These profiles may inspire you to search for a new-to-you species to hunt this year . . .

by BCR Staff

It’s amazing all the niches game birds fill across the United States. 

Even experienced bird hunters can be surprised by the variety and breadth of upland game birds to be pursued across the country. Upland bird hunting can lead (well-conditioned) participants mountain hiking to lofty elevations for a once-in-a-lifetime chance at a snowcock that is only hunted in two counties in one state, or into deserts for a potentially addictive experience of flushing a large number of quail seemingly flying in all directions at once.

Here is an introduction to 23 upland game birds that are primarily pursued in the United States, with an overview of where the game birds originate, their sporting qualities, how to hunt them, environmental factors influencing their abundance, table fare expectations and in how many states they are hunted.

Once you’ve read the profiles below, you may want to check out options for outfitters in other parts of the country and plan a road trip. Check out my website at www.birdcountryresorts.com and find the ideal outfitter where you can try your hand at stuffing a different species or two into your game bag.

Pheasant: Import from China. Arguably North American’s favorite upland gamebird, cagy and colorful pheasants challenge two-legged predators often by running before taking flight, their long tails sometimes appearing to exit cover in slow motion. The birds are relatively large and only males are harvested, distinguished from females by their gaudy coloration that includes many shades of orange, browns and even purple. They flourish in farmland with plenty of fallow fields in temperate climates. Harsh winters and road-to-road crops hurt their numbers. Flushing dogs excel at the pheasant game, and pointing dogs that learn to cautiously trail foot-escaping birds and relocate their points can provide a lot of sport. Use high-brass №4 to 6 shot in your 12, 16 or 20 gauge shotgun. Meat from a pheasant is white, plentiful and tasty. Pheasant hunting seasons are held in 38 states.

Bobwhite Quail: Native. The nostalgic gamebird of the Deep South, bobwhite quail are small and live in groups called a covey. They tend to flush simultaneously, and causing the sudden appearance of a covey taking flight in all directions at once may be the most addictive experience in the outdoors. Overgrown farms with nearby grain fields and a pond or drainage ditch provide rich living quarters for bobwhite quail. They can do well in warmer climates compared to pheasants, but excellent hunting for both species in the same field is possible in some states. Chilly rains during nesting and plowing under fallow roosting fields suppress their numbers. Birds not pressured by a lot of hunting hold well for pointing dogs. №8 shot in a 20 gauge is ideal. Quail meat is white, delicate and delicious. Bobwhite quail hunting seasons are held in 38 states.

Gamble’s Quail: Native. A desert game bird, the small curved-plumed Gamble’s quail does well in arid or semi-arid country though scarce relative rainfall reduces their local abundance. Fortunate hunters can find themselves in habitat that holds both Gamble’s and scaled quail. The birds favor mesquite and paloverde beans and holding up in brushy washes, mesquite clumps and along scarce waterways. A flushing dog can put to flight a covey of Gamble quail scurrying from bush to bush. Single birds from scattered coveys hold well for pointing breeds that are heat tolerant. Dog boots are recommended to protect your canine from cactus and thorns that are ubiquitous where desert quail live. A 12- or 20-gauge is effective, with 7.5 shot. Quail meat is white, delicate and delicious. Gamble’s quail hunting seasons are held in eight states.

California Quail: Native. Nearly identical in appearance to Gamble’s quail, California quail prefer a more moist environment and are regularly found in valleys, canyons and gulches near rivers and other waterways. A scaled pattern on their bellies distinguishes California quail from Gambles. California quail gather in large coveys in the fall, and clover, waste grain, berries and even sage make up their diet. Severe winters or drought can deplete their numbers. Flushing and pointing dogs can be effective on these sporting birds. As is effective on all western quail, use a 12-or 20-gauge with 7.5 shot to bring home the beautiful and delicious quail. California quail hunting seasons are held in seven states.

