Montana outfitters offers prime mallard duck hunting on private leases along the Beaverhead River near Dillon

This hunt is offered by an outfitter we've known for about 12 years since we started booking his elk and whitetail deer hunts. Hunts.Net President Rich LaRocco took a 12-point whitetail deer with him. The whitetail leases total about 5,000 acres along the Beaverhead River near Dillon. The river, springfed ponds and spring creeks on the land attract hundreds of fat mallards, so the outfitter decided to start offering duck hunts. Last year he took at least 22 hunters.  Some hunted more than one day, and some hunted more than once during the season.

"I would say that about 90 percent of the days we hunted everybody got their limits," he said. "Some guys got a lot of shooting but were having a tough time hitting them, but other than one week when things were slow, the duck hunting was excellent. Occasionally we get geese, but usually you can plan on lots of mallards. The limit is seven ducks a person, but only two hens. If you shoot two hens you can fill the rest of your limit with other species of ducks. We get some teal and widgeon along with gadwall and pintails. There were a lot more pintails last year than in the previous couple of years."

This hunt can be combined with a whitetail hunt, which is reasonably priced. Click here for details.

The hunt includes guide service and transportation from Dillon but does not include motel accommodations or restaurant meals. Most hunters stay in a house that houses four or five hunters. It has a kitchen in case you want to prepare your own meals.

Bird care is not included in the price of the hunt. You'll have to pluck and clean your own ducks.

Hunting is done mostly from blinds.  The outfitter and his guides use lots of decoys and calls to lure the mallards within shooting range.

The outfitter hunts two places: one with wild birds and one that is supplemented by birds placed in October. It is not a put-and-take situation. The stocked birds are placed long before the hunt and the outfitter said you cannot tell the difference between birds born there and birds placed there after the spring.