The joy of the hunt: Huckleberry harvest a summer signature

Two women were visible through the trees, just off the road up Crane Mountain. They were hunched down in the bushes, quietly chatting as their hands hunted through the scraggly branches for dark purple treasures.

For Ra and 11-year-old Lillie Suffia, of Bigfork, huckleberry picking had become a mother-daughter tradition. They’d pick for several hours and consume the fruits of their labor in the form of huckleberry pancakes the following morning.

“There’s nothing really secret to it,” Ra said — except for the location.

A friend had turned them onto Crane Mountain, although they hadn’t been offered too many specifics — precise picking spots are guarded closely by the locals. Finding your own berry cache is part of the fun and an outdoor badge of honor.

Ra said the pastime is also good for “teaching [Lillie] that there’s more than just screen time — And she loves it.”

In northwest Montana, pickers ascend into the hillsides in search of hucks in the late summer. Huckleberries are typically ready for harvesting by mid-July and are available through the end of September, or the first frost according to U.S. Forest Services spokeswoman Lauren Alley.

By gallon these prized berries can fetch up to $50 or more, but for many, huckleberry picking is simply a fun family outing and a low-barrier way to enjoy the great outdoors.

Hucks are also unique in that they can’t be cultivated, though many have tried.

“The plant family huckleberries belong to are known to rely on fungal associations to thrive in the forest, which may explain why it is difficult to cultivate huckleberry shrubs in your yard,” Alley explained. “Huckleberries are notoriously difficult to transplant, if not impossible. They also have a rhizomatous root system, meaning they are all connected underground.”

Their limited availability is part of the allure of the huckleberry according to veteran picker Diana Rahdert who has more than 20 years of huck hunting under her belt.

“The fact that you can’t cultivate them for mass sales, it just makes them an intriguing fruit,” she said. “You can’t rely on it every year to get them — The weather changes, the snowpack changes.”

Huckleberry shrubs grow in the sun and partial shade between groves of mixed conifers. Alley advises pickers to look underneath the branches for berries as well as carry bear spray since humans aren’t the only creatures seeking out fresh hucks.

In the Bigfork area, Rahdert said Crane Mountain and the Jewel Basin are known picking spots, and she’s also had success funding fruit near the Hungry Horse Reservoir. Other local picking spots include Blacktail Mountain, the Swan Valley and near Flower Point on Whitefish Mountain.

“To me, it’s kind of a zen thing,” Rahdert said of picking berries. “You’re just out in nature and you’re really down in it — you’re either bending over or you’ve plopped yourself in the middle of a great patch … You’re just concentrating on the picking and the world just kind of disappears.”

She and her husband try to get out at least three times a season to pick hucks, which can range in color from a reddish purple to frosted blue. Her tools are simple: a plastic bucket with a rope that she’ll loop around her neck and her fingers for picking — she’s not a fan of the huckleberry rakes, which Rahdert said can damage the bushes.

She considers this year’s crop to be average and has observed berries that were normal in size but plentiful during her first harvest of the season. Alley on the other hand said the 2020 hucks are a little above average, most likely due to substantial precipitation in the spring that gave the bushes a head-start on berry production.

The season that stands out most in Rahdert’s mind is 2012 — a true banner year — when she and her husband picked a whopping 18 gallons.

“Some of the berries were your thumb size. They were just massive. We’ve never had another season like that,” she said.

After harvesting huckleberries Rahdert recommends consuming them within a day, or rinsing, drying and then freezing the berries to savor a little slice of summer all year long. She enjoys making huckleberry pies, which use about four cups of berries each, along with shakes or ice cream toppings.

Rahdert said local berries peak around the first part of August so interested pickers should venture out soon.

“You can certainly go out on your own, but it’s fun if somebody takes you out the first time,” she said. “There’s just the joy of the hunt and the joy of finding the biggest berry and yelling out to whoever you’re with.” ■

Editor Mackenzie Reiss can be reached at editor@bigforkeagle.com or (406) 758-4433.