Westby Montana

Have you ever dreamed of a pheasant atopia where you can pick out the biggest bird, and if you miss it, no big deal because you know there will be another dozen a few feet ahead of you. Some chatter at the local cafe includes hunters saying that there dogs didn't know what to do there were so many pheasants. Other hunters come in for breakfeast, go out for 3 to 4 hours, get their pheasant limit for the day and then go out coyote hunting. Another hunter's experience: he came upon a old farm house where there is a wind break of trees, and shot his 12 gauge semi atuomatic at pheasant that came out of the trees. He unloaded his gun and still had time to reload, and the pheasant continued to come out of the tree line. He could not beleive what was happening, he has been hunting most his life and will never forget this experience.
When hunters drive around Westby and the surrounding area they do not see flocks of pheasants they see herds in the grain fields.

We receive many calls and guests from the Midwest. States like Wisconsin, Arkansas Illinois, Idaho, California, Montana, North Dakota, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Indiana are probably the most common origination points for a Westby, Montana and Westby, North Dakota pheasant hunting vacation. Yes you are reading it right, there is a Westby, Montana and a Westby, North Dakota - half of the town sits on Montana land and the other half sits in North Dakota so you get the best of both worlds - hunt half the day in Montana and the other half in North Dakota.

I'm not sure what the magic is behind our seasonally high pheasant populations but a few factors separate this area from the rest:

Soil types - Our soil has high lime content which is supposedly good for nesting and hatching brood.
Habitat Cash flow - Habitat is everything.
CRP acres - Any state that has high CRP acres is where you will find the birds plain and simple. Westby has them. North Dakota has them too and that is no surprise why North Dakota is a sister state to Montana when it comes to being the king of pheasant destinations...

Westby has long enjoyed to tourism business associated with their remote destination. For the most part they really enjoy pheasant hunters and pheasant hunting but the majority of resident farmers are not avid pheasant hunters. Now deer hunting, that is a whole different story.

I think it makes a big difference that pheasant hunting and the business of hunting pheasants has been in the culture of the state for so many years.

Yes that dog with the two pheasants is a Pit Bull.
He loves to scent out pheasants and when he does, nothing stops him - thick brush, barbed wire, nothing. When a pheasant is down he will bring it back, or if you tell him to stay he will put his paw on the bird and hold it until you arrive.
Bottom line is that if you love to pheasant hunt, in a remote area with thousands of acres and more real wild birds, then you should look into making your next wild pheasant hunting vacation destination... Westby, Montana and North Dakota.