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View Full Version : Anyone Hunted Pheasants in Montana?



Long bow
04-16-2009, 12:24 AM
Drove across Montana a couple times and was blown away by all the pheasants..Just wondered if anyone has hunted there. I checked on Non resident alien tags, price is right, generous bag limits...not many restrictions. And its as easy to drive to as Brooks AB.
Thanks

bridger
04-16-2009, 05:21 AM
I haven't personally hunted there but some friends of mine in fort st john have gone down there several times and had an awesome time. friendly people and lots of pheasants. the hunted on a black foot indian reservation and had a great time. inexpensive as well. takes a bit of planning to get your shotgun across the border though. they had friends in the states and eventually had them buy shotguns for them and left them in the states

huntwriter
04-16-2009, 07:27 AM
There are sure great pheasant hunting opportunities almost everywhere south of the border. Next to the Dakota’s Montana is a good place to start for Canadians that like pheasant hunting. As has been pointed out, lots of birds, generous bag limits, relatively cheap and very friendly people.

To avoid the hassle of getting firearms back and forth over the border it is best to rent a shotgun from the outfitter.

Ruger4
04-16-2009, 08:13 AM
There is some very good pheasant hunting right in your back yard , just need to know which (corn growing ) farmers to talk too. There is also some very good pheasant hunting out in Ladner area. Now I realize not the numbers you'll get in Alberta but it's only a short drive. Hunted birds in Delta for 30 years , thats the only thing I miss about it !!! ;-) :-)

bighornbob
04-16-2009, 09:21 AM
When I went down there pronghorn hunting (non-guided) I stopped at a sporting goods store to check things out on my way to hunting area. It was the night before the pheasant opener and you should have seen the people in there buying ammunition, camo, orange vests etc etc. It was like Dec 24 at a local mall up here. It must be huge for locals down there. One guy actually asked me where I was heading out. I told him I was down for antelope which started in a few days. When he found out I was from BC he looked at me like I was stupid for leaving BC to hunt in Montana. I explained to him that although we have almost every animal up here, pronghorn was one of the few we did not have.

In regards to guns going across the border, it is quite easy. All you need is a Form (I beleive Form 6) from the ATF. All you need is a Montana hunting license to appy for the Form. Since you dont have to apply for a pheasant tag, it should be as simple as buying your license online and submitting a copy of your license with the Form 6 application. When i went down, I had to apply for the pronghorn tag (like our LEH). Well you dont know if you got drawn till quite late in the year and the Form 6 application says it may take up to 16 weeks to get approved. I was a little nervous becuase you cant apply for the Form 6 until you have your hunting license in hand. But like I said should not be a problem for a bird license.

Another thing is almost all of Montana is private land so permission is needed almost everywhere. One way around this is Montana has a program called the Block Management Program. The Montana gov. pays landowners to allow hunters access. Every year they print a book (similar in thickness to our hunting regs) of which landowners are taking part in the program. The book is devided by regions and lists partipating landowners, species available, size of property, and a contact name and number. It is as simple of looking at what region you want to hunt, seeing which farmers have pheasants and making some calls. Just like anything I would do a lot of check around and get a few farms to hunt. Just becuase a farmer says he hays pheasants does not mean he has a bunch. Also the farmer sets the rules for his land (i.e no driving off roads, only certain amount of hunters allowed at one time, no does can be shot etc etc.) Which to me is quite reasonable. The ranch that we hunted had a rule of walk in hunting only, no does could be shot (even though one guy had a doe tag), had to only hunt in the Section we were assigned and we were only allowed to hunt for three days (to give other hunters a chance). If there were Sections that had no hunters when our 3 days was over we could go hunt there.availableSo book with a bunch of farms. And the best thing it cost you nothing.:lol:

BHB

Jimbo
04-16-2009, 09:13 PM
Check out "Three bars Pheasant Ranch" at the bottom of the thread for B.C. pheasant hunts.

puphood1
06-19-2009, 08:01 AM
As one other person posted getting a gun across the border is not such a big deal just takes time. Buy the Montana Lic first over the phone(just got mine again) and you will have it in he mail in about 7 days then fax. off your AFT application with a photo copy of the Mt. lic. and it will take about 45 days to come back so you need to get on it soon if you plan on makeing the opener in Oct.
Have been going to MT. for Pheasants for about 15 years now from AB. and have never regreted it. The BML program is a great program for hunters and region 6 -7 has lots of it. There is no need to do a private caned hunt in MT. unless you have no dogs or you want do the private lodge thing. If you have a dog he will love for it and be tired when he comes back.........puphood1

One Shot
06-19-2009, 10:37 AM
Go for it, lots of fun.:grin: