Eagles Nest Lodge
Hardin, Montana
Sept. 13 - 17, 2014

Short report on a three day blast and cast trip to Eagles Nest Lodge. Great food and accommodations! Fly into Billings and rent a car or schedule shuttle for the 45 minute drive to the Lodge. Fished the Bighorn River the first day for rainbow and brown trout. I am not an expert flyfisherman by any means but had a great time drifting and casting. My partner and I probably boated 16 to 18 fish on the float.




Second day we traveled to Lodge Grass and hunted at 5,000 feet for huns, sharptail grouse and a few preserve pheasant. I was shooting my Beretta 687 EELL 20 gauge with Estate high brass 6 shot. Took my limit of sharpies, pheasant and half a limit of huns. Shot over a pair of German Shorthairs. Excellent shoot and some beautiful country. Marked huns and sharps off my bucket list but definitely want to hunt them again!



The next day turned off warm with temps to the low 80's. We decided to hunt low for preserve pheasant so as not to overheat the dogs. Finished around 2:30 with our limits.



I can highly recommend the lodge, the guides and hunting and fishing. Montana licenses are not cheap but the scenery was worth the price of admission!

Looks like a great trip

Great outing indeed! Thanks for sharing.

GREAT TRIP congratulations .Its similar of what i offer here in Argentina ,althoug we hunt partriges and fish dorados .

Nice trip. I've done that exact trip but without a guide.....you can hear roosters on the islands as you're fishing. Good stuff.

I love Montana, they have so much to offer the hunter and fisher. Congrats Russ!

Great pictures and the combination of fly fishing and wing shooting is great.

Allow a few questions to the non US reader plse -

1) what are 'huns' and 'sharps' (I thought at 50 I was an experienced well read wing shooter!)

2) how do you fishing and bird shooting licenses work - you say Montana licenses are not cheap. Is this necessary for non residents or what / how ?

Interested to hear more!

That's a great trip.

quote:

Originally posted by Charlie64:
Great pictures and the combination of fly fishing and wing shooting is great.

Allow a few questions to the non US reader plse -

1) what are 'huns' and 'sharps' (I thought at 50 I was an experienced well read wing shooter!)

2) how do you fishing and bird shooting licenses work - you say Montana licenses are not cheap. Is this necessary for non residents or what / how ?

Interested to hear more!

"Huns" are hungarian partridges, sometimes called gray partridges, an import which is common in much of the western US and Canada. Great hunting and great eating birds, about the size of a large dove. They covey up and it is a grand sight to see a covey of huns flush.

"Sharps" are sharp-tailed grouse, a native bird, again common over much the same area as huns, but usually in field type terrain. Larger than huns, not as good eating. Fairly easy to kill. Usually found in singles or pairs.

Fishing and hunting licenses are individual to each state and there are myriad variations, often in the same state, of what you can hunt/fish with certain licenses. Usually, but not always, fishing licenses and hunting licenses are not sold together unless you buy some kind of "combo". Typically unless you're under the age of 16 (in some states, where you might or might not have to buy a minor license (usually quite inexpensive)) any hunter, resident or non-resident will have to have a hunting license to hunt in any given state. In the above case a Montana season non-resident bird hunting license is $110, a 3 day is $50.

Thanks for the explainations ......

Interesting that you call the greys 'Huns" whereas the Europeans call the greys ' English partridge " and the red legs 'Frenchmen' or 'French partridge' !

Also interesting on the license payments.

Cheers and happy hunting (and fishing) !

"Huns" are hungarian partridges, sometimes called gray partridges, an import which is common in much of the western US and Canada. Great hunting and great eating birds, about the size of a large dove. They covey up and it is a grand sight to see a covey of huns flush.

"Sharps" are sharp-tailed grouse, a native bird, again common over much the same area as huns, but usually in field type terrain. Larger than huns, not as good eating. Fairly easy to kill. Usually found in singles or pairs.

Fishing and hunting licenses are individual to each state and there are myriad variations, often in the same state, of what you can hunt/fish with certain licenses. Usually, but not always, fishing licenses and hunting licenses are not sold together unless you buy some kind of "combo". Typically unless you're under the age of 16 (in some states, where you might or might not have to buy a minor license (usually quite inexpensive)) any hunter, resident or non-resident will have to have a hunting license to hunt in any given state. In the above case a Montana season non-resident bird hunting license is $110, a 3 day is $50."
- Gatogordo



Thanks for the reply Gato I haven't circled back in awhile. Gato summed up the upland birds quite succinctly. On the license front, I had a State hunting license, a reservation permit for the Crow Reservation and a fishing license. Total around $200 for 3 days.

quote:

Originally posted by Charlie64:
Thanks for the explainations ......

Interesting that you call the greys 'Huns" whereas the Europeans call the greys ' English partridge " and the red legs 'Frenchmen' or 'French partridge' !

Also interesting on the license payments.

Cheers and happy hunting (and fishing) !

You might get beaten to death with a haggis if you call a grey partridge an English partridge in Scotland!!


K