Riverman
Member
Just returned from 4 days hunting in the Bighorn Basin from Thermopolis to Lovell. I had to attend a meeting in Cody so I thought I would give that area a try since I was already there. I hunted several walkin properties along Gooseberry Creek and Grass Creek. The habitat was not good at all. Really tall Greasewood and Russian Olive trees mixed with Tamarisk. The dog did flush a pair of pheasants but no good shotYes due to tall shrubs. Also hunted some walkin properties around Burlington and Otto. You have to be careful since many properties are not open to pheasant hunting. Habitat in this area is a little better, but still not great. Didn't flush any birds in this area. The walk-in maps make it look like you have large areas to hunt, but in reality you only have a few strips of habitat along the edges of farmed fields. The fields are open for waterfowl and pronghorn and deer hunting. Finally I hunted a couple of walk-in places around Lovell, which were also not good and consisted of mostly high greasewood bushes, Russian Olive and Tamarisk. I did flush one bird at one place, but it flushed wild over 50 yards away. I finished my trip gy hunting the Yellowtail habitat unit run by the Wyoming Game and Fish Dept. I think they may release pheasants here, but I didn't see many. I hunted the edges of a corn field that was ringed by oats and wheat and flushed a couple of birds really wild, but no shots. Did hear a couple flushed while I was on the really tall (10+ feet) greasewood Tamarisk and Russian Olives. You can't see the dog (I was hunting a Lab that is a really good bird dog) further than 5 feet away and can't see anything unless and until it gets above the greasewood bushes. It's also really hard to walk in that habitat. Pretty frustrating. I thought about driving another few hours and hunting eastern Montana but a storm was coming and I had had enough. I'm planning to make my second trip to SoDak in early December. Hunting a place like the Bighorn basin makes you really appreciate how great places like SoDak are for bird hunting!! At least the dog got some work.
