Hungarian partridge numbers have bounced back in Southeast Oregon in places where wildfire scoured junipers. 

Want to walk the ridgelines for miles with a good dog and a shotgun where you probably won’t see another hunter?

Private lands in the Malheur River, the Steens, the Beulah, the Owyhee offer opportunities for hunting chukar, Hungarian partridge and quail all season long. The first time I hunted above the Alvord Ranch, we came down out of the hills, footsore and tired but the German shorthair flagged a pair of Huns in the grasslands near where the parking area. I bagged a bonus Hun and was as proud of that partridge as any limit of chukar.

Want elbow room?

There are close to 80,000 acres of private land open through the Access & Habitat program in Southeast Oregon in some of our favorite units.

How many times have you flushed a covey of chukar or quail while stalking mule deer under a rimrock? If those red-legged partridges caused your old pump to palpitate, it’s time to plot the paybacks.

The Access & Habitat Program was created in 1993, establishing a mechanism to provide grants to landowners, timber and ag corporations and other groups for projects designed to increase hunting access to private lands and/or improve wildlife habitat.

Southeast area properties include the Kueny Ranch (4,276 acres), Jenkins (13,233 acres), Otley (16,734 acres), the Alvord Ranch (10,100 acres) and the Mackenzie (11,029 acres). Some properties provide drive-thru access to public land, opening up more habitat for chukar, Huns and quail hunters. Go to myodfw.com/articles/hunting-private-lands-access-habitat-program for a list of private lands. Scroll down to the Malheur Council.

Each listing includes management unit, location, huntable species and the access period, which usually runs from August to the first of March. Special regulations are listed for each property and can range from walk-in only to motorized travel on roads posted as open; leave the gates like you found them.