09-15-2007, 01:10 AM
More than 3,000 chukar partridge were released across Utah during the week of Sept. 10.
The Division of Wildlife Resources released the adult, pen-reared birds to provide better hunting in certain areas of the state this season.
The DWR released more than 3,000 chukar partridge before the start of this year's hunt.
Photo by Brent Stettler
The DWR released many of the chukars in areas where biologists have constructed game bird water guzzlers. Chukars were also released in areas where populations have been affected by the dry conditions in Utah this year.
Because of the potential to overcrowd areas with hunters, and to protect the guzzler sites used by wildlife, the DWR will not provide maps of specific guzzler site locations or more specific information about where the birds were released.
A map that shows the distribution and density of guzzlers in Utah is available at wildlife.utah.gov/pdf/guzzlermap.pdf.
Banded birds
Some of the chukars that were released were banded with aluminum leg bands. If you take a banded bird, please call the DWR at the telephone number printed on the band. You can also submit band information online at wildlife.utah.gov/uplandgame/index.html#bird_band.
The information you provide will allow biologists to assess how many birds hunters took and how many of the birds survived and dispersed into habitats they prefer.
You might also take wild birds that have been banded. Many of these wild birds have been banded with colored, plastic bandettes. These birds are part of a statewide research study that's being done to assess chukar populations and how they use guzzlers in the state.
You can learn more about the research study by visiting wildlife.utah.gov/uplandgame/chukar/chukar_study.php on the Web.
Providing water
Since the mid-1990s, the DWR has constructed hundreds of 350-gallon game bird and small mammal guzzlers. These guzzlers have been placed on many of the mountain ranges in the West Desert, stretching from the Utah-Idaho border to the Mohave Desert in the southwestern corner of the state. The guzzler design the biologists are using allow the watering devices to be placed in Utah's roughest and rockiest habitats. These habitats are ideal for the chukar partridge.
Biologists place the guzzlers in long, narrow canyons that have steep, rocky slopes. These areas provide good escape cover for chukars.
In each area, complexes of four to six guzzlers are built about one mile apart. Biologists then move down the mountain range a couple of miles and build another guzzler complex. The idea behind this guzzler construction scheme is to place water where birds would normally look for it. Biologists also want to provide water in areas that provide good forage for chukars.
Chukars
Chukars are an exotic bird that are native to places like India and Afghanistan in the Middle East. They're about 15 inches long and weigh 20 ounces.
Chukar partridge live in some of the most inhospitable habitat in Utah. They're found mostly on steep, rocky, arid slopes in the barren desert areas of the state. They seem to like areas that have low-growing shrubs, such as the sagebrush, saltbush and cheatgrass vegetative zones, above and below the juniper tree belt. Talus and rocky slopes help the chukars hide, and they give them a place to escape.
Chukars eat mostly grass seeds, weed seeds, buds and flowers. In the winter, they also eat cheatgrass that's just starting to grow.
Male and female chukars look almost identical. A "button-like" spur on the back of many of the males' legs is the main way to tell a male and a female apart.
Season dates, bag limits
The 2007 Utah chukar hunting season opens Sept. 15 and runs until Jan. 31, 2008 in some areas of the state. Both males and females can be hunted. The daily bag limit is five birds, and the possession limit is 10.
Release locations
Pen-reared chukars were released in the following Utah areas:
Box Elder County
Bovine Mountains (south End)<br />
Foothills above Brigham City<br />
Foothills above Deweyville and Honeyville<br />
Goose Creek Mountains (south End)<br />
Grouse Creek Mountains (south End)<br />
Pilot Mountains (north End)<br />
Wildcat Mountains<br />
Cache County
East Side of Cache Valley<br />
Summit
Echo Junction<br />
Henefer-Echo Wildlife Management Area<br />
Kane County
Houserocks Valley - Wire Pass<br />
Coyote Canyon<br />
Five Mile Mountain<br />
Tibbet Canyon<br />
Coal Bed Canyon<br />
Utah County
Wasatch Front, from Springville to Pleasant Grove<br />
West Mountain<br />
Santaquin Pole Canyon<br />
Iron County
Lund<br />
Parowan Gap<br />
Millard County
Black Hills<br />
Black Rock<br />
Corn Creek<br />
Notch Peak<br />
Pahvant Butte<br />
Sevier County
Annabella<br />
Cedar Ridge<br />
Cedar Mountain<br />
Duchesne County
Sandwash<br />
Blacktail Mountain<br />
Uintah County
Willow Creek<br />
Two Waters Canyon<br />
White River<br />
Cooper Canyon<br />
Archy Bench<br />
Park Canyon<br />
Montes Creek<br />
Carbon County
Gordon Creek<br />
Emery County
Ferron Canyon<br />
Cedar Mountain<br />
Miller Canyon
The Division of Wildlife Resources released the adult, pen-reared birds to provide better hunting in certain areas of the state this season.
