Well I am back home sorry to say after a trip to Montana. I got out there the last day of August and stayed until the 16th of Sept.
Overall I had a great time, all dogs had bird work and we saw more Huns this year, less grouse and about the same on the pheasants. I got some grouse but once again missed all the huns. I hunted all public ground except for one day I got invited to a private spot by a friend I ran into. He is from IL and I am from NY and we ran into each other in the market in MT. He invited me to some private ground he had and the difference was big. I saw a lot of grouse more than anyplace I had hunted to date. I hope I can go back some day.
I did observe more hunters this year than ever before, and was shut out of some locations because hunters were there already. This was a first for me. I saw guys road hunting and guys horseback hunting and I would say hunting pressure was way up. I had not seen any hunters in years past, I know other people hunt but the amount of hunters does make me think word is out about Montana.
Also for the first time ever I was turned away from several Block management properties, I got the phone numbers from the region office and called and was questioned by the owner and then told the property was booked up for the season. One guy was angry and wanted to know how I got his number and said he was no longer in the program. I called one guy I had hunted before and his name was still in the book as the owner and he sold the land, he did get me permission to hunt it though.
I was a little annoyed with the guide as it seems that it has not been updated in a while and some properties are not available and some owners have changed and as usual the directions to the property are very vague and hard to find. The price of the license has gone up and that's ok but I wish they would update the guide and put in GPS numbers for the locations.
I did spend a few thousand dollars in MT on camping, food, gas , vet visit and other things and I hope that this is noticed so this great program can continue. As always this trip is to short and I am always sorry to leave. I have seen where you guys are hunting and doing well I am glade to see everyone on this board having a good year. I will have to go back to field trialing for now.
mm
Overall I had a great time, all dogs had bird work and we saw more Huns this year, less grouse and about the same on the pheasants. I got some grouse but once again missed all the huns. I hunted all public ground except for one day I got invited to a private spot by a friend I ran into. He is from IL and I am from NY and we ran into each other in the market in MT. He invited me to some private ground he had and the difference was big. I saw a lot of grouse more than anyplace I had hunted to date. I hope I can go back some day.
I did observe more hunters this year than ever before, and was shut out of some locations because hunters were there already. This was a first for me. I saw guys road hunting and guys horseback hunting and I would say hunting pressure was way up. I had not seen any hunters in years past, I know other people hunt but the amount of hunters does make me think word is out about Montana.
Also for the first time ever I was turned away from several Block management properties, I got the phone numbers from the region office and called and was questioned by the owner and then told the property was booked up for the season. One guy was angry and wanted to know how I got his number and said he was no longer in the program. I called one guy I had hunted before and his name was still in the book as the owner and he sold the land, he did get me permission to hunt it though.
I was a little annoyed with the guide as it seems that it has not been updated in a while and some properties are not available and some owners have changed and as usual the directions to the property are very vague and hard to find. The price of the license has gone up and that's ok but I wish they would update the guide and put in GPS numbers for the locations.
I did spend a few thousand dollars in MT on camping, food, gas , vet visit and other things and I hope that this is noticed so this great program can continue. As always this trip is to short and I am always sorry to leave. I have seen where you guys are hunting and doing well I am glade to see everyone on this board having a good year. I will have to go back to field trialing for now.
mm
