Lewistown, MT

gewilber

New member
Going to be in lewiston in October and am looking for a guide to hunt pheasants, shirttails and Huns. Haven't been there before and would appreciate any suggestions, ideas, as to who to contact, where to stay, etc.

Thanks for your assistance. George
 
I have no knowledge of Nolan Huffman, so a quick google.
This is something we should all do. Cheap, a limit of pen raised pheasants. (maybe)
It will cost just about nothing, well worth it.
$550 per day per person. :thumbsup:
All inclusive but this is what you would not get with the package.

Transportation to and from the airport.
No lodging.
No beverages, no meals. HEY:) a sandwich for lunch is included. :10sign:
You bring the shells, gun, all personnal stuff. SO what the heck do you expect??
Oh yeah! bring cash for gratuities, they don't like visa or personal checks.

I mean, What the heck????
 
Below is a link to Nolan's web site. Seems a bit pricey for what you get but then I don't know how deep your pockets are. I have personally met Nolan Huffman on several occasions and he is a great guy. Trains dogs and runs a lot of NSTRA trials across the country.

http://www.beelinebrittanys.com/guided-hunts/
 
I have no knowledge of Nolan Huffman, so a quick google.
This is something we should all do. Cheap, a limit of pen raised pheasants. (maybe)
It will cost just about nothing, well worth it.
$550 per day per person. :thumbsup:
All inclusive but this is what you would not get with the package.

Transportation to and from the airport.
No lodging.
No beverages, no meals. HEY:) a sandwich for lunch is included. :10sign:
You bring the shells, gun, all personnal stuff. SO what the heck do you expect??
Oh yeah! bring cash for gratuities, they don't like visa or personal checks.

I mean, What the heck????


What great input you have -- I mean you offered what -- no advice or alternative recommendations at all? Have you ever used a guide for anything? He's like $75 more than a fly fishing guide on the Beaverhead who provides essentially the same level of service except doesn't HAVE to guide on private ground (which I am sure is not free), doesn't have to maintain a team of guide dogs, clean birds, etc. If you start hunting at 8:00 a.m., 10 to 1 says the guide started working at 6.

As with any profession, I am sure you could question the value of the services offered. What is it you do for a living?
 
Troutman, I did say "this is something we should all do"

I have no problem with "pay to hunt"
 
Troutman, I did say "this is something we should all do"

I have no problem with "pay to hunt"

Sorry -- but I guess that message got lost in the content that followed it referencing pen raised pheasants and I took the rest of the post as facetious, especially considering the: "HEY :) a sandwich for lunch is included :10sign:" and the "What the heck?????"

But maybe I'm more like Sheldon than I thought. :cool:
 
$550 per day isn't all that rare, prices get higher then that.
Except usually it would include some lodging/meals.
Not all, but usually with a high price tag, even the Dec Hunters will get a chance at roosters, one way or another.

A place I know of, couldn't find any info on the net. Nice large land area and good birds. I'll see if I can get a phone number.
 
Nolan Huffman, second to none.
Thanks for your input. I checked his website for further information. I am a senior citizen and will be hunting with my son. I have a three year old pointing lab which has been hunted in CO. SD and CA., so having a guide with dogs is not a big item.
 
$550 per day isn't all that rare, prices get higher then that.
Except usually it would include some lodging/meals.
Not all, but usually with a high price tag, even the Dec Hunters will get a chance at roosters, one way or another.

A place I know of, couldn't find any info on the net. Nice large land area and good birds. I'll see if I can get a phone number.
Thanks for your input. Sorry if if my request prompted a negative response. I have hunted with guides for both hunting and fishing and I agree with your comment re being pricey for hunting only. This price is more in line with a lodge in my experience.
 
Thanks for your input. I checked his website for further information. I am a senior citizen and will be hunting with my son. I have a three year old pointing lab which has been hunted in CO. SD and CA., so having a guide with dogs is not a big item.


Most guides are going to have their own dogs out there. Guides can't guide on public land and the dogs are usually used as a supplement. And the public land out there is vast and numerous.

I don't know how much you plan on hunting -- but if you are looking for huns and sharptails or plan on hunting multiple days: One dog of any make, kind, breed or experience ain't going to cut it. Pheasants -- yeah, it could work by just hunting the creeks. Our medium range to big running dogs typically run 15- 20 miles per day in MT. We usually have 2 to 3 dogs on the ground at a time and will rotate through our string of anywhere from 8 to 12 dogs throughout the day with all but maybe one or two fitting in the close working dog category (within 100 yards) and those dogs cover about 10 - 12 miles per day. So, that's usually four braces of dogs per day, covering roughly 140 to 160 miles per day.

I guess what I'm saying is -- if you want to take a few leisurely strolls and maybe bump into some birds, you might be fine. If you really want to up your chances of success and want to hunt hard for multiple days -- you're going to need more dogs.
 
Going to be in lewiston in October and am looking for a guide to hunt pheasants, shirttails and Huns. Haven't been there before and would appreciate any suggestions, ideas, as to who to contact, where to stay, etc.

