In spite of a five month season and a five bird bag limit few people hunt chukars in Arizona. This is due to the remote portion of the state in which they live as well as the steep, rough canyon country where they are found.

Natural History

From the late 1930s through the early 1970s an effort was made to establish chukars in Arizona. Thousands of chukars were released throughout Arizona at no fewer than 37 different release sites. Almost all of these transplant efforts failed. Today the majority of Arizona’s wild chukars are found in and along the canyons in the far northwest portion of the state north of the Colorado River, the only notable exception being those found in Cataract Canyon west of Tusuyan. Chukars pair up in late March and begin egg laying and incubation from late March through mid April. The average clutch is between 8 to 15 eggs which hatch between late May and early June.

*Attention chukar hunters: The Department would like to survey chukar hunter participation and success. To do this we are asking chukar hunters to provide an address or email to the Department’s small game biologist, so that they can be surveyed directly after the end of the season. This may be done by sending an email to smallgame@azgfd.gov or through U.S. mail to the Department’s main office, and sending it attention to Terrestrial Wildlife Branch.

If you shoot a banded chukar, report your harvest here. The information you provide helps with the management of the species.

Hunt Regulations

Rules and regulations for hunting in Arizona.

Regulations for spring hunts, fall hunts and pronghorn, elk hunts.

The post Chukar appeared first on Arizona Game & Fish Department.

Less well known than the Abert’s squirrel, is the Arizona gray squirrel and its close relative, the rust colored Chiricahua fox squirrel, both of which inhabit riparian deciduous forests and oak woodlands south of the Mogollon Rim. Another species is the chicaree, piney or red squirrel (actually more olive or gray than red in Arizona), which is restricted to the higher forests of spruce and fir above 8,500 feet elevation.

Tassel-eared (Abert’s) squirrels have but one breeding season a year, which is closely correlated with the production of the staminate flowers of ponderosa pine in late April, May, or early June. After a lengthy chase, the female comes into estrus for only one day. She will later give birth to a single litter of from two to four young in a nest made of pine boughs. Throughout the summer, the squirrels feed on the seeds of developing cones as well as on underground fungi or truffles that grow under mature pine trees. These foods are the most nutritious for the squirrel, and only when they are exhausted does the animal resort to feeding on the inner bark of pine twigs-the discarded terminals of which are often seen littering the forest floor.

Hunting & Trapping History

Tree squirrels have an uneven history as game in Arizona. Having gone from being totally ignored at the time of statehood, to having a limited season in conjunction with the deer and turkey seasons in the 1920s, the season was closed in 1935 due to a perceived lack of squirrels. Too many squirrels in the 1940s resulted in a re-opening of the season, and squirrel hunt regulations have since been liberalized gradually until every species and most subspecies are now subjected to limited hunting. Even the once sacrosanct Kaibab squirrel is now hunted, and the only totally protected squirrel is the federally endangered Graham Mountain spruce squirrel.

The Abert’s squirrel is the most hunted squirrel species and the numbers of tree squirrel hunters.

Hunt Regulations

Rules and regulations for hunting in Arizona.

Regulations for spring hunts, fall hunts and pronghorn, elk hunts.

The post Tree Squirrel appeared first on Arizona Game & Fish Department.

Wintering areas selected by sandhills feature shallow water roosting areas with low or no vegetation; playa lakes and sandbars along shallow/braided rivers are preferred. Cranes winter in close proximity to harvested grain fields, corn is preferred. In mid to late February cranes begin their return migration to nesting areas.

Cranes leave roosting areas in early morning, usually about sunrise, to fly to feeding areas, where they spend three to four hours. During midday the cranes return to the roost, or go to nearby loafing areas, which can be grasslands or wetlands. In the late afternoon cranes sometimes make short visits to feeding areas before returning to the roosts.

Behavior

Sandhill cranes in the western United States nest in high elevation shallow marshes and wet meadows. Sandhills do not nest until they are four to five years old and typically have very poor success the first couple of years. Typically, cranes lay two eggs, but only about 1/3 of the successful nesters are able to raise two young. In dry years, when wetlands shrink, predators, especially coyotes, take a heavy toll on the flightless young.

Depending on habitat conditions sandhills begin to congregate in local agricultural areas, called pre-migration staging areas, in late August. Migration to wintering areas begins in September. Cranes typically migrate in a few long, high altitude flights stopping at traditional stopover areas.

