Eastern Montana Upland Hunting and Cactus

[bigdub257]

Have a trip planned to eastern Montana the second week of November for upland and deer.  Was talking to a friend of mine who has deer hunted the general area (Jordan/Breaks) for years and he advised me that a dog will become useless in very short order in that area due to the abundance of cactus that will damage their feet.  Needless to say one of my main reasons for going is to bring along my young GWP to hunt birds.  Now I'm having second thoughts about taking the dog along and trying to research other areas to hunt that may be better.  In doing some research it doesn't appear that dog booties will have much success in preventing damage from the cactus. Anybody have any experience with this and/or suggestions on general areas for upland hunting that are more dog friendly?  Thanks!
 

[NRA4LIFE]

I have no experience with dogs out there, but I can tell you the cactus thing is real.  It is everywhere in the sagebrush.  I don't know how many of those damned spines I've pulled or dug out of my knees over the years.  I can only imagine that would not be good for the pup.

[Wingin it]

Cactus on the ground and dogs is definitely a loosing battle. I had to pick my dog up and carry her out once it was so bad.

[HookedOnQuack]

Not to dash your hopes but my dad just got back from eastern Montana for the opener and ended up with 1 bird in 2 days of hunting!! He has hundreds of acres of private ground to hunt and his group normally doesnt have to hunt past mid morning to have their limit. He said he has never had a WA hunt that bad let alone Montana

[Forks]

Not to dash your hopes but my dad just got back from eastern Montana for the opener and ended up with 1 bird in 2 days of hunting!! He has hundreds of acres of private ground to hunt and his group normally doesnt have to hunt past mid morning to have their limit. He said he has never had a WA hunt that bad let alone Montana

I usually spend late Oct.-late Nov. in NE MT/NW ND and passed this year due to the writing being on the wall last year. It's been dry for a couple years. Lots of lost CRP contracts and this years emergency cutting of remaining CRP was a death blow. It will be a while before I return but it's also a good reason to find other areas and other species.
 I personally would take the hound just to have it with me and expose it to travel. Have a great hunt.

[The scout]

not sure of the quality of the bird hunting this year, but the cactus is bad in the area you mentioned I would not want my dog walking through those woods. I have picked many out of my body over the years from there

[bigdub257]

Thanks for all of feedback guys.  Sounds like the bird counts are waaaay down this year which is a bummer.  As far as the cactus goes, I think if we take the pup we will stick to more agricultural land vs. sagebrush.  Don't know if that stuff is prevalent throughout eastern MT, but may migrate more towards the Lewistown area and try to hunt more farmland if possible. Trying to get the best of both worlds with deer and upland hunting on the same trip, and was hoping for some quality field time for the dog.  Will continue to research this cactus thing.  Had really never heard mention of it before, but it sounds pretty nasty for the dogs.