Tucker's chukars

Gone for a while

2012-01-30T10:36:00.000-08:00

Well the season has come to an end for Riley and me. Wow! What a fantastic season we had. The weather cooperated more this year than I can ever remember. Nice dry slopes for 3/4 of the year. And to say there were lots of chukar and huns out there is an understatement.

My shooting was about par for the past 20 years. Birds per hour and per mile about what it has been for as long as I can remember. The hills were still there even though a few of them got a little steeper than I remember in the past, but we still got to the top.

I can't say enough about Riley. He has turned into a chukar getting machine. I don't think there is much he can't do with a chukar. He sometimes seems to know what they are going to do before they do. Riley's pace slowed a little this year. He seems to be more methodical with his pace and finds more birds per mile with less effort. He definitely has a nose and lets it lead him around the mountains. Riley's going to get a little couch time the next week or two.

Hopefully some of injuries and scars will heal up.

He did let me know that these fishing show on T.V. have to go. I'll find him a good hunting channel to watch.

As for me, I'm going to be working to clean up the mess we had up here from the snow we got a few weeks ago followed by a heavy rain storm. Our drive way turned into a river.

I've got two days to get this cleaned up and than I get to have my shoulder operated on. That is followed by an appointment with a long tube on the 9th. You guys over fifty know the procedure I'm talking about. Sometime shortly after that I'm scheduled to get some work done on my left knee because it is feeling a little neglected since my right knee has already been replaced.

Oh ya! I'll get my shotgun back from Browning in May. You remember, it's the gun that took the fall in the place of my body parts on one of my hunts this winter.

Anyhow, it's been a fun year. Since I haven't figured out how to get pictures from most of you guys, I hope maybe you'll send them to Upland Idaho where I can see all the fun things you all are doing while I'm recouping. As soon as I regain the use of my typing finger I'll be back posting on my fun spring outings.

One other thing. Remember guys, the next two and a half months are the best months for training on wild birds. Good Luck.

The two hour rule

2012-01-26T08:51:00.000-08:00

It's pouring rain outside right now and supposed to keep it up most of the day so I have decided to take one of the last six days of the season off. I know, you can't get em if your not out there but a steady rain is not one of my favorite times to hunt. I don't know how productive it would be because I'm too much of a wuss to get out in these conditions and find out. So, Riley and I are sitting here planning the last five days of the season.

Last night I was at the Idaho Fish and Game open house meeting to discuss rule changes on the upland bird seasons. I visited with several fellow chukar hunters, several commissioners, and the bird biologist for the F&G, Jeff Knetter. My discussion with Jeff prompted me to write about my "Two Hour Rule". The past two years I have been participating with the F&G's bird wing program. He said I turn in more bird wings than anyone else and I and a few other hunters were definitely above the norm when it comes to success.

I have hunted with Jeff a few times and he has two great dogs. They have a little longer tails and hair than I care to take care of but I have seen them hunt and they are definitely great chukar dogs. Excuse my spelling, but they are of the Munsterlunder breed and are great bird dogs. I have hunted with several others that have great dogs of many different breeds and although I'm partial to my boys, there is very little bird finding potential between most of them. So having a good dog is not the only answer.

Anyone foolish enough to pursue chukars on a regular base has to be in descent shape and it's not real tough to know where the good chukar country is so why are some people more successful than others?

First off, I'm semi retired, which gives me more than my fair share of time to pursue chukars. That is not only during the season but off season also. I have given up almost all other hunting activities due to my love of my dogs and chasing the chukar allectoris. I try to be in chukar country most of the year with my dogs. I usually stay away and Turkey hunt during the nesting season but am back on the hill when I feel the birds are big enough to handle a little dog work.

Secondly, my dogs only hunt chukars and huns. I don't know if that really makes a difference but I feel like in work there are people that are jack of all trades and master of none and dog's are pretty much the same when it comes to different birds. A great example was last year I dabbled in hunting grouse with Riley. He did a good job but when the chukar season began he was spending as much time running to the nearest draw looking up in the trees or bushes for a perched grouse as he was looking for chukars. The same goes for quail. The way they usually are in big coveys under the brush and scurry around making there little sounds makes it pretty tough on a pointing dog. It also makes it tough on the hunter who has trained his pointing dog to hold until he flushes the birds. You don't get much shooting as you walk into the thorny cover and the birds finally scoot.

More than the fore mentioned reasons for some being more successful than others is what I call "The Two Hour Rule". It's a simple rule. You just have to prepared to be on the hill for two hours before you get your first shot at a chukar. I'm not saying it always happens that way, but many times that is what might happen. Most hunters give up way too soon. If they haven't found birds within the first hour or two they are back at the truck and driving to a new destination or taking out the fishing pole. When I chukar hunt the truck is parked and I am prepared to hunt that area for the day. Driving time is just waisted hunting time. There have been many times that I have walked for a couple of hours or more and never had a point or seen a bird. I often start feeling like it's going to be a bad bird day and then I remind myself of the words of a hunting partner of mine, Tom Thorpe, who passed away from cancer. You Gotta Believe.

Believing that it's gonna happen and pushing on usually makes it happen. Suddenly you are into the birds and the previous two hours of hiking the chukar mountains pays off. In the next hour you have more points and shots than you could have imagined happening because it's been so slow up until now. After you have either got x number of birds or depleted the shells in your vest you start your return journey to the rig. Usually it doesn't take as long on the return trip because your mind is consumed with the recent memories of great points and shots or maybe with discuss in how one person can miss so many easy shots after a dog works so hard to get you to that point. Either way you make it back to the truck with your trusty companion.

As you drive home with a tired dog sleeping in the passenger seat, also appropriately known as sitting shotgun, you plan your next hunt and wonder if the "Two Hour Rule" is going to apply again on that hunt. Are the birds going to be two hours away from the truck? Probably, so be prepared to suck it up, your canine partner is.

The Zone

2012-01-18T14:49:00.000-08:00

For the first time this year it's putting down some serious snow outside. The kind of snow that says it's better to stay off the roads. So, I decided to hang out in the warm house and reminisce over my chukar hunt two days ago. Nothing was special about this hunt but my poor shooting brought home the importance of a good hunting dog when it comes to chukar hunting.

Quite often I hear upland hunters say, "it's all about the dog". I have even said that a time or two myself. I, like most other chukar hunters, would never hunt chukars if I didn't have a dog. They are what makes the whole trip exciting and what's more, successful. But, in my opinion, it's not all about the dog but about the teamwork between me and my dog.

There isn't anything more beautiful than a pointing dog locked up on a bird. There's not a bit of movement, tail high (if they have a tail) and you could put a level on their back they are so straight. Thousands of pictures have been taken of dog's that show their ability to lock up on birds or scent of birds. I have hundreds of photos of my dog's on point. But as beautiful as the scene is, it doesn't tell the whole story. The story of how the hunter and the dog got to this moment and what was accomplished by this fantastic ability to hold point.

I hope that nobody takes offense to what I am about to say, but I think there is a lot of difference between a trial dog and a non trial dog's ability. I must admit, I have never been to a dog trial and my knowledge about them is just what I have heard or seen on T.V. It seems to me that those dog's are well trained to accomplish their jobs in a particular way and with a particular style or they are disqualified or not given the style points by the judge. These dogs will still produce birds but I feel they don't have the freedom of a plain old trained hunting dog.

Now, that I have stirred someones blood, let me explain. As the title eludes to, I feel that my dogs and I are often in the zone. You often hear of sports figures being in the zone with either their equipment or with other team mates. Everything is clicking and every movement is in sync. Producing a favorable outcome is almost effortless. It should be no different between a hunter and his dog. They are working for a common goal, and that is to produce birds.

The production of birds doesn't mean just a great point, but what happens during and after the point also. Tucker taught me to give him the freedom to be a bird dog and he would in turn help me get birds. He was the dominant predator and I my job was to close the deal. Now, Riley has taken the position of my prize pointing predator and he continues to amaze me of the canine ability.

Riley is not a huge ranging dog but ranges with a high nose that covers a lot more country than meets the eye. With the latitude I have given him he covers the country in a productive manner and seems to know likely places to find chukars. Just like with Tucker, I know to just follow his lead and we will eventually be into birds. It may be an hour or more before the find, but I know it's going to happen. When it does happen, that is when the teamwork comes into play. Riley and I have been on so many birds that we are most times in the zone with each other. He knows I am coming and how I will probably approach. I know he's not going to break unless there is a good reason. Most of the time the reason is because the birds are no longer there. At that point Riley will relocate on his own without a word from me. There are no deduction points for relocating so get back to do what he does far better than me, relocate them. Sometimes they have already taken flight and many times they have moved away from the original point. Either way, Riley has the freedom to do what he does best.

On our trip two days ago Riley and I were in the zone. The only thing that was in some other zone was my shooting. There is usually something good to say about the bad. This time, because of my poor shooting we had a longer stay on the hill which produced more birds and great dog work. I quit counting productive points at 22. I'll try and describe a few of the encounters so that you might be able to see what I mean by being in the zone and why I love hunting with my dog's so much.

Riley is on point approximately 150 yards away and is patiently waiting for my approach. Since he is below me I position myself to his right so not to shoot over him if the birds flush premature. Riley know that is where I'm coming in from and turns his head slightly to confirm where I am. As I move in front of him and about 20 yards to the right I see the quivering tail suddenly freeze and the intensity magnifies. Obviously he just heard or saw something that made him think they were about to flush. I put my thumb on the safety and sure enough the birds explode on the next step. At this point Riley is looking for a bird to fall. Once again there is no deduction for him breaking so he can continue doing his thing. Since no bird fell and I didn't say dead bird he was off to find the next covey.

On another of his points I had moved about thirty yards out in front of Riley. He hadn't tried to relocate as I slowly progressed in front of him. I always try and move in about twenty yards to one side or the other of Riley as I approach the birds. It's usually to the right but Riley knows where I'm coming in at. Looking back at Riley, he is as tense as the moment I started to pass him. After hundreds of encounters with Riley, I know that means only one thing. The birds are right there. So, I turn and slowly walk towards him. Sure enough, about five yards in front of him a single busts from the cheat. Time in the field with each other has helped us to know what each other are thinking. I could have move another hundred yards down the hill and he would not move.

A prime example of thinking alike is honoring. This is not trained, but Riley honors me, just as Tucker did when he was alive. By honoring, I mean he'll actually stop and not move if he sees me walking slowly with my gun in the ready position. No different than a creeping dog. H e knows to stop and avoid him flushing the birds. The only way you get that is lots of hours in the field together. Riley even does it when we are in the field together without a gun. They sense the moment and are in the same zone that you are.

Another point Riley had that day produced a result I wasn't quite ready for but was pleased with the result. As I approached his point he suddenly busted down the hill about fifty yards and spun to his left and locked in. I figured he was going to bust some birds, which does sometimes happen. The wind was now at his back. I walked towards him and soon flushed about twenty chukars. Obviously he could see them moving away and circled them, trapping them between him and me. It makes you wonder how many times that is what your dog was trying to do when you thought he was just rushing birds. A trial dog would not be allowed to do that because it would enforce bad habits but Riley and I were just in the same zone.

Sometimes Riley just looks me in the eyes and seems to tell me "I know where they are so just follow me." The next thing I know he is heading off to the next ridge where he immediately locks up. I don't know if he saw the birds go there or if he heard them. The one thing I know is that he knew they were there and he set out to show me. So, I headed over that way and about ten minutes later I was flushing a nice covey of chukar. I knew not to slow him down or try and turn him. He was on a mission and if it didn't work out he'd return to me and start on another quest.

Another part of being in the zone is the retrieve. When I do hit the bird, which was happening less that day than missing, I give Riley a lot of room for a retrieve. If it's a single or just a couple of birds he usually sees the bird go down and not a word has to be said. But often times a large covey takes flight in different directions and Riley doesn't see the bird go down. When that happens I can say dead bird and Riley will usually look to me for guidance in direction of the bird. Once he hits the scent it's usually a done deal. But at times I might have to move down the hill in the location of the fallen bird and help Riley in the direction. For a retrieving dog that would probably mean deduction points, but for me and Riley it is team work. I will also side hill to make the ascent easier for Riley on his retrieves. Carrying a bird straight up the hill is a lot of work and I do whatever I can to make it easier for him. Also, Riley would probably get deduction points for not bringing the bird straight to me. For some reason he likes to parade in front of me with the bird for a minute or so to show off his prize. All I have to do is tell him to bring it to me and he will bring it to within a step or closer to me and drop it. Once in a while he'll wait for me to take it from his mouth but not usually. Once again. no points added or deducted, but a bird in the bag.

