Top 5 upland species

What are your top 5 species and where to hunt them? Wild birds…

Bobwhite and Blues in Texas
Sharptail grouse and Hungarian Partridge in Montana

These are all I’ve had an opportunity for so far.

Bobwhites, Blues, and Pheasant, all in Texas.

I love Scaled quail. Sporty to hunt and shoot, dressed wonderfully and pleasantly heavy in the hand.
Next is the Hungarian Partridge. A Hun covey flush is something to remember the rest of your life. They also are beautiful in the hand and live in spectacular open country.
Third would be the Bobwhite Quail. Classy but not flashy and their covey flush makes my heart pound every time.
The Ruffed Grouse would be my next favorite. Super challenging to shoot over a pointing dog. Most live, to steal a quote from my brother, "in woods a fat man can't walk through!".
Finally I love the little Mearn's Quail. Every upland hunter should have the pure pleasure of holding a honorably taken male Mearn's in his hand while praising his favorite dog. It's a lifetime memory.

1.Prairie Chicken, they were best dogs favorite. They're great on the table, pretty to look at and native.
2. Sage grouse, not super sporting and often looong walks but it's a rush, sounding like a helicopter, when they flush.
3. Sharptails, both mountain (Columbian) and plains, they always have something to say when leaving.
4. Blue (aka dusky) grouse mainly as table fair and they live in pretty places.
5. Gentlemen Bob if for nothing else but nostalgia.

Would donate a kidney to shoot blue quail over pointers in Texas. Never done it before.

I hunted blues out west when I was really young I have also killed planted chukar and pheasant just for dog training and dog competition.

Other than that I’ve been a migratory bird hunter most my life. Dove, ducks, geese…

I am also a dog man for those who don’t know.

When my labs retire in about 5 years my kids will be getting out of the house as well.

I plan on getting a Pudelpointer and want to travel around the US and hunt as many upland species as I can across the country.

My Heidi girl pointed blues too.


She also did pheasant pretty darn well but would blow a field full of em just to point the chickens on thffe far end

Huns - MT/ND - best covey rise out there
Mearns - AZ/NM - magnificent bird
Blue Grouse - NM - best eating. Love being in the high country
Gambels - NM/AZ - every bird bagged is a bird earned
Bobs - TX/KS - love watching a big going dog in big country

Here is some Pudelpointer for you Brady.
1. Woodcock in Louisiana. A forester by profession, the prince of the woods is right in my wheel house. Woodcock have more juke in flight than any upland bird I’ve hunted. They hold for the dog. The cover I hunt combined with the juke puts more pressure on my wing shooting than any bird I hunt.
2. Huns in Montana. My favorite covey bird to hunt and on the table. Often in low diffuse cover with the dog spotted up from long range. Exceptionally sporty.
3. Late season Sharptail Grouse in Nebraska. No other bird or training will teach a dog more about pointing first scent like late season Sharpie’s. A very striking native game bird whose first default is flight, with a penchant for flushing at distance.
4. The Rooster Pheasant anywhere on the Great Plains in big native prairie. A gaudy bird with a spectacular flush that would rather run than fly. Late season roosters in big country running out from under a dogs point and dogs that relocate on their own, sticking with it and pointing them repeatedly until they get them to hold is a dance I could never tire of watching.
5. Gentleman Bob in Texas. The bird I grew up hunting In Oklahoma that sparked my lifetime love for bird dogs of all kinds and sub guage shotguns. The first upland bird I introduced my son to pointing dogs with and the first wild upland bird I introduce my puppies to.

Very cool, Smokey! I’m extremely excited to take up more upland hunting in the future and can’t wait for those moments with new pup.

Folks are mentioning the ol' timberdoodle, I like woodcock too and they should have made my list. The thing about them though is even over a point they seem to always scare the snot out of me on the flush, little buggers are really camoed up.

Good question and tough to answer.

Huns - WY/MT; can get some solid dog work on them coupled with scenery
Mearns - AZ - can get really good dog work on them and again the scenery in southern AZ is fantastic
Bobwhite - TX/OK/KS great birds to make a dog on, when (if?) you have a good year, the amount of dog work to be had is hard to beat
Pheasant - KS/SD - Pheasants fun for me for a one time a year changeup. Getting dog work on a cagey mid to late season rooster is a lotta fun
Chukar - WY - Only placed I have chased them is in Wyoming and they are so tough to get to hand...each one seems like a trophy

This a great thread! I am a little late in the upland game but I got a GSP pup and this is his first year hunting and mine at trying it. I am fascinated with the different species and their individual particular nuances. It is very interesting. I am hooked. We made a trip to Kansas not really knowing anything and learned a lot. All public land. It was terribly dry but we did manage a few quail. I'll never forget my dog's first wild covey point and the explosion that erupted!

I hope to read more about y'alls trips and learn more about this incredible upland adventure.

Griff

When I was hunting antelope I WY 8 years ago or so I came across some sage grouse. Pretty big birds, I had no idea what they were at the time. There is a 2 week season in September. The property where we were hunting is private outside Casper. I could probably get access again. I’d love to go back and see if I could hunt them along with huns.

^^^

looks like sand hill plums