Chapter Meeting Minutes

BANQUET

Hawaii's Upland Bird Bonanza

HAWAIIAN HABITAT

Heavy snow is no friend to vulnerable Ringnecks

PHEASANTS

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The 50th state offers much more than sun, beaches and waves.

By Gary Kramer

Patrick spotted the dogs first--both solid as statues, one backing the other at the bottom of a draw. Patrick motioned me in behind the lead dog. As I stepped next to the pointer, a close-flushing rooster catapulted from the tall grass. For a moment I was oblivious to my surroundings--my only focus was the rooster in front of me.

Just as the bird cleared the grass, a second cock flushed from the same spot. I shouldered my 20-gauge over/under, found a target, pulled the trigger and the bird folded in a spray of feathers. Before I could find a second target, there was another shotgun blast and out of the corner of my eye I watched the second rooster catch a full load of No. 6s and fall out of sight into the draw.

Kelly and I congratulated each other on our shooting skill while Mea, the German shorthair, found the first pheasant and delivered it to Patrick. We walked to where the second bird dropped and a few minutes later Mea pulled the bird out from under a patch of brush. Upon closer inspection we agreed--the rooster looked and acted like a South Dakota ringneck but a glance toward the blue Pacific below and snow-capped Mauna Kea behind us verified we were miles from Dakota cornfields--we were hunting pheasants in Hawaii.

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Ranging in size from tiny Lanai, whose land mass is only 90,000 acres, to the "Big Island" of Hawaii, which covers an area the size of Connecticut, Hawaii consists of six major islands. Each island has a wide variety of habitats ranging from tropical rain forests and rolling grasslands to acacia thorn forests and lava slopes. This diversity of habitat, stretching from sea level to 13,796 feet at the top of Mauna Kea, provides habitat for 15 species of upland game birds.

In the late 1700s when Captain Cook first set foot on the Hawaiian Islands, there were no upland game birds. Ring-necked pheasants were the first introductions with birds from Asia liberated as early as 1875. Ringnecks found the Islands to their liking and through subsequent liberations spread to all six islands. Today, the ringneck is Hawaii's most widespread game bird and inhabits dry cactus and mesquite habitats near sea level to forested grasslands at 7,000 feet.

Other successful introductions include chukar, found on Hawaii, Maui and Lanai; California quail, whose largest populations are on Molokai and Hawaii; Gambel's quail on Lanai; mourning doves on Hawaii and wild turkeys on Lanai, Molokai and Hawaii.

Other more exotic species include gray francolin from Asia, black and Erkel's francolin from Africa, green pheasants from Japan, Kalij pheasants from Tibet, Japanese quail, African sandgrouse, and two species of Asian doves.

All six islands allow bird hunting from the first Saturday in November through Martin Luther King Day in January. Hunting in Hawaii is permitted only on Saturdays, Sundays and state holidays. The weekend-only hunting law is antiquated and has been challenged several times without success. An exception to the weekend/holiday-only rule occurs on the Big Island where hunting is permitted on Wednesdays as well and on all hunting preserves where shooting is permitted seven days per week during a September to March season.

Last January, Kelly and I spent a week on the island of Hawaii hunting upland birds. It was the tail end of Kelly's winter break from college and when I asked her if she was interested in a few days bird hunting mixed with the sun, sand and aloha atmosphere of Hawaii, she jumped at the chance.

The first pair of pheasants was in the bag, so we headed cross-country toward a cattle trough where Patrick had seen good numbers of Erkel's francolin going to water the past few mornings. The habitat was a mixture of scattered shrubs, lava rock, and open grassland. The vegetation and the sight of the dogs working the area reminded me of gray partridge hunting in southwest Idaho.

As we came within a quarter-mile of the water trough, Patrick's pointer Kana abruptly stopped and assumed the classic pose with head forward, back straight and tail high. Mea moved in and honored the point. Patrick motioned Kelly and me to move in behind the dogs. The moment Kelly reached the dogs, a gray bombshell exploded from the grass. She shouldered her 20-gauge auto, squeezed the trigger and the first francolin of the trip hit the ground.

The second bird was a delayed flush that came up on my side. I swung hard right and missed clean with my first barrel. The bird ducked behind a patch of brush before I could fire a second round and flew off untouched. Kelly's bird was a mature cock Erkel's francolin, an African game bird related to northern hemisphere partridges. It was about the size of a pheasant with a short tail, chestnut crown, and whitish throat. It had yellow legs and double spurs, making it an impressive bird in the hand.

Now we knew better what to expect and headed off across the grass- and rock-covered landscape. For the next hour we worked the hillsides and draws with the pointers finding birds on a regular basis. Most of them held in pairs and small groups of up to six while a few flushed wild. It was like hunting Huns or sharptails in grass and brush cover with virtually every bird shot in front of a seasoned and steady pointer. By the time we stopped to water the dogs at 9:00 a.m. we had our three-bird limits of Erkel's francolin.

The truck was more than a mile away and we headed in that direction. As we skirted a draw lined with brush, Kana went on point. I dropped into the draw to investigate, fully expecting to find another francolin. I was surprised when a covey of 20 California quail flushed in front of the dog. While the majority of the covey flushed wild and too far away for a shot, a single bird followed the edge of the draw and flew toward me before going vertical to clear the steep slope. I managed to catch up with the fleeing target, anchoring the first California quail of the trip. With pheasants, francolin and now quail in possession, we were on our way to a true mixed bag.

