May 17, 2012

Traveling Wingshooter Online
August 2010

ne of the top states for both sharptails and Hungarian partridge is North Dakota. The 2009 harvest totals were 86,000 sharptails and 64,000 Huns. Those figures were down significantly from 2008, when 120,000 sharptails and nearly 100,000 Huns were taken. However, hunter numbers for both species were also down about 25 percent last year. Prospects for this year look to be improved for sharptails. The best hunting will be in the southwest, south of I-94 and west of the Missouri River. (This will also be the top area for pheasants this year, which should make for some good mixed-bag hunting.) The central region will be about like last year.

The news is not as good for Huns. There are no particularly outstanding areas, although hunters will undoubtedly find pockets with good bird numbers. Excellent maps showing public areas and PLOTS (Private Land Open To Sportsmen) can be found on the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s website.

Montana is another top state for both sharptails and Huns. Twenty-year average harvest totals are 53,000 sharptails and 47,000 Huns. Last year’s sharptail harvest was just below average – at 49,000 – while about 20 percent fewer Huns than average were taken. This year, adverse weather during the nesting season will have impacted reproduction in some parts of the state. While the sharptail harvest is projected to be about normal, Hun numbers remain below normal. One of the top areas should be the northeast, or Region 6 East, the eastern portion of the Highline. (Survey regions have been changed. See the website for details.) Although Region 7 (southeast Montana) is not normally a destination for sharptail and Hun hunters, numbers of both species are above average there, for the second straight year.

Although far fewer Huns are killed in South Dakota, it is another leading state for prairie grouse and offers the hunter a very good chance to bag prairie chickens, which are not legal game in either Montana or North Dakota. The spring counts in 2009 were the highest in a decade. However, the combined sharptail/chicken harvest was down from 47,000 to 39,000. (Typically, sharpies make up about three-quarters of the harvest.) A 13 percent decline in hunter numbers accounted for part of the decline. This spring, counts were down about nine percent for sharptails and 18 percent for chickens. However, weather conditions during the nesting season were close to ideal, which should mean a good number of young birds. Sharptails are common in the western two thirds or so of the state, while prairie chickens are found in south central and central South Dakota.

Nebraska does not have 2009 harvest data for sharptails and prairie chickens available at this time. For this year, counts are generally lower in the Sand Hills, but better west of Bassett. Numbers have increased in the southwest, the Panhandle, and the northeast.

Kansas hunters bagged just over 6,000 prairie chickens last year, of which only 900 were lessers. The lesser population, in the southwest and south-central regions, is likely up somewhat. The low harvest figure is due more to lack of hunter interest than a declining population, but there is a real possibility that lesser chickens may soon be declared a threatened species with no open season. Greater chicken numbers are strong in the Smoky Hills of north-central Kansas while generally poor in the Flint Hills, where the northern part is better than the southern..

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