Cold in Montana

I didn't have much time to get out this weekend. A lot of our still water is now frozen. Some of our spring creeks and major rivers remain open and they are still holding birds. I had time to scout one of my favorite spots on Saturday afternoon and it was loaded with birds. My holiday honey dos are finished so I'll be back at them next weekend.

Dog tip for cold weather hunting: When hunting in very cold conditions it's very important to provide your dog with a little extra special care.

1) Make sure your dog is wearing a high quality neoprene vest.
2) Make sure your dog is well fed the night before the hunt with high carb dog food.
3) Bring an insulated pad or make a dry grass bed for the dog to stand/sit on during the hunt.
4) Keep your dog as dry as possible.
5) Watch your dog carefully during the hunt for signs of hypothermia. This might be any strange behavior including an unusual lack of attention, excessive shivering, stiffness, and a pronounced kink in the dog's tail.
6) Never hunt your dog in deep moving water when shelf ice is present. This has killed many a good retriever on cold weather hunts.

Good Hunting, Mark

Montana Hunting Report

Well we've been praying for a cold front and we got one. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. -15 with the wind chill on Saturday. The cold temps moved a bunch of birds down from Alberta late last week. I hunted the Missouri river on Saturday morning just south of Great Falls and there were tremendous numbers of ducks and geese. Due to near white out conditions it took me twice as long to drive the 60 miles to the boat launch as it normally does. I jumped about 1000 mallards and 500 honkers on my way into the back water slough I hunt. Once I got set up the shooting was fast and furious for both ducks and geese. See the attached picture for results. I also attached a picture of my waders. You know it's cold when your waders stand up on their own after taking them off. LOL.

The latest forecast has temps well below zero for most of the coming week. Wind chill numbers will be dropping as low as -40 in places. As long as some of our rivers and spring creeks stay open we should be OK. We don't have a lot of snow on the ground so most of the grain fields should stay open to feeding birds moving south. I spoke with a good friend this afternoon and he did well hunting a spring creek in the southern part of the state this weekend. He also reported good numbers of birds available if you could find open water and were willing to bare the cold temps. I have also been hearing about good numbers of ducks holding on the Bighorn river in eastern Montana. In addition tremendous numbers of geese can usually be found anywhere along the Yellowstone river corridor this time of year. The trick is getting permission to hunt one of the many grain fields that border both sides of the river. This is much easier to do now that deer season is over. An afternoon spent scouting and knocking on doors usually pays big dividends.

Good hunting and be safe, Mark

Greetings from Montana

I just returned from a great hunt in Alaska with my son and things are really starting to happen here in Montana. A good friend called me this morning. When I answered the phone the first two words out of his mouth told me everything I needed to know. "It's on". He had just killed his fourth limit of ducks in the last 7 days. The first big pushes of birds have started south out of Alberta. It's been an unseasonably mild fall in this neck of the woods and reports continue to indicate huge numbers of birds holding just north of us in Canada. Despite a relatively mild Canadian weather forecast, I stood outside tonight and listened to literally thousands of ducks and geese heading south. Alberta temps will be dropping into the teens tonight but usually it takes snow and temps in the single digits to really get things moving.

My truck is packed with decoys and my lab is whimpering by the door. The alarm is set for 4am and my heart is beating just a little faster tonight. My gut tells me tomorrow is going to be one of those special days. From Big Sky Country "It's On"!!!