# My Upland Slam



## Airborne

I really don't like posting pics and am probably going to regret this but I figure it's worth posting up to promote the Upland Slam program and raise some money for habitat. Last year I decided to shoot for the upland slam and try to collect all the coins. I should probably explain what it is first:

Basically the way the program works is that you pay $20 and get an Upland Slam card and tag. ALL of this money goes towards habitat projects for upland game in the state and is totally worth it. Once you have your slam card you work towards different "slams" meaning you kill the animal(s) per the slam requirement and take a picture of the animal with you holding up the slam card. You also grin or smirk like a handicapped lunatic if your handle is Airborne. Once you have the required photos you then take the photos to a DWR office or participating store and show them your pics and then collect the magic coin that you can display on the nifty wooden block that the Springville DWR office had made up. Pretty cool stuff huh! I still haven't been able to harness the magic that the coins hold but maybe they will make me a better shot or something. The slams this year were as follows:

First fur or feather slam-this is the easiest slam and you just have to take any upland game animal in the state-a mangy 3 legged jackrabbit with herpes will suffice. I took a majestic ruffed grouse and got my first slam-unfortunately my phone took a dive after collecting the token so I can't post the pic of it and you will have to trust me-pics or it didn't happen right-well you can call the DWR to confirm it if you want

Blister Slam-this slam is a limit of chukars (5 in a day). I managed to knock this one out on opening day thanks to some lucky shooting and good dog work

Mountain Slam-this is a chukar, a dusky grouse, and a ruffed grouse. The fine folks at the DWR said that one specimen can count for multiple slams. So one chuk from my blister slam and ruffy from the fur or feather slam counted towards this so all I had to kill was a dusky grouse or maybe a pine hen or a fool grouse or a mountain chicken-I think all the names count as the same. I would have gladly brought in more chukar or ruffy scalps if required but they said I was good so another magic coin in the bag

Long Tail Limit Slam-this one I knew would give me trouble but I went for it anyway. I am lucky that I have access to some farm land in rural Utah County but man o' man the wild birds are lacking. I hunted hard and by noon was able to scratch down an actual wild pheasant in Utah which I thought was pretty amazing. Had we not had trespassers on some other pieces of ground I might have been able to get another wild born rooster but it was not happening. My ace in the hole was to go after the DWR/SFW (same difference right!!-you chuckled and you know it) released pheasants. So on to the crowds I went and again got lucky. I really never want to hunt pheasants in Utah again after this-I knocked it out but that may have been the last wild rooster I take in the state-just too many people and headaches.

Gobbler Getter-So this one gave me some heartache as well. The word on the street is the DWR trapped a bunch of turkeys from my happy hunting grounds and took them to the book cliffs so after not finding many birds I said what the heck and went&#8230;to the book cliffs. Well that was a bust with houndsmen everywhere, the wind blowing, and only one hen turkey spotted. So back to my hunting grounds later in May with quiet turkeys. So I hunted them like deer, was able to get on a high point and managed to glass up a bird. Did the drive and drop method with some maneuvering in the oak brush I was able to score a long distance 12 gauge hit on the gobbler and getted my gobbler getter magic coin. It wasn't textbook call em in struttin but it worked. A purist I am not.

So there ya have it. Collect the whole set on display for&#8230; me I guess in the man cave and a goal accomplished.

Now if you are a real manly mountain man type guy&#8230;or gal you can go after the ultimate upland slam and take one of each upland game species in the state. I am not 100% committed to this but figure I may just keep track and take my dumb picture as I go. So here is a list of all the critters to kill and an X next to the ones I have killed with a photo and upland slam card:

•	California quail
•	Gambel's quail
•	Chukar--X
•	cottontail rabbit--X
•	dusky grouse--X
•	gray partridge
•	greater sage-grouse--X
•	jackrabbit
•	mourning dove--X
•	ring-necked pheasant--X
•	ruffed grouse--X
•	sharp-tailed grouse
•	showshoe hare
•	white-tailed ptarmigan
•	wild turkey-X

I hear tell that the white-tailed ptarmigan are pretty easy, taken by old grey haired guys regularly so that should be easy&#8230;..right. The snowshoe hare has me scared a bit as I have only seen them a couple times in my life. I will need to draw the sharp-tailed grouse tag to get that and maybe get a hun up north on a WIA area at the same time if lucky. Probably have to kill the California quail with a sling shot in downtown Provo as that is where I see them. I'm not sure I want to drive to St George just to kill a gambel's quail. They need to add the coyote and Eurasian collared dove to the list. I think I will save the jackrabbit for last.

So there ya have it guys-my upland slam story-do me a favor and donate some hard earned cash this fall to upland game and collect your own set of magic coins, then you can take a dorky picture of them with a shed and post it online-super cool!


