Traveling Wingshooter Forecasts

by Dave Smith  This update to our 2018 Upland Gamebird Hunting Forecast incorporates the results of late summer upland bird population surveys. This final piece of data measures recruitment of [...]

By Dave Smith This update to our 2017 Upland Gamebird Hunting Forecast incorporates the results of late summer upland bird population surveys. These surveys measure the recruitment of young birds [...]

The 2016 chukar hunting story in a single word: Nevada! Once a decade or so, things turn just right with a combination of a mild winter, nice winter green-up, and good moisture throughout the [...]

The 2015 desert quail boom materialized, as projected, as a spectacular year for quail hunters in New Mexico. As such, anticipation was high for back-to-back bumper crops of Gambel’s, scaled, and [...]

The sleepers may be the destinations for prairie grouse and Huns in 2016. That prognosis stems from continued dismal sharp-tailed grouse production in North Dakota, the premier sharptail [...]

The Texas quail explosion is underway! Habitat plus rain equals quail. Four years ago, at the peak of a horrendous drought, Texas hunters experienced the worst quail hunting imaginable and [...]

The business of forecasting woodcock hunting prospects in mid-summer took a turn for the worse this year as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the four Flyways moved regulatory [...]

Ruffed grouse populations in the Lake States appear to be on the long-anticipated rise in their 10-year cycle. Minnesota’s ruffed grouse spring drumming counts were up 18 percent statewide this [...]

As reported in the article, 2015 Pheasants Wrap: Trending Up (June/July 2016), pheasant populations spiked up dramatically across most of the range last year, following a healthy increase in [...]

The Traveling Wingshooter 2015: Pheasant Forecast by Dave Smith   The final 2014 pheasant production scorecard was far better than projected last year in mid-summer, as reported in [...]