While some bird hunting seasons are already underway, pheasants will take center stage in Montana this Saturday, October 12.

To hopefully enhance the season, another Roosters for Recruitment Program was launched last week by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. In addition to that, upland game bird hunters will have access to more than 40,000 additional acres around the state this season.

ROOSTERS FOR RECRUITMENT

This fall, Montana FWP released nearly 18,000 birds on wildlife management areas, fishing access sites and some school trust lands around the state as part of its Roosters for Recruitment Program. Young hunters got the first crack at some of them a couple of weeks ago during the state's annual Montana youth pheasant and waterfowl hunts

This is the third year of the annual pheasant release program. In 2022, the Fish and Wildlife Commission approved the release of up to 50,000 pheasants annually on state lands through 2026. The program’s purpose is to get youth and new hunters out in the field and have success early to encourage future hunting and participation in conservation around the state.

Pheasant hunting in montana
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In Montana, like other states, fish and wildlife conservation is funded primarily through license dollars. Hunting and fishing are active ways to support wildlife management, habitat protection and conservation efforts. Montana is responding to the nationwide initiative to retain, recruit and reactivate hunters by implementing programs that offer increased opportunity and participation.

A map of the release sites is available here.

UPLAND GAME BIRD ACRES INCREASE

Montana's upland game bird hunters will have access to more than 40,000 additional acres this season through the Upland Game Bird Enhancement Program. There were an extra 47 projects this summer not included in the 2024 Upland Game Bird Access Guide. These new projects added to the existing 450 projects provide more than 700,000 acres for public upland game bird hunting.

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Image courtesy of MT FWP
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The new projects include stands of grass nesting cover and others featuring good habitat conditions for game bird hunting this fall.

Check out FWP's game bird access guide here.

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