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## Airborne




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## Airborne




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## Airborne




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## Airborne




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## Airborne




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## Airborne




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## CPAjeff

Man, that's awesome! Thanks for sharing!


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## snw_brdr10

That looks like a lot of fun. I want magic coins. I just may have to do this. Let us know if you ever find out how to harness the power of those magic coins.


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## wyogoob

Wow, I'm thinking 9.5 cred points.

.


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## bugchuker

wyogoob said:


> Wow, I'm thinking 9.5 cred points.
> 
> .


Street cred or field cred?


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## wyogoob

bugchuker said:


> Street cred or field cred?


Good question; we could run a poll.


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## gdog

wyogoob said:


> Wow, I'm thinking 9.5 cred points.
> 
> .


No Ptarm.....7.5 at most


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## wyogoob

gdog said:


> No Ptarm.....7.5 at most


He uses flushing dogs, so he gets a 1.5 point handicap.

.


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## AF CYN

I'm impressed. I may have to play this game some day. It sounds fun.


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## stillhunterman

Very cool and yep, looks like a lotta fun. Wearing a SF hat kinda makes it sweeter...:mrgreen:


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## Fowl_faith

Thanx for the support in conservation.


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## Airborne

Check the Ptarmigan off the list


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## wyogoob

Hip, hip, hooray!!!!

Way2go


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## Airborne

I'v been busy adding a few species this fall. Let's start by adding a Ruffed Grouse. Killed a few last year but lost my slam card pic, this makes it official I guess


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## Airborne

Utah Sharptailed grouse--kind of a pain in the neck hunt, had to do a bunch of recon work, call landowners and get permission. It worked out and I was able to bag one after a ton of walking


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## Airborne

Utah Hungarian Partridge. Had help from a friend in the Utah Chukar Foundation who helped me get into some huns (Thanks Alan, could not have done it without you!). 4 shots from the double gun and 4 birds in the bag--I was on fire that day. Again, lots of driving and some great dog work. My pointer had bloody feet starting this hunt but still pushed through the pain and we did well.


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## Airborne

I couldn't resist this critter, I thought it was a coyote when it came out of the bush next to me while grouse hunting. Old timers called them mountain hares, the DWR calls them whitetailed jackrabbits. If the dang thing wasn't so big it might have passed as a snowshoe hare which I still need to get. This rascally rabbit was hangin at 10k+ feet elevation. Pretty cool critter


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## Airborne

Here's a dove from last year, forgive the mustache, I was in a contest--I lost if you can believe it


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## Airborne

I think that is about it for now, I only have 3 of the 15 species left: Valley Quail, Gambel's Quail, and the danged snowshoe hare. I am confident I can get the quail knocked out but that rabbit might be an issue. I just don't want to take a day off bird hunting to shoot a rabbit! We will see how the winter plays out I guess


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## GCKid

Great job on the huns even though I got you in the wrong canyon.


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## Airborne

Looky what I managed to get over the weekend! I am so Dang Lucky!! My dad was up the canyon enjoying the weather Saturday morning and managed to spot this snowshoe hare. He sent me a text and I immediately left the pheasant fields and hit the ground running. An hour and a half later I was on the mountain and managed to find the rabbit my dad had seen earlier that day. A quick shot for the double gun and I had my first snowshoe hare! I ended up grouse hunting the rest of the day and saw two other hares, I have some theories about hunting these now, am thinking of posting a thread about it.


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## Airborne

Went out today after Valley (California) Quail. Figured I am on a hot streak with the snowshoe yesterday that I can't lose. I got a hot tip on a potential covey in an area I have never hunted before. After an hour looking around I managed to find the covey and bag the Valley Quail. This was after a morning chukar hunt where my shooting was poor so I was happy to shoot decent on the quail. Managed to eventually bag a couple quail along with a couple chukar earlier.

Well folks it looks like I only need to bag a Gambel's Quail and I will have completed the Ultimate Upland Slam. I am heading south next weekend and I hope I can complete it then--fingers crossed!

This has been quite an obsession and I am excited to see the light at the end of the tunnel. :grin:


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## Airborne

Mixed bag today


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## AF CYN

This is awesome. It's actually a great time to hunt snowshoes--they've turned white, but the mountains are brown. Nice job!


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## Airborne

Well I managed to bag a few Gambel's Quail over the weekend, lucky for me I had some forum help. I wasn't super confident going for this species (Quail can be so hit or miss) so I actually sent a PM to a fellow forum member from the area to see if they wanted to go hunting. Richard was nice enough to show me the ropes and we were able to hunt for a couple days together. He knows his stuff and knows southwest Utah more than anybody I have met. You really can't beat local knowledge and people that know how to hunt. I really owe this species to him as I went out one day on my own and managed to bag nothing and only saw one quail. He is a stand up guy and I really appreciate his help.