My main thought here is that we spend so much time together that we usually know what each other is going to do, thus being in the zone. Most of our birds are shot in the manner described earlier, but I am not a purist that says if the bird is not pointed by my dog and flushed by me I won't shoot. There are times when a bird flushes wild through no fault of Riley or mine. If Riley rushes the birds to flight I will not shoot because he is supposed to be a pointing dog, not a flusher. That is the only major rule I have and for that reason Riley and I can enjoy the hunt and quite often be in the zone. To us, Chukar hunting isn't all about the dog but about the team and a finished job together.

The duct tape eight

2012-01-09T16:47:00.000-08:00

As most of you know, each hunting trip is a different journey in itself. Some good and some not so good. My hunt today had a little of everything. Kind of like the Clint Eastwood movie, "The good,bad and the ugly."

The good is that I enjoyed a great day in Oregon chasing chukars and huns and am back here at home telling you about it. The amazing part of the good is I even brought eight birds back with me.

The day started out great. I hadn't been on the hill for a half an hour and Riley pointed the first covey of huns. One shot and a dead hun retrieved to hand. Fifteen minutes later, another point produced another hun from a second covey. Things were looking good and than my brain got in the way. I decided to go higher on the mountain for some chukars.

Riley got a couple points on the way up but I could see the birds running up hill in front of him. He tried to relocate and hold the birds but they finally took flight around the hill. It wasn't long before I saw a couple more covies of chukar flying wild and around the north slope. Figuring that would make a good start on chukars I found a decent deer trail and headed that way with Riley in the lead.

That's when the bad happened. Out of nowhere an elephant crossed the trail and tripped me. I tried to protect my gun but knew I had failed when I heard the cracking sound of wood. I lay there for a few minutes trying to decide whether my head was facing uphill or downhill and than realized my head was uphill because the blood from my nose was dripping on my chin. Not to worry though. Riley was right on that, licking me clean and wondering why I was just laying around. With his encouragement I was soon standing on the trail again. While standing there, I realized that elephant had also stomped on my back and ankle as he left. Boy were they sore.

Well, we can't let a little thing like a fall ruin our hunt. I picked up my shotgun and noticed quite a wobble in the stock and a few pieces missing. Riley was already off finding chukars so I needed to make a plan. The light bulb came on and I remembered the duct tape that I pack in my game vest and retrieved it. With two pieces of cardboard from my candy bar and the duct tape I soon had a firearm that fealt fairly rigid. What was going to happen when I pulled the trigger was a totally different matter.

It wasn't long before Riley was pointing a covey of chukar and waiting for me to make my usual swing into shooting position. As I moved in I thought to myself, "don't be afraid, just keep your eyes open". At the flush of the birds, I shouldered the shotgun and only shot once. Wow! A chukar fell from the sky and my shotgun is still together. I think it was the one I was shooting at. Riley was convinced it was as he retrieved the chukar to me. I can always depend on Riley to believe in me.

I checked the shotgun out and it was still some what rigid so we pushed on. Before long we had five chukars in the bag and the gun was getting pretty loose so we headed back down towards the truck hoping for maybe another point or two. I don't mind telling you I was keeping a close eye out for that elephant. I didn't think I could handle him stomping on me a second time. I was feeling a little sore.

Luckily the elephant stayed up on the hill waiting for some other unsuspecting victim to trip. Shortly before we got back to the truck Riley locked in one more time. I carefully inspected my gun. It was in good enough shape for another shot so in I went. As the huns flushed all around me I planted my feet and picked out a bird. I actually know I had my eyes open this time when I shot. The bird crumpled to the ground and I sat down waiting for Riley's delivery. I took the bird from Riley and rewarded him with the candy bar I had stolen the cardboard from. I unwrapped the duct tape from the shotgun and admired the crack down the stock and the two pieces of wood missing.

It was ugly but it stilll did the job.

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T08:54:00.000-08:00

Happy new year to all. Riley and I just hunted five days in a row and he told me it was time to take a day off before we finished the final month of the 2011-2012 chukar season. This is how he told me he was tired and needed a day off. As we got back to the truck Riley found a warm spot and assumed this position.

Since I started this blog I have met a lot of good people and learned a lot from some. Hopefully I have been able to save some a step or two along the way. I had one of our follower's ask a question yesterday and felt I might offer my opinion on it. Especially since I've been asked this question more than once before. He asked, "what do you do when your dog is on point way up the hill and you don't want to go up there or can't get there?"

This is my opinion and maybe there are circumstances that vary, but my answer is simple. You suck it up and get to the dog. You owe it to him/her. Your dog's job is to find birds for you and hold them, now it's time for you to do yours.

The long answer is, know yourself before getting your hunting companion. There are certain breeds that work closer and slower than others. They may not cover as much of the country, but they make it a lot easier on the lungs and legs. Each one of us is built differently and have different feelings about what is fun or not and we should get a dog that fits our individual style. If you are sold on a particular dog, as I am on the gsp, then at least let the dog know what you expect as a pup so you have some control on the range later on in the hunting days.

Sometimes I see Riley heading for an area that I don't care to hunt. Rock cliffs, rock slides, and thickets I wouldn't be able to shoot out of are a few examples. In those cases I recall Riley and get him headed in a direction I prefer. But I never try and recall him if I know he's hot on scent. Once you've hunted with your dog enough, you can tell when he is just sniffing the air looking for scent or he's sniffing the scent looking for a bird to point.

To put it in dog words. Look again at the picture of Riley. If he can put the amount of energy it took to wear him out to this point finding and retrieving birds, the least I can do for him is to honor him by getting to him no matter where he is.

A grand day

2011-12-28T18:59:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my son in law (Nick) and grandson came to watch me and Riley play. What a great treat. Nick was the photographer so I don't have any pics of him, but here is one of several series of pictures he took.
Conner and I moving in on Riley's point.

They both dropped right over that hill. I rarely get doubles with an audience.

Hanging out while Riley makes the retrieve.

After Riley retrieves the first bird, Conner goes down to help him find number two. It's around here some place.

Conner, you're pointing me in the wrong direction. It's right here.

Here Riley, let me pack this one.

Hey, Opa, this one is pretty big.

What a grand day for grandpa. (Opa)
At the end of the day Riley and Conner get some rest for tomorrow.

Perfect day

2011-12-26T15:52:00.000-08:00

I've had a lot of great days in the past but never with both the camera and the shotgun. I'll let the camera do the talking for me.
The country

Bird #1

The grand total

Early Christmas present

2011-12-19T16:28:00.000-08:00

Wow! Christmas started for me a week early. It all started yesterday afternoon when John and Deb Carter stopped by for a visit and also to deliver a present for Riley. In order for you to understand how special this artwork is you have to know the story.

I met John and Deb, along with John's father at Woodhead camp ground. I immediately took a liking to Jon's family and friends.We were all there for chukar hunting and after an evening of tall stories we decided to hunt together the following day. Neka wasn't even a year old at the time and John was quizzing me on training techniques. I explained to him that Riley was my trainer and hopefully he might show us a trick or two the following day.

So the following morning we headed off on the hill. Jon with Taffy, John and Deb with Neka and Riley and me. We started together but were soon in separate draws. After a while I saw Neka covering the hill at a distance and thought I'd venture over to John and Deb to see how it was going. I can't remember how the shooting was, but Deb had got some good shots of Neka and John with the camera.

We took a quick break talking dogs and were about to get back to hunting when we saw Riley on point.He had been locked up on some birds while we were visiting. So John moved in on the point while Deb took some pictures. She took this great picture of Riley and John made the flush. Riley got to do me proud.

Now Neka is two and hunts like a veteran. She is making a fine mentor for John. What a great gift.

Gift number two came on the hill today. Riley and I were chukar hunting in an area that we knew had bighorns this time of the year so I packed a camera. Shortly up the trail we had this guy blocking our way.

He soon gave us passage and up the hill we went. I heard several loud knocking sounds and although I"ve never heard it before, I was sure it was the sound of Bighorns butting heads. This was going to be a special day. As I came through the sagebrush I heard two rams butting heads but couldn't see them. I looked up the hill just in time to see these two preparing for battle.

Ten seconds later these two joined in.

And then this guy was on the charge for a ram out of the picture.

While I was moving through the brush Riley came sprinting past me. I didn't wee it happen but I think this guy charged him. All I got was this picture of him trotting off from twenty yards.

I didn't know the rut lasted this long for sheep. Maybe it doesn't normally but this ewe didn't know that. In the next fifteen minutes wherever she went, the big boys followed. I took many more random pictures until I was too cold to stay. I was dressed for chukar hunting not sheep watching.

If this is the beginning of my 12 days of Christmas I can't wait for what's next. Thank you so much for yesterday John and Deb and thank you for today God.

Shooting

2011-12-12T19:09:00.000-08:00

I'm probably not the best person to give advice on shooting, but after a frustrating day for a fellow hunter I thought I might mention what works for me.

Tom and I went our separate ways about 9 this morning, as we often do when chukar hunting. It was a calm clear day and you could hear the report of shotgun from a great distant. Tom heard me shoot several times and I also heard his shooting. Four and a half hours later we met back at the truck. I could tell Tom had a frustrating day when he said, "I hope you shot better than me today." I had an extremely good shooting day for me and Tom asked how I do it.

First off, I have to admit to not shooting well all the time. In fact, in all honesty, I shoot about 65 % when it comes to shooting chukars and huns. But there are many things a guy can do to improve success on shooting the devil bird. I have shot clays with Tom, so I know he is very capable of shooting well. His gun fits and all the basics are there. I just don't think he plans for success.

I could go on and on telling you what I do that works for me, but I think it's more important that you find what works for you. It's not as simple as "Wow my dog is on point, I'll walk up there and shoot the bird!" If you're going to be a successful bird shot there are variables that can improve your percentage. They are all simple things, but when added together they can make a huge difference in your game bag at the end of the day.

Knowing your dog and how he will react at the shot is a must. If you're looking out for your dog, you're not concentrating on the bird. Safety is a must and your dog is far more important than any bird so this involves training as well as common sense. Try and move in on the point in a way that takes a hazardous shot out of the equation. Have in your mind where the no shot zone is and stick to it. When the bird is out of that zone it's a green light and the only thing on your mind is to swing through the target as you shoot.

How do you shoot best? Is it a left to right crosser, a right to left crosser, straight away, or what? You need to know which shot you shoot best and try and position yourself for that shot. I know this is not always possible, but when it happens your mind is already saying dead bird on this one.

I'll bet most everyone shoots singles better than covey flushes. You have to shoot the first bird before you can get a second so concentrate on a single bird and shoot it. Another big flaw in shooting is changing from one bird to another. Very seldom is that a good idea because there is too much gun movement. Pick a bird and stay with it and more often than not it will drop out of the sky.

Age. I almost hate to add this into the equation but I have to. I have noticed the last few years that I have lost some of my speed and agility and there is nothing I can do about it. So I just slow myself down a little more and usually only get one shot off. It works for me.

Chokes, gauges, fit of clothes, hunting into the sun, windy conditions, and many other variables influence shooting in hunting situations. The thing you have to do is find out what works for you. When you find those things, go in with confidence that you are going to make the shot. It's like anything else in life, you have to PLAN FOR SUCCESS.

six days in the wind

2011-12-04T19:50:00.000-08:00

I went over to Oregon last week and spent six days chasing chukars. The only sad thing of the whole trip was having to come home and take a few days off. Riley needed a break from me. He got tired of watching birds fly away.

The first three days I was joined by Greg Munther of Missoula Montana and his GSP Lucy. Greg is 68 years old but has a 30 year old gait going up hills. We hunted in different directions so we saw very little of each other on the hill. What I did see is that they are a great pair on the hill and always have some great stories back at camp. All three days were windy with the first day being extremely windy.

Two of the first three days Greg Allen, my chukar hunting partner for the last 25 years, also hunted along with us. Greg is a hard chukar hunter and always finds birds to shoot. But the second day he brought one of his older girls over and had specially good day. As you can see in this picture, Nikki is aging some and she has one bad leg so going 8 for 8 is quite an accomplishment.

The last two days Jon Carter and his son, John and daughter in law, Debbie joined Barb and I at the camp ground. The Carter clan always brings fun and excitement to the camp and hill. I didn't get any pictures but believe me when I tell you I saw some great bird work from Taffy, Jon's dog and Neka, who belongs to John and Debbie. The last day the Carter's even convinced Barbara to tag along. It wasn't long before Barbare was charging up the hill.