The DWR released more than 3,000 chukar partridge before the start of this year's hunt.
Photo by Brent Stettler
The DWR released many of the chukars in areas where biologists have constructed game bird water guzzlers. Chukars were also released in areas where populations have been affected by the dry conditions in Utah this year.
Because of the potential to overcrowd areas with hunters, and to protect the guzzler sites used by wildlife, the DWR will not provide maps of specific guzzler site locations or more specific information about where the birds were released.
A map that shows the distribution and density of guzzlers in Utah is available at wildlife.utah.gov/pdf/guzzlermap.pdf.
Banded birds
Some of the chukars that were released were banded with aluminum leg bands. If you take a banded bird, please call the DWR at the telephone number printed on the band. You can also submit band information online at wildlife.utah.gov/uplandgame/index.html#bird_band.
The information you provide will allow biologists to assess how many birds hunters took and how many of the birds survived and dispersed into habitats they prefer.
You might also take wild birds that have been banded. Many of these wild birds have been banded with colored, plastic bandettes. These birds are part of a statewide research study that's being done to assess chukar populations and how they use guzzlers in the state.
You can learn more about the research study by visiting wildlife.utah.gov/uplandgame/chukar/chukar_study.php on the Web.
Providing water
Since the mid-1990s, the DWR has constructed hundreds of 350-gallon game bird and small mammal guzzlers. These guzzlers have been placed on many of the mountain ranges in the West Desert, stretching from the Utah-Idaho border to the Mohave Desert in the southwestern corner of the state. The guzzler design the biologists are using allow the watering devices to be placed in Utah's roughest and rockiest habitats. These habitats are ideal for the chukar partridge.
Biologists place the guzzlers in long, narrow canyons that have steep, rocky slopes. These areas provide good escape cover for chukars.
In each area, complexes of four to six guzzlers are built about one mile apart. Biologists then move down the mountain range a couple of miles and build another guzzler complex. The idea behind this guzzler construction scheme is to place water where birds would normally look for it. Biologists also want to provide water in areas that provide good forage for chukars.
Chukars
Chukars are an exotic bird that are native to places like India and Afghanistan in the Middle East. They're about 15 inches long and weigh 20 ounces.
Chukar partridge live in some of the most inhospitable habitat in Utah. They're found mostly on steep, rocky, arid slopes in the barren desert areas of the state. They seem to like areas that have low-growing shrubs, such as the sagebrush, saltbush and cheatgrass vegetative zones, above and below the juniper tree belt. Talus and rocky slopes help the chukars hide, and they give them a place to escape.
Chukars eat mostly grass seeds, weed seeds, buds and flowers. In the winter, they also eat cheatgrass that's just starting to grow.
Male and female chukars look almost identical. A "button-like" spur on the back of many of the males' legs is the main way to tell a male and a female apart.
Season dates, bag limits
The 2007 Utah chukar hunting season opens Sept. 15 and runs until Jan. 31, 2008 in some areas of the state. Both males and females can be hunted. The daily bag limit is five birds, and the possession limit is 10.
Release locations
Pen-reared chukars were released in the following Utah areas:
Box Elder County
Bovine Mountains (south End)<br />
Foothills above Brigham City<br />
Foothills above Deweyville and Honeyville<br />
Goose Creek Mountains (south End)<br />
Grouse Creek Mountains (south End)<br />
Pilot Mountains (north End)<br />
Wildcat Mountains<br />
Cache County
East Side of Cache Valley<br />
Summit
Echo Junction<br />
Henefer-Echo Wildlife Management Area<br />
Kane County
Houserocks Valley - Wire Pass<br />
Coyote Canyon<br />
Five Mile Mountain<br />
Tibbet Canyon<br />
Coal Bed Canyon<br />
Utah County
Wasatch Front, from Springville to Pleasant Grove<br />
West Mountain<br />
Santaquin Pole Canyon<br />
Iron County
Lund<br />
Parowan Gap<br />
Millard County
Black Hills<br />
Black Rock<br />
Corn Creek<br />
Notch Peak<br />
Pahvant Butte<br />
Sevier County
Annabella<br />
Cedar Ridge<br />
Cedar Mountain<br />
Duchesne County
Sandwash<br />
Blacktail Mountain<br />
Uintah County
Willow Creek<br />
Two Waters Canyon<br />
White River<br />
Cooper Canyon<br />
Archy Bench<br />
Park Canyon<br />
Montes Creek<br />
Carbon County
Gordon Creek<br />
Emery County
Ferron Canyon<br />
Cedar Mountain<br />
Miller Canyon
