mnmthunting
Banned
Freezing rain today, Winter storm warning tonight through Wed. Heavy snow, wind and -30 by Fri.
Very tough on the grassland pheasants.
Very tough on the grassland pheasants.
Montana Weather
- Thread starter mnmthunting
- Start date
UplandHntr
Well-known member
I saw those lows. Thats crazy how quick it changes up there. Here's hoping for the best
PTM
Active member
Tommorow
I wish I didn't have to work tomorrow, drawing from my experiences growing up in ND, the first big storm day is a good one to be chasing the birds in. Some of my best hunts have been just after the 1st substantial snow of the year. Maybe Ill request leave for Wednesday.:thumbsup:
I wish I didn't have to work tomorrow, drawing from my experiences growing up in ND, the first big storm day is a good one to be chasing the birds in. Some of my best hunts have been just after the 1st substantial snow of the year. Maybe Ill request leave for Wednesday.:thumbsup:
mnmthunting
Banned
Nope, But I am in North Central MN. Our Winter weather is even worse here.
We get about the same weather systems, only we pick up moisture from the Gulf.
Snow and cold is one thing. Strong winds with it is quite another, best sit it out until things calm down.
I have been in MT during some awful blizzards, I'll do my best to avoid it. :cheers:
PTM
Active member
Denied
It's a no go for snow go tomorrow but I got the go ahead for Thursday. Footprints don't lie, hopefully I can roust a couple up in the new snow. At the very least I hope I can flush some giant herds of pheasants. I'll be in the cattails and won't have to deal with any muck.
It's a no go for snow go tomorrow but I got the go ahead for Thursday. Footprints don't lie, hopefully I can roust a couple up in the new snow. At the very least I hope I can flush some giant herds of pheasants. I'll be in the cattails and won't have to deal with any muck.
mnmthunting
Banned
Thursday ought to be just right. Wind will die down, sun will come out and the pheasants will be making tracks.
Good luck and let us know. :thumbsup:
Good luck and let us know. :thumbsup:
MTtailchaser
Member
I can't wait for the weekend. Sunday's high is +9, should be a good day to kick some birds up, if I can find some!
PTM
Active member
Finally Made it out
Got out this afternoon and knocked down an old bird, biggest of the season. It was one of the fifty bird flushes I was hoping for. Some other birds came flying over head simply from hearing their buddies get up. I blew four holes in the sky, each time after my two volley miss one would get up super close near my feet. I should know by now not to take those shots but I have such an addictive personality that from the few times I've made those shots in my life that I'll never be able to stop myself. Sure is cool when you make those shots and the birds bounce when they hit the ground though. I'll be back out there tomorrow.
Got out this afternoon and knocked down an old bird, biggest of the season. It was one of the fifty bird flushes I was hoping for. Some other birds came flying over head simply from hearing their buddies get up. I blew four holes in the sky, each time after my two volley miss one would get up super close near my feet. I should know by now not to take those shots but I have such an addictive personality that from the few times I've made those shots in my life that I'll never be able to stop myself. Sure is cool when you make those shots and the birds bounce when they hit the ground though. I'll be back out there tomorrow.
PTM
Active member
Waste of game
If I knock them down, my dog has a high percentage of retrieval, it goes up in places when I use lead shells, I stay out as long as anyone looking for cripples. I didn't want to sound like a d-ck but I usually make that shot hotrod. I'm going to be sick at my stomach too.
If I knock them down, my dog has a high percentage of retrieval, it goes up in places when I use lead shells, I stay out as long as anyone looking for cripples. I didn't want to sound like a d-ck but I usually make that shot hotrod. I'm going to be sick at my stomach too.
PTM
Active member
I'm not in Kansas anymore, Toto is that you?
Nice 3rd grade comeback....thanks for chiming in, if you are ever coming to MT or ND pheasant hunting shoot me a pm, I've got some secret spots I'd like to share with you.:cheers:
Last edited:
juneboy1 you've made the right decision to not take those pass shots if you cripple and lose birds. Personally, I like them because the birds vitals are exposed more than shooting at birds flying away from you. It's actually a fairly common and easy duck hunting shot but it's very different from a shot at a flushed bird. If you're good at it, do it. If not, don't do it. Easy.