If Barbara was coming, we couldn't leave Dakota behind. This is his 13th hunting season and he has been retired but today he forgot that. It was a thrill to see the old boy on two great points and a retrieve. He soon forgot about his old bones and was covering some pretty good country. Once again, where is the camera when you need it?

Also, on day five a gentleman from Washington joined us at camp. Brian Vonderfecht, camped with us Friday night with some great tales of his setter and chukar hunts of the past. His setter couldn't make this trip because of her age so he hunted with me Saturday morning until we got separated. He even got to shoot a chukar off one of Riley's points.

Every once in a while you run into something different on the hill that gives you a little different perspective. Luckily this particular day I had the camera with me. I saw this guy laying in a valley out of the wind. He watched Riley and I hunting around him and just lay there hoping we wouldn't come any closer. Looking at his face I could see the look of an old man who had little energy for flight. We gave him his space and wished him a kind winter. I'll bet he could have told me some great hunting stories.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T14:38:00.000-08:00

As promised, I finally got the camera working. So for you guys over seas I took some pictures on the hill today hoping they find you safe and give you just a taste of what is waiting for you when you get home. Some of the pictures are redundant but they give me a chance to show off Riley.

The day started walking up this ridge.

Riley searched both high and low for two hours without finding a bird.

And then it happened. Find after find, Riley started doing his thing. Riley was a little unhappy with me and the square box in my hand. He was more concerned about getting birds than having me walk around him taking pictures.

But it all worked out the same with a couple of retrieves.

This was another of Riley's points that offered a great chance to move around him and take some pictures and then hopefully get some shots with the gun.

He finally relocated as I moved below him with the camera.

At this point I could tell he had the birds pinned between us so I looked in the brush to my left and I could see a couple of the chukars that were in a covey of about 15 that eventually flushed.

A couple more retrieves.

Here are a few more of Riley's points for the day. I'll leave you with these pictures and the hopes they fulfill your hunting needs for a short time and bring you home soon and safely.

Hiding in the snow

2011-11-18T16:38:00.000-08:00

I should have known better than to go out again today, but Riley and I had such a great time between the squalls yesterday we were ready to chance it again today. It wasn't a very good idea because there was quite a bit more moisture and wind in today's storms and the duration was a little longer. So we got a little wet.

Luckily we found a nice carved out spot in some rocks that gave us some protection from the blowing wet snow. I tucked myself back in as far as I could to protect both me and Riley, who was more than happy to hide with me. The hard stuff lasted for about a half an hour. It's amazing of the things that can go through your mind in that short of a time.

Riley pulled in as close as he could with his nose tucked deep into my chest. As he looked up at me with his eyes I suddenly saw Tucker in him. I remembered all the great times Tucker and I had together and how he used to sit next to me in the same way. He always made me feel like I was really something. Riley has turned into Tucker in his actions. He always wants to be close to me and is as aware of where I am on the hill as I try to be of him. If he comes back to where he thinks I should be and he can't see me he quickly gets that panic look in his eyes.

Tucker taught me more about chukar hunting than I could have learned from a book and now Riley is continuing my education. I remember feeling like all that I have to do to be successful in hunting chukars is to follow Tuckers lead and shoot well. We both had bad days but 9 out of 10 times Tucker's days were great. He had honest points that he would hold until I got into the position I wanted to be in. If I did my job the retrieve would be made with never a word being said.

Never a word being said. That is how my hunts now go with Riley now. Very few words have to be said for encouragement or because of discouragement, except for the times I'm cussing myself out. I know he does what he does because he loves it and it pleases me. I keep my mouth shut when he screws up because I know that he made the mistake trying to please me just as I sometimes miss a bird trying to please him with a possible retrieve. That is what Tucker taught me about being with a hunting dog. We are a team.

Finally the storm broke and it was time for Riley and I to work our way back to the truck before the next batch of snow and wind hit us. Riley jumped up and led the way, hoping to find a bird or two along the way. He seemed to know the way back to the truck and I was ready to head that way. As luck would have it, we did pick up a couple of more chukars along the way, but that wasn't what was important on my mind. It was the realization of how Riley and I had become one. He and I are not only good hunting buddies but are just great friends.

But with the good things our dogs do for us there is the one thing that they have no control over. They don't live long enough. With each passing of our animal friends we lose a piece of our heart. I have lost several pieces in my lifetime and Tucker took a pretty big chunk. Dakota, Tucker,s son probably only has a couple of years left before he will erase all physical evidence of his father. He will also take a large piece of my heart with him. He and his dad were an unbeatable pair on the hill. There will never be a pair of dogs that worked birds together than these two. Thus the name "Team Tuckota" will forever be engraved above my fireplace with the names of all their predecessors and followers listed with them.

While sitting under that rock I couldn't help but to wonder where I am going from here. I never thought I would have another dog that would fit with me as Tucker did. I don't mind saying that I bawled like a baby the day Tucker left and am getting tears now thinking back to that day. I also left some tears under that rock today. They were tears for Tucker but also tears of fear of the day when Riley leaves me. I don't know if I have many more pieces of my heart to give. I wish that the love each one of my dogs have given me would rebuild the heart but there's starting to be too much of a void.

Most who are reading this have hunting dogs so nothing more need be said except, thank you God for giving us such loyal friends and I pray we all see each other again.

Age, conditioning and shooting

2011-11-15T20:28:00.000-08:00

Getting older has it's advantages. It also has some disadvantages. For the main scheme of it all, there are a lot more advantages than disadvantages.

One of the advantages is getting smarter as you get older. In other words you hunt smarter, not harder. I haven't quite grasped that one yet but I'm not alone. I hunted with Greg Munther of Missoula, Mont. the last two days and at 68 he has me by 7 years. I don't think smart is in his vocabulary when it comes to hunting chukars. He looks for the hardest hill and goes for it. He is in fantastic hunting shape.

I pride myself in being in chukar shape. I feel the best way to stay fit is to be on the chukar hills at least 150 days a year. Half of the time hunting and the other half just hiking. Outside of having a good bird dog, conditioning along with shooting are the next two major parts of chukar hunting. So what has that got to do with age?

I shoot aproximately 1000 rounds a year practicing at the sporting clays course or just with my automatic thrower and I keep in fairly good shape. I also have a great hunting dog so I should bring home lots of birds. It doesn't always work that way and today was one of those bad days. It wasn't that I just shot bad. It was that I crippled more birds today than the previous twenty trips. Usually you know when you make a poor shot, but today I felt like I was in slow motion when swinging the gun.

Greg hunted the same hill and he shot just fine so what could the difference be? I knew I was shooting behind most of the birds but just couldn't seem to catch up. It was kind of like the feeling when you're all bundled up in clothes. As I sat in the lounger watching the football game this evening it suddenly hit me. I couldn't even twist around to get my favorite beverage off the coffee table without moaning. I felt like rigamortis had set in.

I felt a little like this the last two days but not as bad as tonight. The problem is, this was the fifth day in a row of hard chukar hunting. When you're young that is no big deal but as you age your body doesn't recover quite as fast. As you age you have to give yourself a little more recovery time for the muscles to recover.

So, in short, what I'm trying to say is that I shot behind the birds because at my age I hunted too many days in a row which made me stiff so I couldn't swing fast enough on the fast escaping birds. That is going to be excuse #753 in my new book of 1000 reasons why I miss chukars.

Did I tell you I had fun today?

Fun four days with Riley

2011-11-06T09:04:00.000-08:00

Being able to take off and hunt for a week or so is one of the great perks with getting older. Riley and I just spent four days hunting Brownlee reservoir on the Idaho side. Not only did we save a lot of gas, we found some new country to chase the devil birds in. A couple of the places we discovered may never be seen by me again but the birds were there in large numbers. The miles and steepness may restrict me from getting into these spots in the future. It was still exciting to know that these fairly untouched places still exist for the hunter that doesn't mind being a little sore at the end of the day.

Hunting some of these areas teach you a lot about yourself and your dog. You really know how much you love the sport of hunting chukars by how far you are willing to push yourself into the next draw, and the next, and the next. While you are pushing yourself and your dog, not a word is spoken between you and him. He is just doing his job and finding birds.

Riley and I are going into our fifth year together and I must say we are working like a fine tuned machine together. We both have our screw ups, but not a word has to be said because we know we'll make it right the next covey that we find. We lost one bird that hit the ground. That is only the second lost bird of the season. The first, we knew where it was but couldn't get to it because of the steep rocks it lodged itself in. There have been some that I have dropped a leg or knocked some feathers out of that we aren't sure if they went down or not but out of the ones that hit the ground, only two losses is pretty darn good.

In the four days I only ran into one other chukar hunter (Herry and his dog Max). He offered me a ride on the road I was walking on but I had just a short ways to my truck so I declined. Herry has a good looking male solid colored GSP and you know my feelings about those dogs. Also Greg Allen hunted with me on the fourth day. His shots were the only shots I heard besides my own in four days.

My camera's zoom wasn't working properly so I didn't get as many pictures as I hoped. Here are a few of the sights I saw dozen of times. Riley is out here on point at 289 yards somewhere.

There he is. I'll just move in a little.

Okay, now it's up to me.

Good team work has it's rewards.

This is the end of the day results. Because of the number of birds and the great country this can be a fairly common scene.

Now it's time to clean up around the house and prepare for the next big outing.

Rileys problem retrieve

2011-10-24T16:26:00.000-07:00

Once again I didn't have a camera on todays hunt. I wish I would have had a movie camera. Riley put on quite a show. He was a pointing and retrieving machine. The wind and conditions were perfect for a great hunt.

But one retrieve lasted about four or five minutes and was quite a comical scene. Luck was shining on me and I knocked down a double on huns. The problem was that I crippled both. Riley was on the first one quick. On his way back with the bird the second hun ran past him down the hill. He dropped the one in his mouth and was in hot pursuit of number two. He soon caught it and was bringing it back to me when number one ran back down the hill past him. He dropped number two and headed after number one who was still full of energy except for a broken wing. Further down the hill he finally caught number one but on his way up the hill had to drop it because number two was back on the run.

Well, you probably get the picture. The biggest problem with the whole thing was each time they ended up further down the hill. I finally told Riley to whoa once he had one of the birds in his mouth. I walked down to him and took the bird from his mouth. The bird was still as energetic as when the whole thing started. I then gave Riley the dead bird command. He soon caught the other birds scent and retrieved it back to me, still quite alive.

Sometimes you wish you could get in the dogs mind and see what they are thinking.

Five days of Oregon chukar.

2011-10-22T14:42:00.000-07:00

Riley and I spent the last five days chasing chukar in Oregon. The best way to describe the hunting is fantastic. We hunted five different locations, put on lots of miles, gained a lot of elevation, and found loads of birds. I would say chukar hunting is as good as ever in Oregon.

Riley got a puncture wound in his right hind leg on the last retrieve of the trip. It wasn't anything real bad, except for a lot of draining, but he earned some time off all the same. He had a great five days. I decided not to pack a camera this year because the pictures have become quite redundant. Chukar country pictures and Riley pointing pictures. I never get tired of seeing this but enough is enough as far as the photos of him goes.

I had a real treat for three of those days. Greg Munther of Missoula Mont. came over and hunted with me. I just met Greg and am happy to say I hope to hunt many more times with him in the future. Greg is a living encyclopedia of the outdoors and a total outdoorsman. He knows how to cover the mountain also. Together with his GSP Lucy they put terror in many of the chukars flight.

I'm hoping to meet many more of you chukar hunters in the future. Listening to others experiences and watching other hunters work with their dogs is (almost) as good as doing the real thing.

ouch

2011-10-11T18:35:00.000-07:00

The chukar season is in full swing now. The only thing that isn't swinging well right now is me packing the camera. It's been a little wet and that has made my laziness to carry the camera a little easier. So needless to say, no pictures yet.

The birds are out there. I have to admit to not seeing as many as I hoped, but they seem to be localized right now. So when you find them there is some great action. Luckily for me the limit in Idaho is only six chukars this year so my poor shooting doesn't really seem that dismal. For you guys over seas, I'm leaving lots for seed next year.

Todays hunt was probably the most exciting of the last seven in Idaho. Riley and I went to an old favorite for the first time this year. The birds were there just like they were rehearsed. The weather was overcast with a decent breeze. So up the hill we go. Riley busts the first covey of chukar and then settles in. He's having a great day except that every covey point is straight up hill. The good point to that is that is my better shooting angle. Slow risers. We finally get enough birds that I decide to start side hilling more and staying on the trails. Riley obliges and starts working with me and producing some good action.

