Chukars, like blue grouse, tend to migrate uphill during late fall and they will stay on top unless snow accumulation forces them to lower elevations. Early-season wingshooters, hunting the creek bottoms, take advantage of the chukar's need for daily or twice-daily trips to water. But by late autumn, cool weather and increased moisture allows these hardy birds the luxury of moving to the top of the rims and canyons. They completely abandon the creek bottoms and low-elevation haunts they were forced to occupy earlier in the year. Instead, they roost high in the rimrocks and then feed on top during the day.

If you hunt chukars during the cold-weather months, just head straight for the top and hunt the relatively flat terrain behind good dogs. Look for extensive tracts of cheat grass, the birds' primary winter food and study the south exposures for the first hints of green cheat-grass shoots. In many places, these shoots appear during the latter half of the year; chukars love them.

Should snow accumulate in the highlands, hunt immediately below the snowline. Even then you may find few birds. Often the coveys prefer to remain at high elevations, so they seek the "blow-offs" - areas where high winds sweep the slopes clear of snow.

In addition to creating blow-offs in the snow, brisk winter winds play another significant role in chukar hunting. Hunters who keep the wind in their face not only get the best out of their dogs but also enjoy those common winter days when a cold wind blows so hard that chukars don't want to fly until absolutely necessary. Such conditions often reward hardy wingshooters with shoe top flushes.