Category: Chukar
Have to admit one reason we bird-hunt is to get our butts kicked – and not just by the birds! Being wiped-out tired after a day of hunting is part of the fun, and that’s one reason we really, really want to go out West after the wily ol’ chukar birds. A little daydreaming about […]
We’re not diehard quail hunters (yet), so we found the following tidbit very interesting (from this Arizona paper): The best time to hunt is in the morning when the quail are calling and moving in the search for food. Some hunters prefer to use a call, and then wait for the coveys to answer. The […]
As East-Coasters, we think about hunting out West – particularly for leg-shakingly tough chukar hunts – but are like, Why go all the way out there when we can beat ourselves up out here? Well, this may be the year to make the trip. As previously reported here, Califor-NI-A is supposed to have an off-the-charts […]
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: […]
Anyone seen chukars running around in North Dakota? According to a recent article in The Bismarck Tribune, these fun birds are there for the seeing…and hopefully one day hunting. Excerpts: > The other day my friend, Jean, and I were walking our dogs near her house by Sleepy Hollow when this silly little bird about […]
Saw this piece on shotgunlife.com a while back about hunting what sounds like a Hawaiian game farm/preserve for birds. None are native, but at least some are wild. Read it and wondered: Would we do it? Meaning, would you go there for that? Check out a few highlights, then you decide:
CA Chukar On Fire Too Quail (and chukar) are looking “fantastic” in California, according to several reports, and California also is a standout in Quail Forever’s 2010 quail forecast. A few highlights on California from this newspaper column:
Huns and Quail Too, Pheasants Not So Much We’ve been assured by some good folks in the Pacific Northwest – including the ex-HMFIC at G. Loomis – that even with our walk-’em-up ruffed grouse conditioning, we are likely not in “steep up/steep down” chukar shape. Which naturally makes us want to hunt chukars. Bad. Nevada […]
The following is excerpted from this Nevada PDF, which is only worth reading if you want to know more about chukar surveys and counts. The bottom line is that chukar hunting looks good in NV this season. Buried in the document is this info: “The 2010-11 chukar hunting season is expected to be good for […]
A June 8 report in the Lewiston Tribune says that “recent rainy weather has likely been deadly for baby pheasants, gray and chukar partridge and quail. The young birds are susceptible to hypothermia when rains combined with cool temperatures occur at the same time or soon after the hatch. “‘It’s not looking good right now,’ […]
Just read this article on hunting ruffies in MN this year. So much of it, while well-intentioned, is wrong. Here goes: > The good news is, counts were up 34 percent this spring in parts of northern Minnesota. Counts remained stable in southern Minnesota. This COULD mean that there’s more easy birds (young ones) early […]
Lessons from 2012 Maine-NH Hunt
Don’t know if we’ve fully recovered yet from our not-quite-a-week of hunting Maine and New Hampshire for ruffies and woodies. We all actually bailed 2 days early, having put in 5 consecutive days instead of our usual 7. Felt like wimps about it, but hey, we were BEAT…from 5 days of the most brutal hunting […]
No Grouse Comeback in SW Penn?
Sounds like ruffed grouse will never be as much a part of the landscape of southern Pennsylvania as they once will. “Never” sounds ominous. Permanent. But that’s the conclusion of an article by Bob Frye in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Why should you care if you don’t live or hunt in PA? Reasons: > Pennsylvania is […]
Hey: All Ruffies Drum Differently!
Did you know that? Not until now…. This info won’t help us hunting, but it’s interesting – and makes sense. Here’s more, from newscientist.com: Male ruffed grouse are the first animals known to make unique non-vocal sounds. Humans and many other animals, particularly birds, can be identified by their voices. But no one had looked […]
Ran across this quote from an article about Iowa’s pheasant count: > “I haven’t even gone pheasant hunting the last couple of years because the birds just weren’t there,†said Tim Wolf, a 61-year-old bank president who lives in Waukee. YES THEY WERE! They most definitely were there. Maybe not like this… > “But I’ve […]
Top 10 Reasons To Go to Phez Fest
Pheasants/Quail Forever’s Pheasant Fest/Quail Classic is coming up soon at KC, MO (see info in right column), and just in case you’re thinking it’s too far or whatever, here are the Top 10 – really just 10 of many – reasons to go. We’re doing it Letterman-style, 10 to 1. 10. What else are you […]
Across the Pond Bird Follies, Vids
Ah the UK, the land that gave the world 17 pieces of silverware on the table, animal rights and other questionable stuff. Okay, it wasn’t all bad – that’s where our bird hunting came from too. But it’s different here…or there, depending on your perspective. Here’s some recent bird news plus some interesting vids. Katie […]
Do Congress, Tea Party Hate Pheasants?
We make it a point to try not to get suckered by political hoo-ha, so that’s not what this is about. We ran across a blog post on the Discovery-owned treehugger.com titled “Why Does Congress Hate Pheasants?” and a related one, “Do Tea Party, Heritage Foundation Oppose Hunting?” Interesting stuff, written by the same gent, […]
Quail, the most beleaguered of our beloved gamebirds, is getting a helping hand in Kansas. Or rather, a bigger helping hand. The state just announced that it’s “launching a new quail restoration initiative aimed at making a difference in declining bobwhite quail populations at a landscape level.” Here’s more: > Includes the designation of two […]
Worms and Birds: What Else Don’t We Know?
Believe we’ve talked about this at least once, but a recent Wall Street Journal article on the plight of Texas quail got us thinking about it again. Here’s the applicable stuff: …Rolling Hills Quail Research Ranch, a 4,700-acre spread an hour west of Abilene. Last month, researchers there found that the levels of parasitic worms […]
Top 10 Reasons To Go to Phez Fest
Pheasants/Quail Forever’s Pheasant Fest/Quail Classic is coming up soon at KC, MO (see info in right column), and just in case you’re thinking it’s too far or whatever, here are the Top 10 – really just 10 of many – reasons to go. We’re doing it Letterman-style, 10 to 1. 10. What else are you […]
Lone Star Outdoor news recently carried an article on a speech given by Dr. Dale Rollins of the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch near Rotan, Texas. Seems that a major threat to quail, at least in the Lone Star state, may be an eyeball worm. News to us! Highlights: > Especially mysterious were the continued […]
