Montanans and Their Secret Spots

It was eleven fifteen on a Thursday morning and my friend Grey rubbed his eyes like a groggy bear in April.  “I passed on a rag-horn this morning,” he told me rather nonchalantly as we walked to class in the business building at the University of Montana in Missoula. 

“Really?!?”  I gasped.  At that point in my hunting career I hadn’t shot a bull elk and even now, I’ll squeeze the trigger on any legal bull.  “Where were you?” I asked, wondering how he could have been so close to Missoula that he was able to make it back in time for class.

“I can’t tell you,” he replied in a hushed tone, “it’s a good spot and I can’t let it get out.”

It doesn’t matter if its huckleberries or big game, Montanans are incredibly tight-lipped about their “spots”.   When my brother-in-law married into my wife’s family, she gave him a map of Montana with several “spots” circle as a way of welcoming him into the family during her maid of honor speech (the map did not contain accurate locations of game but was more of a symbolic gesture).   Even among family members, I have found that Montanans, especially the ones who live close to big towns, are very reluctant to give up their go-to-spots. 

The reason for this reluctance is sometimes justified.  Once you tell someone where your spot is, everyone they know and their dog will be there, ruining your spot.  It is hard to find places within a forty-five minute drive of bigger Montana towns that have good fishing, hunting or berry-picking.  Even hiking and floating “spots” may be guarded as the obvious spots for these activities may become extremely crowded.  Once you are lucky enough to find one of these spots, you’re unlikely to give it up.  And if you do tell someone, it definitely won’t be a Californian or someone from another state.  Lying to out-of-staters is not considered morally wrong, especially to Californians who seem to have a propensity to love Montana so much that they buy your favorite fishing spot and then deny you access.

My philosophy on spots:  I have given away a couple “spots” since I started writing this blog about a year ago.  I may not have explained specific directions, but I’ve definitely given away more information than many Montanans would.  I guess I have little fear of this backfiring on me for two reasons: most people are not very motivated and those that are already have spots they are attached to.  Most outdoorsmen (Montanans or not) don’t have the time, ability or desire to drive more than two hours (one way) and then hike more than three miles from the road.  It’s usually the distance hiked from the road that gets them.  The people that are willing to go to these places usually have a spots of their own.  Regardless of the actual quality of their spot, they are often unnaturally attached to it for sentimental reasons.  If I tell someone and they’re willing to spend the time, effort and commitment to get there, more power to them.   To me, the only spots worth keeping secret are the ones your lazy friends might ruin for you.  I helped my former roommate shoot a deer on public land 1/3 of a mile from the road, a road that is a fifteen minutes from my house.  That spot is worth keeping a secret.