Problem number one for the season came as I tried to crash through the brush in a steep draw. I've done something to my shoulder and can't lift my right arm above my head without feeling some pain. I started feeling quite a bit of it. I've already decided I can take the pain until the day after the season closes. Shooting and dog work was pretty darn good and we needed only two more huns so we started down the steep slope knowing there were huns somewhere down below.

As I headed straight down the hill problem number two showed up. Five and a half years ago I had a knee replacement. It's felt great until today. Each step downhill with my right leg sent a sharp pain through my knee. I was hoping that would never show up again but on a recent check up my doc noticed a pretty good bone spur and said we probably would have to scope that soon. Well, that's one more for the day after season.

So Riley and I found a game/cow trail headed down and towards the rig. The rain started to drizzle down a little but nothing to worry about. Riley goes on a great downhill point. One of those you wish you had a camera for, head twisted back over his shoulder with uphill leg cocked. As I slid down below him the biggest covey of huns I have seen this year erupted and blindly I shot a double. With my gun unloaded Riley and I started the half hour trek back to the truck. The only problem now was the drizzle had turned to a down pour and the wind picked up. I tried to take a route that would keep the wind to our back but that was in the wrong direction. To add to all this it started hailing and thundering. The cell was obviously building right above us. The hill turned into a mudslide and getting down was getting a little more exciting with each step. Finally it happened. The hill went out from under me and down I went. Luckily the rock my cheek met was flat. I knew when I hit it wasn't pretty but there wasn't a lot that could be done about it at the time. The amount of rain and hail pasting my face would keep the cut clean. Although swollen, at least this one will heal before the end of the season.

We hit the road about a half mile from the truck and that was the last I saw of Riley until I reached the truck to find him hiding on the windless side of the truck avoiding the hail. I opened the doors and we got in not caring how much mud we packed in. About a mile down the road not a drop of rain had fallen.

Anyhow, you guys that aren't able to get out this year, things haven't changed. There's plenty of birds out there and those who are willing to chuk up will be seeing lots of action. Just keep your health insurance paid up.

Dedication to Tucker

2011-10-02T15:12:00.000-07:00

Well my chukar season started today with Riley. As I hope to do every year, Riley and I went to the spot that Tucker had his first point years ago. I had both barrels loaded with shells containing Tucker's ashes along with the 7 1/2 shot.

About 1/2 hour into the hunt Riley locked up. It was probably 250 yards from where Tucker's first point was. Knowing Tucker was watching, I decided that was close enough. I moved out in front of Riley for the flush. I could see a couple of the birds on the ground and could tell they were young birds. I was hoping for adults when they flushed. I couldn't differentiate between the juveniles and the adults and took the last bird with the first shot and the bird right in front of it on the second. As Tucker's ashes floated to the ground, Riley brought the first bird back. We walked down hill towards the second bird and Riley picked up the scent and brought it back to me also.

There is a large rock close to the spot of Tuckers first point. Riley and I walked over and sat in the shade of the rock. We stayed there for about five minutes and I gave Tucker thanks for all that he taught me and wet down Riley's throat. We were soon off to find some more birds.

The conditions were the worst. Today was an extremely dry day and perfectly calm. Riley was having to cover a lot of ground to pick up scent. Of course when he did the birds were moving up hill making this old man work a little harder in the heat. To make this short, I'll just say we got our birds with some hard work in bad conditions. Riley and I came off the hill after three and a half hours. The temperature had gone up 17 degrees since our start and the shadows were hard to find now. Riley's nose was a solid green color from all of the sage pollen and my shirt was mixed dust and pollen color from the sweat, dust and pollen.

It was a great day on the hill as most are. It's always good going back to all of the great hunts I had with the best chukar dog I ever saw. Riley did him proud and my first two shells of the season performed like Tucker was there with us.

Our last grouse hunt

2011-09-26T12:36:00.000-07:00

The weather has been treacherous the last week. We hit a high of 101 degrees Saturday which eclipsed the old record by 7 degrees. It was a day that I enjoyed watching football from the couch. I had made up my mind that I would back off for a week and wait for some cooler temperatures. It was a short week of waiting. Two days to be exact. I woke up to a 40 degree morning.
I hustled the dogs into the truck which is always loaded for these type of emergency outings. There was a place I haven't been to in two years and it was calling for me and the boys to come visit. Being only about thirty miles from home and most of the miles paved I was there before dawn. I finished my coffee and the dogs and I headed down the old abandoned logging road.
I picked this spot because I knew it would be easier on Dakota who's hips are shot. He even got stuck crossing over logs twice today and waited patiently for me to come help him out. The old boy doesn't get off the trails much but he enjoys the outings just the same.
We found enough obliging grouse to have a good day and Riley actually held a few on point on the ground. Our last bird was a rough that held in the shoulder high brush as Riley pointed it.
I didn't pack the camera today and of course I had several decent opportunities. One was a calf elk. The boys were on point and as I moved in I could tell by their posture it wasn't a bird. Thinking the worst (skunk or porcupine) I whispered for them to whoa and crept in. On the other side of the brush was this calf elk that was as interested in us as we were of it. The calf (probably born in June) was alone and by the way it acted I'm sure we were the first dogs and human this elk had encountered.
The other good sighting was two hen turkeys with somewhere around 15 young ones. They were very small for this time of the year, about half the hen size.
I even heard a Tom gobble three different times, which is the first time I've ever heard one in the fall.
It was a great last grouse hunt for the year and it was especially nice to get Dakota out. It was 40 degrees when we started and 60 degrees when we got back to the truck two and a half hours later. 60 degrees is warm for the dogs when there is no clouds in the sky. They were starting to seek out shade trees.

The temps are back on the rise through the chukar opener in five days. It's supposed to be in the upper 80's on Saturday and then drop to the upper 70's on Sunday which will be when you find Riley and I up on the hill chasing our favorite bird.

Got the Blues

2011-09-21T11:23:00.000-07:00

The last few grouse trips I took on the blues, so today I decided to try some rough grouse territory. Karl, the ramrod of Upland Idaho, keeps telling me how fun they are to hunt. So, Riley and I took a drive to find a good looking rough grouse area. We happened to find an Access Yes property that seemed to fit our needs.

It wasn't long before Riley was in the deep brush and not moving. As I tried to move in, I could hear birds taking off but was not able to see them. I would then hear Riley moving through the brush again. So I assumed he was pointing the birds that flushed. This happened at least a dozen times within the first hour of hunting. Finally, I heard a bird flush and could tell it didn't fly far. As I moved around to the opposite side of the brush I found Riley looking up in a tree. Sure enough there was a rough looking down at us. Not wanting to take a bird this way I threw a stick at it and it flushed down the draw.

This scenario happened several times over the next three hours. I finally decided that if I could get a shot at a rough as it flushed from the heavy underbrush and I THOUGHT Riley was on point that was the only way I was going to get a rough. I shot the next three roughs that exploded from the thickets and a little later plastered a tree with 7 1/2 shot as the grouse used it for flight cover.

After about three hours of this I decided to move to more familiar terrain in which I could see farther than 20 yards. With my shirt torn and a few new scratches on my face I hunted the sage area next to the timber on my way back to the truck. I was rewarded with a flush of three blues. I picked out one and dropped it. Riley was quick to retrieve the bird. Whether he pointed the birds before the flush or not I'll never know. At this point I was just figuring that hunting grouse was different rules than hunting chukars and huns in the open country.

Sept. 18

2011-09-18T09:05:00.000-07:00

The weather made a good change this week. A cool front came through and brought some moisture with it. The kind of weather that insists that I make a trip to the hills. I've injured my right shoulder and can't lift my arm above my head but it still will come up high enough to shoulder the gun on my left arm which is good since I shoot left handed.

I hunted blues for two days, one with Riley and the second with both Riley and Dakota. I decided to hunt an area where I usually hunt chukars and find some blues in between coveys of chukars. The blues were there but not in the numbers that I have found in the past. In fact I was a little disappointed in the amount of chukars seen. But I know I could go back to the same places in a week and there might be birds all over the place.

I was hoping to get a picture of Dakota on point but it didn't happen. His range has shortened considerable and Riley got all the action. The blues we did find held great and are going to provide a great dinner for Barb and I. Tom, I even put a couple in the freezer for you when you get back. I know how you enjoy a good grouse meal. The weather is supposed to heat up. If it does I'll probably just do some exercise hiking and give my shoulder a break until chukar opens in 12 days. Be safe.

Miles with Riles Sept. 9

2011-09-09T14:28:00.000-07:00

Well my oversea friends. I finally made my first hunting trip of the season. Jeff, you'll be able to recognize the area from the pictures. It's the old log landing. I've been holding off for a cooler and hopefully damp day but it doesn't look like it's coming for a while so I decided to take off early this morning and give it a go.

Dakota, Riley and I took off early this morning in hopes of maybe hearing a few bugles before we started hunting. One bull obliged us and answered our bugles three times. It was obvious he was happy where he was at and if I wanted to see him I would have to go to him. My archery days are over and I was just happy to hear his bugle.

Shortly after the sun came up a young red fox crossed our paths. As you can see there is a fire somewhere and the smoke is settling in. I heard there was a fire in Oregon that might be causing the smoky skies. Shortly after spotting the fox, Riley jumped a doe and fawn and hurried back to hide behind me. He's my 88 pound chicken when it comes to big game.

Our first blue came off the sage brush tops. There seemed to be a sufficient amount of blues in small groups but the scenting conditions were poor and Riley wasn't holding until he was right on top of the birds. Luckily some were holding tight enough for some five foot points. By the time we found the birds Dakota was tired and happy just to stroll along with us.

We hunted the top a little longer and took a couple more blues before heading for the deeper draws in hope for a rough grouse. It was a good decision because I had depleted the dog water and we needed to find some water. When we found the water we also found the roughs. The problem with those darn birds is they like the thick cover. They either flew through the thick underbrush or flew straight up in a tree and stared at us. Needless to say, we didn't get a rough. We did, however, spook a bear out of the thick stuff.

Although it's much better than what you guys are doing right now, it's a little early to get real excited. The dust and hot weather is tough on both the dogs and myself. Last week I had Riley at the vets getting a piece of cheat from his throat. Today he and Dakota were doing a lot of sneezing. I probably won't be out much until we get some moisture to knock down some of this dust but I'll keep you posted.

I hope the pictures I posted keep your hearts close to home.

Miles with Riles

2011-09-02T10:57:00.000-07:00

I've had a couple friends who are over sea and asked me to keep them posted on the chukar hunting. Hopefully, this blog will help keep them excited to get back to the states and some great bird hunting. Barb suggested I call this hunting year "Miles with Riles".
With Dakota's hips giving out, I have retired him to milder hunts on flatter land. I might even take a few quail trips for his thirteenth season. Quail aren't my bird of choice, but Dakota deserves to be kept active as long as he can.
My 88 pound GSP, Riley will be the solo star on our chukar hunts. I hope my weekly hunting blogs will keep you guys entertained while you guys are keeping us safe.

The eyes have it

2011-08-26T09:57:00.000-07:00

I went for a conditioning hike with Riley yesterday. We had to go to the high country to try and find some cooler areas. The area had plenty of old logging roads and game trails but once you got off of them it was very thick. I was very happy to see Riley's range shorten so much due to the thick country. Even with the shorter range I was glad I had my astro and a beeper collar on Riley. The collar said he was on point at 23 yards but I couldn't locate him. I got closer by pushing the locate beep and finally saw him on point in the thick cover. As I approached a grouse flushed but Riley remained motionless. I made as much noise as possible trying to flush another bird with no luck. No matter what I did Riley would not break point or come to me. I finally decided to beat through the brush and get him. I got about three yards away and noticed his eyes fixed on something. I looked for a couple of minutes and decided he must be still pointing the bird that had already flushed. No coaxing would get Riley to move so I reached out to grab him by the collar. As I did a rough grouse flushed right next to my right hand. Scared the crap out of me and Riley was off to find another.

Just wone word. TRUST

Push yourself

2011-08-21T17:56:00.000-07:00

Probably the people that need this advice the most won't be reading this post. They are the people about my age and aren't to savvy about the computer and blogs. All the same I'll try and help those who are getting closer to the middle age.

It seems every time I have started up the hill training dogs or scouting chukar this summer it's been real hard motivating myself. I get started and within a short time I'm thinking maybe I'll make it a short one today. My hips are sore, breathing is labored and in general I feel pooped. But, because of the dogs I push on because I know they need a little more exercise.

What I have found is that every year it seems harder to get started but once the body gets lubed the hills seem a little flatter. Maybe the veins don't transport the oxygen to the muscles as fast as it used to or the heart isn't quite as strong as when I was forty but it seems like the oxygen finally gets distributed through the body and the next ridge doesn't seem quite so far.

