In contrast to the mountain scenery that I love so much, there’s another side to Montana; the huge plains east of the divide. Every October I travel to the east side for an antelope hunt, and while I consider the mountains around my home to be nearly unparalleled in beauty, the vastly different scenery of the plains has its own appeal.
The Musselshell river valley with the Beartooth Mountain range (at the north border of Yellowstone) in the background:
It’s because of views like this that Montana is known as the “Big Sky” state. (Looking east toward the Dakotas.) This is 350 miles from my home near the Idaho border.
It’s no wonder that the survival strategy of the antelope utilizes excellent vision and incredible running ability.
There are occasional breaks in the amazing flatness of this land, but little to provide cover or hiding places for them, and yet the number of animals living here is astounding. While simply driving along a 50 mile stretch of US Highway 12 on my last trip I counted 149 deer (both white-tails and mule deer live here) and 175 antelope.
While our camping area in the low land along the river does little to shelter us from the incessant wind, it is certainly easy on the eyes!
Montana Outdoors 