October 2023 - 36

When a covey of chukars flies away from a hillside, a bird often remains behind. (Photo by Jack Ballard)
Like many other upland birds, gray partridges are
mottled little creatures of habit. On a public tract
of land not far from my home, sharp-tailed grouse
and partridges find a modest living in grass and
alfalfa fields. One particular swale holds an almost
magical appeal to the birds. Until they get schooled
by several parties of hunters, one or both species
are found with regularity in the saddle between a
rounded hilltop and the fenceline on a ridge about
a quarter-mile away.
A similar situation occurs in the mountains where
I sometimes hunt dusky grouse in the same drainage
where elk are the target later in the fall. Three areas
where clearings give way to scrubby, high-elevation
conifers almost always hold grouse. They don't look
any different to the human eye, but something
about the micro-habitats is assuredly appealing to
the birds.
Dog-less hunters, or those with dogs, will
find increasing success if they become intimately
acquainted with properties in productive habitat
versus running to and fro looking for the next hot
property.
36 | October 2023
PLAY ON BEHAVIOR
Like a host of other creatures, upland birds are
usually more active just after sunrise and in the
late afternoon. Pheasants will skulk from cover
to peck at spent corn or investigate morsels in a
weed patch. Sharptails often use their wings, flying
between roosting and feeding areas that may be a
considerable distance apart.
On one private property open to public hunting,
I've observed grouse flying from hayfields to a
roosting area higher in the hills at least a half-mile
away. When the birds are plentiful, there's no doubt
a hunter willing to log a couple of evenings in the
same location could enjoy pass-shooting sharptails
in the same manner as doves on the wing toward
water or grain fields.
In the case of pheasants, birds foraging away
from cover in the early morning are very skittish.
They're difficult to approach and when pecking
around together a single disturbance may send a
dozen long-tailed residents into faraway cover. It's
often more effective to let pheasants settle into the
security of nearby brush, grass or cattails before

October 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of October 2023

October 2023 - 1
October 2023 - 2
October 2023 - 3
October 2023 - 4
October 2023 - 5
October 2023 - 6
October 2023 - 7
October 2023 - 8
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October 2023 - 46
October 2023 - 47
October 2023 - 48
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