Thanks for your assistance. George

I am not sure I have ever shot "shirttails?" Just messing with you, I am trying to lighten up the whole thread here!
 
I don't know how much you plan on hunting -- but if you are looking for huns and sharptails or plan on hunting multiple days: One dog of any make, kind, breed or experience ain't going to cut it. Pheasants -- yeah, it could work by just hunting the creeks. Our medium range to big running dogs typically run 15- 20 miles per day in MT. We usually have 2 to 3 dogs on the ground at a time and will rotate through our string of anywhere from 8 to 12 dogs throughout the day with all but maybe one or two fitting in the close working dog category (within 100 yards) and those dogs cover about 10 - 12 miles per day. So, that's usually four braces of dogs per day, covering roughly 140 to 160 miles per day.

Well that's certainly one way to do things. It sounds a lot more like an industrial operation than hunting but to each his own.

gewilber, you and your son can have a great time with your Lab and shoot all the birds the law allows. Huns will be the hardest to get but Sharptails, if you can find a way to cook them to make them palatable, are more than doable with a pointing lab and pheasants are what that dog was bred to find. Make it an adventure and don't limit yourself to just the Livingstown area. It's a big state with lots of public land.
 
I know for fact that an old guy with an old yeller dog can go to MT and have a blast all on their own and all on public land.
I'll eat the Sharpies at camp, I have no interest in bringing home a limit, but I sure as heck could. But then I hunt with two pups. :thumbsup:
 
I know who you're talking about. I run into him on occasion. Here's a picture of a big one he got a few years back. He says the legs on those things are just like King Crab.


0
 
Well that's certainly one way to do things. It sounds a lot more like an industrial operation than hunting but to each his own.

gewilber, you and your son can have a great time with your Lab and shoot all the birds the law allows. Huns will be the hardest to get but Sharptails, if you can find a way to cook them to make them palatable, are more than doable with a pointing lab and pheasants are what that dog was bred to find. Make it an adventure and don't limit yourself to just the Livingstown area. It's a big state with lots of public land.

4 guys, ten days and over 20 hours of travel one way -- we're going to give it the best shot we can as well as give our dogs the best opportunity to have as many bird contacts as they can. It's an operation, but far from industrial.

You can do it with one dog or two. If you are looking to do it for a day or two and hunt your dogs the maximum time they can go and then call it quits. And if that's what he wants, more power to him and that's great.

Maniac -- don't you live in MT part time? If so, I'm sure you are like me: 2 dogs, hunt a couple of days, run the dogs hard, they've got time to rest during the week. Also amazing that you live there and haven't even offered this guy an ounce of input -- remarkable. At least you could tell the guy where to go eat!

For sharptail -- You have to cook them rare. I cook the breasts like this: A pickle brine of whole black peppercorns, whole allspice and a few cloves over night. Take them out of the brine, dust them with a little ground black pepper and olive oil. Get the grill as hot as it will go and sear each side. No need for a knife. The other way I really like to have them is in a stew. Legs help with the stock.

The old fella with the yellow dog -- how long does he hunt in a day? How many days in a row?
 
For sharptail -- You have to cook them rare. I cook the breasts like this: A pickle brine of whole black peppercorns, whole allspice and a few cloves over night. Take them out of the brine, dust them with a little ground black pepper and olive oil. Get the grill as hot as it will go and sear each side. No need for a knife. The other way I really like to have them is in a stew. Legs help with the stock.

The old fella with the yellow dog -- how long does he hunt in a day? How many days in a row?

I've tried them numbers of ways but not quite like that. It sounds tasty so maybe I'll shoot a Sharptail this coming year.

The old guy hunts by himself and drives 24 to 27 hours straight to get where he goes. Last year he was back there for 14 days as I recall and hunted or fished every day long enough to get bored with the fishing or to shoot one or two birds or just go for a long walk with his gun and his single dog. He normally doesn't fish so when he just hunted he'd still stay as long and he and his dog hunted every day. He tries not to shoot more than one bird in any one spot to limit his impact on any population. As a result he says he's seen lots of the state. Besides, he says that with a 9 bird possession limit on pheasants why drive all that way to beautiful country and be done as quickly as possible. He doesn't shoot the Sharptails he jumps any more and only rarely sees Huns where he hunts because there aren't many there. Maybe if I like your recipe I'll convince him to try Sharptails again. I'm glad to see you use the legs and thighs.
 
I go every year by myself with two dogs and a camper. I stay up to 3 weeks and I hunt every day. Couple of other guys at the campsite do the same two dogs and hunt every day. One guy stays 6 to eight weeks. If you can do the walking and eat the birds you will do fine with one dog if he is in shape and the weather is on your side. It can be tougher on the dogs if its hot and it can be hot in Sept. When that happens the more dogs the better and you gotta watch them close. When I first went to MT I used a guide to learn what it was about. After that I went alone and just used public land. It has always been good you will love it.
mm
 
One dog in good hunting condition is better then a whole fleet of tired out ones.
I know several guys with one or two dogs, get their birds and take in the whole adventure.

And these are the guys i Will help and even give directions to a honey hole or three.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top