KLAMATH FALLS – Oregon wildlife officials this weekalerted upland game bird hunters that the Lower Klamath Hills hunt area will be a fine destination for quail this year, but chukar hunting will be more challenging than usual.

A recent wildfire has burned about half of the unit, from the access point parking lot along Lower Lake Road to the top of the hill. In addition to the burned habitat, the bird supplier was unable to raise the usual number of chukars for release. Birds will not be released this year as they have been in the past. There has been some wild chukar production recorded.

“With too few birds available for release, there was a good chance many of them would move off the public land and not be available to hunters,” said Philip Milburn, Assistant District Wildlife Biologist for ODFW in the Klamath District. “Opportunities to hunt are there, but hunters will need to walk further to reach suitable habitat and find birds.”

However, quail populations are doing well and offer great opportunities to harvest birds. Valley (California) quail also can be found in good numbers on the lower slopes of Stukle and Bryant Mountains. Valley and Mountain quail can be found in the Klamath River Canyon.

The Lower Klamath Hills Regulated Hunt Area consists of 1,400 acres located just south of Klamath Falls. The hunt is a cooperative effort between the Oregon Hunters Association, Unlimited Pheasants, ODFW and the Bureau of Land Management.

The chukar season runs through Jan. 31, 2006. Within the Lower Klamath Hills Regulated Hunt Area, the daily bag limit is two chukars, with a possession limit of four. Valley quail season continues through Jan. 31, 2006, with a daily bag limit of ten and a possession limit of 20 birds. Mountain quail season runs through Dec. 31, 2005 in Klamath County, with a daily bag limit of two and a possession limit of two.

Mountain quail season is closed in all eastern Oregon counties except Klamath County. The daily bag limit and possession limits for Valley (California) quail and Mountain quail are either singly or in aggregate when the seasons run concurrently.

For more information about this hunt, please contact the ODFW Klamath District Office at (541) 883-5732.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 14th, 2005 at 11:03 am and is filed under Oregon Press Releases. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.