MT Outdoor Podcast: Montana’s Upland Gamebirds with Downrigger Dale and Ken Plourde
By angelamontana

Posted: November 18, 2023

Montana’s Upland Gamebirds

How are Their Populations Doing? Where to Find Them? Which One Tastes Better Than You Think? And a Whole Lot More!

This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast it is all about Montana’s Upland Game Birds. Your podcast host Downrigger Dale talks to Upland Gamebird Specialist Ken Plourde. Ken is based in FWP Region 6 and there is, for sure, a reason the word, “Specialist”, is in his job title. Ken is one of THE most knowledgeable people in the State of Montana when it comes to Upland Gamebirds. When you click here to listen to this week’s podcast you will learn all kinds of things that will for sure come in handy when hunting in these later months of Montana’s Upland Gamebird season. For example, Rigger asks Ken what the Upland Gamebird populations were looking like, and Ken not only answered, but he also talked a bit about how, specifically, most of each species were doing. Another topic that Downrigger and Ken Plourde got into was what he thinks is the most popular gamebird with most hunters in Montana. You may recall from last week’s podcast with Hunter VanDonsel from Pheasants Forever that he answered it was for sure the Pheasant. So, what is Montana’s FWP Game Specialist’s answer to that question? Well, you will have to listen to this week’s podcast to find out! You will also get some great advice from Ken about how to use the FWP’s online hunt planning tools, especially with his tips on using the Hunt Planner Map. We are confident that after you hear that you will find the that map to be more useful than you ever have. Another great topic that Rigger brought up was about what Ken thought might be one of the more misunderstood gamebird species and why many gamebird hunters are missing out because of it. Spoiler Alert…it is about an untrue rumor regarding the taste of the bird. Ken went on to even share one of his favorite dishes for this bird. Rigger got very hungry after hearing about that! That bird is also Ken’s favorite bird to hunt and no we are not talking about the pheasant.  Those are just a few of the many topics you will learn about on this fascinating podcast, so click here now and give it a listen.

Once you are done listening, you will likely want to learn even more so feel free to discover the tons of info on this link to the Upland Game Bird Species Guide on the FWP site. That page contains links to everything from regulations, to season dates, hunter access and all kinds of other helpful information, so just click here. If you just want the shortcut to info on hunter access, click here. If you want to go the Hunt Planner Map that Rigger and Ken talked about, click here. Questions for Ken Plourde? Click here to send Ken an email. Downrigger always loves to hear your thoughts about this or other podcast or your ideas for future podcasts so click here to send him an email.     

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