Mountain Quail: Native. The largest quail lives in the far western mountains of the U.S. and can reach a full pound. A mountain quail’s straight plume is the feature that most readily distinguishes it from its western relatives which have plumes that curve forward. By hunting season, these birds migrate down to elevations around 5,000 to 7,000 feet in most of their territory and overlap with California quail in some areas. Their varied diet includes wild oats, sumac, sage and acorns. Their population fluctuates according to rainfall amounts locally. With experience, a pointing dog can learn to handle these fleet-footed birds which thrive in pinyon-juniper stands with thickets or steep slopes for escape routes. Flushing dogs are also good mountain quail hunting partners. A 12- or 20-gauge is effective, with 7.5 shot. Quail meat is white, delicate and delicious. Mountain quail hunting seasons are held in four states.

Scaled Quail: Native. Perhaps the most underrated hunted quail, scaled quail are most commonly found in the U.S. in the southwest states and offer splendid sporting qualities. The large bird, by quail standards, inhabits arid country and favors cover near precious water sources. Rain, the timing and the amount, heavily influences their populations. Scaled quail love to run, and flushing dogs are prized for their ability to get the birds up in the air for the wingshooter. Shots at birds scattering from a large, alert covey can be long. A 12- or 20-gauge is effective, with 7.5 shot. Quail meat is white, delicate and delicious. Scaled quail hunting seasons are held in six states.

Mearns Quail: Native. Mearns start as a bucket list species and turn into an obsession for some bird hunting aficionados who sample their sporting qualities. Their home is the grass-covered live oak hill country in the southwest around 4,000 feet elevation in Arizona and higher in New Mexico. Unlike other game birds, the amount of summer rain, not winter and spring precipitation, most commonly influences the abundance of hatchling successes and subsequent size of fall family coveys, usually about 6–8 birds, which take heart-stopping flight in all directions at once. Mearns’ tendency to hold tight endears them to setter and pointer owners. Use a 20- or even 28-gauge with an open choke and 8 shot. Quail meat is white, delicate and delicious. Mearns quail hunting seasons are held in two states.

Ruffed Grouse: Native. No other game bird garners as much reverence as the ruffed grouse and just catching sight of its disappearing tail fan is cherished — in the eastern United States. Out west, where they’ve had little contact with humans which they allow to approach closely, ruffed grouse are considered naïve at best. The medium sized — about one pound — gamebird reaches top speed nearly instantly upon takeoff. Coupled with the ability to use trees to block pellets from bird hunters’ barrels, the ruffed grouse is tough to bag. Young forests, which provide nutrition and dense cover, are preferred living quarters for grouse. Ruffed grouse hunters quickly learn to identify aspen, a preferred cover, and concentrate hunting effort in the stands approximately seven to 20 years old. Winters with light snowfall leave the birds susceptible to being eaten by predators, mainly owls. Deep snow, which they’ll burrow into at night, helps the birds’ survival. Their rise and fall in population is mostly attributed to a mysterious 8–10 year cycle. Use №8 or 7.5 shot and a lightweight 20 gauge shotgun. Meat from a ruffed grouse is white, succulent and cherished in the east and the west. Ruffed grouse hunting seasons are held in 32 states.

Spruce Grouse: Native. Most deserving of the title “fool hen” of any North American game bird, spruce grouse can have almost no fear of humans which they have little contact with in the remote regions they call home. Adept at avoiding canine predators, the birds are sporting when pursued with pointing or flushing dogs, which also are invaluable at locating the forest dwelling grouse before and after the shot. Spruce grouse favor dense coniferous forests with spruce and fir — the needles of which comprise their winter diet — at elevations around 5,000 feet, and the pigeon-sized birds are more prevalent west of the Continental Divide. Hunt for them near openings created by logging or fire where the spruce grouse can be found supplementing their pine needle diet with berries and forbs, and where they offer shot opportunities as they fly into dense escape cover. Use a lightweight, fast-swinging 20 gauge with 7.5 shot. The meat of young spruce grouse is all dark and decent table fare early in the season, before they switch to a nearly conifer needle-only winter diet. Spruce grouse hunting seasons are held in five states.

