The Idaho pheasant-hunting season opens in October and runs through December in management areas 1 and 3; Management Area 2 closes about a month earlier. Check the current regs for exact dates. Generally, the bag limit is three cocks per day, six in possession, but always check for exceptions. A non-resident license costs $81.75 season.

I should also mention the IDFG's popular pheasant-release program that's in place at nine wildlife management areas in southern Idaho: Fort Boise, Market Lake, Payette River, Mud Lake, Montour, Cartier Slough, C.J. Strike, Niagra Springs and Sterling. In addition to the above non-resident license requirements for visiting wingshooters, a permit ($21.50) is required and allows taking six ringnecks total, with no more than two birds taken per day.

Hunters may purchase multiple permits, but the two-birds-per-day bag limit still applies.

I asked a Montana neighbor who participates for a brief head's-up on the program's hunting success.

"As you might expect, hunting pressure is heaviest on release days and tends to dwindle toward non-existent by the end of the two-week interim (between releases)," he told me. "We use good dogs and usually enjoy decent hunting throughout (the season), but we work at it. In other words, there are birds out there, but you might have to hike a ways to find them."

Sounds sort of familiar, huh?

COLORADO
"Based on hunter feedback, we had a pretty good hunt last fall," reported information specialist Tyler Baskfield of the Colorado Department of Wildlife. "It appears a good carryover of adult birds, following a pretty easy winter and decent spring, should equate to decent hunting again this fall -- that is, barring the unforeseen (weather) disaster that can wipe out a whole county's hatch overnight."

Yuma County traditionally puts up the biggest harvest stats and, as you might expect, the heaviest hunting pressure. Phillips and Logan counties pick up the slack. In fact, most of Idaho's pheasant hunting takes place in the northeast portion of the state. Proximity to the large population centers is a big reason.

"For my money," Baskfield said, "I would put in a little extra travel time, head to the relatively unheralded southeast," where he reported decent pheasant hunting, less competition, and where "you've got quail as a bonus, scalies especially, but bobwhites, too, wherever good habitat exists in the riparian zones."

According to Baskfield, Idaho's Walk-In Access program has been a huge success. About 160,000 acres are enrolled, he said. "Hunters willing to work a little can expect decent hunting throughout the season, not just opening weekend," he added.

East of Interstate 25, the Idaho pheasant-hunting season runs Nov. 20 to Jan. 16. West of I-25, the season closes Jan. 2. A non-resident license costs $11 for single day, and $56 for the season.

UTAH
Utah pheasant hunting was in its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s. Yet, even though pheasants have declined big time over the years, chasing wily roosters remains popular among wingshooters in the Beehive State, albeit most of the "chasing" takes place on opening weekend.

"Pheasant populations should improve slightly over last season. Hopefully, the increase will equate to a few more birds in the average hunter's bag," said upland game program coordinator Dean Mitchell of the Utah Department of Wildlife Resources. "Early spring rains throughout the state provided decent nesting and cover and a better hatch, especially in the central, northern and northeastern regions. Overall, though, hunting will be fair at best."