Montana Trip Report

CO_Weimar

CO_Weimar

New member
Headed up to Montana last week with my buddy and my two Weims - Cowboy and Blitz. Blitz is 3 years old and is becoming a seasoned veteran. Cowboy is a rookie at 1 1/2 years old. We hunted in and around Great Falls for a few days and then headed down to Lewistown. We came away with 10 roosters and a sharpie.

On our last day, we were both on our way to getting our limits, but ... and there is always a "but" in life ... we encountered a couple of issues. Blitz went on point, and Cowboy was honoring. As I moved forward, Blitz jumped into the cover and came out with a mouth full of quills! I was able to hold him down while my buddy pulled quills out of his mouth. Blitz didn't like it, but he cooperated well enough that we were able to remove them all. He was fine and we continued hunting. About 45 minutes later, Cowboy went on point and we had a repeat of Blitz's quill pig experience! Cowboy got a really good bite on the porcupine and had quills in his lips, gums, mouth and chin. I attempted to hold him down by laying on top of him, but after removing a few quills, he was having none of it! We drove back to the ranch, found a local vet and drove back into town. The vet sedated him and removed a few dozen quills. With the vet visit, that was the end of our trip to Montana. Aside from the quill pigs, it was a great trip.

Blitz in Lewistown
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Cowboy and I with his two roosters near Great Falls
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Cowboy with a retrieve
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Incredible cover near Lewistown
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:cheers:
 
Great photos, looks like you had a great trip. Heading up to SD over thanksgiving, can't wait. You might know this already, but One trick I was shown years ago with getting quills out (and anytime you need your dog to remain still enough in order to work on him) is to wrap them tightly in a blanket and lay on the ends, effectively squeezing the dog with the pressure from the cloth, not your body. They completely stop wrestling, and you can get at the quills (cactus spines, clean out/ glue cuts etc etc ). Really effective with two people if quills in mouth.
 
tomt said:
Great photos, looks like you had a great trip. Heading up to SD over thanksgiving, can't wait. You might know this already, but One trick I was shown years ago with getting quills out (and anytime you need your dog to remain still enough in order to work on him) is to wrap them tightly in a blanket and lay on the ends, effectively squeezing the dog with the pressure from the cloth, not your body. They completely stop wrestling, and you can get at the quills (cactus spines, clean out/ glue cuts etc etc ). Really effective with two people if quills in mouth.
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haven't tried that method yet, likely will get the chance though

cheers
 
It truly is a great place, isnt it? I cant wait to get back when I have the canine horsepower back. My two slowed down a lot in the last year.
 
UplandHntr said:
It truly is a great place, isnt it? I cant wait to get back when I have the canine horsepower back. My two slowed down a lot in the last year.
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UplandHntr - yes, it is a great place. We hit some BMAs between Billings and Great Falls and saw a couple of hunters near Billings, but other than that we really didn't see any other hunters in any of the areas that we hunted.

Understand about canine horsepower - my buddy and I both had our "starters" on "injured reserve". My #1 guy started having seizures last Nov/Dec through the summer, but seems to be over them. I didn't want to take him and have something bad happen. My buddy's dog somehow broke a bone in his foot 2 weeks before our trip and was on light duty for 8 weeks.

:cheers:
 
I've always wanted to hunt birds up in Montana. Thanks for the inspiration, that just moved itself to the top of my list!
 
Nice work! My buddies were up there and said it was way too hot. Porcupines are a pain. I hunted the Nebraska sandhills last year for sharpies and had to be on the lookout for them.
 
A couple of days it was really warm. We were on top of a butte, somewhere ... and the truck thermometer was displaying temps in the 80s.

Last year, we had to reschedule our trip till mid-November. Our original date was a week earlier. It was -15 on the weekend of our original date. About 10 days after we returned home it was -35 and the Great Falls area was one of the coldest places on the planet. It was perfect weather while we were there, but we were sandwiched in between two really cold weather events.


Dec. 8 2013
Saturday in Montana, the coldest place on earth?

"Montanans likely experienced some of the coldest temperatures on the planet, Saturday night.

According to the National Weather Service in Great Falls, Havre set a daily record on Saturday. At its coldest, the temperature hit minus 39 degrees

Read more: http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/saturday-in-montana-the-coldest-place-on-earth/article_3213dad0-6391-5aac-ace3-cab5fee9a287.html#ixzz3HYF94BLm"
 
If you have e-collars on them and can assess the situation before they get a hold of the porcupine. turn the collar up as high as it will go and lay it on them before they get there. Same tactics as snake breaking.
 
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