# Hun situation for 2006



## ChukarBob (Sep 4, 2006)

My brothers and I make one or two trips per year to ND, hunting in the northwest quadrant of the state. It's become my favorite out-of-state hunt. I'm from Washington state and have brothers in Oregon and Georgia. We are considerate of our "hosts", the North Dakota landowners and residents who share their state with us and appreciative of the opportunity for a hunting experience that is reminiscent of what we grew up with in the Midwest in the '50's and '60's.

What's the status of the Hungarian partridge for the 2006 season? We've left them alone since that severe winter 8 or 10 years ago, hoping to see them make a comeback. During that time we have become much more effective in hunting pheasants. Sometimes our success with pheasants leaves us with some free time in our day and it would be nice to get back to the partridge. But we still don't want to "beat a bird while it's down." We like to hunt waterfowl, but rarely bring our waterfowling gear to ND and really prefer to shoot the upland birds.


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## Dak (Feb 28, 2005)

From the NDGF:

Sharp-tailed grouse and partridge hunters should find more birds in the field this fall compared to last year, according to Jerry Kobriger, upland game management supervisor for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, Dickinson.

"It does not appear as though drought conditions have affected production to any great degree," Kobriger said.

The season opens Sept. 9 for sharptails, partridge and ruffed grouse. Sage grouse season does not open until Sept. 25.

The final tally on sharptails this spring was an increase of nearly 10 percent over last year on a statewide basis, Kobriger said, with the areas southwest of the Missouri River and the Missouri Coteau region showing the largest increases.

Preliminary results from surveys this summer indicate improved numbers over last year in birds and broods per mile of survey, in addition to a higher average brood size and an increase in the number of young birds seen on routes compared to adult birds. "All these factors translate into more birds this fall and a better season," Kobriger said.

This year's buffaloberry crop is spotty, Kobriger added, with good berries in some locations, and none in others. "However, sometimes the good spots are not far removed from the poor spots," he said.

Likewise, all indicators point to a better gray or Hungarian partridge crop this year. Rural mail carriers saw an increase from eight to nearly 12 partridge per 1,000 miles of census effort. Data gathered by biologists on summer survey routes show the highest number of birds seen per mile of survey in five years in the southwestern and Missouri Coteau portions of the state. However, the central and northeastern sections of the state are down slightly from last year, Kobriger said, but still above the level seen two years ago.

Ruffed grouse populations tend to run in 8-10 year cycles, and 2004 appeared to be at the lower end. The Turtle Mountains in Bottineau and Rolette counties and the Pembina Hills area of Cavalier and Pembina counties should provide hunters with the best opportunities this fall.

The sage grouse population should be similar to last year, but if dry conditions persist, Kobriger said birds may be harder to find. "They tend to move toward water areas with green vegetation, but these may be hard to find," he said.

For further season information and regulations, hunters should consult the North Dakota 2006-07 Small Game Guide.

Good hunting


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## Dick Monson (Aug 12, 2002)

CB, have at 'em. You won't shoot 'em out. When combining and swathing there are huns in almost every field around here. Try to find them during hunting season.  They go to the oddest places and run like pheasants. Doubt very much you will hurt the population. The covey will probably be the exact same size in the next spring as it would have been it you had not shot a few. Winter is going to thin the covey anyway.


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## Habitat Hugger (Jan 19, 2005)

The G & F keeps saying that they are recovering from the bad winters of 97 - 98. This might have knocked them down back then, but I'm not convinced it is the only thing. 
For one thing we have had exceptionally warm winters without snow covere since 97, and although there may be a few more, I've not seen many in my travels. And the G & F counts don't show that much of an increase either.
Also, we get up to see relatives in Sarkatchewan during the winter every year or so, and their winters up there have been a heck of a lot colder than ours and they've had much more snow each winter. Yet, when you drive around, there are flock after flock of up to 75 birds seen every few miles! Unbelievable numbers, and the country and habitat looks pretty much the same to me. And the locals up there , in the area we visit anyway, all say that during the harvest or deer season you can't drive down a prairie trail without literally driving over some! 
So I'm not wholly convinced it was those bad winters that are doing them in and preventing their recovery! I think it is something that is going on in ND. ?Different farming practices? different AG chemicals? Some subtle environmental thing that knocks off the chicks, or affect the eggs?? increasing pheasant population down here with the warm winters somehow decreasing huns - do pheasants outcompete huns for food/nesting or actively bump them off like they do in pen raised situations?? (it seems that once you get far enough north that pheasants don't do well, the huns start increasing) ?different food sources?? CRP detremental to them in some unknown way?? Predation seems much the same... I wouldn't have a clue....
I'm just not convinced it is the weather, especially at this point. Got to be other more significant factors involved.
It would be an interesting thing for a grad student to study, although I wouldn't know where to start?!?


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## Burly1 (Sep 20, 2003)

I think Habitat Hugger's take on the situation in ND is right on. Although a cyclic species, jackrabbits are a good indicator of healthy habitat. Where there is anhydrous ammonia, there are no rabbits. Where there are insecticides sprayed on a regular basis, there are very few game birds. Nongame wildlife and songbirds take a terrific hit from these chemicals as well. The mortality of game is not just from exposure to the chemicals themselves, but from the lack of insect forage available to them. I don't know the exact numbers, but do know that a very large part of a young game bird's diet consists of insects. No bugs. No birds. Looking for habitat friendly farmers, Burl


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## Habitat Hugger (Jan 19, 2005)

I could understand the insecticides could reduce or eliminate a valuable food source, but young pheasants and wild turkeys and everything else depend on grasshoppers, and there's no shortage of those darned things, either. Of course, anything that disrupts the food chain can have all kinds of remote wierd consequenses.


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## ChukarBob (Sep 4, 2006)

Thanks, guys, for the replies. It really would be a good subject for a Master's thesis or Ph.D. dissertation. But I'm well past my graduate school days and just want to shoot a few birds without jeopardizing the population.


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## Habitat Hugger (Jan 19, 2005)

Well, Bob - shoot all you can find. I'm sure you won't be doing any harm to the population.
I ty flies and need partridge feathers for P-Quads (peacock,partridge, pheasant & pintail) and I had to actually break down and buy a farm raied pelt from Cabelas several years ago. Two years ago I got a double, and haven't seen a huntable one since! But I have a couple of boraxed pelts for fly tying! The rest of them tasted good, too.


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## mburgess (Aug 11, 2003)

I've been saying this for the last few years. Huns like small grains more than anything, and row crops are getting bigger and bigger especially corn in the southern part of the state. Hun numbers won't be great anymore due to all the corn being planted. Hun numbers were unreal last fall during deer season in the northern part of the state where it is all wheat and canola.


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