As a pair of German shorthairs worked through sagebrush, bunch grass and willow thickets with the efficiency of hawks circling on thermals, you realize you're not really the hunter, you're just the chauffeur.

Bonnie and Willow worked the terrain, devoting every brain cell to processing the signals sent through their noses.

German shorthair pointers have an amazing knack for disappearing into sagebrush, a grass patch or a wrinkle in the terrain and re-emerging far from where you last saw them. It's like they teleport from one birdy-looking spot to another.

The next thing you notice is the almost telepathic communication between the dogs and John and Katie Watts of Boise.

Few words are spoken, and eyes only occasionally lock, but each knows what the other is doing.

For the Wattses and their shorthairs, this scene is repeated many times between September and January.

"You've got to love the fall, it's my favorite time of year," John said.

Southwest Idaho has a wealth of upland bird hunting - from forest grouse in the mountains to chukars in the desert - and they're accessible to any hunter willing to make the effort to seek them out.

"There's a lot of opportunity," John said.

The Wattses were prospecting some Access Yes property east of Boise last weekend and found gray (Hungarian) partridge and chukars, not to mention deer and elk. They spend hunting season with their trio of shorthairs, combing public and private land, including Access Yes properties and parcels where they have developed relationships with landowners.

John loves the flush of a rooster pheasant off a cornfield on a cold, clear autumn morning.

Katie loves searching for chukars across the vast mountains and ridges that wrinkle the Southwest Idaho landscape.

They know what terrain the birds prefer and how to shift their hunting efforts as the sweltering days of September shift into the frigid winds of December and January.

As the weather gets cooler and wetter, there's less need to focus on water sources that attract birds during the hotter weather, John says.

When he's looking for partridge and chukars, he looks for undulating terrain with lots of south-facing slopes and a good mix of sage and brush escape cover. He also looks for open areas where birds can peck gravel.

He knows where the birds are likely to be at various times of the day - whether warming and feeding on sunny slopes on a cool morning or pecking gravel or resting in thick cover on a warm afternoon.

That knowledge gives him clues to where the birds might be, and equally important in the vast landscape he hunts, which areas to avoid because they're unlikely to harbor birds.

They look for partridge in the grass and sage and chukars high on rocky knolls and ridges, but both often can be found in the gullies and ravines later in the day.

Knowing the subtle differences between the birds can make a big difference. They know coveys of partridge tend to flush en masse, so when they do it's best to immediately shoot.

Chukars tend to flush in waves, so when one or two fly away, there's a good chance more birds will follow.

The Wattses' hunting experience has been earned by countless days in the field with their dogs, and not just during hunting season. They take off-season trips to train several generations of shorthairs, all of which the Wattses raised from birth.

While the average hunter would probably have to match their dedication to duplicate their success, there are many options for any bird hunter.

Fish and Game offers wildlife management areas and Access Yes properties. To find them, go to fishandgame.idaho.gov and look for Access Yes on the hunting page.

There are hundreds of square miles of public land, and private property whose owners might allow you to hunt there if they're approached courteously and well in advance of your hunt.

If you can stand the weather, you will be hunting birds when others have long since stowed their guns and are thinking about next spring's turkey season.

Roger Phillips: 373-6615