Lewistown, Montana?

I am planning a upland bird hunting trip out there in October. My Dad and I have been going "North" chasing Grouse for the last 25 years WI, MI, ME or MN. He has macular degeneration and is slowly loosing his vision. He told me that is his dream trip so I'm going to make that happen. We are targeting Huns and Sharptails and Pheasants. Can anyone give me any info on what to expect? Things I need to know both good or bad? Any advice would be appreciated. We should be there October 9th or 10th. Thanks

As long as you do not have California license plates, you'll be able to get permission. There's still alot of good bird hunting on public ground. The farther you are from a decent sized city, the easier you'll get permission. It'll be a wait yet to see how bird numbers will be.

Thanks. I hope the bird numbers are good this year. But I've never been to Montana so it will be good no matter.

Public land?

Lot's of birds up in/near the "Breaks". Not sure on the regs, never hunted it for birds...
Griz

Yes. I will ask permission if I see a good looking spot and have the opportunity. They have a lot of private land opened to sportsman.

There is a long time member on here from Lewiston, Allan Minear

He may not have seen this but could probably give you some good advice. His name is his userid and he a regular poster on one of the chat threads. Send him a PM.

Used to know a good man from there.
He's gone now.
Used to see Diane at a few conventions. She may be gone too

I was there back in 2000. Very nice place then. I remember when you got out of town ringnecks were running around everywhere. A hen flew into my truck and cracked the grill. We were deer hunting so I can't say about public land bird hunting. I remember a place in town that had a ton of old hit and miss engines laying around. I believe there is a member on here from that area??????

I think Allan minear lives up there.

I have spoke with Allan via PM. Nice guy. Thanks for the replies.

We hunted just east of there around Grassrange and Winnet 2 years ago, lots of access and plenty of birds. We saw sharptails, huns, pheasants, and sage grouse. There are blue and ruffed grouse on the mountain near Lewistown, but we only drove thru there on our way to town for dinner one night.

I took Rooster my hunting partner out for what sadly was our last upland bird hunt this late fall as it turned out it was a nice day for a walk no birds were hurt and he did better than I did ha ha

This winter has been a open one for the most part and coyote numbers are down and I've not gone for a drive to see what's out there for upland bird numbers a lot can change between now and then a lot depends on moisture received and spring weather then the grasshopper hatch so to speak . I feel if we can avoid hail storms that's a huge factor in bird population anywhere.

On my way home from Great Falls yesterday afternoon I seen close to 500 Canadian geese out in a stubble field which was a pleasant surprise and I didn't notice any pheasants or grouse on this trip .

A month ago I had a big bunch of grouse fly over the house as they were going to a stubble field after the season was closed.

I'm still on the CAC or Citizens Advisory Committee for this district to our FWP commission and I'm sure the block management booklet for this year will be available soon so check their website for that.
Happy Hunting !
Allan

In the late 70's. I hunted around Stanford on the ground of a friend who farmed there and guided elk near Ennis in the fall. It was great then. We were three broke fishing guides at the end of the season, but we had a bunkhouse and thousands of acres to hunt. We shot huns, sharpies and pheasants over two labs.. Every draw was a surprise.

Luckily we found an all you can eat breakfast at a diner in Stanford... and they politely told us we'd eaten enough.

The best part was at the end of the four days we were out of money and shells. We drove past a farm where we had permission and saw a bunch of birds run into the tree row next to an old house. I'll never forget this, but we all emptied our pockets onto the hood of my 67 Scout, then figured out how much money we'd need for gas back to West Yellowstone, and found out we could go back to town for two boxes of duck/pheasant loads at $4.99 a box.

These days, we've all got lots of shells, but not so many birds.

Good luck with your hunt.

Pete

Get OnX on your phone.

Thanks guys. We are looking forward to it. I have OnX it’s a great app and I’m signed up for the blm book to arrive when it printed.

Headed that way Friday. Has the drought been really bad in this area? I hope the bird numbers are good. We shall see.

I often wondered if Diane is still around too. Willis been gone a good while now.

I always get Livingston and Lewiston mixed up. Until I am at one of the towns.

I used to see Diane a lot because she was living in the town I work in and would always be at the VA and WV conventions. I haven't seen her in years.