Blue Grouse (Sooty, Dusky): Native. The largest forest grouse, blue grouse weigh up to 4 pounds and, in contrast to most wildlife, move to higher elevations as winter arrives. Blue grouse have recently been divided into two species, sooty grouse in the Pacific Northwest and dusky (not quite as dark as sooty grouse) grouse in the Rocky Mountains. Early in the hunting season they can be found at lower elevations characterized by aspen and brushy cover including sage. Ruffed grouse can be found at the same elevations this time of year, but blue grouse often venture further into meadows and other openings. During most of the fall and winter, the birds’ diet consists of Douglas fir and ponderosa pine needles. Hunt these coniferous stands at elevations around 9,000 feet with rocky outcroppings, which blue grouse pitch off to escape down mountainsides. Populations of blue grouse can be harmed by the overgrazing on their summer habitats, spraying to kill insects, which provide protein to chicks, and clearcutting winter cover. Pointing and flushing dogs are effective for blue grouse. Use a lightweight, fast-swinging 20 gauge with 7.5 or 6 shot. Blue grouse provide plenty of nearly white, delicious meat for sharing. Blue grouse hunting seasons are held in 12 states.

Sage Grouse: Native. The stoic feathered icon of the old, dusty west, the sage grouse is finding it harder to find habitat it needs to flourish. As a result, it’s becoming harder to hunt this largest grouse species as some states eliminate or restrict harvest seasons to only residents. Sage grouse are dependent on sage brush and isolation. Luckily, conservation efforts to aid the birds are helping. The grouse congregate in groups often around water sources yet flush independently and in different directions. Pointing and flushing dogs are good companions on sage grouse hunts. Young birds and those flocks far from roads hold well for points. A 12-gauge with 5 or 6 shot is recommended. Old sage grouse are tough and not very palatable but young birds provide good dark-meat table fare. Sage grouse hunting seasons are held in eight states.

Sharp-tailed Grouse: Native. A dancer on prairie leks, sharp-tailed grouse have developed a following of fans — in addition to hunters — who like to watch the birds’ spring mating ritual. Larger than a ruffed grouse but smaller than a pheasant, sharp-tailed grouse are found in groups which can be large in the fall. Not a true covey bird, they do not flush as a unit, but rise in singles and pairs. Sharp-tailed grouse will eat grain crops but are dependent on large blocks of shrubby grasslands. They can sometimes be found in the same habitat as prairie chickens. When taking flight, sharp-tail clucks are noisier and higher pitched than a flushing prairie chicken. Cold rain during hatching can wreak havoc on chicks and reduce the number of birds available to hunters in the fall. A pointing dog that covers a lot of ground is appreciated on hunts for these birds of wide open country. Use №6 shot in a 12- or 20-gauge. Sharp-tailed meat is dark, but lighter in color and texture compared to a woodcock or duck. Sharp-tailed grouse hunting seasons are held in 12 states.

Prairie Chicken: Native. Dependent on vast tracks of grassland and tasty, the prairie chicken is aptly named. The leks where they gather are called booming grounds due to the sound males make while attracting females in the spring. Look for tall grass and mixed prairie grass in rolling topography which provide sunny slopes and varied cover densities when identifying locations to hunt for the medium sized grouse. Prairie chickens and sharp-tailed grouse in some areas can be found in the same habitat. The chickens appear darker and their wings flatter in flight. Abundant and healthy grasslands are most important to their population. Drought or flooding reduces their numbers. For best results, use a wide ranging, steady pointing dog and №6 shot in a 12- or 20-gauge. Prairie chicken is fine dining for those who favor fowl with dark meat. Prairie chicken hunting seasons are held in five states.

Hungarian Partridge (Grays/Huns): Import from central Europe. A covey bird of wide open spaces, the Hungarian partridge flush as a group. They scatter less than bobwhite quail, preferring to remain near each other in their new landing area. About twice the size of bobwhites, the grays’ takeoff is not quite as fast, but they quickly reach top speed, their flight pattern alternating rapid wing beats with glides. Gray partridge do better than other game birds of the prairie around landscapes dominated by agriculture, but the homebodies require plenty of nearby grassland for nesting and overhead cover such as cottonwood and chokecherry for shade and protection from predators and heavy snow common throughout their range. The birds handle severe winters well as long as food is available. A cold, wet spell at hatching time is most likely to blame for a dip in their numbers. A pointing dog that covers a lot of ground is great for finding gray partridge, which have been known to feed unconcernedly in front of steely-nerved dogs. Use a 20- or lightweight 12- gauge loaded with 7.5 shot early in the season and 6 shot later. The meat is darker than quail and lighter in color and texture than sharp-tailed grouse. Hungarian partridge hunting seasons are held in 15 states.

