Decimated

M

Montana Husker

Banned
Came home early today from trip up to Medicine Lake- Froid, Montana, I knew numbers were down, but they were even lower then I expected. I put the gun up after one field, and just walked with the dogs to get them some work in. One buddy of mine who has lived and farmed there all his life, said he has never seen such a poor year in his 66 years. Word had spread, hunter numbers were also down. Guys I know up that way are going waterfowl hunting, hopefully birds will bounce back soon, but to see so few birds in an area I am used to seeing flushes of birds by the dozen, was quite demoralizing.
 
Sorry to here it was so tough , we got hit hard !!! Here in Ks with three year drought back to back to back . This will the 1st year in 4 or so that we are returning to pre-drought averages . It's tough pill to swallow for sure but I hope with some decent weather over the next couple season you bounce back .

I have hunted that lake and did we'll back in 08 neat place . Let us know if you make it back out this season when it cools down and see if there is much difference .
 
I go back quite a bit, only 2 hours away. But I do not plan on hunting that area the rest of the year, I will still go see the folks I know and visit, but do not plan on carrying a gun, a lot of locals voiced the same outlook. Temps were nice, around freezing in the morning, there was a stiff wind the last few days, colder temps and snow may make the birds bunch up, but the numbers are not what we are used to. I actually have places to hunt only 30 minutes from home that are actually holding some good number of birds, but going to Medicine Lake, Froid area is as much a social gathering for me as a hunt.
 
So sad to hear about the Pheasant numbers. The residents in that area are a special breed.Hopefully the pheasants will bounce back. Medicine Lake/ Froid MT. has been a place like heaven when I was raising my family. My two sons both harvested their first roosters in the Froid area. With the Same gun my Dad bought me when i was 12 in Michigan. Hopefully my Grandson can use the 3rd generation HR Topper to harvest his first Rooster. .Back in the day I never missed a opener there for close to 25 years. Even hunted one year when a hen pheasant was allowed in the bag limit. God willing the traditions will live on!
 
This is my first year hunting in the Medicine Lake area. I made plans in early June and decided to make the trip from California regardless of the dire prospects. Previous years I've hunted Montana out of Havre, Lewistown and last year in Glasgow with generally good success. I hunt solo with 2 labs. Through Monday, October 9, I have been luckier than most and have had good success with a limit for the Saturday opener and another limit today. Sunday, I shot one bird and lost another. My $0.02: block management property that has no cover (almost every property around Medicine Lake and Froid), there are no or few birds. Find areas with cattail marshes and you may have some luck. Work hard, have dogs that will work three times as hard in thick heavy cover and don't miss because the opportunities are few. Hunted all public lands! Heading to Bowman, North Dakota tomorrow for 4 - 5 days. Hopefully the doom and gloom doesn't catch up to me there. Regardless, it was sure nice to be in the Big Sky state of Montana and not dealing with California BS! It's hunting - be optimistic and enjoy the outdoors!
 
Personally, I would like the state to close season for pheasant and huns. I know they won't, too much $ to be lost. Had same issue with deer herd in 2011 along the Milk river, we lost over 90% of our deer herd, they did little to help the situation. I know nature runs in cycles, but sometimes we need to help. Like I said in previous post, I have hung up shotgun for pheasant and huns. I have a good friend who is avid bird hunter in Bozeman and hunts huns a little ways from there, last fall saw 30 coveys a day, this year rarely sees one or two. I know NR have plans, spend monies here, but sometimes things change, and everyone needs to help out. Right now, the Sheridan-Roosevelt county area is one bad winter away from total loss of pheasant and hun population.
 
Yes a sad state of affairs. Froid Montana is one of my favorite places on the earth. Not so long ago my hunting family could usually limit out by noon on Plot Land and travel home with a kings possession of the finest eating, year after year.. On the other hand one year we were eagerly anticipating a super season but there was no birds. Why? The grasshoppers were so bad, spraying for them completely killed the pheasants because they were eating the dead hoppers. Go figure! Yes the chink is tough but the environment has be fair. Not so apparently this year.
 
I found the exact opposite in the part of Montana I hunt. Pheasant numbers were way up, grouse about the same and the hun population was as good as any year I have been there other than 2014. I had to cut my trip short because of possession limits, not lack of birds. Montana is a big state, some areas may be that bad, but the area I was in was awesome.
 
I'll be in Montana for a few more weeks bird hunting,coyote hunting and trout fishing. I drive through North Dakota and Minnesota to get here from Wisconsin and if I wanted to fill up a tailgate full of pheasants I'd stop before Montana. In a year like this I can kill just about as many wild pheasants in Wisconsin as Montana.

Yeah if I'd have known it was this bad I'd maybe have made plans to go to a different state but there's something about hunting brushy draws with range cattle and no other hunters once opening day is a few days gone. And the area I hunt still has enough birds to keep it interesting. Challenging as hell but fun.

Not a fan of the froid area even in a good year. I much prefer a little farther west where the grass is over grazed and the birds depend on impenetrable brushy draws even in a good year. If we ain't kicking up coyotes,mule deer,and jack rabbits I'm not in my kind of terrain.

With all that said if this was the first year hunting here I'm sure I'd struggle to kill anything. I've put a lot of miles on finding pockets of birds off the beaten path the past 4 years during fall out here.Its paying off now.
 
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I saw one other group of three on some open fields ground while I was there. I wouldn’t begin to say it gets pounded. Did see several antelope hunters.
 
I'm going to hit some places soon. I'm not going to pay a dime, and it's going to be good for sharp taus, and Huns, and turkeys.The pheasant will be spotty, because the hatch was hit hard.
 
I live in South Central Montana. Driving to Plentywood is about 5 hours for me and Denton is a good 3 hours. I thought that the purpose of this forum was to help pheasant hunters find birds not brag about how well you are doing. This forum is useless for me and this year I did not even buy a Montana hunting license. I can run my dogs and not find birds on my own property, I do not have to drive 5 hours for the privilege. I can be in SD hunting public ground that actually has a few birds (bad this year but still birds) in eight hours. If you read the SD forum, you will find reports of how hunters are actually doing on both public and private ground. The reports include cities so that hunters can use the information provided to decide where to hunt. If you want to keep pheasant hunting in Montana a private pursuit, fine. I for one will be hunting and spending my money in South Dakota.
 
Way to much internet scouting goes on. I'd never even tell a specific area I was hunting. People spend a lot of time and money to find good spots to give them up on the internet.

I have a friend who went to Montana back in September. Not sure what area he was in but he got in to a lot of sharp tail and a few Huns. It's all about location. He did his homework before he left and looked at rain fall data and based his trip off that.

There are ways to find birds without having to ask others on a public forum.
 
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