They're Here!

                                        Two weeks after we left North Dakota for another year we were on the road again with the Big Sky country of Montana as our destination. It was November 2007. We were on our way to spend 5 days hunting the Sunlight ranch as guests of my friends Stan and Sharon Johnson formerly of Wisconsin and now working at the ranch. Our plan was to stay across the border in Wyoming then drive up into Montana 30 or so miles each day to the ranch as there were no closer accommodations this time of year. I had heard Stan and Sharon's description of the terrain and surrounding area but nothing prepared us for the beauty and expanse of this country.

The view to the west at the end of the day.

 We hunted every day in the shadow of the Big Horn mountains. Usually up high a few miles from the valley in the foothills north east of the ranch. We quickly learned the birds sought refuge in the many ravines and sections of thorny brush seen throughout the hills.

The dark areas shown are the thorn bushes the birds often used for cover and food.
We focused on the smaller more narrow brush so the dog's could work the edges.
They would point into the brush or in the grass adjacent to it if they pinned the birds outside of it.

We arrived on a Sunday afternoon and Stan had had to make a run with the L.P. truck to another ranch property so Sharon greeted us and gave us a tour around the ranch showing us how to navigate in and out of the secure area's. Stan was to give us a more thorough orientation later but Sharon did a great job navigating the two track's and making sure we had a reference for where we were at and how to get back home! We met the ranch manager's, cook staff ,cowboy's and mechanic so everybody knew who's vehicle was out and about. Although a private deeded property this was within the Crow Indian Reservation so we had to have a reservation license not a Montana fish and game license. I had clarified this ahead of time with Fish and Game although many locals remarked that you had to have both. That was not the case as the state has no jurisdiction on the Reservations. We had sent for the licenses by mail and were taken care of by a lady named Roberta Prettypaint at the Reservation Headquarters.
                                        Excited to get our boots on the ground we rode back to the house with Sharon and had about two hours or so to explore. We decided to start at the south end of the ranch close to some barley and alfalfa fields. There was a corner of grass and cattails with a little water running through a ditch at the back side of an alfalfa field and a narrow valley running north and south. Tom took the top and I headed for the brush along the waterway below. We walked through the grass along the fence line as we descended into the bottom. Mick and Molly picked up scent immediately and tracked it ahead right along the fence. A couple Hen Pheasants flushed wild to the right. Great we were into birds! The dog's were still birdy as we moved into the really thick stuff when I lost sight of Mick. As I moved forward I knew he must be close and there he was on the edge of the little ditch with his head pointed down at the ground in front of him. He had a bird for sure. I walked in and kicked the brush. A Rooster battled it's way through the thick of it and rose high and to the right. I shot as he reached the peak of his trajectory and he fell across the waterway in more thick cover! The Setter's and I headed over and the game was on. The dog's worked around for a couple minutes appearing to be tracking then circled again. They knew this bird was here but it was moving. Then I lost sight of both dog's this time and headed back to where I had last seen them. There in the brush was Mick again with his head pointed down looking right at what I expected was this Rooster in the grass. I slowly walked up and stood and looked at the spot he was focused on. I reached down and pulled back the grass a bit and there sat the bird! Carefully I reached down and grabbed the bird by the neck and lifted him out of the brush as both dog's looked on obviously excited by the flapping wings as I dispatched the bird.
                                         I let the dog's settle and we headed down the waterway but first I wanted to hunt this side of the bank a little bit so we headed up a small hill to finish hunting this area of heavy grass and brush. Both dog's worked ahead and were tracking scent again almost immediately. We worked ahead to a fence line adjacent to the next pasture and both dog's locked up. I got about halfway to them when a group of birds took flight flying in all directions. I took aim at a Rooster heading back where we had just come from and dropped the bird hard in the same area basically. But this bird was dead. We headed back down and I was right. Walking right to it ahead of the dog's. I had heard Tom shoot thinking he may have had some of this group fly by him as well. I was optimistic as we continued having had our boots on the ground for less than an hour! The next few hundred yards were tough as I was basically walking through a swampy bottom but there were birds ahead as the dog's kept pointing and I'd walk ahead only to find they had moved out. But they kept working until we got another point around some bushes. I suspected we had moved these birds quite a ways and this is where they finally stopped. I was right as I approached with both Molly and Mick on point on either side of the brush then the birds exploded upward 4 Roosters and 2 Hen's. I took aim at the Rooster coming to my right and dropped him in the open cover. An easy recovery. Being at the end of where we wanted to go I headed up to meet Tom at the top. The hillside he had walked along was as thick as it gets but he did manage to put one Rooster in the bag. We continued back to the vehicle with the dog's working the alfalfa but didn't come across any more birds.
                                            Being unsure of exactly what the ranch had in store for us we were both feeling relieved. There were birds here! Before we headed back for the evening we wanted to check the hills behind the feedlot about a 3 mile drive up and down the hills on a two track Sharon had shown us. A half mile from the ridge we wanted to get to we crossed a ditch that scraped the trailer tongue and broke the tail light wires.We'd have to patch this and see the mechanic at the ranch tommorow. The grade to the ridge was steep but the Excursion was doing great traversing the bumpy trail. I had Tom stop about two hundred yards from the top as I wanted to check this area for Sharptail. It was brushy strips of cover in between the ravines and sloping hills. I let Beau and Molly out and started walking through the grass along these brushy areas. Beau with his head high as usual just came to a standstill. Molly was locked up just behind and to his right. I hadn't even gone a hundred yards from the truck! I got within 20 yards of them and a covey of Sharptail took flight! I shot and connected. Bird down. Then shot again and tipped a bird over breaking a wing . Molly ran ahead on the second bird and quickly located it and came strutting back with the birds wing fanned out across her face. The first bird Beau and I recovered. The sun was setting to the west as I walked back to the truck with the pup's and said to Tom 'They're Here".

They're here.! Both Sharptail and Pheasants! We'd also work
the flat area's of these high pastures for Sharptail as well. This was
fantastic cover to see the Setter's work at pinning down birds in the open.

                                              So that's how we were welcomed to Big Sky country. Another in a series of great experiences due to a connection among friends made along my journey with the Setter's. But that was just an opener for what we were to experience over the next several days.