Prairie Chickens & Huns
The Traveling Wingshooter 2014: Sharptails, Huns, and Prairie Chicken Forecast
by Dave Smith
Prairie grouse populations declined dramatically over the last few years due to extreme drought conditions and/or cold, wet springs. In fact, last year may have been one of the all-time worst for sharp-tailed grouse and prairie chicken hunters. The horrendous drought of the Southern High Plains was at the core of a 50 percent decline in the lesser prairie chicken population from 2012 to 2013 that led to a record low of 17,616 birds and the subsequent listing of the species as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. The listing put an end to lesser prairie chicken hunting in Kansas, and necessitated re-drawing of the state’s hunt boundaries for greater prairie chickens.
Last year’s late spring in the Dakotas and Montana delivered another major blow. South Dakota‘s estimated prairie grouse harvest declined from 50,228 in 2012 to only 27,698 in 2013, a function of the cold and wet spring, according to Runia. North Dakota Game & Fish’s sharptail brood surveys revealed a 51 percent decline from 2012, paralleling my experience hunting sharpies last fall on the Hi-Line of northern Montana.
Runia was optimistic that South Dakota’s grouse hunting will be better in 2014 due to excellent rangeland conditions, an abundance of sweet clover, and ideal temperature and precipitation patterns during the nesting and brooding season. Kohn was less enthusiastic, anticipating spotty populations in North Dakota.
As for Hungarian partridge, Idaho and to a lesser extent, Montana, will offer some of the best hunting this fall.
“Spring conditions were excellent for upland gamebirds throughout Idaho so it should be a great season,” said Jeff Knetter, Idaho Department of Fish and Game. “Populations of grouse, quail, chukars, and Huns have been strong the last few years, and Huns were off the charts in 2012.”
In Montana, traditionally one of the strongholds for Huns in the U.S., habitat loss has taken a toll on partridge numbers, according to Ryan Williamson, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, who lives and works in good Hun country in northeastern Montana. “The greatest impact on partridge is the changing landscape across the Hi-Line of northern Montana,” said Williamson, specifically noting the loss of 1.7 million acres of CRP. “Huns thrive in the ‘dirtier’ fields with edge habitat like old fencerows and abandoned farmsteads that were common up to a decade or so ago. We now see fewer, larger, and cleaner fields. Huns are holding on in many areas, but numbers have declined significantly with the loss of CRP and other grasslands. We had good conditions this spring and are seeing broods, but hunters will need to be mobile to find good numbers. Partridge are becoming more spotty as the grassland landscape is fragmented.”
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