Sky Dancers and Missed Shots: Chasing Sharpies on the September Prairie

Sky Dancers and Missed Shots: Chasing Sharpies on the September Prairie

Big country. Small coveys. Even smaller margins for error. Early-season sharptail hunting isn’t about limits—it’s about rhythm. Chasing sharpies feels less like hunting and more like dancing—with a partner that’s always one beat ahead.

🌾 The Wind Never Stops

If you’ve ever hunted sharp-tailed grouse on the prairie, you know two things:

1. The wind is always blowing.

2. The birds will flush before you’re ready.

I was in north-central Montana, walking a patchwork of BLM and private-access grasslands that had been rested all summer. The cheatgrass was ankle-high, the wheat stubble golden, and the sky—well, that thing just kept going.

My dog, Tully, a lanky German Wirehair, worked in and out of range with laser intensity. No bells. No GPS. Just a cast-and-check rhythm we’d honed across dozens of days afield.

🎙️ “If you don’t feel small on the prairie, you’re not paying attention.”

🪶 The First Covey: Gone Before the Safety Clicked

Tully locked up along a coulee edge at 8:22 a.m. Sun was low. The dew was drying. I moved fast, heart thudding.

The flush? Explosive.

Ten birds, tight and fast, curling into the wind with the kind of wildness you can’t rehearse.

First shot missed. Second shot missed. Tully gave me a side glance I still haven’t lived down.

🐦 The Birds That Made the Day

We pushed another mile. Jumped mule deer. Crossed into a patch of snowberry and buffalograss where the wind curled just right.

Tully froze. This time I was ready.

Three sharpies burst. I dropped one clean. Marked it. Reloaded. Another single flushed—missed. That’s how it goes.

We ended the day with three birds, six solid points, and zero regrets.

🧠 What Hunting Sharptails Taught Me

✔️ Walk slow, hunt fast
The prairie makes you want to stride—but the birds will punish you for it. Pause often.

✔️ Sharptails don’t hold for noise or crowds
Hunt them like old quail. Quiet, thoughtful, no yelling.

✔️ Misses teach more than hits
My best shots came after blown flushes taught me to anticipate better.

✔️ The prairie rewards respect
You don’t conquer it. You blend into it. That’s when it gives you birds.

✔️ Small bags, big wins
This isn’t pheasant hunting with high flush counts. One sharpie in hand feels like ten in memory.

🧰 Gear That Didn’t Let Me Down

There’s something sacred about sharp-tailed grouse. They’re not flashy. They’re not easy. But they’re honest.

🎙️ “Chasing sharpies feels less like hunting and more like dancing—with a partner that’s always one beat ahead.”

I’ll take wild country, a good dog, and one bird that really made me work for it—any day of the season.

📍Filed under: Birds
🕯️ Difficulty Level: Wind, Misses, and Miles
🐦 Result: 3 Sharptails, 6 Points, 1 Humbled Hunter
🌾 Location: North-Central Montana Grasslands