MT pronghorn & sage grouse

[Medicine Water]

I drew a unit 700 pronghorn permit for MT. I've never hunted this unit and would appreciate any pointers. Rosebud County has produced some nice bucks in recent years, so as of now I am focusing on that county...unless I'm convinced otherwise. What kind of hunting pressure can I expect on public land? Is the habitat looking good this year? Normal rainfall? Do any other big game seasons run concurrent with the pronghorn season?

I'm very interested in pursuing a sage grouse or two. Being from Nebraska, I've never seen sage grouse in the wild. So any advice would be appreciated!

Also, are there any points of interest that I must see while in the area (such as Battle of Little Bighorn site)?

Thanks

 

[montanahunting]

public land bucks

We meaning myself and my wife have taken around 10 bucks and 15 does from the 700 area near Sand Springs and Jordan and Brusett there are alot of hunters but very few work at it maybe hike out a mile or two. but there are some big ones left out there and alot of block management ranches you can reserve just for you for 3 days at a time. the final two weeks of deer you can also hunt antelope so double your fun if you have a tag and alot of birds too. if you want more info e-mail me time to reserve startes sept 1st.

 

[thecrittergitter]

Well, its been a fantastic year for forage all over Montana with unit 700 being no exception. You will definately find a good goat out in that country and it seems that no one place is any better than another out there. Get off the roads a ways and you loose about 70% of the people.

Good luck. I have seen two goats in 700 this year that are definately over 80" ers but I sure wouldn't hold my breath for seeing many over that mark.

 

[Medicine Water]

Thanks for the info, it is appreciated. Glad to hear about the good forage...good forage makes for good horns!

Since posting my original message, I have been able to gain access to a couple of Block Management Ranches....Little Porcupine Ranch on Oct 15 and Big Porcupine Ranch on Oct 16 & 17. So I will probably concentrate on filling my doe tags during the opening weekend.

I looked into a deer tag, but near as I can tell there are no leftover tags.

Do you have any pointers on locating sage grouse? Do you just look for areas with a good cover of sage and start hiking? Will they be near a water source? Would a heavy pheasant load do the trick in bagging a bird or two?

Thanks again!

 

[Big Fin]

Do you have any pointers on locating sage grouse? Do you just look for areas with a good cover of sage and start hiking? Will they be near a water source? Would a heavy pheasant load do the trick in bagging a bird or two?

Thanks again!

Find water. They will most likely be within a mile of water. In the morning, you can glass them in the short sage. In the tall sage, it just takes a lot of walking. Pheasant loads will work just fine.

Shoot the little ones, if you plan on eating any. They are very cool birds, but those big old "bombers" have earned their reputation as difficult table fare.

 

[Medicine Water]

Thanks Fin. My boss once told me "the older birds taste like a creosote fence post". He must of been pretty hungry to find out what a fence post tastes like. Actually I would like to have an adult bird mounted, and I would like to eat one as well.....just so I can say been there done that.

Nice job down in New Mexico! I checked the message board nearly every day and it's really got me pumped up for my NE muzzleloader pronghorn hunt in 16 days.

 

[1_pointer]

One of the best places I've found for finding sage grouse without a dog, is in a drainage below a stock tank/pond. There's a few places (and most don't even have water) like this that finding birds is nearly a lead pipe cinch.