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I’m not sure if it was the trendiness of  chukar hunting  on social media or the fact that 2020 had everyone stuck at home and thinking of new things to try, but it sure seemed like chukar hunter numbers were at an all-time high this season in my neck of the woods. That even includes me, since this was my first season of seriously targeting  chukar  instead of just going a few times as a change of...

When winter sets in, the mornings become considerably colder, and the air feels like a whip against any uncovered skin. No one understands this better than the waterfowl hunter. The season starts where summer and fall meet. As December arrives and winter becomes official, the crowds diminish with the arrival of the ice. The waterfowl hunters who persist and venture into this season often find some...

The gentle “Chi-ca-go-go” in the distance caught my attention as I made my way down the rocky wash. A quick glance upward had me convinced that the birds were on the hillside, more vertical than not; a grade covered summit-to-base in loose rocks and cholla. These dang  Gambel’s quail  were doing their best chukar impressions here in the heart of the Sonoran Desert. I crept up the wash with a watch...

Hunters throughout the uplands walk many miles each season in pursuit of various quail species.  From the  bobwhites  in the Southeast,  Gambel’s  and  scaled quail  in the desert Southwest,  Mearns  and  mountain quail  in the hills, and  California quail  throughout the west, several million birds are shot on the wing, loaded in game bags, and eventually cleaned and consumed. Sure, most hunters...

There are six  quail species  that comprise the quail slam in the United States. They belong to the  Odontophoridae family  and are sometimes referred to as New World quail. The six huntable species are the bobwhite, mountain, California (valley), scaled (blue), Mearns (Montezuma), and Gambel’s quail. They represent a broad swath of the United States; however, except for the bobwhite quail, they a...

Inside a multi-million dollar mansion, I took a seat around a large wooden table in such pristine condition that I was afraid to touch it. A glass of water sat in front of each occupied seat, giving the space the air of a boardroom. The year was 2017, and my unfamiliar surroundings gave me the sense that I was struggling to translate my idea of what Project Upland Magazine should be. “We have to c...

Truth be told, there is no foolproof method for ensuring that you never serve shot in the birds that you cook. However, there are several techniques to help reduce the chances of doing so, as well as some things to keep in mind if you’re worried about dishing out a smattering of shot with your upland meals. Read more at projectupland.com .

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is the federal agency responsible for managing the National Wildlife Refuge System. To manage the hundreds of refuges that expand across the United States, the USFWS establishes regulations and implements federal laws. For those unfamiliar with federal regulations or the regulatory process in general, it would help to understand the basics of what federal...

Each fall, pheasants draw attention from hunters across the country. Their parrot-like colors strike awe in any bird hunter. Thousands of these beautiful birds are harvested during the first few days of the season. Most birds packed out during opening weekend are young birds born months before the orange army started marching.  There are two reasons young birds represent the bulk of the early harv...

I stood stock still, staring at the wall of ammunition behind the counter. Glancing over the multi-colored labels of flying pheasants, committed ducks, and scampering rabbits, my eyes glazed over. What did all of those numbers on the front of the boxes mean? I knew my  shotgun  was a 12-gauge, but beyond that I had no idea what I was doing. I was kicking myself for not asking more about the shells...

Sometimes, hunting tidal creek marshes becomes more about fighting the terrain than it does shooting ducks. My earliest memory of losing a fight to the marsh came when I was only ten years old. I nearly drowned in a bottomless tidal pool, and if it hadn’t been for my dad plucking by my coat hood, it would’ve been my last hunt ever. Then, there was that time in high school when the current swept aw...

The art of choosing a bird dog is the subject of countless words—printed and spoken—including good-natured banter among friends. We bird dog owners dissect the subject with surgical precision, all based on the premise that there is one true answer: the perfect dog. For most of us, the path to our next (or first) bird dog is a journey taken with great care and caution and fraught with anxiety. Afte...

A good duck hunter speaks hail calls fluently, levels a  shotgun  in pouring rain, stays warm in pelting sleet, and stands firm in hurricane-force winds. These qualities go far for bagging a limit of ducks. Great duck hunters, however, fight half the battle from the comfort of their couch.  Great duck hunters approach the hunt like a college football coach approaches a National Championship game;...

