Montana 2008 upland report on sharpies and huns

If you follow my message board perhaps you have read my posts regarding bird numbers this year.  If not, here it is:  below average, excluding pheasant numbers in some areas of Montana.

I don’t know why this has occurred with a rainy spring.  Everyone says how terrific the spring was and how everything is green and there is grass etc. 

From what I can gather, the unrealized predictions are multi-factorial.  Here’s why:  Number 1, statewide approval for emergency grazing of CRP lands due to winter drought.  Number 2, ill timed rains combined with cold spring/early summer weather resulting in high chick mortality.  Number 3, Montana F&W means of estimation for public release (more later in this writing).

Anyone who hunted here in Montana last year will tell you we had a banner year for sharpies with average hun numbers (above average is some areas!).  There were no doubt sufficient adult bird numbers headed into the spring nesting season.  It was nothing for me to flush HUNDREDS of sharpies in just one day last year!  It was awesome.  Big broods of sharpie chicks were seen literally running up and down the roads.

What I am discovering is that Montana is no different than Texas and Oklahoma.  You can’t “save up” your birds by not hunting them.  Mother nature will have her impact on bird numbers each year based on some simple factors: rain, temps, severe weather, farm/ranching practices, predators, etc.

It seems that this year we were dealt a double edged sword.  While the late spring rains were welcome, the cold temps didn’t do well with the chicks.  I think the cold June temps played the most significant role in reduced numbers.

I believe that pheasant numbers may be up.  Not around here but in many areas of the state.  Sharpies, a very durable bird of many thousands of years do and will rebound from tough years.  I’m not worried about that.  Huns, non-native to our country seem to live vicariously through the most subtle whims of mother nature here in Montana.  I would guess that one year in five is good for huns in my part of Montana (region 7).

It seems that the biologists in Montana base there upland bird predictions on spring bird counts prior to actual chick production.  This information is disseminated through the media and soon becomes ’presumed fact’ by the unknowing hunter.  Because Montana has a large scale ‘big game’ program, the biologists must turn their time and efforts to big game for a good part of the year.  It can be said that sharpies take a back seat to big game and pheasant, whether it is true or not, I don’t know.

I am hearing reports of folks calling biologists working for Montana F&W at various offices scattered all across Montana and all having their own opinions with no apparent widespread communication among each other.  It seems that once the pre-nesting prediction is made, that’s it.  Period.  On to big game.

One office told a client of mine “Didn’t you read the prediction on our website” to which he replied “Yes I did but a person that is there right now running dogs is not finding the predictions” (paraphrasing).  That statement made the  person rethink their reply and state that the bird numbers actually seen afield are down despite predictions.

Predictions are just that, predicitons.  No one should base their hunting trip simply on predictions.  It is always helpful to know someone in the area and hear what they have to say.  As I was once told in the Navy, its where the ship meets the water or where the rubber meets the road is where things are really happening.

So, no matter whether it is Montana or Texas, it is always helpful to know folks that are actually there and reporting from the trenches.

I really like the Texas Okalahoma approach to a late summer roadside survey.  It has always been accurate and is a great way to further define early predictions. 

I’m having a blast up here in Montana no matter the bird numbers and I do hope you feel the same way when you are in the field.  It’s not about the kill, it’s the comraderie and great dog work afield.  Of course a fine Brittany is an awesome fireside companion!

I suppose my message to sum it all up is for you to do your homework carefully.  This means do more than read a magazine or a web site.  With the high cost of fuel nowadays, it would be a shame to spend a lot of money only to arrive and find out predictions were wrong.

Happy hunting this season and give your bird dog a treat for me!

Dave