Today I started up the hill very early. There were some clouds in the sky as the sun came up which helped the temperature some. I also try to walk the shaded side of the draws when possible to help the dogs. As I mentioned, about a half hour into the trip I was feeling bushed. I decided to get to the top of the first ridge and than decide how long of a trip I wanted to take. Ten minutes later I was there and that burning sensation in my lungs and legs was gone. I looked the country over and made my plans for the rest of our excursion. It was just a matter of pushing myself over the hump.

In my athletic days they used to call it "getting your second wind" or "pushing yourself over the hump". Today I call it just pushing yourself for the pleasure of getting there because of all the great experiences you have had in the past. Most pleasures in life are usually gained through some type of effort and chukar hunting is no different. As you gain a little age it sometimes becomes a great feeling just to push yourself over one more mountain, but that can't be done without getting over the first hump which seems to be the toughest one for me.

When I train or hike I always go with my hunting garb minus the gun. This way I keep reminding myself of what I need to put in which pouch making it more convenient for both me and the dogs.

Today I hiked to the top of this first ridge before I got the good blood running through my body. I picked the farthest knob on the left of this picture as my destination figuring it would produce several coveys of huns and chukars to work the dogs on.

I was a little disappointed in the birds although I saw lots of tracks and dust bowls on the dusty trails But the dog activity helped to keep the blood pumping in anticipation. On the whole trip I only had seven points and honors and three of them were unproductive but the excitement was still there as I walked out in front of the pointing dogs.

I am retired now so I have a lot more time to hike the hills. I go at least twice a week not only because I enjoy it but because I know that if I don't it will be harder to get started again once I slow down. I had a knee replacement five years ago and a few other mishaps that have held me up for a few weeks and each time I felt like I had a gorilla on my back for a month. The conditioning came back but it's a lot easier if you don't let it go. So you guys over 60 keep pushing yourselves and lets not let all the 30 and 40 years old guys have all the fun.

Chukars: The perfect upland dog bird.

2011-08-11T19:05:00.000-07:00

Watching a bird dog do his thing can be a fantastic experience. You need birds to make it happen. But which upland species is the best bird for bringing out the best in a dog? You'll probably get as many answers as there are upland birds. Since I am not a world traveler, I have limited experience. My travels have only taken me hunting in four western states where I have hunted pheasant, California quail, bob white quail, sage hen, Hungarian partridge and chukar. Although it is exciting to watch a bird dog work any of the above mentioned birds, I think chukars provide the best over all experience for an upland hunter and his companion.
There is nothing like hearing the flush of a cock pheasant as he takes air. The cackle, brilliant colors, and long tails make the heart pound in both canine and human and that excitement is many times the reason for a missed shot. It takes a good dog to get pheasants to hold and he/she must be a good tracker because crippled pheasant can run a long way and hide in dense cover. But pheasants aren't my number 1 bird for pointing dogs because of the cover they live in. Most times pheasant hunting is done in groups with blockers and pushing the birds. When a dog is on point it usually is heavy enough cover that you can't enjoy the beauty of the staunch point. Also many times you don't know whether the dog is retrieving the bird until he is within a few yards. Another negative when pheasant hunting, in my opinion, is that there is a lot of human noise since the hunting is usually done in groups. Human noises can be distracting to dogs, which takes away from the hunting experience.
Quail are a fast action bird. When you find the birds there is usually a lot of shooting in a short order. That is probably one of the best reasons to take youths quail hunting. They need action to keep them involved. But quail aren't the best bird for a pointing dog. Once again the quail like thick cover to retreat to. Many times you know your dog is in there on point but can't see him. I like walking in front of my pointing dog and doing the flushing which is impossible many of the times. Quail also like to hop from branch to branch in the bushes high over dogs heads which often times will cause many dogs to bark since these birds aren't playing by a pointing dog's rules. That brings me to grouse.
Grouse are a great bird for the solo hunter and dog. There is usually lots of ground to cover and a mixture of thick and open country. Dogs are a little more visible when hunting grouse where I do. My problem with grouse is that often times they fly straight up into the tree close to the point. The dog's see this and soon have their front legs on the tree trunk barking up at the treed bird. I can't force myself to shoot a bird out of the tree or even flying from his perch.
Although I haven't hunted sage hen for twenty or more years, it was more of a slaughter in those years than a hunting experience. When you found the bird they were in such large coveys you had your limit of three in about ten minutes.
I have to lump huns and chukars together as far as the perfect bird for a pointing dog enthusiast. The only real differences between the two as far as hunting is concerned is the terrain and the fact that huns usually take off in one big group while chukars will often have some stragglers.
Chukar hunting, although usually quite hilly, means lots of wide open space. In that space you can usually see a pointing dog ranging at greater distances, which I prefer so I can see the dog work. You sometimes also see flushed birds at a distant, but crap happens. In chukar country you can watch a dog use the wind and slam to point. Also, you learn to appreciate the retrieve of your dog. The country is so steep it often requires a 200 yard retrieve or longer and usually straight back up the hill. Watching a dog make a 10 or 15 minute retrieve is proof of the respect we owe our hunting companions.
As far as the birds themselves, what a ride they can take a hunting dog on. They may not leave as much scent as a pheasant, but what they lack in smell they make up for in numbers. Chukars like to covey up which leaves plenty of scent and some to spare. They move up and down the steep hills and leave plenty of scent in the cheat grass covered slopes. The coveys are usually spread enough to confuse a dog as to where exactly the smell is coming from. Although they do like to run uphill, a good pointing dog can usually stop and hold them in the sparsest of cover. They very seldom fly uphill giving the shooter a reasonable chance of positioning himself for the shot. In my opinion a chukar will hold as long as a quail giving the hunter plenty of time to approach his dog and appreciate the abilities of this canine predator. As I mentioned earlier, chukars don't always flush simultaneously. Quite often there are stragglers. It is always impressive to see your dog hold point while a covey is rising because he is making eye contact with one that is still holding. It is equally impressive to have your dog retrieving a bird uphill and then locking in on another bird while still holding the dead bird.
Obviously the chukar is the bird of choice for me. Because of the open country they dwell in and because of their willingness to hold for a pointing dog. Another pleasure of hunting chukars is generous bag limits and the big country. A person can park his vehicle, start walking and hunt for six or eight hours before returning to the truck. During the excursion it's not unusual to have fifteen or twenty points or more. Just watching the enthusiasm of the dogs as they cut the scent and try to locate the birds is enough for most. Throwing in all the different animals you might see while traversing the hills is another plus to the chukar hunt. Add the different shooting scenarios the flushing birds create and you find the chukar a formidable opponent for both you and your dog.
I have never had a bad chukar hunt. I enjoy every one because of the great dog work. But success is only when I have combined my ability as a human with my dogs predatory advantage and bring home some meat. Chukars and chukar country provide the perfect challenge for me and my dogs.

Snake avoidance

2011-07-22T13:26:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder for those who haven't ever had their dog trained to snake avoidance. Although very few dogs ever die from a snake bite the effect of getting bit is very ugly and can be very dangerous to their health. I have seen two dogs that were bit in the face and their heads were the size of basketball before the swelling went down. So, if you hunt the warm season I'd get it done and have a little more comfort for your dogs sake. Boise, Idaho should be having a class in the next few weeks.

Bored

2011-07-14T14:07:00.000-07:00

Not much to talk about since my last post. We've only been up in the chukar hills a couple of times this month. I've been spending some time improving my pond and having fun with the grand kids. There is nothing like family and friends to help forget about chukar hunting for a while. Now that I've got new grass started around the pond Riley and I will have more time to venture back to the hills to observe numbers of chukars learning to fly. (I say that with fingers crossed)
Until then here are some pictures of how we spend our boring days.
My grandson, Conner, and I had a contest of who could outrun young Killdeer and catch one. Obviously he won.

Granddaughter Emily catching her first bass.

Granddaughter Megan catching her first bass.

My 2 year old grandson, Mac caught his first fish but my camera was out of batteries. It was a nice bluegill. Even the world's worst fisherman got some action.

Riley figures if Larry can catch one he could surely catch one of those bluegills in the shallows.

Barb and I took a camping trip and took in a few hikes in the old elk hunting stomping grounds. Barb and the boys enjoy our hikes.

This bull was keeping a close eye on them.

I could bore you with other such pictures but am anxious to get back to chukar talk. Here's to looking forward to cooler days and plenty of birds on the hill.

recent hatch

2011-06-23T11:12:00.000-07:00

Was out this morning with Riley and couldn't wait to report my findings. We hiked for just over an hour and found four coveys of little ones. All coveys seemed like they were between 10 and 15 birds each. The first three coveys flushed and flew quite a ways so I thought they were about four weeks old. But after finding the fourth covey I think maybe they were only a couple of weeks old.

Riley pointed this baby. I could tell he was right on top of it but it took me three or four minutes before I found it. This chick could have fit in the palm of my hand.

I reached down to pick it up and take a picture in my hand and it and a dozen or so more took off and flew about two hundred yards just like the previous coveys. I was amazed how well they flew.
In captivity the chicks usually don't fly until about four to five weeks but I guess things are different in the real world. My boys and I are satisfied that we are having a good hatch so we will be spending the rest of the summer in the high mountain parks and drooling over the thoughts of being back on the chukar mountains in September.

last day of spring

2011-06-21T15:18:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd add a few pictures taken this last week of the spring. Hopefully I'll be seeing some little fuzzy chuks and huns in the next couple of weeks. If so I'll be savoring the opener of upland season.
There are still some Tom's left and I did see some real young turkey chicks (less then a week) but couldn't manage a picture.

The big game animals had a great spring

I'm sure the predators will help keep the thousands of birds that are about to hatch in check so that we don't run out of shells this season.

They could have made home a little more accommodating.

While out this week I saw lots of singles as far as chukars and huns go. I believe that's good news and hopefully in about two weeks I'll be showing pictures of fuzz balls. Have a great summer and let's hope for a great upcoming upland season.

Still looking good.

2011-06-16T13:05:00.000-07:00

Went out with Riley to one of my favorite chukar spots and was pretty happy with what I saw. We saw no fewer than 20 different pair of chukars and one pair of huns. We didn't find any babies yet and couldn't find the nests. Most of the birds didn't fly far and by the way Riley did a lot of relocating, the birds were leading him away from the nesting area. The other positive sign was no birds were talking. With the number of birds we saw you would think they would be chatting some. Until the little ones are big enough for their first flight chukars don't talk as much. They, like other wild life don't want to attract attention to their nest or young ones. After their initial flight they start talking much more and forming bigger groups.

The really interesting fact is what my records show. The last time it was this late before I saw my first chukar chick was 2005. It was a great chukar year.
Also of interest. Lot's of insects out there.

Spring 2011.

2011-06-10T15:08:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been having a great spring despite the weather. Actually, because of the weather it's been a little refreshing walking the hills. Rather than telling a long story I figured it easier to just show some pictures and let you figure the rest.
Big male grouse strutting his stuff.

Blue Grouse nest late in May

Fox leading me to her den. I wasn't quick enough to get pictures of the young ones running under the rock into their den.

This rough grouse hung around on the ground for quite a while before flying into the tree indicating she had a nest close by but we never found it.

Always unwanted company.

Female grouse trying to encourage me to follow her. The wet little one had just exited an egg and it was time for me and Riley to leave mom to her duties.

Lot's of baby deer and elk around. The fawn pictures didn't turn out very good.
A little R & R.

Proud mom.

Doubly proud

Fighting over ownership.

Wheres my mom?

Riley pointing turkey on June 10. She reluctantly flew off, once again leading me to believe there was a nest or little ones close by. We looked briefly and then left to see her fly back five minutes later.

And last. Riley pointed this hun, who pulled the crippled bird act right down to me. I caught her, took a picture, took a picture of her nest and then vacated with Riley. This was also on the 10th of June. These eggs could be hatched tomorrow or in the next 23 days. Do the math and hopefully we're on our way to a good season.

Have a great summer.

