SIERRA REGIONS
Scouting Equals Success
The rocky backbone of California called the Sierra should provide rock-solid hunting opportunities for California quail in the foothills and mountain quail in higher elevations this season. Reports point to good food production and good carryover for both species.

The one exception seems to be an area of western Fresno County, including the Panoche and Tummy Hills areas, which had been hammered by drought and had terrible reproduction for the last six or seven years.

Otherwise, quail populations up and down the Sierra crest and foothills are generally very stable. "The populations don't get real high or real low," says Mastrup. "It's consistently good if you've got the spots. Production just doesn't vary that much relative to Southern California."

In the foothills, hunters who know good California quail habitat when they see it always seem to do well, and with a little scouting, you can almost always find good mountain quail hunting in the national forests of the Sierra.

"It's just about the same habitat types from Kern County right on up through Stanislaus County," says DFG biologist Doug Bowman. "You just have to get out and find the better spots. Look for damp areas. Mountain quail have to have water like all quail. I'd hunt them above 5,000 feet, up to 7,000 feet. A lot of people drive the roads early in the morning and look for quail crossing the roads, and then get out and hunt them. That's probably the easiest way to find places where the birds hang out."

Oddly, mountain quail don't seem to be affected by fluctuations in precipitation as much as the other quail species. Not much is known about what drives mountain quail production. It's largely a mystery.

RED-HOT CHUKAR HUNTING

Chukar, chukar, and more chukar. That's what hunters can expect to see this year following substantial carryover of adult birds and optimal condition's throughout much of the birds' rang in California. "We're going to have a really good chukar season," says Dick Halderman, of Quail Unlimited. "I think the heavy rains of last winter kept a lot of guys out of the field." "We've been seeing tons of chukar this year," echoes DFG upland game specialist Scott Sewell. Chukar are fond of steep, arid, rocky habitat, usually associated with cheat grass and within a mile of water. They can often be located by the sound of their nervous chatter, and will readily answer a call. When flushed, they generally run uphill and fly downhill. California hunters shoot about 30,00 chukar annually, mostly within eastern Modoc and Lassen counties, Inyo County, San Bernardino and Kern counties. Historically good areas in the Lassen area include the Sledaddle Mountains, Shaffer Mountain, Five Springs Mountain, Cherry Mountain, Shinn Peak, Black's Mountain and Rush Creek Mountain as well as the Fort Sage and Peterson Mountains areas. In Southern California, good numbers of chukar can be found in the Ridgecrest area and many parts of the Mojave Desert, including Stoddard Mountain, Dagget Ridge, Opal Mountain, Black Mountain and Red Mountain. The birds are most numerous in the western desert, and biologists also report seeing lots of birds along Highway 395 all the way to Bridgeport. Chukar hunting is one of the most physically demanding hunts imaginable due to the extremely rugged terrain the birds inhabit. Its wise to get in shape before the season and to be properly equipped with maps, water and emergency supplies for you and your bird dog. -- Michael Dickerson.

What is known is that once you find good spots for mountain quail, you can go there year after year and find birds. Just remember that the birds live below snow line and will migrate accordingly. As a result they can be found anywhere from 3,500 feet up to 9,000 feet in elevation. Once you find birds at a particular elevation, keep hunting at that general level.

Historically, top-producing counties include Siskiyou, Trinity, Kern, Tuolumne, Plumas, El Dorado, Tulare, Fresno, Shasta and Lassen. Huntable populations of mountain quail can also be found in other "montane" regions of the state, including parts of the Coast Range and Southern California mountains.

NORTHEASTERN CALIFORNIA
Primed To Repeat?
Far northern and northeastern California, specifically the areas within Lassen, Modoc, eastern Siskiyou and Shasta counties, differs from other parts of the state in that quail reproduction is more dependent on spring and summer rains than midwinter precipitation. Given that scenario and the active storms that hit Northern California in late spring, reproduction should be excellent this year. It is worth noting that midwinter precipitation in this region was about 100 percent of normal in the southern part of the area and 60 percent of normal near the Oregon line. It's also worth noting that 2003-'04 and 2004-'05 were near-record years in terms of bird populations and harvest.

"The northeastern part of the state does well when it doesn't get too wet in winter, or have too many heavy snows," says Mastrup. "It was relatively dry there this winter, which could be good."

"We had some heavy snow in January, but minimal mortality," says DFG biologist Frank Hall. He notes that near-record thunderstorms in May and June of 2004 produced excellent numbers of California quail, and an apparent repeat of such storms this year, combined with good carryover, bodes well for the coming hunting season.

Since this area includes some 10 million acres on four national forests and five BLM field offices, it's tough to list specific locations. Hall recommends that hunters do their homework and look for quail in specific habitat types. Valley quail, for example are found near riparian, valley and mixed shrub areas. For mountain quail, find brush patches in mountain conifer stands west of and near the Sierra crest. For maps and up-to-date information, contact Forest Service and BLM offices.