Montana Hunts

[SportFishin']

The weather cooled down a little today so my griffon & I decided to head out to our favorite Sharpy Haunt and were pleasantly surprised with 3 sharpies & 1 Hun. We entered the field to start out the hunt with a nice solid point on a covey of huns in some sage. Rudy was nice and steady as I moved in kicking the sage brush then the explosion of 15-25 birds startled me for the first wild flush of the year. After regaining my nerves I managed to shoulder my gun and knock one down. Then as we moved to the next coulee we encountered the sharpies one gets up & it is down. I relocate the Rudy and another point only yards from the first one is up & down at the shot of the over under. He makes a great retrieve on this bird as it was not shot well by me and is on the move 45 yards up the coulee it is caught and brought to hand. At this point we are at the back of the BMA and consumimg water to where I think we should start to head back to the truck to replenish our water. We are walking the edge of the sage and last years wheat stubble when Rudy locks up on point. I approach and 4 sharpies explode into the air. One falls victim as I try to relocate my second shot but it is off at bird number two with a swing and a miss! We returned to the truck with our Montana treasure and enjoy each others company as we call it a day here in South Central Montana.

Best regards,

Chris & Rudy

[Scott M]

Great report! Gotta get out there some time.

[Leaddog]

Great report!

Heading for CMR on the 18th. Can't wait to get in that MT mud!

...maybe zip an arrow!

Good luck

[SportFishin']

Well made it out today for another outing this time with my 12 year old son Geoff teh weather was about 70 deg & clear skies. WE made our way into the first field to have rudy establish point about 300 yards into the sage. We waked over to flush the birds and 1 Sharp ets up Geoff swings on it with his 20 ga and miss'. We instruct Rudy ot hunt on and about another 50 yards another point this time we lock an load and this sharpie is down nad in the bag. We walk for another hour with Geoff missing more sharps as they flush in front of the points, but he is 12 and learning. He says its hard to get a bead on them because they are startling him whne they flush. I reassure him that he will get used to it. So for the first feild Geoff bags 1 Sharpie & 1 Hun. Great Job!!

The next BMA we moved to dad now gets a crack at some birds we are walking the sage and soon Rudy is on point two grouse flush and one is down and brought to hand by the Griff! We move on around the hillside to find Rudy on point with another covey of huns they are up and one is down.

All in all a great outing with my newest hunting partner!!!

Enjoy the hunt!

Chris

[Borch]

What great hunts Chris!

It's always more fun when the youngsters get behind a good dog and get into some birds.

[harvey lee]

I love the photo with the young lad with the dog and birds. You are in God's country for sure.

I hunted in Montana for 1 month a few years back and would love to spend 6 weeks a year there if I could make it work.

[Mr.Seaguar]

Your pictures are awesome. That picture of your son is really something. Birds, dogs, mountains, wow.

[SportFishin']

Thanks for the replies guys. We sure have been blessed with the move out here last year from Mn. The hunting has been great this year so far and sharing it with my 12 year old has made it even extra special this year. It has been great to be able to go out on a Saturday and not run into any other hunters being only a few minutes out of Billings. Part of it is due to Elk bow season is open right now so alot of people are in the mountains chasing those.

We are getting excited for Antelope on Oct. 11 and we are going up for our first rifle Elk hunt this year on Oct. 24th we will keep you updated as those hunts happen.

Well off to the fields for some more birds here this morning will update after the weekend.

Keep it safe & fun!

Chris

[SportFishin']

Well nothing to report this week. Was to warm on Saturday to hunt temps were in the upper 90's so stayed home. Got out this morning the weather was considerably cooler but this was the first day I have run into a number of other bird hunters. Saw about 6 sharpies but they were flushing way ahead of the dog so they are starting to show signs of pressure after this weekend. Will have to travel farther out of town to more remote spots next weekend to find good birds.

Later,

Chris

[SportFishin']

Well made it out for the Antelope opener and within 15 minutes I had tagged out with this 13" Buck. My shot placement was right in the shoulder with a clean thru & thru. He dropped right where he stood. It was very cold out here we started the day at 15 degrees. We tagged 2 out of 4 tags with the second being a doe shot by my friend Dan. Was a great first Antelope hunt for me ever!!!! Lets hope they all are that good. Goats were very far and few between after that the rest of the day though.

Best regards and keep the hunts safe!!

Chris

[Nate McVey]

Nice speedgoat Chris!

[SpitnArgueDuckClub*]

Thanks for letting us share in your new experiences. Nice to hear that your move has yeilded positive benefits, goodluck on your upcoming hunts.

[mrklean]

nice job wish i would have got drawn for goats this year

[CAJ]

Pheasant huntting in very NE montana has been tough. Numbers are way down ,and a lot of the good CRP is gone. Grain prices are causing the good habitat to disapeer. Hope for a mild winter, or we are realy in trouble

[CodyDawg]

CAJ,

I havent heard from you in awhile! Glad to see you are still kickin'!

[SportFishin']

Well sorry for no new reports of late but junior & I have been hitting the woods more than the computer.

The Pheasants along the Yellowstone River are in pockets with good numbers being seen and shot. We are finding birds from East in Hysham along the river to Park City west of Billings. Most birds are hanging on the small islands if you can get on them.

Waterfowling is getting alot better the migration is showing signs of picking up here in South Central Montana. Mallards were in big flights tonight along with larger geese coming in at sundown tonight. Mostly been shooting Teal and local Greenheads. Can't wait to hit it this weekend the real action will be later in the year as we near Christmas and things freeze up.

Deer hunting for us has been a loss so far alot of Muley Does being seen but the Big Bucks are eluding us. Got a report of a few Wolves being seen just south of Billings on a few ranches just to the south east of us here 10 miles so that would explain the deer not being spotted at all on Saturday or Sunday. They said they would never make their way out of Yellowstone Park guess they were wrong we are 90 miles from the park.

Good Luck,

Chris

[CAJ]

Codydog. Still here. Been busy huntting birds, but very slow on the Montana side. Lots of the good CRP is gone, and the bird numbers are about 20% of last year. Dakota side is a lot better this year. I hope we have a better winter, and a good hatch. More posted signs showing up this year.

[SportFishin']

Well the waterfowl migration is in full swing here in South Central MT with the sub zero temps the greenheads have made thier way out of canada finally with the potholes up north freezing up. The skies are loaded with waterfowl 200-400 birds per flock. Getting set up on a geo-thermal spring "Warm Water Slough" is key to finding the birds out here along the yellowstone basin when frozen up hard along the river. We bagged a limit(10) for two guys on Sat. in the Am with geese flying high and fast. by 9:30 we made our way back to the truck to drop the waterfowl gear off and let the Griffon loose for a round of points on some Central Montana Ringnecks along the Clarksfork River. 3 roosters were bagged to round out a great morning hunt before lunch & some Christmas shopping.

Sharptail have been covied up and seeing good numbers of 20 to 30 per covey rise with pockets of Huns mixed in between Sharptail coveys. Need to get way out where others are not willing to walk to find birds.

Until next time enjoy the hunt!

Chris