The hatch

2011-06-09T12:43:00.000-07:00

With the cooler and wetter weather we have had this spring I've been getting a lot of calls from hunting partners and other chukar hunters wondering what I think the hatch will be like. I, like every other chukar hunter, am very interested in what conditions make for the best survival of nests and babies. I have incubated and raised pheasant, chukar, huns and quail and know what changes in temperature, humidity and other factors can do during this artificial process for survival of chicks. I graduated from the great Boise State University (Boise State College at that time) with a minor in biology. I spend much more time in the field than the average guy. With that, I can say I don't know diddly squat about the hatch. But I have my beliefs so here goes.
Once in a while mother nature throws us a curve. But she is pretty forgiving. All creatures have basic instincts for survival and upland birds are no different. They do not no how to read a calendar so have no idea of what day they should start nesting. Certain weather patterns and conditions get the ball rolling.
Chukar eggs take 23 days to incubate. The hen will lay an egg a day or every other day until she is ready to sit the nest. Each day after laying the egg she covers the nest for protection. She does not sit on the nest until the final egg is down. Like in artificial incubation process the egg must be stored at a cooler temperature until incubation begins. By covering the eggs she is regulating the temperature. When she has laid the last egg she sits on the nest constantly beginning the 23 day incubating process. She gets off the nest only to turn the eggs occasionally and to eat and drink. Mother nature has given her the instinct to know she must keep the eggs at a constant temperature in order for them to hatch. In the artificial process that temperature is 99.5 degree. If you let the temperature fluctuate too much or not turn the eggs survival is compromised.
So here is where my theory comes in. The mother knows she needs help keeping the eggs warm during the times she is not on the nest. If the temperature is too cool she will put off laying eggs until it begins to warm. On years like this year upland birds may nest two to four weeks later than normal years. My guess is the majority of the birds will hatch between June 15 and July 1 this year instead of June 1 to June 15.
The curve ball I was speaking of is when we get that early false spring. We have two or three weeks of above normal temperatures which start the laying process followed by a big cool down and wet weather. The chicks are then hatched at a vulnerable time and survival will be tough. Also, eggs are more vulnerable to these conditions because the hen must get off the nest now and then to eat and the egg temperature may drop too much. In this case the eggs have been lost. In both cases the hen will renest especially if she has just lost the nest, but the clutch will be smaller.
This year's spring has been cool from the start and has warmed slowly. So, as I stated earlier, I think we will start seeing chicks running around in the next week or two. I've spent many hours in the chukar hills and my observations tell me that chukars are still sitting. But the only positive scientific explanation I can give is my HOPE for another banner chukar year.

Turkey slam

2011-05-11T15:59:00.000-07:00

For most United States turkey hunters a slam includes the four species found in the states. The merriam, the eastern, the rio grande, and the osceola. In order to get all four species a person has to have more money than me, have time to travel the states, and have access to private land in Florida for the Osceola.
I formed my own rules for a turkey slam. These rules fit my budget a lot better. There are two rules in order for me to be successful. All four birds must be mature tom's and they must be shot in four different locations.
Although I've been fortunate enough to shoot two easterns in northern Idaho, they are few and far between so four merriams will have to do. Also, I already have an Oregon hunting license so I have to just incur the cost of two turkey tags in Oregon and two in Idaho.
With the seemingly endless winter still upon us for the opener in Idaho, I wasn't surprised to find myself hunting in snow. I hunted hard that first day and heard only two gobbles. I can't remember an opening day that the birds weren't hammering from their roost before sunrise until this year. Because of the deep snow I was unable to venture in as far as I have in the past, so day two took me further in because of a shortcut I found in years past. The birds were a little more vocal on this day but still unwilling to stay fired up. They gave me the impression that they weren't ready for love making yet.
On the eighteenth of April I tried a different location. I had seen birds there before but never hunted it but I knew the snow was gone from this area. I got on the hill early and was pleased to hear a distant gobble. As I worked in closer I heard him gobbling from the tree and then fly to the ground. I was within about 150 yards and quickly set up. A couple of yelps from me and two turkeys soon came over the ridge towards me. A jake and a tom. For three hours that tom spit, drummed, and gobbled at me from about 75 yards. He had me pinned down and all I could do was yelp softly with the diaphragm. He finally got bored with the game and headed up the hill. No amount of my calling could turn him around. He left me and the jake there to our miseries.
April 20th found me in yet a new location. I had to get up extremely early to get into this spot since it was a four mile hike up hill to this spot. I found it one year chukar hunting. When I got there the birds were really letting each other have it from the trees. I could hear at least three different groups of birds. I chose the gobbling below me. It should have worked out to my advantage. I could see several birds in a tree with my binoculars through the dim light. I moved into about 200 yards and let them have some soft yelps. They greeted me with a chorus of gobbles each time I would yelp. They finally hit the ground and they numbered 27 birds. They gobbled a few more times but then became consumed with fighting amongst themselves. They put on quite a show from 150 yards away and totally ignored my pleading to them for love. They suddenly quit fighting and started feeding in my direction. I don't know how many jakes and hens there were but I counted 11 long beards in the group. As they fed their way through the sage towards me, I could tell they knew where I (the hen) was supposed to be and kept looking for me with an occasional strut. At 35 yards away I was trying to make out which bird was biggest and they suddenly formed a line and marched straight away from me up the hill. Right below me was a red fox coming up the creek to investigate.
Well these birds were off to the races and they had consumed an hour and a half of hunting time so I headed back up hill to where I heard the other birds earlier. Luckily they were still there. I immediately got responses from two birds within 200 yards away and another Tom I could see strutting well over a half mile away. Every time I would yelp they would answer. The furthest seemed to be most aggressive but I had two tom's within 200 yards. I called for a half hour and the two closer birds kept coming closer and then backing off. There was a small ridge about 30 yards away between me and the birds. I could see the fans once in a while but never the beards. Finally the bird that was way over there had crossed the draw and came up behind me. When he gobbled at about 30 yards behind me it was more than the two tom's could handle and they strutted over the ridge gobbling. I don't know which bird was bigger but I knew the bird my bead was on had a long beard and at the sound of the shotgun bird #1 was in the bag.

April 25th found me turkey hunting again. Although, it was hard not revisiting the spot of my last conquest, that's one of my rules. So I went back to the place where the big tom held me down for three hours. I don't know whether it was the same bird, because it didn't seem as big, but I called in a jake and a tom again. This time the birds came within 15 yards and a dose of number six gave me my second leg and last bird for Idaho. The time was 7:15 A.M.

Then the torrential rains came again and I was stuck at home working and waiting to go to Oregon. The dogs and I hooked up the fifth wheel Sunday the 8th of May and headed out. We had camp set up early enough to take an evening scout. The dogs appreciated the hike and I was a little depressed by the sign we saw. None the less we were there to hunt and hunting the next morn I would go. I was even more disappointed in the morning to not hear one bird from the roost. There was enough sign to say there were birds in the area but they weren't talking. I walked the logging roads and tried to raise a gobble but my efforts failed to interest any birds. Finally at 10:30 I heard a faint response. I hurried down the trail and got a response again. I set up and heard two responses to my call. Five minutes later two heads poked over the hill 25 yards away. I watched them gobble simultaneously and then they topped the ridge. I was disappointed to see two jakes and decided to sit still while they walked away. Suddenly another gobble came from the same direction but behind the two birds I could see. Fate was on my side. The big boy stepped over the hill behind the two jakes and displayed his fan. He got two good spit and drums in before I couldn't handle it anymore. Leg #3 done.
Back at camp I loaded up Dakota and Riley and head for another area 40 miles to the north. Once again we took a good scouting hike. Riley busted a couple of turkeys, giving me hope for the following day. At 5 A.M. I was on the mountain in search of the final leg. Shortly after shooting light I heard one gobble and headed in that direction. I set up and tried to get a response but heard nothing. After fifteen minutes or so I heard him spitting and drumming. I could hear him but couldn't see him. Finally behind a lg about 40 yards away I saw his white head peek over and then he would strut again. This went on for a half hour or so and then it was over. I have no idea what happened or where he went. He was just gone. I headed off in the direction of the bird but never heard or saw him again. But I did come face to face with a black bear. He must have thought I was one tough son of a gun. He turned tail so fast that I actually heard him fart as he took off.
About 11:00 A.M. I finally got another response. I could tell he was eager because anything I said made him gobble. I had a beautiful place to set up with a logging road in between us. He put on the best display of all four birds. He hit the old logging road spitting and drumming and pacing back and fourth. With each pace he got about five feet closer to me. I have never seen such vibrant reds, whites and blues as this bird showed. He was put to rest at 7 yards. So these two birds finished my slam, for whatever it's worth. (lot's of fun)

Although I was through hunting I decided to stay one more day and check another area out. So once again the dogs and I traveled to another area and took a scouting hike. We found plenty of sign and once again Riley flushed a couple of turkeys so I thought I'd give it an early morning try with a camera. Once again the birds were silent first light. I did have a pack of bear dogs give me some excitement. They were obviously on a bear and I could tell they were traveling the same trail I had used to get in there. I got up against a tree not knowing how the dogs would react to me. I knew the bear would run, but wasn't sure about the dogs. Luckily they turned before they got to me.
The dogs did elicit a shock gobble which I honed in on. After calling the bird pitched off the hill above me and landed in a draw 50 yards below me. Once again I set up with an old logging road between us. When the bird hit the road I moved to turn on the camera and the bird caught the motion and was gone in an instant.
One more turkey year in the books and time to prepare for the baby season and picture taking.

training and cameras.

2011-03-06T18:25:00.000-08:00

I've been spending a lot of times in the last five weeks chasing birds and dogs with my camera. At the same time I've been trying to do a little training. I found it just as futile to try and train while trying to get that perfect picture as it is to train while hunting. The only way it works the way it should is if you have another person shooting the gun or camera while you're training.
Two days ago I was out trying to get a picture of Riley and the chukars flushing while I approached from the front. I never did get a good picture but I proceeded to let Riley start breaking at the flush. The same procedure he was doing towards the end of the gun season.
Today I left the camera in the truck. It took about 30 minutes to have Riley back into form. Proper training depends highly on applying stimulus at the right time. No matter what the stimulus is, e collar, rope, whoa, or whatever else a person might use. If a person tries to shoot a bird or take a picture and then apply the stimulus it is too late.
I was on the mountain for two hours with Riley and it took two corrections for him to remember what he is supposed to do on flushed birds. As we came off the hill we had three more hun pairs pointed. I flushed one pair and the other two pair flushed wild, but each time Riley stood fast until I released him. Because of prior mistakes in my training methods he won't release with an o.k. I have to slap my hands or leg or he'll stand steady.
I know that part of the way through the hunting season he'll start back with some of those bad habits but I usually live with it or put the gun up for a reminder lesson.

one year

2011-02-24T23:10:00.000-08:00

My mentor and greatest hunting companion has been gone one year today. I went high on his favorite hill and fired a reload with his ashes to let Tucker know I miss him. As the ashes fell to the ground with the falling snow I felt at ease to know Tucker is hunting on a mountain where chukars are everywhere.

To shoot or not to shoot

2011-02-23T20:39:00.000-08:00

I was having lunch with another chukar hunter yesterday and dogs were the topic of discussion, as usual. This was Mike's second year of chukar hunting and he has done a very fine job of training Aspen, his GSP. She is doing a very good job of pointing and loves to retrieve. She needs some work on backing and we'll be working on that in the upcoming months. I only hunted with Mike twice, but I could tell he was very safe minded when it came to firing a shot.
Well, after visiting with him yesterday, I found that it was more than just safety. He didn't want to shoot around me if his dog wasn't locked up. Every shot he saw me take was when Riley was locked dead solid on point and figured that was the way it was supposed to be. He told me he finally had to start shooting birds that either he flushed or the birds flushed once in a while or the shooting was going to be minimal.
He finally asked me if I only shot birds that Riley had pointed and I flushed. My answer was an emphatic ALWAYS SOMETIMES. It seems I was lucky and he saw me shoot four times at birds that were held perfect but he didn't get to see what happened after Riley and I disappeared over the rise.
I wish my dogs were so good that it was always a point, my flush, a shot and then a retrieve. But neither me or the dog are that good. Anyone that says that the only time they shoot a bird is when it is just right either gets very few birds or is distorting the truth.
The first year of training/hunting a dog I try not to shoot busted birds or passer bys, but after I know the dog knows what he's doing I change my thoughts some. Every dog and every hunter is different and we should style our hunting behind the dogs and the hunter. Too many hunters read books and magazines from trainers and trial dogs and figure that's the way it should be. Those big time trialer's and trainers are making a living off those dogs and if they don't win so many awards who is going to buy a pup from them? Most of those dogs are taken out of the field once they make a mistake and returned to retry another day. Most hunters wouldn't make it a half mile from the truck if that were the rules in hunting.
Mike admittedly didn't get a much shooting last year as he would have liked. It didn't hurt anything but didn't help much either. Shooting birds is part of the equation also. Dog points, hunter flushes, hunter shoots and then the dog retrieves. That's the way it is supposed to work. So what do I do when the bird flushes wild or the dog flushes the bird?
It depends on the situation for me and my dogs. We are not perfectionists, but I want to keep it hunting with a partner (my dog) and not just killing. I try and never shoot at a bird that is intentionally busted by the dog. They know what their job is and that is to point birds and hold them. There is an exception to every rule. For me that is when those darned chukars are doing mach 1 up the slope and my dogs try pointing them but they just keep on moving up. There is a point when the dog gets tired of pointing running birds and finally rushes for the flush. If those birds fly over me I'm going to try and take one down. I can't think of many other times I'll shoot at a bird that my dogs intentionally chase up.
There are many other times that aren't perfect that I'll shoot at the chukars also. There are the times when I flush the birds and my boys have nothing to do with the flush. If the situation is safe, I'll shoot and then direct the dog for a retrieve if he doesn't see the bird go down. There are the times when the birds flush from a point before I flush them. This is no fault of the dog so why not take the shot and reward the dog for a good job done.
Another question Mike asked was if I made Riley stay until I released him for the fetch? Once again, I'm not a perfectionist so i let my dogs break on the flush. There are many pro and cons on the subject such as safety or the dogs busting more birds when he breaks but I deal with those issues in my own ways. I'm responsible for my dogs safety and I don't care if I get more then one bird out of the covey.
These two pictures are a good example of what I'm talking about when it comes to safety. This first picture Riley is holding a pair of huns between him and I.

