With all the snow and record lows we have been having here in Southwestern Idaho, I haven't been out chasing chukar since mid-December (thought it best to give the birds and my dog a break). One of my hunting buddies went out last week to see if he could call in a few coyotes and while driving to his first calling location he picked up a couple dead chukar along the road. As he walked from call site to call site he found a few more dead chukar in the snow. By the end of the day he had picked up a total of six dead chukar. A quick examination revealed that none of the birds had been shot and that all of them had zero fat and very little if any muscle remaining on their breast and legs. His conclusion was that these birds simply starved to death. He also walked within thirty yards of two other coveys of live birds and noted that they were very lethargic and did not make any attempt to fly or run away. He chose to walk around them in the hopes that they might make it through to next year. Has anybody else found birds in this condition? I am hoping that this is a localized situation and that we are not experiencing the beginning of a larger die off throughout much of Southwest Idaho. This season was one of the best we have had around here for quite some time. Large numbers of birds in several hunting areas. I know that bird populations are often a boom or bust proposition, but I hope we are not seeing the beginning of a downward trend. It will also be interesting to see how the big game numbers are affected by this winter. Hopefully we will get a bit of a break and that spring greenup will come early to the winter range.
Rough winter taking it's toll on S.W. Idaho Chukar?
- Thread starter Sawtooth
- Start date
I've been leaving them alone. It's tough this year, and we may see a major downturn next fall. I've seen several coveys of huns on my driving for work, and they're not going very far either. This last storm may be the worst one, with the ice, along with the snow, I'm betting we lose some big game, too.
ida homer
Well-known member
Glad you guys are showing restraint. Birds nor big game need bothered around here right now. The poor deer haven't had dry hair in 6 weeks, non stop precip. It's gonna be damn hard for them to eat Thursday-Monday as this icy crust forms. I can't remember the last time I saw a 12 hour steady rain in Boise like it did today.
I've got a covey that moved into my back yard. They look pretty healthy and I was tempted to have a few for dinner. Problem is I've never seen a covey in my yard and it's got to be hard out further so I'll let them be and shoot some coyotes instead. Maybe next year they'll bring friends.
Duck-Slayer
Well-known member
I have heard that guys are out shooting chukars along the road's along with hun's, I know when I went on a veteran TFO elk hunt right before christmas that the hun's were right along the main road's and wouldn't move,
Matt
Matt
