Sharptail scouting question

jtm307

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 4, 2016
Messages
895
Location
Wyoming
I saw sharptailed grouse on an elk hunt in late December last year. I've also been seeing sharptailed grouse on my rabbit hunts lately. All have been in similar terrain, but not terrain I would have thought look for sharptails in. Are these places I'll be able to find sharptails in September and October?
 
What kind of terrain were you finding them in? In the area I hunt, there is a lot of CRP with pockets of sage and leafy trees. We can usually find birds year round in the same general areas if the coyotes haven't had a run on the eggs. They would lay in the fields or sage if left undisturbed but would fly and roost in the trees if needed too.
 
What kind of terrain were you finding them in? In the area I hunt, there is a lot of CRP with pockets of sage and leafy trees. We can usually find birds year round in the same general areas if the coyotes haven't had a run on the eggs. They would lay in the fields or sage if left undisturbed but would fly and roost in the trees if needed too.

Flat terrain with thin native grasses adjacent to slopes covered in bitterbrush. Nowhere near CRP.
 
We've been seeing some sharptails also in places down her in SE Wyoming that never had them before. Rocky, open terrain with very few trees.
 
I have seen them in areas with taller native vegetation as well. I'm no sharpie expert, but it seems to me that they won't fly awfully far when flushed and tend to try and circle back to where they were flushed from when they feel the threat has moved away. I have noticed that they generally stay in the same area throughout the year. So I would think that if you are seeing them now, they should be there in Sept/Oct if they aren't moved out by other predators or activity.
 
I see sharpie's mostly on rolling grass/sage lands. The area I hunt has thin to thick grass and oakbrush (I think this is the right name) mixed with sage and some creek bottoms.
 
Back
Top