Chukar: Import. Indigenous to South and Central Asia. You hunt chukar the first time, the saying goes, for fun; thereafter, for revenge. The steep, rocky terrain and often high elevations these birds prefer to call home can shred the legs and lungs of flatlanders toting smoothbores. Heavy snowfall can keep chukar from their food and suppress their numbers. As chukars run uphill and fly downhill, savvy hunters use flushing dogs to rush coveys above and wait below for some challenging shooting. Once the covey is flushed and scattered, chukar can hold well for pointing dogs. A 12- or 20-gauge is effective, with 7.5 or 6 shot. Chukar meat is white and tasty, similar to a quail or ruffed grouse, and offers an incentive to hunt them more than once. Chukar hunting seasons are held in 15 states.

Ptarmigan (Rock, Willow, White-tailed): Native. The chameleon of game birds, ptarmigan turn white in winter to blend into the snow country in which they thrive. There are three ptarmigan species — rock, willow and white-tailed, and all three can be hunted in Alaska. Only white-tailed ptarmigan are available in the contiguous 48 states and they are found at high alpine mountainous altitudes. Hunts involve a lot of rough walking so a use a lightweight 20- or even 28-gauge with 7.5 shot. Pointing and flushing dogs add to the enjoyment and success of the hunt. Ptarmigan meat is dark and pungent. Ptarmigan hunting seasons are held in three states.

Himalayan Snowcock: Imported from Pakistan. Hunted in only two counties in one U.S. state, the Himalayan Snowcock is the bird hunter’s bighorn sheep, a quarry for fit adventurers. The birds are found at elevations from 8,500 to over 11,000 feet in steep areas only in Nevada’s Ruby Mountains where only about eight snowcock are taken each year. A free permit is required to hunt this approximately 6-pound member of the pheasant family that has a head pattern that resembles a chukar. Like chukar, they run uphill and fly downhill often while making a call that is similar to the sound made by a robin chasing off a rival. Tote a 16- or 12-gauge loaded with a high-quality №5 shot shells for this rare trophy. A flushing dog is preferred. The large birds provide white meat that should only be shared with those willing to listen intently to the tale of how the bird was secured from the mountain.

Sandhill Crane: Native. Lanky sandhill cranes offer the closest modern humans can come to hunting pterodactyls; not only do they look prehistoric, fossils indicate the cranes have been here 2.5 million years. Their habitat is wetlands, fields and prairies. The migrants can gather in flocks of thousands in the fall. A conservation success story, their population has been on a long, steady increase. Hunted primarily with the same techniques employed by dove hunters — pass shooting and decoying — large sandhill cranes are the game bird answer for those who consider other birds, such as the dove, too small. Hunters harvest about 18,000 sandhill cranes in the U.S. and 12,500 in Canada annually. It’s wise to pick up these birds by hand carefully to save a prized retriever from being gored by a wounded bird’s stiletto-like beak. Use non-toxic 2 shot or larger and a 12-gauge. The meat from sandhills, which has earned the poetic nickname “ribeye of the sky” has the taste and texture of fine cuts of beef. Sandhill crane hunting seasons are held in 15 states.

Woodcock: Native. The woodcock looks like a flying leaf attached to a tweezer, and the erratically flying migrant entices many into believing that shimmying through dense, slappy upland thickets with a shotgun is fun. Pursue woodcock in young aspen stands along creeks where they use that long, tweezer-like bill to probe soft ground for worms and other invertebrates. The reward for timing their migration right can be fast gunning action. Forests aging to old growth diminish their population. Woodcock hold quite well for pointing dogs. Flushing dogs are effective too; the cocker spaniel, a flusher, was developed specially for hunting the diminutive bird. Whichever dog is used, retrieving skills are important as a dead woodcock on the ground is the definition of well-camouflaged and difficult for human eyes to find. A 20- or 28-gauge with improved cylinder choke and 8 shot is ideal. №7 steel is effective too. The meat from these long-distance flyers is very dark and savory. Woodcock hunting seasons are held in 36 states.

