Upland

[addicted2fishin]

So the upland game season is about to open. I've never been a bird hunter until the last 2 years. A friend got me into chuckar hunting a bit and I even got to hit the pheasant-fest last year thanks to lucky timing (morning after they released the birds) and a friendly hunter that wanted to give his dogs some more work.

Unfortunately I don't have a bird dog and don't hear a lot from that friend anymore. Any suggestions on how / where to go as a single hunter with no dog? I live in Stansbury, so there are a lot of Chuckar areas nearby.

Ideally I would like to get a German Shorthair and get into this a lot more, but I have no idea how to train one and we are building a house so I don't currently have a fenced area to keep it.

Thoughts??
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[crankie]

If you want to talk about shorthairs give me a call 435-671-9333
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[PACKFAN]

Pretty tough without a dog, it can be done though. I have hunted that way in years past before I had a dog, I would go out after a fresh snow fall and locate some sunflower patches in areas I knew held chuckers. They like to feed in them especially on the sunny South or West facing slopes, just look for their tracks in the snow, with a good pair of binos or a spotting scope you can save yourself some walking. Once I got my first pointer which was a male German Shorthair that was absolutely incredible on chuckers the tide really turned in my favor. Good luck on your endeavor. []
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[fish_or_die]

By far the most numerous and easiest upland bird to hunt in Utah is the grouse. They can be found anywhere in the state in alpine areas, of course some spots are better than others! Don't need a dog to chase forest chickens and they can be a blast when you find them!
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[steelbender]

What ares are better to hunt, I've never been. you don't have give up your ares. but some general ares would be helpful.
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[fish_or_die]

Some great areas to start are right here on the wasatch front. Anywhere around strawberry will hold numbers of grouse. I've found some up payson canyon and around skyline drive. Fish lake has them all over the place too.

Basically, you want to find anywhere up near the tops of the mountains in the pines. They want to be on or near steeper sections where they can fly downhill to get away. Water and berries are what they love so find steep county with water and berries and you'll be golden.
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[PACKFAN]

You have to be careful around Strawberry, we see several small bunches of Sage Hens in some of the same areas that the blue or dusky grouse hang out in they are not legal to shoot in that area and are not always out on the open sage flats. We saw them again this archery season.
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