revolves around the outdoor opportunities our geography provides. Chief on the minds of many is hunting. Within its bounds, our county contains the opportunity to hunt every big game animal on offer in Montana, short of the mountain goat. (Though a few “beasts the color of winter” still avail themselves of the slopes of yesteryear’s volcanics in the Elkhorn Range, there aren’t enough to hunt sustainably.)
Our hills have mule deer and our river bottoms whitetails. We’ve got elk, and some would say too many. Only 60 years ago they were brought into the gulches of northern Jefferson County in a spirit of reparation to the species. They were plucked from the Yellowstone Herd and went on their first and last rides in a truck — alive, anyway. In addition, there are moose, a bighorn sheep herd still hanging on, and predators that abound on the meat of the aforementioned.
As much as anything, we’ve got good country. Chunks of earth to fall in love with. Over half a million acres of public land in total. The Elkhorn Mountains – the nation’s only Wildlife Management Unit – with the most sought-after elk permit in the state and its herds and its beauty. The Boulder and Bull Mountains – often nameless and timbered to their tops, and so much in between.