I move in for the flush and after I flush the birds Riley breaks. As you can see there is not a safe shot. Possibly if Riley hadn't broke I might have been able to take a shot. A broke dog would still be at point at this stage but I'm not willing to add the additional pressure to my dogs.

Hunting for me is pleasure. I don't have to kill a bird to have an enjoyable hunt, but I do base my success on the number of birds that me and my dogs bag while hunting together as cooperative partners. A few of my most memorable hunts were with the game bag empty but the most successful hunt I ever had was with 8 chukars and 8 huns weighing me down after my dog and I worked together as a team.

Staying in chukar hunting condition

2011-02-15T09:00:00.000-08:00

It seems like every year about this time I get questions from my family concerning my senility. My kids are both health nuts and spend hours at the gym and my wife has her little home gym she likes to use. Me, well I'm a fool and just go back out in the wind, rain, snow, or shine and walk the hills. It doesn't make much sense to them.
I graduated from Boise State in the early 70s and used a track scholarship to pay my way. I was a sprinter and know all the benefits of weight training, running the steps, and all of the other activities involved with being an athlete. As I aged I continued working out and joining the local gym, playing basketball, racquetball, walking on the stair stepper and so on. I quit playing basketball at 44 because my back would ache the morning after and it was getting harder to roll out of bed to get to work. It occurred a couple of years after that when Tucker came along that I didn't have time to work, go to the gym, spend time with the family, and work my dog. Something had to go and it was the gym. That seemed the smart thing to do since my knees and back were starting to feel the effects of climbing ladders all day at work and then going to the gym.
Since that time I have made the outdoors my gym. I kill two birds with one stone. Work my dogs and also work myself. At first I only could get a couple of times a week because of my job or family responsibilities but now that I am semi retired I make sure to get out four times a week depending on the weather. My only rule is that I have to go at least four miles or 2000 feet in elevation to consider it a work out. I still stretch every day and maybe do a set of crunches and push ups now and then but I can't find any excitement about going back to the traditional work outs.
Of course while I'm out I have to respect the others that are out there and give them their space.

The elk are in a critical stage. In three months they will be calving so they need to save as much energy as possible. I always leave these areas immediately, and hopefully don't disturb the deer or elk.
My boys always find some treats to show off a long the trail.

I also try and go a different area each time I wander off. The reasons are obvious. Not only does it add to the excitement it allows me to find new places to hunt or maybe not to hunt. For those who like working out at the gym, let's call it sizing up the opponent. In this case the opponent is the hill. I use to watch an opposing player in a racquetball tournament before our match would come up. Now I walk the hills to see what opportunities it might present. I look for a lot of this kind of sign.

As I mentioned as I'm huffing and puffing up the hills and getting that burning feeling in my legs and chest I get to do a little training. I always dress my boys in full combat gear the same as me. The only thing different is I'm not carrying a shotgun and shells which takes about 9 or ten 10 pounds off. I make sure everyone gets their turn at pointing and honoring.

After the boys have made it clear that they know what they are doing I take advantage and move out front with the camera. Since it is taking the place of my gun I find what kind of a shot I am. As you see I need to get a lot more lead on this pair of huns.

I shot over the top of this chukar. Maybe this relates to why I only shoot 60% at chukars and have to spend a little more time at the sporting clays course.

The end result is I really enjoy my work out. Just like a snow skier can't wait for the next time he hits the mountain, a tennis player looks forwards to tomorrows match, hockey player waits for his next game, or the gym enthusiast can't wait to get on his treadmill, I look forward to each day I can get on the mountain with my dogs. Another month from now I will start scouting out for turkey season. My dogs will be along since we are only looking for birds and sign. When the season opens they will be missing the days I hunt but I make a point of making sure I still get them out at least twice a week.
At 60 years of age, the only thing I find hard about my training method is the first half hour. The body seems to take a little longer to get the lube in the right places, but once it is lubed I can go anywhere I did at 30. It takes a little more time than going to the gym a mile a way and you don't get to turn the T.V. on during your work out to see what's happening in Egypt, but the view you get is spectacular.

February training.

2011-02-08T15:16:00.000-08:00

Although we've been out a couple of times this month today was our first training or photo session of the month. This is the best time of the year for training in my opinion. Especially on wild huns. They are already starting to pair up and those places where you found some nice coveys last hunting season are starting to scatter and present lots of training possibilities. My boys had a great year but wanted to help me flush the birds towards the end of the season. That's what I worked on today. Making sure they get back in tune to who does the flushing.
In another month the chukars will start pairing up and offering another good chance for multiple training ops in a day on wild birds.
Here are some of the pictures of our outing today.
Riley pointing with Dakota honoring.

Dakota pointing with Riley honoring from over 100 yards. Dakota used to honor from a distance like this but as he got older started fudging some to make sure he gets into the action. The wild horses are enjoying watching the dogs work.

I walked in and flushed a pair of huns but only got one in the picture.

Then I took a close up of the horses before they snorted a 50 gallon bucket of air at me and ran off.

Here's a long cross canyon point and honor with Riley being the pointing dog.

A couple more of Riley's points.

Once again I flush a pair.

Another point and honor.

Riley's last point of the day as I move around him taking pictures while Dakota is honoring.

And then turned and flushed these two huns for a possible double.

What a perfect day on the hill.

The sum of it all

2011-01-31T16:34:00.000-08:00

Well, another great hunting season has come and gone. There were many ups and very few downs to the season and the downs were so minor you can hardly include them when you sum up the experiences we had.
To start the season, upland hunters were made aware of the probable availability of chukars/huns by the usual helicopter survey by the Idaho Fish and Game. The counts were similar to last year which was slightly below the 10 year average. To my delight and many of the other upland hunters I visited with, the counts seemed quite higher than they estimated. For me personally, out of 25 five years of keeping records I only show two years that were comparable or better than this season.
Part of the reason for the poor helicopter survey might have been due to the young birds. There were many young birds in the early season due to late hatching conditions. Many of these birds may have not been able to fly well during these flights by the game department.
Birds at times were hard to find, but when you finally found them there were lots.. I had several days where I would only see a covey in the first couple of hours of hunting and then see fifteen coveys in the next two hours. Many times this year I saw coveys with over fifty birds in them. Early in the season I saw very few huns but as the season progressed I found more and more huns, even in the places I hadn't seen any earlier in the season.
To sum up my season, I went chukar/hun hunting a total of eighty times this year. No hunting adventure was less than four miles or under 1200 feet of elevation gained. Riley hunted solo with me 59 times, Dakota 9 times, and I hunted with both dogs 12 times. That's a lot of entertainment for one season. We got to see a wide variety of wildlife on our trips. We encountered one cougar, many deer, elk, coyotes, skunks, and walked among a host of bighorn sheep. We had a first this year. We saw a moose and he was in an area that you would never expect to see one. Another first for me was seeing a mule deer actually drop an antler. I jumped him from his bed and he dropped one side as he bounced off.
As I said there were very few negatives for the 2010 chukar/hun season. The biggest downfall was my shooting. I usually shoot in the mid 60% area on chukars but fell to a dismal 59%. The season started like gang busters and ended up in the cellar. The only excuse I can come up with is that we had an unusually snowy and cold December and January. The frozen ground and deeper snow made footing hard to establish at times. Those same conditions kept the birds on the burnt off slopes which made getting to them harder. The only other bad things that happened this year were the normal adverse things that happen on hunting trips. Riley got stitched up a time or two and lost a toe nail, I had several cuts and bruises, along with a misaligned nose, and I have some new battle scars on my guns.
The pluses to the season are many. Too many to name them all. Probably the best thing that happened in the 2010 hunting season was having my son hunt with me on three occasions and my eight year old grandson tag along with me on another. My son, Doug, a 34 year old who spends a lot of time in the gym, kept Riley and I hustling up and down the hills. In fact, on our last hunt yesterday we went further and gained more elevation than any other trip this year. I also have to admit his shooting even made me feel like I was good. Conner, my eight year old grandson, insisted on we keep going until we get a limit of chukar. We ended up going 5 1/2 miles and climbing 1500 feet of elevation. I was ready to head down for his sake but he wanted nothing to do with it.
My dogs had nothing less than a spectacular year. Dakota, in his twelfth season, didn't hunt quite as much. When the hunts would be through, I could tell his hips would hurt so I decided to limit his outings. He took his last hard hunt January 6 this year and rewarded me with a limit of chukar before we came off the hill. Riley, four years old now, just kept on keeping on. He seems to be tireless and has perfected everything I expect from a hunting companion. Both dogs made countless points and retrieves that seemed almost impossible. Although our lost bird count was up a little this year over the previous years it was still only .057%.
As all upland hunters know, it's about the dogs. Mine fill my life with excitement. Especially the 2010 season. But along with the dogs are the new friends that come along from season to season. Upland friends seem to be a special bunch. They all seem to share that same love for their canine partners. Besides my family I was fortunate enough to hunt for the first time with several others. I spent many days with a new friend, Jeff and his munsterlanders, Kirklan and his four variety of great hunting dogs, Jon and his Braque du Bourbonnais, and Jon and Deb and their GSP pup. Not a one of these people have a dog that wouldn't be a pleasure to hunt behind but I have to admit to a special appeal to Jon and Deb's Neka. Being that she was such a young pup, watching her work and learn was especially exciting and I'm looking forwards to seeing her become a seasoned veteran. I met all of these people through the Upland Idaho Forum and traded conversations with many others through this site. There seems to be a special group of upland hunters that visit this site often.
The number of birds put in the bag this year is of no importance. The way my dogs and I got them is. The forty two different locations we hunted, and the sights and sounds we encountered while there are. The thousands of points and many retrieves are what it is all about to me. In the end, my hunts can be summed up by how well my dogs and I work together and respect each others ability to perform their duties. When I add it up we are 100%.

Old photos

2011-01-18T17:14:00.000-08:00

Just reminiscing over some old hunting pictures of Tucker and I came upon these old photographs. They were taken with an old camera that wasn't digital.
This first picture was taken while Tucker was pointing what I thought was chukars. When I got to the brush this is what was staring back at me.

This was a spring outing when Tucker, Dakota and I came upon a fawn. Mama wasn't too happy with our presence and continually charged the dogs trying to get them to leave.

In this last group of pictures, I was hunting with Tucker and we approached a herd of elk. We hung back until the herd moved over the ridge and then went back to hunting. Suddenly this lone yearling stood up and watched Tucker and me. It seemed fearless so I took a series of pictures wondering how close I could get. The only thing I can figure is that the elk was fast asleep while the others left and when he woke up he didn't know how to react without the rest of the herd. In the last photo I backed up and made Tucker stand by the elk, which he wasn't real happy about.

