Grouse find a niche virtually everywhere except in intensively settled or cultivated areas. Sage grouse are the largest American grouse species, living wherever there remains large areas of sagebrush in southern Idaho. The Big Desert between Rupert and Arco, brushlands around Challis and Mackay and most of Owyhee County provide sage grouse with the "sagebrush seas" they need and offer a unique hunting experience in wide open spaces. Smaller pockets of these birds are found in scattered brushy areas such as the South Hills on the Utah-Nevada border. Idaho boasts the largest population of Columbia sharptail grouse in the country. They are hunted only in southeast Idaho but there in recent years Conservation Reserve Program lands have brought back sharptail numbers enough to make them an important game bird once again. Sharptails are being transplanted back into historic range in southcentral Idaho from eastern Idaho stocks. Ruffed grouse, blue grouse and spruce grouse are forest dwellers, often inhabiting slightly differing habitats in the same areas. At least one of these species are likely to be found wherever there are forests in Idaho, or roughly half the state.

Valley Quail are among the most abundant game birds in Idaho, even though their range is limited. The imported birds have taken advantage of the available habitat along the Snake River drainage from Hagerman to Lewiston. They are most common in the wetter riparian areas on agricultural and public lands in southwest Idaho but may be found as far north as Orofino.

Mountain quail are the native quail species in Idaho but have become rare and off-limits to hunting. They are easily recognized by their long, straight topknots and large size, almost as large as chukar.

Mourning Doves nest throughout Idaho in considerable numbers but the high latitude means most begin packing their bags for the flight south around the time the season open September 1. Migration starts as the length of days becomes shorter but huntable numbers remain unless chilly fall winds begin early.

Pheasant were introduced to southern Idaho along with irrigated farming. They prospered along with agriculture but the huge numbers which once brought wingshooters from throughout the country are much reduced in the southcentral portion of the state because changes in agricultural practices took out most of their winter and nesting habitat. Numbers remain huntable and competition for them much less in recent years as most travelling pheasant enthusiasts choose midwestern states.

Chukar partridge challenge the stout of heart and leg in canyonlands of southern and central Idaho. The rocky canyons of the Snake, Salmon and Owyhees harbor huntable to excellent numbers, largely depending on spring nesting conditions.

Gray partridge came along with pheasant from Europe, grew up with pheasant and declined in most agricultural areas when the pheasant numbers dropped. The bright side of the picture with these birds is that they can make it in more wild areas than pheasant and can often be encountered in foothill and canyon country, usually adjacent to agricultural lands.

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