Upland birds on the Western Slope

S

Scratch

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I'm going to be moving to the Grand Junction area and am curious about the hunting situation in the area. I know big game hunting is good but what about pheasants and quail? Being desert I wouldn't expect bobwhites but maybe Californias?
 
pheasants on the Western slope

I have a nephew that lives in Montrose he always comes to Kansas and hunts pheasants with me. He has said there's a few out there but not enough to make a hunt interesting. As a matter of fact he's coming this weekend to hunt.
 
You could always head for the hills to hunt grouse. I've never done it, but I'm sure it can be fun. I've seen a lot of grouse up on the Grand Mesa.
 
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chadsbritt said:
You could always head for the hills to hunt grouse. I've never done it, but I'm sure it can be fun. I've seen a lot of grouse up on the Grand Mesa.
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I haven't spent enough time in Colorado, I guess, to see any grouse. I have hunted them(or should I say hunted for them) near Grand Junction. Then over the last decade I have hunted elk near Grand Junction and never seen any. A few hunts back the weather was rather warm and as I made my climb during the cover of darkness, trying to keep from breaking a sweat, I am thinking it is way too warm to be elk hunting. I get to a spot where I can view a nice park and crawl under a scrub oak and wait for daylight, I am reminiscing of days in the Flint Hills of Kansas under a big bur oak hunting turkeys. It seems more like I should be on a turkey hunt than an elk hunt. The sky is getting lighter and illuminating snow covered peaks to my west and I am truly enjoying my time communing with nature in this beautiful place, when I hear a noise just uphill a bit from me. I ready myself for whatever it might be, hopefully a giant bull, then I see a silhouette moving across the horizion forty yards from me in the morning light. It was not an elk, but a turkey, then another, finally totalling eight as they moved to an area of abundant acorn production. Was I disappointed it was not a big bull, of course, but I did enjoy seeing the turkeys marching single file to their breakfast feast.
 
Hey there, a couple things. There is a short season on sage grouse which are quite abundant in some places around junction. Also some guys got a western slope chapter of Pheasants Forever going out there. You can call Sportsmans Warehouse and talk to Doug Miller, I think he had a hand in getting it going.
 
John said:
Hey there, a couple things. There is a short season on sage grouse which are quite abundant in some places around junction. Also some guys got a western slope chapter of Pheasants Forever going out there. You can call Sportsmans Warehouse and talk to Doug Miller, I think he had a hand in getting it going.
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I was hunting elk last fall and walking out of the hills just as it was getting to dark not to use a flashlight, when three sage grouse exploded up into the air not ten yards from us. Talk about a serious adreniline rush! Whoah baby! I felt like I was pheasant hunting at 9000 feet.

I see blue grouse on occassion too. They tend to be in heavier cover; stands of pines.
 
Ive seen chucker up on the mesa a bunch of times. Dont know if there are huntable populations but there are some there.
 
There are plenty of pheasants in Delta area, south of Grand Junction. The problem is that they are almost all on private land and landowners in that area don't readily give permission. There are quite a few gambel's quail in the whole area; but, on public lands there is lots of competition. And yes, there are chuckars spread around the region, also. You just have to want to walk hard and you will eventually find them. Of course, there are blue grouse and sage grouse in there respective habitats.
Good luck next season!

arkrivco
 
arkrivco said:
There are plenty of pheasants in Delta area, south of Grand Junction. The problem is that they are almost all on private land and landowners in that area don't readily give permission. There are quite a few gambel's quail in the whole area; but, on public lands there is lots of competition. And yes, there are chuckars spread around the region, also. You just have to want to walk hard and you will eventually find them. Of course, there are blue grouse and sage grouse in there respective habitats.
Good luck next season!

arkrivco
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Sounds like the Eastern Plains..... P.s.i.,P.s.i., we have too many people hunting and not enought wia to hunt in like other states.
all I can say is, train hard and make them dogs the best they can be and don't worry about the next guy. You have what it takes to bring a limit home to the wife and kids .
HTS
 
chadsbritt said:
You could always head for the hills to hunt grouse. I've never done it, but I'm sure it can be fun. I've seen a lot of grouse up on the Grand Mesa.
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I was just up archery elk hunting in the western slopes. . . I filled my tag early and took my lab and 28g o/u to the steep hills just above the aspen thickets. Everywhere I found fruit or berries I got into the blue grouse. I wouldn't make a trip just for the birds but it was a nice treat after elk hunting!

AB
hunthardcore.com
 
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