Hows Eastern MT Spring Look

mmmm

Member
Anybody out there that can report on the spring weather. Did they get much rain or any hail. How does the Sharptail hatch look.

I am on the east coast. Hoping for another good season this year.
mmmm
 
mnmthunting, a moderator and one of the primary people who gave up to date information about Montana, has been banned from the site so an important source of habitat conditions is no longer available. He travelled extensively throughout MT in the spring and summer looking for just what you're interested in but maybe somebody else as knowledgeable will come forward.
 
I'm thinking of an appropriate answer but will post a reply after some thought.

Please do, I would like to say so many things, but momma always said, "if you don't have anything good to say don't say anything."

I think this news calls for a beer! :cheers:
 
I think the first thing to remember about sites like this is that it's a free service to subscribers. We can BS, lie, embroider, self aggrandize and overstate who we are and what we know without any consequences as long as we follow some simple rules.
In my experience on similar forums the level of conversation deteriorates over time and more experienced members begin to drop out. To help prevent that the forum has moderators to try and keep things civil and going according to the rules because although it's free to us it's a business to the owners who profit from the number of eyeballs on the site. With more people viewing they can charge more for advertising.
Moderators can be hired or volunteer as I understand it with the result being they can be experienced in the subject and the wise use of their authority or they can be the opposite. This can lead to friction and political alliances being made and it can wear on people. What happened with mnmthunting has nothing to do with his moderating which the owner liked.
I've hunted and fished with a lot of different people of varied experience and knowledge and I found mnmthunting to have a lot of both. He isn't someone who has a lot of tolerance for political correctness and has a result will tell anyone he thinks is wrong what he believes to be the truth. As a result he was direct with people who had the ability to exclude him from participation in the forum and he's no longer here. UPH has lost a great resource of current conditions in MT but it's a business to them and not a friendship. Mnmthunting has moved on and I hope someone with comparable, knowledge, experience and commitment to MT bird hunting takes his place.
 
I think the first thing to remember about sites like this is that it's a free service to subscribers. We can BS, lie, embroider, self aggrandize and overstate who we are and what we know without any consequences as long as we follow some simple rules.
In my experience on similar forums the level of conversation deteriorates over time and more experienced members begin to drop out. To help prevent that the forum has moderators to try and keep things civil and going according to the rules because although it's free to us it's a business to the owners who profit from the number of eyeballs on the site. With more people viewing they can charge more for advertising.
Moderators can be hired or volunteer as I understand it with the result being they can be experienced in the subject and the wise use of their authority or they can be the opposite. This can lead to friction and political alliances being made and it can wear on people. What happened with mnmthunting has nothing to do with his moderating which the owner liked.
I've hunted and fished with a lot of different people of varied experience and knowledge and I found mnmthunting to have a lot of both. He isn't someone who has a lot of tolerance for political correctness and has a result will tell anyone he thinks is wrong what he believes to be the truth. As a result he was direct with people who had the ability to exclude him from participation in the forum and he's no longer here. UPH has lost a great resource of current conditions in MT but it's a business to them and not a friendship. Mnmthunting has moved on and I hope someone with comparable, knowledge, experience and commitment to MT bird hunting takes his place.
What a loss!!! I for one well miss all the information he provided . Some thing smells about this :mad: :(
 
He sure helped me out a ton! I was almost a thousand miles away and he gave me everything except gps coordinates. What a shame. Time heals perhaps.
 
Could be a good one!!!

Phez counts are up from last year in North Dakota.:thumbsup:
Lots of my friends in rural Saskatchewan are saying thet are seeing good #'s in areas that were down quite a bit last few years. Weather has been decent.:thumbsup:
Biggest worry for us NE Montana hunters is the continued loss of CRP. Lots of birds in smaller and smaller patches of habitat....recipe for disaster. :(
 
Phez counts are up from last year in North Dakota.:thumbsup:
Lots of my friends in rural Saskatchewan are saying thet are seeing good #'s in areas that were down quite a bit last few years. Weather has been decent.:thumbsup:
Biggest worry for us NE Montana hunters is the continued loss of CRP. Lots of birds in smaller and smaller patches of habitat....recipe for disaster. :(
I got a report that the first hatch in central Nd got hert by cold and snow?
 
I talked with Wayne last week. The conversation was small talk--not much about hunting but he did mention hearing a lot of roosters crowing out there:)

Nick
 
I think the first thing to remember about sites like this is that it's a free service to subscribers. We can BS, lie, embroider, self aggrandize and overstate who we are and what we know without any consequences as long as we follow some simple rules.
In my experience on similar forums the level of conversation deteriorates over time and more experienced members begin to drop out. To help prevent that the forum has moderators to try and keep things civil and going according to the rules because although it's free to us it's a business to the owners who profit from the number of eyeballs on the site. With more people viewing they can charge more for advertising.
Moderators can be hired or volunteer as I understand it with the result being they can be experienced in the subject and the wise use of their authority or they can be the opposite. This can lead to friction and political alliances being made and it can wear on people. What happened with mnmthunting has nothing to do with his moderating which the owner liked.
I've hunted and fished with a lot of different people of varied experience and knowledge and I found mnmthunting to have a lot of both. He isn't someone who has a lot of tolerance for political correctness and has a result will tell anyone he thinks is wrong what he believes to be the truth. As a result he was direct with people who had the ability to exclude him from participation in the forum and he's no longer here. UPH has lost a great resource of current conditions in MT but it's a business to them and not a friendship. Mnmthunting has moved on and I hope someone with comparable, knowledge, experience and commitment to MT bird hunting takes his place.

Cal, very well put. As a former Mod on this site I fully understand. I agree with everyone that we lost a very good contributor on this site when we lost mnmt. I've been watching this site from the sideline for the past few months and it appears to be slipping. Not the same "good ol' site" it once was.

On a side note. Cal, when do you head to MT for hunting? I might be in Great Falls over Labor Day weekend at a NSTRA trial and then spend a few days hunting.
 
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George,
I don't plan to go until the second week of pheasant season if the weather hasn't turned bad by then and my truck and I are still running. Too hot earlier and I don't hunt Sharptails,There are too many hunters the first week and it's not much better the second. I hope to run into you and Wayne for a beer and a few lies or maybe a few beers and one lie.
 
George,
I don't plan to go until the second week of pheasant season if the weather hasn't turned bad by then and my truck and I are still running. Too hot earlier and I don't hunt Sharptails,There are too many hunters the first week and it's not much better the second. I hope to run into you and Wayne for a beer and a few lies or maybe a few beers and one lie.

Not a big fan of Sharpies either but if I go to the NSTRA trial in Great Falls I might as well spend a few more days hunting. Hoping maybe to find some Huns also. Very unlikely I'll be there in October as I'll be hunting Phez in SD then.
 
Sad to see Wayne go. I too enjoyed his knowledge of Montana upland birds. My only other source is a farmer in Eastern MT where I hunt. I am going out this fall to hunt some Muley's with my daughter and also to shoot some pheasants and sharptail. The numbers fluctuate a lot over the years, I hope we hit a good year this fall!
 
Not a big fan of Sharpies either but if I go to the NSTRA trial in Great Falls I might as well spend a few more days hunting. Hoping maybe to find some Huns also. Very unlikely I'll be there in October as I'll be hunting Phez in SD then.

If you drive that far you ought to take advantage of the opportunity. I guess we'll be ships that pass in the night as I doubt I'll ever see SoDak in this incarnation. Good luck in the trials.
 
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