Pheasants Rally; Partridge, Quail Numbers Take Off

Pheasants seem to be making a comeback, especially in Eastern Washington. Other upland birds, including partridges and quail could provide the best hunting in years.

Pheasants are not nearly as plentiful as they were in the “good, old days” of the 1970s and 1980s, but hunters should see twice as many this year as last.

Thanks to a mild winter, early spring rains and a dry nesting season, the relatively small pheasant population that went into the recent mild winter has produced enough young birds for good hunting this fall.

Wildlife biologists said that surveys in the Spokane region show a “substantial increase” in pheasant populations, especially in central counties of the region.

“August brood counts in the Lincoln County area alone showed an average of more than five birds per brood this year, compared with just two last year,” Washington Fish and Wildlife Department biologists reported in the hunting prospects pamphlet.

Best pheasant hunting throughout the central and southeast counties will be river and streamside areas, plus farm lands with good cover, like fence rows, brushy eyebrows on hillsides and Conservation Reserve Program fields.

Columbia Basin biologists reported pheasant broods this year are 126 percent larger than those of last year. However, they hasten to add, the increase occurred “after a year of especially low pheasant production.

“Pheasant numbers this year appear to be similar to what they were in 1994, meaning much better hunting this year,” they said.

Biologists saw 14.5 pheasant chicks per observation day compared to just 8.3 per day in 1995.

Those are welcome figures to the region’s pheasant hunters, a high percentage of whom either didn’t hunt pheasants at all last year or turned to other pursuits after a foray or two into empty cover.

Basin biologists said that habitat loss remains the biggest single factor affecting pheasants.

“Habitat restoration efforts on some department lands have been very successful but these lands are very heavily hunted and make up a small percentage of the entire Basin,” they said.

As usual, hunters will see “No Trespassing” signs throughout the Basin and in the Spokane region. The most serious hunters will have contacted property owners before the opening of the season on Oct. 12.

Already, scatter-gunners who hunted chukars during the early season that opened Saturday in southeast Washington know that there are better numbers of birds.

The annual aerial survey in southeast Washington indicated the chukar population more than doubled last year’s numbers. Chukar density even exceeded the 10-year average of 155 birds per square mile.

Chukar populations in Grant and Douglas counties also have increased - possibly to the highest level since aerial surveys were started in 1991, biologists said.

Hunters who like to hunt Hungarian partridges should see lots of birds this year. Biologists said broods counted in Lincoln County showed an increase from two birds last year to 15.2 birds per brood this year. That’s a phenomenal increase. Basin biologists predicted “very good hunting” for the birds.

As usual, grouse populations are good in some areas and mediocre in others. Hunters have found decent numbers of blue and ruffed grouse in parts of the Spokane region, particularly in Ferry County and parts of Pend Oreille and Stevens counties.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Graphic: Snake River chukar survey

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Eastern Washington bird seasons Pheasants: Oct. 12-Dec. 31. Daily limit, three cocks. Forest grouse: Sept. 1-Dec. 31. Daily limit, three. Partridge: Oct. 12-Jan. 12. Daily limit, six. Quail: Oct. 12-Jan. 12. Daily limit, 10.