Will Cali Be Awesome This Season?
Anecdotal reports make it sound like California is shaping up for an off-the-charts-good bird season – awesome if true. Sometimes anecdotal reports indicate reality, sometimes not, either way Serious bird hunters will be out there.
Reports also are anecdotal because apparently Cali Fish and Game doesn’t do bird counts. So here goes, from this article:
> Something even more incredible than “awesome†is the word hunters are going to use to describe this coming fall’s upland bird hunting season. It will be the quail and chukar hunting season California hunters will use as a benchmark for just how good upland bird hunting can be in this state, in the entire West.
> The 2005-06 hunting season was the best for quail and chukar hunting in Southern California in a very long time. A lot of chukar hunters shot and ate 100 birds or more that year.
> All of us who spend time in the field during the summer scouting for the upcoming bird season have been [asking] the same question: “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?†…everyone is seeing: brood sizes good to unbelievable (two or three hatches everywhere for both the quail and chukar), and canyons with hundreds of birds in them….
> Harold Horner, the owner of High Desert Guide Service, said he was visiting a little-known desert seep near Johannesburg off Highway 395, and when he approached the water, “the entire canyon exploded. It was like, ‘wow!’ There were at least 400 birds flushing, and several birds almost hit me as they flew down the canyon. The guys who find that canyon on opening day are going to have a good time.â€
> Horner said he saw a single pair of chukar near where he guides in the Barstow area that had over 40 chicks with them…in three size ranges…he assumed the pair had pulled off three broods this spring.
> Jack Copas, an avid bird hunter from Yucca Valley, said …it was the third time the adult quail have had tiny babies with them this spring.
> That just means desert conditions have been perfect. When you add in the fact that last year was…just as good as 2005 from a production standpoint, you can get some idea of what is happening this year. When you combine a huge holdover population of quail and chukar with perfect conditions for production, you are talking about fall covey sizes and sheer numbers of coveys that might be unprecedented in recent times. And these reports are coming from everywhere in Southern California.
Uh oh. Now we may have to figure out how to get to Cali this year.
More
> Read the rest of the article here.
> Click here to see the 2011-12 upland seasons and limits.
> The CA DFG is holding an upland clinic Aug. 27 and another Sept. 24.
Category: CA, California quail, Chukar, Quail
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If this year is as good as last year or better, boy’s, we’re in for an unbelievable season. Chukar were out of control in the upper desert, and mountain quail were super fun.
Enjoy and good luck. Bob
HDFC- High Desert Feather Collectors!