Bird Dogs Afield host Paul Fuller is the gun dog columnist for Northwoods Sporting Journal. The Journal has granted permission to re-print Paul’s articles. Thank you Northwoods Sporting Journal.

A Montana Bird Hunting Odyssey

Eastern bird hunters always dream of the “big trip.” That trip means heading West…and I don’t mean just a couple of state lines. I mean really going West…like all the way to Montana grasslands. That’s just what your writer, his wife, Stu Bristol and Dillon (my shorthair) did for the September 1 opening of sharptail and Hungarian partridge season. From the Seacoast of New Hampshire to Plentywood, Montana was a 40-hour drive but well worth it. Traveling through eleven states reminds you of the beauty in this wonderful country.

Plentywood, Montana is a small community in the northeastern corner of the state. A few miles north is Saskatchewan and a few miles east is North Dakota. Although Montana has the Rocky Mountains, the northeast corner is part of the Great Plains. This means grasslands and that means prairie birds. The sharptail grouse and Hungarian partridge are excellent birds for the pointing dog. And we had pointing dogs.

We arrived late afternoon on August 31st and immediately made contact with our hunting partner, Steve Ries of Native Dog Food. Steve asked us to meet him a few miles outside of town at 5:30 A.M. the next morning. Steve came up from Iowa and had brought four good shorthairs. As with any hunt, the morning came quickly and we were heading out of town in the dim morning light. We met Steve, who was staying with a rancher, and then proceeded to what Montana refers to as Block Management land. Most of the West is privately owned so states enter into agreements with private landowners to allow public access for recreational purposes. Hunting being one of those activities. This is a very rewarding program for the hunter looking for open land to hunt. Montana Parks and Wildlife provides a Block Management map on their website. If you head to Montana for recreational purposes, use this map. It’s invaluable. Go to www.mt.gov.

When arriving at a Block Management property, you must first sign-in. This consists of a sign-in box with small forms you must fill-out. At the end of the day, they ask you to record your harvest. Pretty simple for such a wonderful opportunity.

My first concern was how a New England Ruffed grouse dog would work in country with an endless horizon. There was no need for concern; Dillon immediately reached out and went into a beautiful search pattern. Dogs just get it.

The first day we hunted for about one hour before we found birds but from then on we were pretty busy. Also, the first day we only found sharptails. Here’s an interesting character of the sharptail. A covey of sharptails has a staggered flush. One or two birds will flush and, if shooting a double barrel, you may have two spent shells in your gun. You need to reload immediately and be ready for more birds. Another two or three will flush and that will continue until eight to twelve birds have taken flight. It’s very possible, if you reload quickly, to get your limit of four birds from one covey. Of course, as with Ruffed grouse, don’t shoot out the entire covey. Leave seed and that same covey will be there next year.

I have not checked this scientifically, however, it appeared to me that the sharptail is slightly larger than the Ruffed grouse. My observation is that it flies slightly slower than our Ruffie. The big difference, however, is that you’re shooting in wide-open spaces. No trees to worry about. It was a pleasant change from our upland thickets.

Each day we hunted until 10:30 or 11:00 AM. That offered a good workout for both the dogs and the hunters. We had between 40 to 60 flushes per day. It was unusual to go for an hour without finding birds.

A note regarding Huns. We stayed primarily on Block Management land which is mostly grasslands. This is where you find sharptails. Huns are found near old farmhouses and barns. We only hunted this type of cover the last day when a local property owner hosted us. Huns are unlike sharptails in that they all flush together. The Hun may also be a little faster in flight.

If you decide to make this trip, here are a few facts. According to a local game biologist, rattlesnakes are seldom found North of the Missouri River so we did not concern ourselves with snakes; thus, no vaccinations for the dogs. We walked between five to eight miles per day. You need good footwear. I used the Irish Setter King Toe for my leather boot and the Irish Setter ExoFlex for my rubber boot. The Exoflex is the hottest boot on the market today due to the exceptional fit. LL Bean carries this boot. On a warm day, you’ll have mosquitoes so take a repellant. Have a pair of field glasses in the truck since you’ll see pronghorn antelope and mule deer. Porcupines are numerous so carry a Leatherman if your dog is prone to grabbing a porcupine. Regarding temperature, it averaged 45 at night and around 62 during the day which made for some pretty darn good hunting weather. We never saw rain.

Here’s a really great tip. There is a company in North Dakota that sells mapping for your GPS. Go to www.Koutdoorproducts.com. These maps are designed to help you find hunting areas in the West.

Regarding guns, we all hunted with a 20 gauge. Personally, I hunted with RST (www.rstshells.com) shells in No. 6 shot and found them to be perfect for sharptails.

Here’s a concluding comment. Our motel (The Sherwood Inn) was full of bird hunters. The small campground on the edge of town is full of hunters and professional dog trainers. With all these hunters and dogs in the area, we never bumped into another hunter. Can it get much better than that?

And, to top it off, everyone was friendly. We even had a rancher stop his truck along a remote road and say “hello”. He saw my license plate and commented that we were from New Hampshire and how happy he was to see us visiting and helping the local economy.

If you have the means, the time and the legs, every serious bird hunter should make this trip. If you have any specific questions, my email address is below. Also, my video episodes of Montana are available on my website which is www.birddogsafield.com.

I hope your Ruffed grouse season is going well. We’ll talk about our local season next month.

Paul Fuller is host of the Bird Dogs Afield WebTV program which may be viewed on the MyOutdoorTV.com network. Through cooperation with Northwoods Sporting Journal, Paul’s previous columns are now available on his website which is www.birddogsafield.com. Paul may be reached at paul@birddogsafield.com.