|  f you’re hunting elk in
Montana, you’ll have no trouble finding someplace to go, and need never trouble
yourself with asking permission to access private land. Bird hunting is a different
matter, though, since with the exception of mountain grouse most opportunities occur on
private land. As most know, gaining access to private land isn’t getting any easier,
particularly in areas with good hunting opportunities, and of course, you probably
don’t want to go where the hunting is poor. So, in many cases to access those prime
spots you are going to have to reach for your wallet. The trend is for
landowners to charge an access fee, or lease their property to outfitters, although the
latter is somewhat less the case for birds than big game. This trend is the source of no
small amount of controversy. Many locals abhor the thought of paying to hunt, and take it
personally when a ranch they have previously had access to gets leased by an outfitter. I
am not crazed about this situation either, but being both a hunter and landowner, I can
see both sides of the coin, so to speak.
In my experience, most upland bird hunters are interested in (listed by degree of
interest) pheasants, partridge, and then grouse (also listed in order); sharptails,
mountain grouse (ruffed, Franklin, and blues), and then sage grouse. Sage grouse live in
the sagebrush, and mountain grouse live in the mountains; two stunning revelations,
I’m sure. The other species tend to be found in the agricultural areas, though. They
thrive on the diverse
food sources and require the water supply that defines the better farming country. To get
to the point, when Montana upland bird hunting is discussed, most people first think of
two areas. The first is the Golden Triangle area in the north central part of the state.
The Great Falls, Dutton, Choteau, Conrad area has excellent bird hunting, particularly
pheasants and partridge. The other primary destination is the area around Lewistown. That
both of these areas have good upland game bird hunting is no secret, and they get a lot of
hunting pressure. Virtually all landowners who have good bird habitat are aware they
possess a good and desirable thing, and it is getting very difficult to get permission in
these areas. If you can find a property where you can get permission for free, count
yourself very lucky and congratulate yourself for outstanding interpersonal skills and
charm. More likely you will be paying a daily access fee, which is not a bad arrangement,
and we can steer you toward some of these if you desire. Much of the best hunting is
leased, though, and unless you are one of the lessees or well connected with them, you are
out of luck. Unlike big game, where outfitters lease land for their paying clients, much
land leased for bird hunting is done by a small group of friends or associates, and unless
you know the right people (and they like you), you are going to be out of the loop.
Anyway, that’s the bad news, if you choose to view it as such. The good news is
that there is still an area where you can find abundant bird populations and largely
unrestricted access, and that area is the northeast corner of the state, primarily
Roosevelt, Sheridan, and Daniels counties. There is a considerable amount of public land,
particularly around the Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge, and also a great deal of
Block Management land open to public hunting.
A little explanation is in order about the aforementioned Block Management lands. This
is a tremendously successful program administered by the Montana Dept. of Fish,
Wildlife, and Parks, partly as a response to the public outcry over reduced access to
private lands due to outfitter leasing. Funded by non-resident hunting licenses, the Block
Management program pays landowners to allow public hunting on their property. This program
has been hugely popular both with landowners and sportsmen, and has opened or maintained
access to an enormous amount of prime habitat. The Block Management
information is released on August 15th, give or take a day or two, each year. You need to
contact the FWP regional headquarters in the region you are interested in, and they will
send you a booklet listing the Block Management properties in that region, along with a
map showing their locations, and tables detailing the acreages, hunting opportunities, and
other pertinent information. Once you have narrowed your choice a bit, you can again
contact the region headquarters and they will send more detailed maps and information for
the specific properties you’re interested in. The numbers for the regional
headquarters are listed in the hunting regulation booklet put out by FWP, which anyone
even remotely interested in Montana hunting ought to have a copy of. Get yours by calling
the State Headquarters at 406-444-2535 or check out the FWP website at http://www.fwp.mt.gov.
There are nearly 200,000 acres enrolled in Block Management in the three previously
mentioned counties in northeast Montana. Additionally, the Medicine Lake National Wildlife
Refuge contains just shy of an additional 10,000 acres. Obviously, we’re talking
about a bunch of land here, open to all comers without paying a single sheckel in access
fees. Plus, this area is one of those increasingly rare places where your chance of being
granted access to private land just for the asking are good. The bulk of the private land
is small farms, and although I generally steer clear of generalizations, the landowners
are for the most part friendly and freely grant permission for bird hunting. If you
are looking to make some contacts, there is a public steak feed in Froid on the Friday
evening before pheasant season opens. This is a popular event and definitely worth
checking out.
Also, there are approximately 150,000 acres in Region 6 enrolled in the Upland Game
Bird Habitat Restoration Program. This is a program administered by FWP that offers
cost share payments to private landowners who enhance bird habitat on their property.
In exchange, they must allow public hunting, although they can limit it as they see
fit. At present, FWP doesn't maintain or make public a comprehensive list of
landowners in the program. They are working on a policy for releasing landowner
names, but due to the wide variation in property sizes, as well as the varying degrees to
which the landowners allow access, there are still a few bugs to be worked out. A
call to the regional headquarters will get you some names, though.
So, how does one go about finding birds in this vast landscape? Without doubt, the best
way to find lots of birds is to go deer hunting. If you are carrying a rifle, you are
virtually assured of seeing birds everywhere. Conversely, if you want to see a trophy
whitetail, leave your deer rifle at home and carry a shotgun. Perhaps the best choice for
armament would be a drilling, a combination rifle/shotgun. Popular in Europe, they have
never really caught on here, but hey, most sportsmen welcome any excuse to purchase
another toy. Joking aside, although it is not the focus of this article, it is worth
mentioning that northeast Montana has some superb deer hunting, particularly whitetails.