Hey guys, I'm headed up there from out of state on Wednesday to visit some family. I've tried to get info from them, but they don't do much bird hunting. I'm hunting around Lewistown, but I'm curious how the hunting is from Great Falls towards Lewistown on my way in. It would be quicker to go through Billings, but I think the hunting is better between Great Falls and Lewistown. Any thoughts?
Thanks
Thanks
mnmthunting
Banned
Toss up, For sure having private ground to hunt would be a huge advantage.
Thanks MNM, I guided duck and bird hunters for 17 years and have seen first hand the damage done. If it is a good shot with a decent chance of killing clean, take it. Most people cannot do that consistently. And I have never seen a dog get everyone that is cripple. But some people and their dogs are just better than most I guess.
That sums it up very well especially about dogs being superhuman...or something. I don't know how you did it for 17 years and still want to hunt. The majority of duck hunters I've seen in the field shoot so poorly that if I was a guide I'd take their guns away and throw them in the pond. A friend and I used to take his GWP and get our limits of ducks in the afternoon on our state wildlife areas by picking up cripples from the mornings shooting by other hunters.
PTM
Active member
Cabin Fever
My dog is average, my shooting is average, obviously someone feels like they need to embark their wisdom on the rest of the unenlightened. I just had a federal game warden/law enforcement officer tell me that steel is better than lead and that he consistently shoots honkers at 65 yards with $9.99 Remington #2s. Heck he went 5 for 5 not one wounded. I bet as a guide you never gave anybody's money back and told them to stay away until they could shoot because it was the ethical thing to do, you had to make a living. For all the Juneboys and Federal Game Wardens, please profess your wisdom on someone that needs/wants it. How did a thread about the weather go this sideways. I have a right to forage for food, I've been doing it for 33 years, oh FYI we shot four roosters today, three were very much alive and my dog found all of them. Since this thread was going I timed it, we spent 26 minutes running down the wounded. Two got underneath the snowpack, and my dog dug them out like a avalanche victim. For the sake of humanity, I called bs out loud on the Warden's steel fantasy camp theory.
My dog is average, my shooting is average, obviously someone feels like they need to embark their wisdom on the rest of the unenlightened. I just had a federal game warden/law enforcement officer tell me that steel is better than lead and that he consistently shoots honkers at 65 yards with $9.99 Remington #2s. Heck he went 5 for 5 not one wounded. I bet as a guide you never gave anybody's money back and told them to stay away until they could shoot because it was the ethical thing to do, you had to make a living. For all the Juneboys and Federal Game Wardens, please profess your wisdom on someone that needs/wants it. How did a thread about the weather go this sideways. I have a right to forage for food, I've been doing it for 33 years, oh FYI we shot four roosters today, three were very much alive and my dog found all of them. Since this thread was going I timed it, we spent 26 minutes running down the wounded. Two got underneath the snowpack, and my dog dug them out like a avalanche victim. For the sake of humanity, I called bs out loud on the Warden's steel fantasy camp theory.
Last edited:
Honest man. Most of us are average otherwise there wouldn't be a bell shaped curve. I think your estimation of your dogs ability is too low based on them digging birds out of the snow.
Yea, that's a little hard to swallow for me too. 5 birds isn't a very big sample size and #2s at 65 yards requires him to have 5 Golden Pellets in my experience.
Actually, it's a privilege but that's a subject for another thread.
33 years is a long time. I've been doing it almost twice that long and I'm certainly not a great wingshot. I've been lucky enough to hunt with a few guys who are/were. All of them had a lifetime of shooting at a lot of birds to reach their skill level. That also means that all of them at points in their lives crippled a lot of birds until they figured it out. The great ones after they learned how to do it didn't forget how to do it in the off season. The others, like most of us and me, have to go through a warmup period when hunting starts but some shots come easier than others. That's pass shooting for me.
Now to get back to the OPs original subject, it's cold here with snow and ice.
Last edited: