"Crowing counts in Region 6 are well above the long-term average. Overall, we experienced a fairly mild winter. And so far this spring, there has been fair moisture," he reported.

"Barring unforeseen disaster, nesting and brood-rearing conditions should be good. And a good carryover of adult hens should produce a good hatch. And hopefully, that will equate to good hunting."

While other parts of Montana experienced plenty of snow last winter, the general consensus on the winter weather appears to be, "It was snowy, but not the sort of blizzards and cold that devastates upland-bird populations." Pheasants appear to be in pretty good shape, according to the MFWP reports.

"Unless we get . . . a harsh, dry summer, we should be good to go come October," McKean said at press time in early August.

Personally, my hunting party spent a good deal of the early spring in various parts of Montana. We heard roosters crowing nearly everywhere, perhaps like no spring in recent memory.

Official spring crowing counts are not yet fully processed, but word on the street is "Lots of rooster music was heard this spring." A friend who lives in the north-central part of the state reports, "This spring, there are rooster chickens everywhere."

Okay, I'm excited! Bring it on!

As with elsewhere in the Rocky Mountain region, the bulk of pheasant hunting in Montana takes place on private lands. But Montana also holds many acres of primo public-land habitat found on the national wildlife refuges, wildlife management areas, waterfowl production areas and state school trust lands. And lands owned and managed by the Nature Conservancy are often overlooked possibilities. Map collections and GPS units help locate these.

Montana's pheasant-hunting season opens in mid-October and runs through Jan. 1 (check current regs for exact dates). The daily limit is three cocks, nine in possession. A non-resident upland-bird license costs $110, plus $10 Hunting Access Enhancement Fee (applied to only the first license purchase of the year).

IDAHO
"2005 might have been our best pheasant hunt in 5 to 10 years. I'm hopeful 2006 will be at least as good," reported wildlife biologist Don Kemmer of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. "Assuming everything falls in place, (the season) may be even better in places. In the best habitat, we seem to have a good carryover of hens. And the weather, so far this spring, has been pretty decent. While May (crowing count) is still way too early to accurately predict (the hunting season), barring the disastrous untimely hail storm or an extremely cold, wet June, fall hunting should shape up nicely."

But Kemmer tossed out this caveat: "Some spots experienced a fairly snowy winter," he warned. "How the birds fared remains to be seen. And, of course, how the rest of summer plays out is anyone's guess."

His optimism for a good hunting season also rests on increased access to both private and public lands.

"Our Access Yes! Program has really taken off," he reported. "As of May 3, we had 630,000 private acres enrolled and another 689,000 acres of private access to public lands on the docket. Combined, this is more than double the acreage enrolled last year."

Kemmer said the best hunting will likely be found in the Clearwater (Lewiston) and the Southwest (Boise) regions. The heart of Idaho lands enrolled in the CRP is found in the Bear River country in the southeast portion of the state.

"But pheasants occur pretty much statewide," he added. "The keys are agriculture and good habitat. Assuming you can get on (the land), you should find birds."