Time to change horses

The general rifle seasons for deer and elk hunting has mostly ended. Unless you were lucky enough to draw a late-season elk tag and have access to private ranch land in central Montana, your big game hunting season is pretty much over.  

But there still is some opportunity to pursue game birds such as grouse or ducks. My most recent trip to the mountains was to cut Christmas trees and boughs for our home decorations. Actually, since I’ve been grouse hunting since early September, then five weeks of deer and elk hunting, my mind and body are ready for a change of outdoor activity.  

But I must admit that erecting a nice pine tree and decorating it in my back yard is not as fun as hunting! But it does make my wife and neighbors happy. A good substitute for the thrill of hunting is provided by NFL football and Bobcat football. Both of our sons attended MSU, so we are Bobcat fans. But, our grandkids attend the University of Montana. So, we are loyal to the Grizzlies, unless they are playing the Bobcats. Go Cats! 

The next big outdoor activity for me will be ice fishing. The warm fall has delayed the onset of ice fishing. Even first-to-freeze Smith Lake doesn’t have enough ice to safely walk on it to catch some tasty perch. It will take just one more cold snap to make Smith Lake safe to fish. Even then, be especially cautious with early ice. It is best to fish with a partner and walk single file. Don’t forget your ice picks to help you climb out if you drop through early season ice. I also like to have a 20-30 foot length of stout rope to assist someone who has fallen through. Remember, safety first! 

During my many decades of travel on ice, I have fallen through the ice only once. That was during a spring activity. I was erecting duck nesting boxes on small ponds for wood ducks which like to nest in tree cavities. The wood nesting boxes are a substitute for scarce hollow trees around ponds. I dropped through the ice in the middle of a small pond. Luckily, I was dragging a 10 or 12 foot aluminum ladder which was intended to allow me to nail the duck nesting boxes 8-12 feet off the ground. The ladder was an ideal device to bridge across the hole in the ice, allowing me to pull myself out of the icy water. It was a nice spring day, probably in the 40s or 50s, so after shaking the loose water off my pants and lower jacket, I just kept working. No big deal!                

My deer season was good, even with only putting one doe in the freezer. This was a strange year. Usually, I hunt deer in Eastern Montan where I normally can keep my “A” deer tag in my hunting pack until I harvest a nice buck. My wife and I usually have several “B” tags to harvest does during the deer season. This allows us to shoot does for freezer meat, while waiting for the  right Mr. Buck to come along. I didn’t even apply for a doe tag this year because normally there are thousands of extra doe tags left after the drawings, which hunters can buy over the counter. 

But this year FWP didn’t have their usual surplus does tags for sale. A recent article in the Montana Outdoors publication indicated the normal 15,000 to 20,000 extra doe tags available in Hunting Regions 5, 6 and 7, were reduced to only about 5,000 doe tags this year.  

The reduced number of doe tags were the result of a severe winter during 2022 and 2023 which killed some deer and reduced fawn survival. The continuing drought also provided less nutrious food to help deer, especially fawns of the year, to pack in enough calories to survive their first winter. 

I cannot let this column finish without telling about the most amazing hunting shot I saw this year. On opening weekend, I was hunting with a young 15-year-old fella who was on his first rifle hunt for deer in Eastern Montana. Earlier in the fall, he bagged a whitetail doe with his bow near his home in Missoula. He was not successful on his first Eastern Montana rifle hunt.  

One afternoon, we were sitting in my farmhouse, thinking about our evening hunt. It was a nice sunny day and I knew there would be some sharptail grouse feeding in the stubble of my barley field. I offered this young fella a chance to shoot a sharptail and offered the use of my shotgun. So, we jumped into my truck and drove to the barley field. Sure enough, there were several grouse feeding in the grain stubble. The closest bird was 55 yards away.  

I offered the use of my shotgun, but this young fella wanted to try with his archery equipment. He walked to the front of my truck and ranged the grouse at 55 yards. He calmly nocked a target arrow, drew back and let the arrow fly. The arrow was dead on! The grouse flopped a couple times, then was stone dead. I could never shoot my bow that accurately! I was surprised at his skill to hit a small grouse at that distance. Wow!          

So, enjoy these late autumn days and get ready for some ice fishing. Mark, Jan. 4, 2025 on your outdoor calendar. That date will be the 53rd annual Sunriser Lions ice fishing derby on Smith Lake. More on that derby in two weeks.