Hunt Regulations

Rules and regulations for hunting in Arizona.

Regulations for spring hunts, fall hunts and pronghorn, elk hunts.

The post Sandhill crane appeared first on Arizona Game & Fish Department.

The sexes of all Arizona quails show some differences in plumage, and all of the species form seasonal pair bonds that last through incubation and brood-raising. Clutch and brood sizes are often large, ranging up to a dozen or more chicks, and both the cock and the hen care for the young. Quail populations are dependant on seasonal rainfall and may fluctuate greatly from year to year. Gambel’s and scaled quail form fall and winter coveys that are likely to remain in the same general area where they were raised.

Each species has its own habitat preferences. The Gambel’s quail is found throughout the Sonoran and Mojave deserts upward in elevation through semidesert grassland and chaparral to the edges of pinyon-juniper woodland and pine forest. The scaled quail is a bird of semidesert grasslands and the Chihuahuan desert, preferring open plains and foothills; the Mearns’ quail prefers oak woodlands and oak savannas in the southeastern portions of the state where grass cover is abundant enough to conceal its presence.

Hunting History

In 1909, the territorial legislature limited quail hunting to an open season of October 16 through January 31, an arrangement that was retained in the state game code of 1912 along with a bag limit of 25 quail. In 1929 quail numbers must have been thought to be in need of improvement, as the season was shortened to November 1 through December 31, and the following year the newly appointed Arizona Game and Fish Commission reduced the bag limit to 15 quail per day. There was no season on Mearns’ or “fool quail” as this species was commonly known.

Hunt Regulations

Rules and regulations for hunting in Arizona.

Regulations for spring hunts, fall hunts and pronghorn, elk hunts.

The post Quail appeared first on Arizona Game & Fish Department.

Pheasant populations persisting in Arizona are largely confined to agricultural areas having a relatively high humidity (e.g., citrus orchards in the Yuma area) or high enough in elevation to escape the desiccating heat of Sonoran Desert summers (e.g., the Virgin River and Verde River valleys). In such locations, a rooster will acquire a harem of from one to three hens, with mating commencing in early April. By mid-May most of the hens are nesting and of no further interest to him, and he will abandon his territorial patrols by the end of the month. The peak of hatching is during the last week of May, the most arid time in Arizona, which is one of the reasons why pheasants have not become established here.

History

Pheasant populations persisting in Arizona are largely confined to agricultural areas having a relatively high humidity (e.g., citrus orchards in the Yuma and Mesa areas) or high enough in elevation to escape the desiccating heat of Sonoran Desert summers (e.g., the Virgin River and Verde River valleys). In such locations, a rooster will acquire a harem of from one to three hens, with mating commencing in early April. By mid-May most of the hens are nesting and of no further interest to him, and he will abandon his territorial patrols by the end of the month. The peak of hatching is during the last week of May, the most arid time in Arizona, which is one of the reasons why pheasants have not become established here.

If you shoot a banded pheasant, report your harvest here. The information you provide helps with the management of the species.

Hunt Regulations

Rules and regulations for hunting in Arizona.

Regulations for spring hunts, fall hunts and pronghorn, elk hunts.

The post Pheasant appeared first on Arizona Game & Fish Department.

Information on Arizona’s dove species, including distribution.

Natural History

Each species of dove found in Arizona is unique, with a rich natural history all its own. From the native mourning and white-winged doves to the invasive collared dove species, there is much to learn about these birds.

See detailed information on the natural history of Arizona’s dove species.

Hunt Regulations

Rules and regulations for hunting in Arizona.

Regulations for spring hunts, fall hunts and pronghorn, elk hunts.

The post Dove appeared first on Arizona Game & Fish Department.

Although we know that cottontail rabbits may vary from amazing abundance in one year to relative scarcity the next, we have little insight as to what factors other than winter rainfall control their numbers. Cottontail rabbits are very prolific and those feeding on green growth may have up to five litters of two to four young a year. Although the desert cottontail is able to breed throughout the year, most young rabbits are produced in spring when the new growth of plants is most available. At other times of the year, selected foods include twigs, newly emerging grasses, weeds, and even cacti. Cottontails rarely drink, and free water does not appear to be a requirement for either their survival or reproduction.

