Brent, if you're hunting a part of the country where sharptails and chickens overlap, you're more likely to find sharpies relating to brushy/woody cover. Windrows, shrubs like buffalo berries, etc. Chickens more likely to be found in grass. Early in the season, however, both may seek out shade when it's hot.
Going when you're going, they will be in bigger bunches and harder to approach. Better cover AND early season (young birds, birds more scattered in general than they are later) explains why they hold so well. Not unusual at all for both chickens and sharpies early in the season.
