ShopPosts Tagged ‘prairie chicken’
Chickens, Sharpies and Rattlesnakes
Monday, October 4th, 2010
The cover of the new North American Grouse Partnership magazine as designed by Pheasants Forever's Rosalie Wolff
Pheasants Forever’s marketing department will send the North American Grouse Partnership’s first publication in three years to the printer later this week. It’s all part of Pheasants Forever’s role as a member of the Prairie Grouse Partners. We are providing public relations and marketing assistance to support our common conservation interest: restoring prairie habitat. The NAGP will pay all the printing and mailing bills, while Pheasants Forever has provided the elbow grease to produce this publication. Most of that elbow grease has come from Rosalie Wolff, Pheasants Forever’s Graphic Artist; who has designed a fantastic looking publication.
If you are interested in prairie chickens, sharp-tailed grouse, or sage grouse, there is still time for you to add your name to the North American Grouse Partnership’s roster of members to receive this new publication. In fact, through this special link you’ll receive the special discounted price for Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever members.
A Ft. Pierre National Grassland greater prairie chicken (left) and sharp-tailed grouse (right)
Bob’s Bird Hunting Report: Ft. Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota
Last week, I enjoyed a fantastic couple of days hunting the wide open spaces of SoDak’s Fort Pierre Grasslands. While I have had two other opportunities to bag my first prairie chicken, this was my first dedicated trip focused on the bird. Long story short, a September trip to Fort Pierre will be an annual pilgrimage for this hunter. In three days of hunting, I saw hundreds of chickens, sharpies and pheasants. It was a bird hunter’s smorgasbord. I did indeed bag my first greater prairie chicken (five of them actually) and added three sharpies as well. One word of caution about these western grasslands: be prepared for bird dog encounters with rattlesnakes, porcupines, skunks, and coyotes.
A Bird Dog’s Life List
Tuesday, September 7th, 2010
Me & Tram after putting a checkmark next to ruffed grouse on her life list.
Over the holiday weekend, I caught up on some reading. An article in the most recent issue of The Pointing Dog Journal particularly caught my attention. The piece titled “My Bucket List” was written by Tom Davis, also a contributor to the Pheasants Forever Journal. As the name implies, Tom writes about the hunting adventures he’d like to have before he passes on. It was an interesting read and likely follows thoughts many of us have this time of year as we review our calendars, health, and dog power for the coming autumn. I wrote a similar blog post a year ago titled “My Bird Hunting Bucket List.”
However, what really grabbed my attention was Tom’s tally of the wild upland game bird species shot over his bird dog. Turns out, this sort of “Bird Dog Life List” is fairly common. A couple of guys; Joseph A. Augustine (English Setters) and the renowned Ben O. Williams (Brittany) have even penned bird dog hunting books on the topic. The consensus is twenty different North American upland game birds constitute a “Grand Slam.”
So as I look toward my own German shorthaired pointer’s fourth season, I have taken inventory on Trammell’s own bird hunting life list. Here is Tram’s current tally: a) species I successfully shot over her point, b) the year it occurred and c) the state in which it took place.
- Ruffed Grouse, 2007, Michigan
- Pheasant, 2007, Minnesota
- Timberdoodle, 2007, Michigan
- Hungarian Partridge, 2008, Montana
- Sharp-tailed Grouse, 2008, Montana
In some respects, I look at that list and feel guilty. There’s the greater prairie chicken I missed in South Dakota’s Fort Pierre Grasslands last year. And there’s the doggy plane ticket to Georgia I couldn’t afford preventing bobwhite quail from hitting her list.
On the other hand, three seasons with Tram have been the best three seasons of my hunting career. And if you consider the dozens of states and subspecies necessary to reach double digits, a guy could go broke chasing this list. Plus, I’ll be in the Fort Pierre Grasslands in three weeks and I smell redemption. Come to think of it, I’ll be in Nebraska (bobwhite quail) and Kansas (lesser prairie chickens) in November too. Hunting season is here and things are looking up!
In the comment section below, post the following: a) your dog’s breed, b) your dog’s name, c) your dog’s age, and d) how many birds on his/her life list so far?
What Bird is Most Difficult to Hunt?
Monday, April 26th, 2010
Am I a "3" or a "4"? You decide!
A Pheasants Forever project I’m working on just required me to rate wingshooting opportunities in terms of difficulty using a 1-5 scale (one being “easier,” five being most “difficult”). For example, I rated sage grouse a “1,” and ruffed grouse a “5.”
The obvious flaw, of course, is that days in the field aren’t (thank goodness) as black, white and standardized as this system. Bird maturation, hunting pressure, weather, bird hardiness, flush style, flight speed, time of season, location, shooter expertise and much more play a part in this infinite debate. As in “What’s more difficult, shooting a ruffed grouse on a 60 degree bluebird September 20th day or bagging a rooster pheasant on a snowy, -20 degree wind chill December 20th?”
I rated chukars and ruffed grouse as 5s; bobwhite quail, prairie chicken, Huns and sharptails as 4s; and pheasants as a 3. There’s no winner in this argument, but I’m open to being challenged on my scores so let’s have a little fun with it. Here are my ratings, go ahead and blast me with yours!
Ruffed Grouse *****
Chukar *****
Prairie Chicken ****
Sharp-tailed Grouse ****
Hungarian Partridge ****
Mountain Quail ****
Mearns Quail ****
Gambel’s Quail ***
Scaled Quail ***
Bobwhite Quail ***
Ring-necked Pheasant ***
Mourning Dove ***
California Quail ***
Ptarmigan **
American Woodcock **
Blue Grouse *
Sage Grouse *
Spruce Grouse *
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