On the way back to the pick-up, the dogs found several Erkel's francolin and a couple of hen pheasants. Each time we walked up on the dogs, we were hoping for another covey of quail or a rooster pheasant. Just before we reached the pick-up, Patrick suggested we work a series of lava ridges where he had seen quail in the past.

Kana was working a rocky outcrop when she bumped a covey of chukars that flushed out of gun range. Patrick was a bit upset with the dog but pleased we had located a covey of chukars in an area where he had seen them only on one other occasion. We watched as they flew downhill to a jumble of rocks at least a quarter-mile away. Kelly, Patrick, and I headed downhill with no hesitation toward the birds. Patrick called the dogs in and kept them at heel until we reached the area we saw the birds land. Enjoying the fruits of labor. Kelly, the author's daughter allows German shorthair Mia to sniff a pheasant.

Fifteen minutes later, the dogs were working the cover when Mea went on point. Almost at the same moment Kana went on point as well but 100 yards in the opposite direction. We decided to split up and investigate both points. I came in below Mea but nothing happened. Patrick released the dog and she crept forward, then stopped, and then crept forward again. Nearly 100 yards up the hill, the dog finally pushed the birds hard enough for them to hold momentarily before flushing.

Suddenly, there were a dozen chukar flushing all around me and I struggled to pick a target. I swung on a target going straight away, found my mark and fired, anchoring the bird. A late-flushing chukar provided another opportunity but my second shot missed the mark. Nonetheless, I was happy to add another species to the bag.

We finally reached the vehicle, loaded up the dogs and birds, and drove back to Patrick's house for a midday break and lunch. His house is located just off the Saddle Road on the Parker Ranch, an 185,000-acre working cattle ranch founded in 1847 on the Big Island of Hawaii. In recent years, the ranch has diversified their operations by offering day hunts for big game (mouflon sheep, feral sheep, feral goats, and wild boar), both day shoots and season memberships for birds, and have established a bird shooting preserve.

With 185,000 acres, the hunting areas on the Parker Ranch are nearly unlimited and range in elevation from near sea level to more than 8,000 feet. On my recent trip we enjoyed mixed-bag shooting in brush and grass habitat at about 4,000 feet, excellent hunting for gray and black francolin at 1,000 feet in the Kohala region, and chukar in the shadow of Mauna Kea near 7,000 feet. Limits are liberal with three ringnecks, three Erckel's francolin, eight black francolin, gray francolin or chukar (all one species or in combination) and 15 California quail.

In addition to wild birds, the Parker Ranch operates a pheasant and chukar preserve with hunting available from early October to late February. The birds are raised in the Islands and exhibit excellent flight characteristics. The difference between the preserve birds and the wild birds was undetectable.

Finally, it must be noted that a bird hunt in Hawaii is truly a spouse-friendly vacation. It's easy to hunt birds for a half day or full day and still be back at one of the beach resorts for afternoon cocktails and dinner with your significant other. Your spouse can enjoy the warm weather, beaches, and the varied recreation the Islands have to offer while you are enjoying some of the best bird hunting in North America.

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"Pheasants start feeling the effects of snow cover right away because it makes it more difficult for them to find food," said Todd Bogenschutz, upland game biologist for the Department of Natural Resources. "But right now the biggest risk for them is predation. I hear people say, 'Boy you should see all the birds out there now.' Well, the birds are all bunched up together now, and that white background allows you to see them at 300 yards."

The snow also makes it easer for red fox, hawks and owls, and occasionally coyotes and feral cats, to see them, too. “Our hen survival rate was probably between 90 and 95 percent going into the winter," Bogenschutz said. "But this weather is starting to pick away at them. The native grasses are all filled in pretty well, and that pushes the birds into more woody areas where they're in closer contact with predators."

Healthy pheasants can survive from 17 to 20 days without food in normal winter conditions, Bogenschutz said. But a sprawling blanket of snow like that which currently covers much of the state can spell doom much sooner to vulnerable birds. “ We've done some studies that suggest for every week the ground is white, we lose three percent of the hens," Bogenschutz said. "So any moderation we can get in the weather - a little thaw or even heavy rain which takes the snow down in a hurry - helps. It gives them a chance to find food, and a black background offers a little extra protection from predators."

In Colorado we will have to wait until spring to see what kind of affect the snows are having on the pheasant population. It seems that most of the quail population will suffer greatly in this weather. I have not found much information on populations for northern Colorado, but reports from the southern part of the state are not encouraging.

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One factor causing this decline is habitat loss associated with increasingly intensive agriculture. Wheat fields and the residual stubble left standing over winter on the plains of eastern Colorado have long been the primary survival cover used by pheasants. Beginning in the late 1970s this stubble got shorter as newly developed, semi-dwarf wheat varieties became more popular. Shorter wheat and the ability of modern combines to handle large quantities of straw have made it possible for farmers to cut wheat lower to the ground to harvest grain from all possible plants. The net effect is most wheat stubble now averages about 6-10 inches in height.

Wheat stubble is the predominant cover available to pheasants from autumn until green wheat approaches 12 inches in height in spring. Consequently, wheat stubble is used extensively by pheasants for feeding, escape, and day and night roosting from harvest until it is cultivated in spring. Research in Colorado has shown survival of pheasants is directly related to the concealment quality of wheat stubble, which is determined by the height of wheat stubble and to be continued…