By the Nevada Department of Wildlife
Game biologists are often hard to understand. When trying to explain something to the everyday man, they forget to stop using all of their scientific terms and sometimes leave people more confused than ever.
When asked about the upcoming chukar hunting season, which begins Oct. 8, Nevada Department of Wildlife upland game biologist Shawn Espinosa wanted to avoid any confusion, “I think overall it’s going to be a good to excellent season. Hunters are going to be very happy this year.”
This year’s Nevada Chukar Hunting Forecast, an annual report put out by NDOW that takes habitat conditions and statewide survey results to estimate chukar populations, was released last week and predicted good to excellent chukar hunting for much of Nevada.
NDOW biologists found that a very wet October last year provided upland game with an ample amount of forage, which led to improved overall body condition. This allowed most upland game populations to thrive during the winter months.
NDOW also conducted surveys on 13 long-term study plots in late August and found the number of birds observed was higher than the long term average in 11 of the 13 plots.
The survey found record numbers of birds in five of the plots and strong population recoveries in both Pershing and Lander Counties.
Espinosa reports that hunters may want to look off the beaten path this year. “I don’t think hunters should focus primarily on the more popular mountain ranges in the state. I think a lot of things this year are a little more spread out than normal because of the habitat conditions and the availability of water,” he said. “I think hunters will be rewarded if they try looking at mountain ranges aside from the usual spots.”
Chukar hunting opportunities within Humboldt County, which experiences the most use in terms of hunter days, will be mostly average with the exception of the Jackson Mountains, which showed better numbers this year.
Pershing County has seen record high densities of birds observed in the Sonoma and Selenite Ranges, as well as the Lava Beds.
The central portion of Nevada including Churchill, northern Nye, and southern Lander and Eureka counties are expected to provide good to excellent opportunities for chukar enthusiasts this season as well.
Portions of Washoe County continue to harbor above average bird numbers as well.
The forecast states less attention may be warranted within the Santa Rosa Range; however, habitat is in such good condition and the availability of water is in such large quantity relatively, that birds could be dispersed over a much larger area. The same could be said for the Pine Forest Range in north central Humboldt County where results were comparable to last year.
Espinosa does have some basic advice for sportsmen looking to get out there this chukar season, “One of the best things you can do is get into shape and get your dogs into shape. If you haven’t been out, you might want to go out and look at some of your favorite spots to hunt and see how things look, but by and large I think for most places that are good traditional chukar hunting areas. it’s going to be good.”
An upland game bird stamp is required for anyone age 12 or older, to hunt upland game birds, except turkey and crow.
The $10 stamp is available at NDOW offices, authorized license agents statewide and online at www.ndowlicensing.com.
Funds from the stamp sales are used to support guzzler maintenance and habitat work that benefits upland game bird species.