You are likely to encounter them in the same areas you will be bird hunting, and a
combination bird/deer hunt is a very good idea. Before you get too aggravated with my
digressions, though, I should make a few concrete suggestions. Arguably, some of the best
hunting is on and in the vicinity of the Medicine Lake Refuge. Maps and brochures are
available by calling the Refuge Manager at 406-789-2305. Some of the best bird hunting is
in Area 2; the Sandhills, and Area 3; Homestead Lake. Also, the Sandhills Block Management
area lies adjacent to Area 2 of the Refuge. This 20,552 acre Block Management area
doesn’t require prior reservations, only a daily sign-in, and is tremendous bird (and
deer) hunting.
Obviously, with nearly 200,000 acres of Block Management available, plus the 150,000
acres in the Habitat Restoration Program, there are a whole lot of other places to
go, but suggesting one as better than another is an exercise in futility. The birds are
mobile, and hunting pressure in one spot will readily move them to another. Try a couple
of different places, though, and you will find birds. As with bird hunting anywhere, look
for brushy draws, especially with water in the vicinity, and/or spots with good cover
adjacent to grain fields. Conservation Reserve Program lands are always good for birds,
and there is a lot of CRP in this area. Note that I said good for birds, not necessarily
good for hunters. If you are wondering how to identify CRP lands, just look for tracts
with a jungle of often waist-high growth, that obviously hasn’t been harvested or
grazed and you can be assured it is CRP. That lush growth make for fabulous wildlife
cover, but doesn’t lend itself to easy hunting since you about have to step on a bird
to put them up. If you are hunting CRP you will find that having a good dog is invaluable.
If you do much research on bird populations in this area, which since you have
indirectly hired me to do that for you may be unnecessary, you will encounter quite
diverse opinions. Bird populations (as well as all other wildlife) took a serious hit
during the hard winter of 96/97, but are rebounding nicely. If you send for the Block
Management information for Region 6, you may notice they say the bird hunting in the
counties I have mentioned is not as good as in the central and western part of the Region
(where there is less public access). I would beg to differ with that assessment. Quizzing
several FWP biologists about this was revealing. The "unofficial" policy is to
be somewhat non-commital or vague when appraising the hunting prospects for an area. There
are so many variables involved in hunting success like weather and the skill/motivation
level of the individual, that most sources within FWP try to avoid saying "the
hunting in that area is great!" Too often when they do, they get called back by an
incompetent, lazy, or just unlucky hunter who berates them because he/she wasn’t
fabulously successful. Obviously, this rapidly grows tiresome. Also, evaluating bird
populations is not a simple matter. There is no official policy on how to conduct bird
population surveys. Most area biologists attempt to keep track of the amount of rooster
crowing (we’re talking pheasants, here) during the spring breeding season, but it is
difficult to accurately appraise brood production and survival throughout the summer.
Since the bulk of birds taken by hunters are young of the year, brood survival clearly has
a huge effect on hunting success. I’m told the biologists rely to some degree on the
opinions of locals when it comes to bird populations. In most cases, though, these
opinions are based on pickup window surveys taken at 60 mph. Hardly scientific,
empirically verifiable, sound analysis, but if you have a better idea I’m sure FWP
would like to hear about it. Anyway, although the "official" standpoint is that
bird hunting in NE Montana is only "good", based on first and second-hand
accounts from tremendously pleased and successful hunters, I will stick my neck out and
say it is great.
The key to success is to get out of the truck and cover some country. While banally
obvious, it never ceases to amaze me how so many people fail to implement it when the time
comes for boot sole depreciation. This is as close to an absolute truism as any
generalization can be, and pertinent to virtually all hunting. If you get out and beat the
brush, you will find birds. Unless of course the powers that oversee such things
have decided that perhaps due to infractions in a previous or current life, you are
unworthy and destined to be cursed with terminal bad hunting luck. If so, I disavow all
responsibility and leave you to your fate.
The only downside to hunting northeast Montana, if you choose to view it as such, is
that it is way out there, not really on the way to anywhere, and it is highly improbable
that you are just going to find yourself in the neighborhood. It’s about as far as
you can get into the region referred to by some residents of the more mountainous parts of
the state as "West Dakota". Of course, most readers are likely non-residents
anyway, and if you’re planning a visit to Montana, what’s another few hundred
miles? The benefits will far outweigh any mind-numbing highway miles, which besides fuel
are the primary cost of reaching the area, in my view. There just aren’t many other
areas, in fact none come to mind offhand, where you can combine superb upland bird hunting
(and pretty darn respectable deer hunting) with largely unrestricted access. Fortunately,
this situation is highly unlikely to disappear anytime in the foreseeable future. The
Medicine Lake Refuge obviously isn’t going anywhere, and the Block Management program
is as stable as any government program can be. Also, it’s highly unlikely that
outfitter leasing will ever become widespread in this area. The vast majority of the farms
are relatively small, a couple thousand acres or less, and the logistics of leasing up
enough land for a viable outfitting operation border on impossible. Besides, although
money talks, especially to impoverished wheat farmers, many (most) landowners don’t
like the idea of leasing to an outfitter. It means that their relatives and friends, and
in fact usually themselves, will no longer be able to hunt on their land, and that is
something not easily relinquished. Also, the CRP program ensures the long-term protection
of vast amounts of habitat, and I’m certain hunters will enjoy great bird hunting in
northeast Montana for a long time to come.
See you in Froid.
|