Snipe: Native. A snipe may be most likely of any abundant gamebird to never encounter a hunter in its pursuit. They do exist! And though they are legal game in the east and west, fewer than half as many snipe are harvested in the U.S. than woodcock, their look-alike relative mostly confined to east of the Mississippi River. They are not pursued at night with gunnysacks as the practical jokes goes, but in wet, open habitat with low, thick vegetation. Early to migrate south, hunters interested in scoring on this under-utilized in the north prize need to get out at the beginning of the season, and expect challenging shooting. The birds flush at a distance and fly over 60 mph. Draining wetlands is the biggest threat to the snipes’ population. A dog is not as vital to a snipe hunt as a pair of hip boots, but a canine that retrieves will save a lot of human exertion from slogging to pick up birds. Non-toxic shot is required to hunt snipe. Use №7 steel in a 12- or 20-gauge with modified choke. Once a staple of market gunners, snipe meat is dark and complex. Snipe hunting seasons are held in 43 states.

Band-tailed Pigeon: Native. A social bird that gathers in large flocks, band-tailed pigeon challenge wing shooters in the forests of the Pacific and Southwest. The migrating bird is distinguished visually from the common pigeon, aka rock dove, by a wider tail marked by a pale stripe, or band, at the tip. Band-tailed pigeon are taken by pass shooters as they wing from roosts to sites where they feed on waste grain, pinyon nuts, wild nuts and elderberry. Management practices that suppress shrubs and hardwood growth that provide their food may hurt their populations. A modified or improved modified choked 12-gauge with 6 shot is recommended for their pursuit. A good retriever is invaluable at recovering these birds that provide good eating for those who favor dark meat. Band-tailed pigeon hunting seasons are held in seven states.

Mourning Dove: Native. Abundant and ubiquitous, the mourning dove is everyman’s gamebird. Flying up to 55 mph, doves can test and improve a shotgunner’s skills, and pass-shooting the birds over grain fields or by ponds where they drink is how most of the 13 million mourning doves are collected in the U.S. annually. Mourning doves are migratory and, like waterfowl, require that shotguns be plugged to hold no more than three shells. They thrive wherever farmland is interspersed with trees and tall shrubs where they nest. Retrievers and spaniels excel as the dogs’ sole role in a dove hunt is to bring back the downed birds. A 20-gauge is fine for the diminutive dove, but the extra pellets in a 12-gauge will help ensure fewer of the speedsters fly through the pattern. Guns will not be toted miles through cover so the extra weight of the larger gauge is not an issue and helps lessen the impact of recoil on what can be high-volume shooting. Use 8 shot early in the season and up to 6 shot later when the birds have thicker feathering and the shots at the hunter-wise birds are longer. Dove meat is medium dark, rich and sweet. Mourning dove hunting seasons are held in 41 states.

White-wing Dove: Native. Once found almost exclusively in the Sonoran Desert and implicitly tied to the saguaro cactus, white-wing dove are expanding their range and numbers, and increasing opportunities for bird hunters. They are bigger than the more common mourning doves and have a namesake white stripe on each wing. About 2 million are harvested each year in the U.S., mostly by pass shooters over the desert, fields or watering holes. In the evening, they can provide fast gunning where they return to roosting sites in citrus orchards or thickets of mesquite and cedar. A smooth-swinging 12-gauge — plugged or otherwise incapable of holding more than three shots to comply with federal migratory bird hunting regulations — and №7.5 shot works well for white-wing doves. Retrieves can be made by hand; a dog that retrieves is handy on a white-wing dove shoot too. The meat is dark, though lighter in color and density than meat from a duck. White-wing dove hunting seasons are held in 16 states.