*This completes my Upland Game Ultimate Slam.* It took two seasons, some good bird dogs, and a lot of miles covered. I couldn't have done it without help from friends, forum members, and family. The dogs probably deserve some credit as well.:grin: I guess now I can go back to chukars and my out of state bird adventures.

I have sent my info into Avery at the DWR for my 'major' award. I am thinking a leg lamp like from the Christmas Story movie!

Also top of the page! Totally Appropriate!


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## Airborne

Here is a tailgate shot from Richard and I's take for the day. I am going to put this in bold so nobody thinks I shot over my limit: *2 guys shot these quail, we did not shoot over our limits*


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## willfish4food

That's freaking awesome! What an accomplishment! Congratulations on finishing your ultimate slam.


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## 3arabians

Congrats! That's some dedication right there. Those Gambels sure are pretty birds.


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## wyogoob

Wow, that's the 2nd damnest thing I ever seen.

Congratulations!! 1,000,000 cred points (beings you're on the top of the page)

.


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## richard rouleau

Nice to meeting you airborne i am glad you had a good time down here i enjoyed your company out hunting and congrats on completing your slam.


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## Avery Cook

Congratulations Airborne - It is quite an accomplishment, and getting it done in 2 seasons is relatively quick. Thanks for posting the story of the slam up here. It was a fun read.

Airborne was the first person to complete the full ultimate slam!

Your giant super awesome coin will be in the mail as soon as it is made.


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## bamacpl

I just got my slam in the mail today, but killed my turkey this spring.....does this count or I have to wait till next year?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## wyogoob

I must add, this is an incredible accomplishment. 

Congratulations Airborne, you're da man.

.


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## colorcountrygunner

How did I never know this thread was going until now? So much cred! Way to go, Airborne!


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## longbow

I love this thread! Congrats on a great accomplishment!!


P.S. I can see why you don't like posting your picture, Yikes! :mrgreen: Just kidding.


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## Airborne

Ha! Yeah--I'm a real looker 

Thanks for the compliments guys

Bamacpl... if you are talking about completing the ultimate slam you can do it over several seasons. So did you knock it out? I don't recall seeing a ptarmigan thread from you and if you kill a ptarmigan you must post a thread about it with lots of pics and an epic story--otherwise Goob will ban you :grin:


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## Tshamo

Did you get your major award? I’m curious what you get. I have 5 more species to complete mine!


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## gdog

A "Major Award"....like this?


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## Airborne

Tshamo said:


> Did you get your major award? I'm curious what you get. I have 5 more species to complete mine!


The DWR gives you a free trip to Wendover and tickets to a Conway Twitty concert. Har Har

They give you a really nice certificate and a pretty cool large 'coin' (size of a small coaster) that says upland slam, lists all the species and has your name on it. If I remember tonight I will take a pic and post it.

I'm still checking off species around the country. Went to Minnesota last year and checked off the wood****, that was cool. Next month I will be going to Nevada for Snow**** and Idaho for Spruce Grouse. I still need a bunch of species for my own personal 'Slam':

Snow****
Spruce Grouse
Great Prairie Chicken
Willow Ptarmigan
Rock Ptarmigan
Mountain Quail
Mearns Quail
Sand Hill Crane
Swan
Green Pheasant
Kalij Pheasant
Sand Grouse
Japanese Quail
Gray Francolin
Black Francolin
Erckels Francolin

The red ones are in Hawaii so that will take a trip or two and it's not cheap to hunt over there. I figure over the next ten years I will probably knock the remaining out. My only rule is fair chase and wild birds.


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## Decoycarver24

If you need mountain quail still, come on our to California. We had an awesome hatch this year and the season opens in about 3 weeks. Can shoot 10 per day here.


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## wagdog

Airborne said:


> I'm still checking off species around the country. Went to Minnesota last year and checked off the wood****, that was cool. Next month I will be going to Nevada for Snow**** and Idaho for Spruce Grouse. I still need a bunch of species for my own personal 'Slam':
> 
> Snow****


Good luck on the himalayan snow****. It is as unfortunately named as the wood****. However, they are a super cool looking bird. Very challenging hunt from what I understand. Take pics!


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## Avery Cook

For those interested in the upland slam for the 2018-2019 season there are some changes to the program:
- You no longer need a slam card. Just register online and take your photos without the card.
- There is a web form to redeem your slam. Just upload your photos and coins will be mailed to you.

For details see: wildlife.utah.gov/upland-game-slam


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## backcountry

I somehow just saw this, Airborne. That's an impressive feat!


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## torowy

Nice, now you have to catch every fish species in the state


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