This state's classification carries no date range for the species.
Native species, present in small scattered populations in mountain brush/riparian habitat (Boise-Bennett Mtn area, Owyhee Mtns, Little/Main Salmon River, lower Snake River; reintroduced at Craig Mountain WMA and in Elmore/Gooding counties). IDFG requests hunters report sightings to help track distribution/status.
Mountain quail is a native Idaho species classified as a Species of Greatest Conservation Need, with the season closed statewide (IDFG's own brochure: "there is no open hunting season for mountain quail in Idaho"). Independent hunting-press and IDFG-adjacent sourcing places its core range specifically in steep, brushy canyons and draws above the lower Salmon River and Hells Canyon of the Snake River in west-central Idaho — remote, difficult terrain most often encountered incidentally by chukar/partridge hunters. A 2005 joint IDFG/Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife reintroduction at Craig Mountain Wildlife Management Area (Clearwater region, near Lewiston) has produced an inconsistent, "ebb and flow" population rather than a clearly established second site; a 2024 uptick in hunter-reported sightings elsewhere in the state was noted by an IDFG biologist but is not (yet) evidence of a defined new range.
No formal population survey program exists for this species in this state.
Join the waitlist and tell us what you’re working on — the planner reads it first once your access opens.
Free, invite-gated, unsubscribe anytime. See what it returns