Nevada Sagehen Hunt 2019

We had a good population of "chickens" this season. Our limit is 2/day and 6 in possession. These great ancient grouse of the West are having a real tough time due to cheat grass proliferation and loss of sage, West Nile virus, and the destruction of habitat from mining and being overrun by wild (feral) horses. We limit what we take, and could have had twelve over the three day hunt.

These birds take many miles of walking through sage, and they're very wild. The average flush is at about 100 yards. They fly many miles, and we spot where they land. There's often a few that get a bit separated from the flocks, and these are where we get our shooting for the most part. Sometimes we get pass shooting as flocks get bumped out by partners or other hunters.

I like the birds as table fare. They have dark breasts, very large ones, and light legs and thighs. The more mature birds taste of sage, but that doesn't bother this old desert rat, who has spent 72 years tromping the sage.

We use full choked 12ga autoloaders with 3" shells and 1 1/2 to 1 7/8 ounces of 5 shot. The average shot we take is 35-50 yards.

Owen and I took two each opening day, and I took two the second day...Owen one. My little girl Griffon Rosie had a great time, but she doesn't like the smell of sagehen guts. :P

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