Hunting & Trapping History

The cottontail hunting season has always been year-long in Arizona, and the bag limit has been 10 rabbits per day for many years. Although some hunters consider cottontail hunting with a .22 rifle as their primary sport, cottontails traditionally have been taken in Arizona in conjunction with dove and quail hunting. As a consequence of the wide fluctuations in both cottontail and quail numbers, the annual take of cottontails is highly erratic, ranging from a reported high of about 850,000 rabbits in 1979 to less than 45,000 in 2002.

Hunt Regulations

Rules and regulations for hunting in Arizona.

Regulations for spring hunts, fall hunts and pronghorn, elk hunts.

The post Cottontail Rabbit appeared first on Arizona Game & Fish Department.

An additional transplant effort is underway to establish dusky grouse on the Mogollon Rim. Males are measurably larger than females, 2-year-old “cocks” weigh up to 3 pounds as opposed to the adult female’s average weight of between 1.75 to 2 pounds. In comparison, first year birds or poults typically weigh only 16 to 28 ounces during the early days of the September hunting season.

Natural History

Dusky grouse in Arizona do not migrate downhill during the winter months as they do in the more northern states. Instead, they spend the winter roosting in Douglas-fir trees, subsisting on needles until spring when the males form small “leks” or strutting grounds, which they occupy from April through June. Oftentimes these leks are located on a fallen log or in a small clearing in the forest, where the cock attempts to engage any hen that comes his way with soft “hooting” displays and “flutter flights.”

*Attention dusky grouse hunters: The Department would like to survey dusky grouse hunter participation and success. To do this we are asking hunters to provide an address or email to the Department’s small game biologist, so that they can be surveyed directly after the end of the season. This may be done by sending an email to smallgame@azgfd.gov or through U.S. mail to the Department’s main office, and sending it attention to Terrestrial Wildlife Branch.

If you shoot a banded dusky grouse, report your harvest here. The information you provide helps with the management of the species.

Hunt Regulations

Rules and regulations for hunting in Arizona.

Regulations for spring hunts, fall hunts and pronghorn, elk hunts.

The post Dusky Grouse appeared first on Arizona Game & Fish Department.

Band-tailed pigeons live in mixed conifer forests, ponderosa pine forests, or in dense stands of evergreen oaks and pines between 4,500 and 9,100 feet elevation. They are about the size of a domestic pigeon, and adults weigh about 8 ounces. Both sexes have an overall blue-gray appearance, and it is only after close inspection that one notices the male’s rosier breast and more iridescence on the nape of the neck.

Natural History

Band-tailed pigeons are sometimes confused with domestic or feral pigeons that are often seen in cities and towns. In autumn, adults can be differentiated from their young by the adult’s chrome-yellow bills and feet, white crescent at the nape of the neck, and the dark gray band across the top of the tail that gives the bird its name. After feeding on acorns and other fall mast crops, most Arizona band-tailed pigeons migrate to the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico to spend the winter months.

Hunt Regulations

Rules and regulations for hunting in Arizona.

Regulations for spring hunts, fall hunts and pronghorn, elk hunts.

The post Band-tailed Pigeon appeared first on Arizona Game & Fish Department.

In contrast to a mule deer‘s equally branching antlers, those of the white-tailed deer consist of a number of tines arising from a main beam which curves forward. Mature bucks generally have three to four tines per side. Coat color is grayish-brown salt-and-pepper with white underparts; the face is marked with white ‘halos’ around the eyes and a white band across the muzzle. The most distinguishing characteristic of the whitetail is its long, broad tail.

Hunt History

The Coues’ white-tailed deer is perhaps Arizona’s finest game animal. Wary, and expert at using cover, whitetails rarely offer the hunter a standing shot once jumped. Perhaps for this reason, the species has become increasingly important in the harvest. Although the statewide take has varied from 1,500 to more than 7,000 whitetails a year, depending on the vagaries of drought and fawn survival, the recent trend has been for this species to constitute an ever greater proportion of the statewide harvest. For example, whitetails comprised less than 15 percent of Arizona’s deer harvest in 1961 but today, they comprise over 40 percent of total deer harvested.

When seen at a distance, two distinguishing characteristics between the mule deer and the white-tailed deer, are evident in their tails and gait. The Coues’ has a flagging white tail and a more natural run. Mule deer on the other hand ‘run’ using a stiff legged, bounding gait.

Hunt Regulations

Rules and regulations for hunting in Arizona.

Regulations for spring hunts, fall hunts and pronghorn, elk hunts.

The post White-tailed Deer appeared first on Arizona Game & Fish Department.