Sage Grouse Opener a Success

Hunters chasing sage grouse across southern Idaho during the 2005 opening weekend saw more birds and harvested more birds than last year. Using the average amount of time required to harvest a bird as the gauge, wildlife managers determined that in some places sage grouse hunting is better than it has been in a quarter century. "The sage grouse hunting was the best we've had in many years," said Randy Smith, Magic Valley Regional Wildlife Manager. "At just under 5 hours per bird, the effort required to harvest a grouse was the lowest since 1979." Hunters in the other three regions of southern Idaho reported similar success, with the lowest hour/bird ratio occurring in the Southeast Region. Hunters reporting to the check station there spent an average of 3.3 hours to harvest a sage grouse. Following are numbers from check stations around southern Idaho.

	Region					Hours per Bird Harvested

				

Southwest (Region 3)	              	                    4.7



Magic Valley (Region 4)                                     5



Southeast (Region 5)                                        3.3



Upper Snake River (Region 6)                                5.2

In the Southwest Region hunters also reported good success harvesting chukar and quail. Chukar hunters averaged 3.6 hours per bird (slightly down from last year), and quail hunters average 2.0 hours per bird (compared to 9.5 last year.)