SHOOTING PARTY PROSPECTS GOOD FOR UPLAND GAME-BIRD AND WATERFOWL SEASON OPENERS.Byline: Jim Niemiec Special to the Daily News Reports of an excellent quail and chukar chukar Popular small game bird (Alectoris chukar), a species of partridge. Stocked in many countries, it is native from southeastern Europe to India and Manchuria. It has a brown back with strongly barred sides and a black-outlined whitish throat. hatch this spring ought to put plenty of birds in the game bag come opening morning of the upland game-bird season Oct. 15. Duck hunters will head out to blinds before the sun rises on the following weekend in hopes of bagging a seven-bird limit of puddle ducks. Quail populations are very good from the high desert to the slopes of the coastal mountain ranges. Last year's rain produced lots of protective cover, and the carryover of adult birds is expected to produce larger-than-normal coveys of quail. Valley quail enjoyed a tremendous hatch, as did Gambel's quail The Gambel's Quail, Callipepla gambelii, is a small ground-dwelling bird in the New World quail family. It inhabits the desert regions of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Texas, and Sonora. along the lower Colorado River Colorado River River, south-central Argentina. Its major headstreams, the Grande and Barrancas rivers, flow southward from the Andes Mountains and meet to form the Colorado near the Chilean border. It flows southeastward across northern Patagonia and the southern Pampas. . Mountain quail ought to be easier to find this year at higher elevations, as their numbers continue to improve, and those heading to Arizona to hunt Mearn's, Gambel's and scaled quail The Scaled Quail (Callipepla squamata), also commonly called Blue Quail or cottontop, is a species of the New World quail family. It is a bluish gray bird found in the arid regions of the Southwestern United States to Central Mexico. will have no problem finding coveys. Baja California Baja California, state, Mexico Baja California (Span.: bä`hä kälēfōr`nyä), state (1990 pop. 1,660,855), 27,628 sq mi (71,576 sq km), NW Mexico, on the Baja California peninsula. Mexicali is the capital. had a double hatch to valley quail south of Ensenada, and the San Telmo (If you are looking for the football club, see Club Atlético San Telmo) San Telmo ("St. Pedro González Telmo") is one of the oldest barrios (neighborhoods) of Buenos Aires, Argentina and also one of the best preserved areas of that constantly changing Valley could produce awesome gunning. In the Mexicali area, guides report a good hatch of pheasant and quail, and there are lots of dove in the valley. Hunters will be allowed to shoot 15 quail in Baja Norte this season, and the possession limit is 30 birds. This could be one of the best years for chukar hunting since the government closed down special limited hunting at China Lake. Summer rains, good cover, plenty of native grass and seeds and a very large carryover of adult birds from last season has put a lot of birds on the ground, and conditions continue to improve in the more rugged mountain Rugged Mountain is the apex of the Haihte Range on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. From it, several glaciers, Nootka Sound, Woss Lake and the Tlupana Range are in view. areas between Ridgecrest and Barstow. Chukar hunters can expect to find smaller coveys early in the season because of late-summer rains that spread out the birds. The chances of busting a covey of birds anywhere on a mountainside could make for an exciting hunting season for those willing to put forth the effort needed to in get into chukar country. The daily bag limit on chukar is six birds. Biologists with the California Department of Fish and Game predict a good year for quail hunting in most all hunting areas. ``This year is going to be a great year for upland game-bird hunting,'' said Scott Sewell, Wildlife Habitat supervisor. ``This past year's rain and early green up will give Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, a larger-than-normal quail and chukar population. With brood count surveys and reports from numerous reliable sources, we could be looking at one of the best years in quite a while.'' Excellent breeding conditions and ideal wetlands habitat produced a bumper crop In agriculture, a bumper crop refers to a particularly good harvest yielded for a particular crop. Example: "With all the rain we've had over the last few months, we are expecting a bumper crop this year. of puddle ducks that are already starting to arrive at state wildlife refuges and duck clubs in Southern California. These new arrivals will mix well with locally hatched mallards and teal that nested in the Southland's many lakes and marshes. Duck hunters ought to enjoy fine hunting at the Kern National Wildlife Refuge  National Wildlife Refuge near Wasco. Fair shooting is expected to reward hunters who have high reservation numbers at Wister Wildlife Refuge next to Niland. And those with a permit to hunt Baldwin Lake, up in the San Bernardino Mountains San Bernardino Mountains, part of the Coast Range, S Calif., extending c.60 mi (100 km) NW and SE through San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Notable peaks are San Bernardino Mt. (10,630 ft/3,240 m) and Mt. San Gorgonio (11,485 ft/3,501 m). , can expect to bag early-morning limits of puddle ducks gunning from boats. The liberal bag limit and a straight 100-day season for the Southern California zone is an indication of an improving population of puddle ducks and divers. Hunters will be limited to one sprig and no more than five mallards (only one of which may be a hen) in the their daily bag limit. It's too early to determine how good the snow and Canada goose hunting season will be, but ideal nesting conditions in western Canada is expected to produce a pretty steady migration of birds into California and along the Colorado River by mid-November. Hunters are reminded that to hunt quail, chukar, dove and fall turkey, they need a Heritage upland game-bird stamp attached to their hunting license. Waterfowlers are required to have a signed federal and state duck stamp. For more information on Department of Fish and Game-sponsored hunts and shooting areas, contact the department's South Coast regional office in Los Alamitos at (562) 342-7147. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Jim Niemiec, hunting with the High Desert Guide Service, bagged a limit of valley quail southeast of Kramer Junction. Courtesy of Jim Niemiec |
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