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Matt 208
Sage-grouse>150 posts
201 Posts |
 Posted - 06/06/2012 : 20:33:36
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| Sorry to hear dvm. Sounds similar to southern Owyhees here in Idaho (at least what I have seen). I went camping a month ago in the area. I was worried about mud, but it turned out the only problem was dust... I'll keep my fingers crossed that those birds are as resilient as they are when we hunt them in the fall and winter. |
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dvmhunter
Quail>10 posts
USA
11 Posts |
Posted - 06/07/2012 : 07:29:32
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| Yea Matt I hear ya. Chukar are pretty resilient and I'm hoping there will be a little carry over from last yr. It not like we have had a string of drought yrs like we had during parts of the 80's & 90's. Have a couple friends, one who does sage grouse research around Eureka,Nev & the other a NDOW biologist and they say the small creeks and springs still look relatively healthy but of course it is still early June. Oh well we got a little spoiled last yr.because it was a GREAT H2O yr. Just praying to the chukar breeeding gods. |
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situk
Supporting Member
USA
533 Posts |
Posted - 07/01/2012 : 17:46:27
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I went out this morning to our local National Forest and went on a little hike with the dogs. I was pleasantly surprised. I went on the same route as I do while hunting forest grouse and the dogs found 3, maybe 4, coveys of duskys—I may have seen the same covey twice on the return. I saw over 20 birds with only 4 adults. The young-of-the-year were chukar size and flew great. There was one covey with 7 young. I am getting fairly stoked for the season to start; it should be a good one. These dry springs really do well for the forest grouse.
The quail around the house are everywhere. They are average around 6 small ones per mom and dad. They have been strutting across my lawn everyday with their heads high, way cool.
Just an update,
Todd
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Todd Petersen
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JPC
Hungarian Partridge>300 Posts
USA
434 Posts |
Posted - 07/02/2012 : 15:39:18
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I like the sound of that. |
The real one hun is back. |
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wetvet
Quail>10 posts
USA
12 Posts |
Posted - 07/02/2012 : 16:12:51
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| Visited with a farmer in SE Idaho on Saturday, who reported seeing large broods of sharpies and Huns. Now, if the entire state just doesn't catch on fire....... |
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Kirklan
Chukar>500 Posts
USA
749 Posts |
Posted - 07/03/2012 : 18:49:27
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| Not too optimistic around here. I have yet to see any chicks whatsoever. I do see 3 different pairs of huns almost daily with no chicks, so I'm not too hopeful on the huns. I haven't seen any pheasant chicks either, but there hasn't been too many hens running around sans chicks, so I'm thinking they are in the cover with their broods. I'll know more when I start to run my dogs in Aug. |
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Edited by - Kirklan on 07/03/2012 18:51:06 |
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bevolt
Blue Grouse>50 posts
USA
64 Posts |
Posted - 07/19/2012 : 19:38:21
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| I went for a hike today and ran into a covey of about 3 dozen birds - all full grown adults, no chicks, no young birds. This seems odd to me and a bad omen. I don't ever recall seeing a such a large covey this time of year. I usually run into pairs or family groups with young birds. Am I just worrying too much? |
Edited by - bevolt on 07/19/2012 19:38:56 |
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7Shot
Blue Grouse>50 posts
50 Posts |
Posted - 07/22/2012 : 15:40:00
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| I would bet a group that size is 2 to 3 family groups with all new birds. We had some great weather in May and some birds did nest early. We have pheasants and quail nearly full grown that came from the May hatch. Mind you, these birds were hatched by mid may, so they were on the nest by the later part of april. I hope some of the Chukar did the same. I also saw a group of Chukar this week that had chicks less than one week old they were tiny, so things may be OK this fall. |
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Karl and Zealot
Administrator
USA
4453 Posts |
Posted - 07/22/2012 : 19:40:39
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| I'm going to be the optimist...early hatch with full grown chicks. |
Karl
If your dog isn't skinny, you don't hunt enough...kmd
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situk
Supporting Member
USA
533 Posts |
Posted - 07/25/2012 : 14:08:58
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I have been hiking in the 9000 foot level scouting for grouse the last four weeks. I have seen good numbers of adults, with great numbers of young. The picture is from my youngest dog and it took me over 20 minutes to find him after he went on point. He was a ways out there. You can tell he is letting down a little with the tongue and tail, but, this point produced 1 hen with 9 young. They are pretty good size now, bigger than chukar. I still feel it will be a great year.
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Todd Petersen
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eaglefurn
Blue Grouse>50 posts
USA
119 Posts |
Posted - 07/25/2012 : 17:28:40
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| How warm was it at 9,000 ft? I'll bet your dog was having some fun where it is cooler. Our season for grouse and ptarmigan opens Aug 10th so we are both looking frward to that.Good luck. |
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IDfowler
Blue Grouse>50 posts
120 Posts |
Posted - 07/28/2012 : 07:19:57
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Saw a second hatch of quail in the neighborhood! 12 or 13 little chicks - bumble bees as someone said - in a window well along a side of the house that I hadn't pulled the weeds. Not sure how they could have gotten in there unless she nested in it.
The hen looked like she was trying to call them out, but there was no way they could hop the 12 or 14" to get out. So the wife and I laid a short piece of 1 x 4" in the well to for a ramp, and slow but surely they all eventually scurried up it and out.
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"One does not hunt in order to kill. On the contrary, one kills in order to have hunted." Ortega y Gasset |
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situk
Supporting Member
USA
533 Posts |
Posted - 08/24/2012 : 10:03:01
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Here is a weird one. I just saw this morning on my front lawn baby (looks like yesterday’s hatch) quail chicks. It is August 24, wow. I don’t see a very bright future for those little guys.
Todd
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Todd Petersen
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Kirklan
Chukar>500 Posts
USA
749 Posts |
Posted - 08/24/2012 : 13:21:23
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| Just ran the dogs looking for Huns and came up with nothing. This spot was a top producer with 8+ coveys on a 4 hour hunt, but last year and this year it looks pretty grim. I also have yet to see any Hun clutches here on the farm, just pairs. Looks like I'll be driving an hour or two for most of my hunting this year. |
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Matt 208
Sage-grouse>150 posts
201 Posts |
Posted - 08/25/2012 : 14:03:19
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| Todd - I have been seeing a lot of the same thing, a lot of young quail around the house. The dog found a small (3-4 birds) covey of huns this morning that couldn't have been more than a couple weeks old. There were no adults with the group, which I thought was odd but they must have scurried off somewhere else. Is that necessarily a bad thing? There were grass hoppers all over, isn't there enough time for them to grow (and hopefully dodge hunters for their sake) before winter? |
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Good News, I see small birds
