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Coming to Eastern Montana to hunt deer? Bring snowshoes!

Nice buck congrats. Although I would have taken the fighter pilot helmet off before the pic.;)
 
A dandy for sure. I almost bagged his twin tonight coming home from pheasant hunting. What a whopper. Barely missed him with ballistic tip Jimmy fender. Range was too close. Fender would have blown up on impact and wrecked too much meat. Maybe not too bad. Muzzle velocity was only 25 mph due to sheet ice on the road. Very glad to not have to waste my tag on it. "Yeah, grandson. I bagged that big boy back in 2020 with my truck. After a helluva stalk. All of two seconds I figure."
 
OntarioHunter said:
Just got off the phone with the game warden (yesterday I reported some Block Management violators). She says the weather will be in fifties next week. That will make a fine mess of things. Roads will be impassible again due to gumbo but everyone will be out tearing them up anyway. Hope the snowshoes arrive before then.
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She a game warden and a weather girl? Is she hot?
 
Refugeguy said:
She a game warden and a weather girl? Is she hot?
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Not bad looking as I recall but way too young for me. She pays more attention to long range forecast than I do. Warm and muddy here now. Looking for a new place to hunt today and I am still amazed at the deep drifting in the rough country.
 
The South East is warm, dry and getting dusty. Throw in some wind and conditions are anything but ideal for hunting.
 
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LCH said:
How are the roads looking out there now? I'll be rolling in Saturday night.
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Hwy 2 now good east of Havre to Malta. Still a bit of ice at Dodson. Watch for frost and icy bridges in the morning. City streets through that area are HORRIBLE icy and many back roads are variable: one second icy, next muddy, next dry, next drifted. I imagine the Breaks near Ft Benton must be very bad drifted.
 
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The roads are icy, muddy, dry, and drifted; I should think that about covers it yeah. Tomorrow the mountains on the can will be blue and there’s a 70% chance of burnt crap. Air quality going to hell. Good night and good luck.
 
Last week of big game season is here ... and so are the snow drifts just as I forecast. To make matters worse it warmed up a couple of days then temps went in the toilet again. So now everything is badly crusted. About the worst conditions possible. Snow is VERY noisy and grabs at every step. If you don't have legs of iron, you will after a day hunting in this crap! Even east of here where the drifts aren't nearly as bad it is brutal going. I've been getting my birds east of Malta but almost impossible to get a shot as the spooky buggers can hear us seventy yards away and take off. I have to keep the dogs right next to me or it's hopeless. Better not miss a shot because it's probably the only one I'll get all day (e.g. yesterday's lone rooster). The dogs' feet are taking a beating. I think they're about done. Even if I could find boots for them I don't see how it would help. Crystalized snow would get inside and make things worse. Their shins are getting chewed up too and boots won't help that. Muck boots have been the ticket for me! They keep the snow out and help protect my shins and calves from hard crust. Gaters wouldn't last a day in this stuff. My feet have never been cold in the Mucks ... but I never stop moving.

I was hiking some BM property two days ago checking for deer and saw where some stupid asshole on a quad tried to drive over a drift (and in a posted no vehicle area!). Quad got stuck (duh!) and the two guys got off ... and instantly went up past their waists in the soft drift. They had a helluva time crawling out ... on their bellies. Then they tried to drive their pickup in to pull out the quad and got it stuck in the first drift. Looks like the rancher came up and pulled them out with a tractor. I hope he kicked their arse off permanently. They sure tore things up. Most guys who own those toys think they are capable of defying the laws of physics. I know of two local ranchers who learned otherwise the hard way ... both are in wheelchairs for the rest of their years.
 
MTLabrador said:
I am headed to eastern Montana right now and I didn’t bring my snowshoes... I didn’t realize pheasant hunting was so life threatening. At least I have a lightweight O/U to
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If you're coming to the Hi Line you better hope for warm weather. That will help with the crusted snow but then the frozen roads will be a muddy gumbo mess. It is not fun right now and unless your dogs have been toughened up don't expect them to last long. I guess it could be life threatening if you're not in shape for it.

Cover for pheasants is hard to find. The blizzard blew over most of it that wasn't grazed down due to drought and low beef prices (cattle were moved off the high country range early and ranchers hung onto more of their calves last year). Snowberries and wild roses have been stripped naked by driving snow. Cattails is about it if you can find a ditch that hasn't been stomped or blown flat. It is however an astounding year for sharptails. They are everywhere by the hundreds. Lots of fun to shoot especially on windy days. Hunt into the wind and let the dogs flush them. Wind will blow them right to you. Sharpies aren't the greatest flyers. Wish they were more fun to eat. Also sharpies prefer windblown knobs and ridges which makes easier hunting in these conditions. I have only seen two coveys of Huns this year. I won't shoot them.
 
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neffa3 said:
literally a few minutes ago. No snow and I can actually see cover from the freakin hwy cam.
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This is the Hi Line yesterday within earshot of Hwy 2. Photo taken by me, not downloaded from the net. Three moose in the center of the photo. Plenty of snow. And ice. Plenty of cover too (two cows could not be seen till they got up out of their beds) ... in this place where cattle are not allowed. I doubt you would last ten minutes down in those cattails and bullrushes with crusty snow up to your knees. Very hard on dogs. Actually, hiking the bald looking hill in the foreground is worse than fighting the cattails. Though snow is not as deep it is crusted harder ... but not hard enough for dogs to walk on top.20201124_134614.jpg
 
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