Brown (1962-1967), in his study of the sharptail in the 

 Highwood Mountains, found an average breeding cock density of 

 6 cocks per square mile and an average of 21.5 males per ground. 

 Breeding season habitat consisted of areas with a minimum of 

 1 square mile of native grassland. He stressed the importance 

 of standing herbaceous cover as a critical element of the breed- 

 ing habitat. A direct relationship was found between increases 

 in herbaceous cover and increases in numbers of breeding males; 

 the reverse also being true. Shrub interspersion and topography 

 had compensating roles. In 196 7, Brown found nest success to be 

 62 percent, with an average first clutch of 12.7 eggs. Hens (9) 

 were found to nest an average of .68 miles from the breeding 

 ground. 



Eastern Segment 



Sharp-tailed grouse are distributed throughout the study 

 area (Constan 1976, 77, 78 and Appendix Table 7). They are 

 found in all vegetation types; however, they are especially 

 abundant where there is a combination of grassland, small grain 

 agriculture and brushy cover. No distinct winter ranges were 

 located; however, the highest winter observations of sharptails 

 were plotted in Figure 23. In general, sharptails were found 

 wintering in brushy draws adjacent to grain fields, sagebrush- 

 grasslands with brushy draws and in the scrub pine breaks. 



During the study, 31 previously unknown sharptail breeding 

 grounds were located (Table 19 and Figure 23) . Seventeen grounds 

 were located in a grassland vegetation type, 6 in a sagebrush- 

 grassland type and 8 in agriculture such as grain and hay fields. 

 In the 1979 spring, male sharptail counts were made on their 

 breeding grounds (Table 19). Data from 15 grounds surveyed in 

 1979 were comparable to 1978 data. Results indicated that 

 highest counts of males were up on 8 grounds in 1979, down on 

 5 grounds and 2 were the same. A total of 180 males was observed 

 in 1979 compared to 181 in 1978; however, a comparison of 1979 

 data to 1977 data shows a 47 percent decline. 



Region 4 sharp-tailed grouse production ratios computed 

 from the fall wing analyses were 243 juveniles per 100 adults in 

 1978. This was above the 21-year average of 214 and an 88 per- 

 cent increase over the 1977 ratio of 130. During the entire 

 study, only two sharptail broods were observed - both in 1979 - 

 and they averaged 8 juveniles per brood. 



Observations during the 1976 through 1979 hunting seasons 

 indicated that sharptail population dropped significantly from 

 1976 through 1978 and then showed a dramatic increase in 1979. 

 The 1979 population appeared to be the highest since the study 

 began. The above observations are substantiated by the hunter 

 harvest questionnaire estimates of the sharptail harvest in Fergus 

 County. In 1978, the harvest was 6,322, down 34 percent from 

 the 1977 harvest of 9,601 and down 43 percent from the 1976 

 harvest of 11,019. However, sharptails were very plentiful dur- 

 ing the 1979 hunting season, and the 1979 harvest should show a 

 significant increase. 



56 



