Region 4 Upland Game Bird Forecast
Source: http://fwp.mt.gov/
Published: Sep. 01, 2009
Cold, wet and snowy weather this spring means upland bird hunters in north central Montana should expect below average bird numbers this fall, say state wildlife officials.Cold, wet and snowy weather this spring means upland bird hunters in north central Montana should expect below average bird numbers this fall, say state wildlife officials.
That forecast applies to the prairie bird species: pheasants, sharp-tailed grouse and Hungarian partridge.
"The spring was not good for adult birds," says Cory Loecker, Fish, Wildlife and Parks wildlife biologist in Great Falls. "The hatch should have been good but many adult birds didn’t make it."
For pheasants, the hatching period generally peaks around June 10. But, first, the heavy snow storm the beginning of May, then more cold and wet weather the first weekend of June meant fewer nests and fewer young birds coming off those nests than in previous years.
Gary Olson, FWP wildlife biologist in Conrad, conducts a series of pheasant crowing counts in early and mid-May. He drives backcountry roads, stopping periodically to listen for male pheasants crowing.
"We were down across the board 28 to 38 percent from 2008," Olson says, "And 2008 was down from 2007. There’s a chance around the Conrad area we’re down 50 percent for our pheasant population. The pheasant picture is not rosy."
It’s a similar story out east around Lewistown.
"Our winter survival was below average," says Tom Stivers, FWP wildlife biologist in Lewistown. "But the spring production looks better."
As for sharptails and Huns it’s much the same in FWP’s Region 4: below average.
"I’ve not seen a brood of Huns," says Olson of Conrad. "I’ve not even heard of anyone seeing Huns."
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