Sheep. The last, however, was apparently killed out of the area near 

 the turn of the century. A plant of 16 mountain sheep was made in 

 the Sixteen Mile drainage in northern Gallatin County during the 

 biennium, and 13 mountain sheep were placed in the Kootenai Falls 

 Area in Lincoln County. 



Two areas for further mountain sheep introductions were selected, 

 the Stickney Creek, Sheep Creek area, soutli and east of Cascade in 

 Cascade County and the Blue Mountains in Custer County, east of 

 Miles City. 



Mountain goats were traded to the State of Wyoming for a plant 

 of Merriams Wild Turkeys. In addition, 12 mountain goats were intro- 

 duced into the Tobacco Root Range, northeast of Sheridan in northern 

 Madison County. These animals were taken from a trapping site in 

 the Pioneer Mountains, west of Melrose in Beaverhead County. 



Upland Game Birds 



The upland game birds in Montana fall into two types — the native 

 1 irds including several species of grouse, and the introduced or exotic 

 species, including the Ring-necked Pheasant, Chukar Partridge, Hun- 

 garian Partridge and Merriams Turkey. 



Native grouse populations in the State have been noted to fluctuate 

 considerably from year to year. These increases and decreases in 

 numbers seem to be somewhat independent of hunting pressure. A 

 moderate population of native grouse during the reiiorted hiennifm 

 has allowed hunting of Blue, Ruffed and Franklin grouse, or "Foo! 

 iHens," throughout most of the mountainous section of the State. The 

 Prairie Grouse, consisting of the Sharp-tailed and Sage Grouse, have 

 been hunted during the same period on the majority of their range in 

 Central and Kastern Montana. Management of these native grouse at 

 the present time consists chiefly of the manipulation of seasons and 

 bag limits. 



Of the exotic species, the Ring-necked Pheasant has apparently 

 reached a moderate high in numbers throughout nuicli of its range 

 in Montana and has presented reasonably good hunting during the 

 past two years. 



The Hungarian Partridge, althougli introduced into .Montana a 

 iinnilier of years ago, has not as yet taken a place as a major game 

 bird in this State. Hunting seasons, however, have been possible 

 throughout most of its range. 



The Chukar Partridge has been introduced from Southern .Asia 

 during the more recent years. Up to the present time, approximately 

 20 major plants have been made, h'ield observations have indicated a 

 fair degree of nesting success. It is difficult as yet, however, to 

 determine the degree of establishment of tliis desirable game bird in 

 Montana, h'roni the present planting program it has been deterniiiud 

 that the birds tends to thrive in the more arid rocky sections of the 

 State. If successful estal)lishment is obtained, it will fill an important 

 niche in the game bird habitat in Montana. 



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