Sharp-tailed grouse, often known as sharpies, sharptails, or sharp-tails, are iconic birds of North America’s prairie landscape. Their spring mating ritual takes place on breeding sites called leks. At these sites, sharpies put on an amazing display of calling and dancing called booming. Those same general areas are where broods are raised, and early fall activities occur.  Their survival requires...

Just like with other forms of hunting, there are enthusiasts that prefer different methods of take for their game of choice.  Squirrel hunters  tend to fall into two distinct groups along a strong dividing line: those who use shotguns and those who use rifles. Within these camps you can break them down further into people who like the various gauges, calibers and the like. Particularly for rifles,...

Pheasants bring out every emotion for most upland enthusiasts, including awe, joy, and frustration. Add in the difficulty of hunting these regal birds on public lands where roosters can be more intelligent than an MIT grad, and your emotions might include astonishment and downright rage.  Hunters spend thousands of hours chasing pheasants across  public lands  each year. State-owned wildlife areas...

My earliest memory of hunting features a cool fall breeze skating across a remote forest lake. The wind swirled in the canopy, and yellow oak leaves drifted in the wind like a thousand deflated balloons. One landed at my feet as I paddled in a beat-up fiberglass canoe with my dad. He let me skip school that morning, and I remember the paddling keeping me awake. The stars glimmered, and the silhoue...

My Wirehaired Pointing Griffon worked the cover 50 yards ahead of me, his bell sounding gently in the warm, opening day of the ruffed grouse season in New Hampshire . We had hiked a mile and a half to get to a section of early successional growth that we had mapped out months before this moment of enjoyment squeezed between meetings on a busy Thursday schedule.  My peaceful wait for the silence of...

Humans and dogs have been hunting together in some capacity for thousands of years. What presumably began as tentative cooperation between the two species eventually led to the development of specialized  dog breeds  intended to perform specific tasks to benefit the human hunter. Today, hunting dogs play an essential role in assisting hunters in the field and have also found a place in modern cult...

Fall is the time of year that gives the Pacific Northwest its moody, wet, and misty reputation. It’s also when some of the most coveted edible mushrooms arrive on the scene. Out here, mushrooms are as much a part of the landscape as the moss-covered logs, ferns, and towering old-growth trees. Fungi seem to be everywhere, and it’s easy to overlook them. Read more at projectupland.com .

“Woodcock are neither the hardest nor the easiest bird to shoot.” I am not sure I can sum up woodcock shooting better than those words of George Bird Evans, author of  Upland Shooting Life . Over 35 years have passed since I shot my first woodcock, and I have learned from others and my own errors how to get better or at least improve my woodcock shooting skills.  While the American woodcock can fl...

The venerable  ring-necked pheasant ,  the most-hunted upland bird in America . Most of us are likely aware the bird hails from East Asia and, despite its popularity in the United States, is not native to our country. Nevertheless, hunters young and old, bird-dog fanatics or bird-dog-less, head afield in the hundreds of thousands each year to chase that unforgettable cackle. Millions of these bird...

I’m an adult-onset, first-generation hunter. Over the last five years, I’ve learned everything I can about upland bird hunting. This learning experience has been overwhelming. I looked at the obstacles I encountered as a set of parts to make becoming a hunter feel more attainable. With bird hunting, that challenge is all the greater since the parts are literally moving.  During a disheartened phas...

To my delight, my time spent on Duolingo, a popular language-learning application, came in handy while reading Craig Koshyk’s  Pointing Dogs Volume I: The Continentals . Although I am an utter noob with hunting dogs specifically, I cherished a  dog breed  encyclopedia as a child. As a result, I was familiar enough with French dogs to know breeds like French Brittanies and Papillons exist. However,...

I worked part-time at a gun shop during my college years, which offered me the privilege of handling hundreds of used shotguns. As I stepped behind the gun counter one day to start an afternoon shift, I spied a unique 20-gauge side-by-side on the rack. Etched on the side of the left barrel I read, “BROWNING ARMS COMPANY.” Stamped on the right barrel was “B-S/S SPECIAL STEEL 20 GA.” I was instantly...