One Nation, Under God
Well, there’s always next year.
Maybe.
Sage grouse season has come and gone and I saw nary a bird. It certainly wasn’t for a lack of trying. I hunted upland birds 23 days last month, much of the time in areas where I had seen sage grouse in the past. I hunted in Phillips, McCone and Garfield counties. I even hunted along barbed wire fences bedecked with those white metal tabs on the top strand indicating there are sage grouse in the area.
While I didn’t specifically target sage grouse until last week, I usually stumble upon a few while out chasing sharptail grouse, but not this year.
The most politicized bird in the state, sage grouse are considered a species of concern in Montana. Most of that concern, however, centers around the restrictions and mitigation fees required on any development in areas of sage grouse habitat.
The birds’ numbers have fluctuated greatly in recent years. The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks counted 81,000 in 2016, more than twice the number FWP tallied in 2014. The count was 95,000 in ’06 and 57,000 in ‘08.
If you ask me, there aren’t any, but then again I often come to that same conclusion about elk, walleye and most game that eludes me.
I’m sure I’ll see some now that the season is closed. I saw a big flock last fall in early December while hunting pheasants.
The most ancient of our gamebirds, sage grouse are so prehistoric they don’t even have gizzards. Perfectly camouflaged in the muted tones of the prairie, they disappear in the scantest of cover.
Few folks hunt them, and those that do are coming under increasing criticism. I trust the biologists at FWP, who say modern hunters have little to no effect on wild bird populations. I know I don’t.
Because of the threat that sage grouse may soon be listed as an endangered species, more hunters with little previous interest in the birds are hoping to bag one before they’re declared off limits. No doubt taxidermists are seeing an influx of sage grouse.
Hopefully, I’ll get another chance next year. I know they’re still there. I counted more than 40 last spring on a nearby lek. Where they went in the meantime is beyond me, but I’ll keep looking.
The opening of sage grouse season is only 11 months away.
Parker Heinlein is at [email protected]
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