Local Lifelong Pheasant Hunter Looks Forward to New Season

Pheasant season in Montana is upon us, and local Sidney hunter Doug Hill is gearing up with his hunting dog, Sonny,for a season of fun adventures. Hill started pheasant hunting at a young age where he grew up in Nashua, Montana and has been doing it ever since.

The season in Montana lasts from October 12th to January 1st and Hill will be going out every weekend during this time. “I probably wouldn’t go every weekend if my dog didn’t make me,” Hill said laughing. Doug has a pointing dog named Sonny, who is a Brittany breed and is his buddy. In fact,one of Doug’s greatest experiences hunting was taking his dog out for the very first time and having him retrieve a bird from 200-300 yards away. “It was exciting to see it happen,” Hill said grinning, “but I wish it would happen all the time.”

This year is especially exciting for Hill as his daughter, Tessa, has recently passed her hunter’s safety course and will for sure be joining him on some hunts. For Hill, the best part of hunting is just being in the outdoors watching his dog work. Therefore, after being inside his office all week, he will look forward to just getting out and spending some quality time with his daughter and his dog.

Hill uses a 12 gauge, double barrel, over and under shotgun and prefers to hunt out in the hills around the Sidney area. “I like to stay off the river bottoms,” Hill says. “You can’t always see your dog on the river bottoms and you lose track of where they’re at.” Hill added, “When they go on point and you can’t see them, you need a beeper collar.” Beeper collars are location devices some bird hunters use to find their dogs while they are hunting.

Doug is very hopeful that this is going to be a great year for pheasant hunting. “It’s difficult to tell until you get out there,” he says. Regardless of whether He shoots a lot of birds or not, he is just looking forward to getting out there.