Tom-
Your request is a tall order.
I'm guessing your outbound route is the hi-line across.
Not everything is , open early Oct. You'll have to check the state guides. MT is drought stricken right now in the east.
I'd ease my way across MT hunting prairie birds (huns, sharptails) DIY, using the BM guide, and then hire a guide in WA. But if your wife is along, you may wish to stay at a lodge and have a day with a guide on the way out. They can put you on Hun's and Sharptails, pretty regularly.
Of all the game available to you, the rarest is the MT Quail.
The prairie birds can be pretty easy DIY. Sage Hen's are a specimen hunt. Not much of a challenge. They are pretty parochial, so if a rancher says, "I've seen them up in that there draw..." well, that's where they'll generally be. Same as a covey of Hun's imprinting on some old pile of farm junk.
I'd stay away from Dusky and Sooty grouse without a guide. Just because of the logistics, and lack of mountainous hunting experience most people that ask this sort of question have.
