Montana's Top Late Hunts

Ducks - Geese - Pheasant - Sharptail Grouse

- H&F News Pro Staff

The Montana waterfowl hunting season should really pick up now as we head towards our winter season. Plenty of public land and National Wildlife Refuges offer up great duck and goose hunting in December.

The late upland and pheasant hunting season also continues for the next few weeks, and with the big game season over, except for a few late shoulder elk and special deer unit hunts, it’s time to focus on getting some tasty birds to round out your freezer.

Here are a few late-hunt areas that should produce plenty of action:

Nine Pipes WMA - Pheasants and ducks

This state-managed WMA located near Ronan receives plenty of hunting pressure for roosters, but if you hunt the morning after a winter storm, you’ll be amazed at all of the tracks in the snow and tight holding birds you can hunt. The waterfowl hunting can be epic, but you have to hit the window between cold weather that brings northern birds to the marsh and the real windless, cold that freezes over the shallow wetlands. When the shooting is at its best, Ninepipes is one of the best spots in Western Montana to bag pintails and mallards.

Freezeout Lake WMA - Sharptails