Canine intelligence

2011-01-12T11:47:00.000-08:00

I've heard and read over the years that dogs only remember a certain number of commands. The number varies depending on who you talk to. I've also heard that animals don't reason. I am not a animal behaviorist or a professional dog trainer so I can't give an educated answer to this but I spend a lot of time with my dogs so I can give my opinion on my dogs intelligence.
I'll start with reasoning and figuring things out. If a dog can't reason, how is it that during Tuckers last years he figured out how to fake sleep until Barb would walk out of the room before he would sneak into the kitchen and steal something off the cabinets? This trait might be genetic because his son Dakota now does the same thing. How does a dog know when you are about to go bird hunting even when you try to hide the fact? As the dog matures, how does the canine know the difference between a meadow lark and a quail? I could go on and on but I believe that at least MY DOGS learn to figure things out because they learn associating and reasoning without the help of me.
Intelligence is a much different subject in my opinion. Dogs intelligence is different just like the IQ of humans. Different breeds of dogs are said to be smarter than others and intelligence is even different within the individual breeds. In my opinion Tucker was a very intelligent dog while his son, Dakota just use the gifts of a hunting dogs nose to find birds. That being said I'm going to use Riley as an example of what I consider a intelligent dog. Not because he can add or subtract, but because he has developed his own style of finding birds for me.
First off, he now has fantastic work ethics. There is probably a better word for this, but it's all I can come up with. By work ethics, I'm talking about his work habits when we are not in the best of hunting habitat or walking a road to a hunting spot. He hasn't always been this way but has learned to save his energy for the actual hunting. I'll use a friend's pup as a prime example. J.C.'s pup Neka is a bird finding machine at eight months old. I watched her a couple of different times looking for the elusive chukar. She quarters and ranges searching for birds. She is always at mach 1 speed. When she hits scent she slams the skids on to a stylish point. It is a beautiful thing to watch. Anyone who visits the Upland Idaho site has seen pictures of her along with her two sisters, Sky and Birdie. I haven't got to see the two sisters, but I understand they are of the same mould.
Anyhow, that is how Riley hunted his first two years. The more country you cover the more birds, right? That's how a pup full of enthusiasm thinks. Riley is now on his fourth year and his gait has slowed to a more deliberate pace. He is going about two thirds the distance he did two years ago but still covering the same distance. He has learned to save energy on the places that don't hold birds and trot straight to the areas that do. He will walk a straight line until he gets about three hundred yards away and then hunt the wind back towards me rather than to quarter back and fourth with the wind at our back. He has learned to utilize the draw thermals to find birds and has often walked me in on birds three hundred yards away. At the end of a hunt he seems to know that we are done and will help me find the trail that leads to the truck. He'll usually be there a couple hundred yards before me and unless he smells a bird from the trail he will save his energy for tomorrows hunt. For lack of the proper word that is what I consider dog ethics.
Another way Riley shows intelligence is the way he approaches a ridge. When he was young he would barrel over the top but now he slows testing the wind as he gets close. If the wind is at our back he will show back up below or above me pointing the draw we were about to abandon. Riley doesn't always nail the birds but his percentage is far above 50%. Many times I will come over a hill to find him semi locked up. As soon as we make eye contact he starts moving towards where he thinks the birds are in a slow deliberate move and we eventually get a lock up or find where the birds have been. A younger dog or even an older dog that hasn't quite the experience or intelligence will usually push to get to close to the birds in that situation and the shooter probably would never even see the flush.
Intelligence in dogs is due to experience in my opinion. The more you have your pup out there experiencing the hunt the more he learns how to handle situations. Riley also uses his ears a lot. I have seen him stop on a side hill and listen to chukars on the next ridge. Many times he will head that way, not wasting any energy covering the country. In his mind why waste time. Although he might bust the birds sometimes or it might take me a while to get to him, more often than not he will have the birds pinned by the time I get there. He will often use his sight to perform the same activity when the chukars are running the opposite hill.
I can also say the same about retrieving. When we first started hunting we had to look hard for downed birds but now through experience Riley knows how to use the wind to locate a crippled bird.
Intelligence in a dog is gained by experience. Dogs can't speak so they have to experience situations in order to learn. We, as humans, can speak. That's probably our biggest draw back when it comes to training our hunting partner. We don't know when to shut up. I don't hunt around people a lot but I often hear hunters whoaing their dog before he goes over the ridge. How is the dog going to learn to hold birds if you are always going to heal your dog before you walk over? Many hunters know where the birds have landed or are more likely to be so they direct the dogs to an area instead of letting them find the birds. Those dogs are not going to have the intelligence to find birds in new country without guidance. How many times have you seen a guy calling his dog to a downed bird only to have the dog show up with the bird from 100 yards away?
Range is also derived from intelligence. A smart dog knows when it's time to get out there and find birds and when it's time to stay close where the birds are.
Yes, I believe some dogs are more intelligent than others. Of course none are as intelligent as mine. J.C., Neka is going to be a very smart dog and maybe she already is. But it's due to you getting out there and letting her do what she was bred for. I hope you aren't offended by me using you for this analogy, but unfortunately for you, you are the only person with a young dog that I got to hunt with this year.
Tucker taught me a lot. The main lesson I took away from his training was simply "give me a chance."

Retiring Dakota

2011-01-06T18:19:00.000-08:00

After 12 hard years of hunting chukars for me, Dakota has made it obvious that the steep mountains are becoming too much. It's time for him to retire to the couch and maybe get in a few easy hunts next year. The decision became easy for me shortly after we arrived home from our hunt today. Dakota had a hard time getting himself up in the back seat of the truck after the ride home and I had to lift him down. After his dinner he laid on his blanket in front of the T.V. When I went over to pet him he had a hard time getting his back hips up.

Those of you that follow the blog know that Dakota is the son of Tucker. Dakota was the runt of the litter but has his dads heart. He was never the athlete his dad was, but was a quick learner and became a first class hunting dog by his first season. He and Tucker became a great team and were soon known as Team Tuckota. Chukars weren't safe when the two of them were in town.

Dakota was also a great solo hunter. He was built a little closer to the ground so he didn't cover the country like Tucker or his relief dog Riley. Although he holds point forever, he has never been the dog that would let me get 10 to 20 yards ahead of him. He liked being in the action. This last year was no exception. He started figuring out ways in which to circle the birds once I got ahead of him so he didn't miss anything. But put him with another dog and he would honor like a pro.

As time has progressed, his tail became less stiff and almost tucked. Maybe that is due to his bad hips. But he was staunch none the less. He is also quite deaf now which leads to a quite a bit of uncertainty at times. He doesn't hear the birds when they take off. He spends as much time looking for me as for birds now. A few times he has been confused as to where I was and would bark enthusiastically when he would locate me. All of these things have lead to a more cautious hunting dog. Here are a few of his points today.

Dakota's strong point had to be his retrieving. He was relentless and lost very few birds in his hunting career. He would often beat Tucker to the retrieve and towards the end of Tucker's hunting days he relieved his dad of many long retrieves. That made it easier for Tucker during his last hunts. Today was no different. He retrieved every bird to me although it took much longer to gain the elevation I was at.

My hopes are that Dakota will have several years of rest around the house left. We will still enjoy many outings together but at a lot slower pace. I do hope to get him out on maybe an easy hunt or two next year, where just getting one point will be sufficient. But Until that time I am happy to remember Dakota's last point and limit.

After I wrote this I turned around to find that Barb had covered Dakota. I think he'll have a good and soft life from here on.

Alectoris chukar

2010-12-29T12:00:00.000-08:00

Having a few days to piece myself back together after all of the falls in the last week, I've decided to take some time and pass on some observations I've made in the past twenty or so years regarding chukars. Today is the 29th of December and the last of a snow storm is passing and my grandson and I are going to get back after them tomorrow.
I am not a game biologist so don't hold me to any of the things I am about to tell you. These are just my personal observations and views on hunting chukars.

Chukars and huns pair up early in the spring. They are not like pheasants or Turkeys where the male has several females to take care of. The only fighting you'll see with the alectoris chukar is defending his territory and partner. In my observations, it seems to me that huns pair up a little earlier than the chukars. I've seen huns paired up early in February at times. Chukars stay in coveys a little longer and are usually paired up by mid march. They are not nesting yet, just paired. So this is a good time to be out training your dog. The birds are more scattered now and seem to hold like early in the season.
The nesting period seems to be similar to pairing as far as timing between the huns and chukars. The huns tend to nest two to three weeks earlier than chukars. The huns are normally nesting early April to early May while the chukars are late April to mid May. Both prefer dry open slopes, although the hun tends to pick flatter spots for their nests.

Chukar and hun hens both lay one egg a day or an egg every other day . Clutch sizes vary from 10 to 20 eggs. Incubation period starts after the last egg is layed and lasts for 24 days. At this time it is very important to stay away from the nesting areas as it is vital the mother stay on the nest. She seldom leaves the nest except for a short feeding or watering period. It is very important she maintains the temperature of the eggs for maximum incubation. Once the hatching starts, the peeps and movements of chicks in the eggs travels along the nest and the covey is hatched within usually just a few hours.

Shortly after hatching, the coveys are formed. If a nest is lost and eggs don't hatch ,renesting will often occur. There usually won't be as many eggs. If one or more birds hatch, the mother will not renest. Only if she loses the whole clutch. If you think about it, it would be impossible for her to raise a covey and also set on eggs at the same time.

I have seen chicks hatch as late as mid August and have seen birds during the hunting season that were probably even hatched later than that. My personal feeling is that the majority of birds are hatched mid June. Huns are a little earlier. Spring conditions usually dictate the hatch.
Chukars will fly individually at two weeks but usually don't fly as a covey until approximately four weeks and that is done with the parents.

The habitat that Alectoris chukar prefers is dry mountain slopes. Huns prefer the less steep terrain, but will also be often found on the steepest slopes. Although most hunters prefer to hunt the rocky benches that chukars use for shade and cover, I prefer to hunt the steep open slopes that have lots of ridges and draws for the birds to fly around to. I like to parallel the side hill, pushing the birds ahead of me. The chukar usually flies downhill but makes a sweeping turn once over a ridge and actually will be back at the same level you first jumped them. They fly down and run back up. Anyone that has spent much time chukar hunting will attest to how fast they can move up the steep ridges.
Although the huns tend to like the dense brushy cover, I've found that chukars prefer open hillsides unless they are hiding from predators flying above. Chukars have a harder time getting off the ground without running than a hun does. Maybe due to the fact that they are a little bigger body wise with the same size wings.
Early in the season hunters tend to hunt near watering holes or rivers. I've never found this necessary. Chukars will go as far as two miles to water and then feed there way back to wherever they want to go. But they will continue to use these watering sources until they are harassed away. It doesn't matter whether they are hunted on September 15th or October 15th, they will keep using these places until they feel it is not safe. The only thing moving an opening date from September to October will affect is the size and age of the birds.
I try and hunt as many different area as possible. I have over 50 good places to hunt chukar in Idaho and Oregon. Some areas are down one year and great the next. I try to never over harvest an area knowing that I'll be back again next year. Although chukar hunters don't have much effect on populations it is possible to over hunt an area especially the easy to get to ones.
Predation doesn't have much effect on chukar and hun populations either. I have, however, seen Coopers hawks that are quite deadly on chukars. One chukar can fill a Coopers hawk belly for several days.
Idaho has a limit of 8 chukars and 8 huns in one day while Oregon has a limit of 8 which includes both chukar and huns. That makes a day in Idaho a little more desirable.

When the snow starts flying I usually find the chukars up higher on the ridges. They prefer the wind blown south slopes although they can be found running on top of two feet of powdery snow when they have to. Huns and Quail are more likely to gravitate to the low lands and can be found while driving the roads. Although Chukars can be found low, they tend to use there legs more and will head up hill to avoid contact with humans.

The average lifespan for a chukar is two years.

Family outing

2010-12-24T08:47:00.000-08:00

My 33 year old son, Doug and I took in a chukar hunt yesterday. It was a super treat for me for two reasons. First, Doug doesn't take much time for hunting since he is in the middle of raising a fine family and second, Riley never gets to hunt for anybody else so I was interested on how he'd do. I must have been a very good boy this year because Santa Claus was very good to me and gave us a fantastic hunt.

Not long into the hunt, Riley treated us to several nice points on birds that were very obliging.
As usual in chukar hunting the terrain starts separating hunters. I look up the hill and Doug is several hundred yards away trying to out run some fleeting birds. After getting his attention he slowed and waited for me and Riley to catch up. He commented how those little chickens don't play fair and the last time he saw them they were running over the ridge up ahead. Bending over trying to catch his breath, he was more then happy to let Riley do the chasing after I explained how it is supposed to work. We'll let him do the work and hopefully the chukars will hold for him. The worst that could happen is the birds flush and we haven't killed ourselves trying to catch up to them. It wasn't long and Riley was above us on point. I hung back and told Doug to try and work in on the left side of Riley for the shot. He did so and got his first chukar of the day with two shots.

From that point on we alternated turns coming in on Riley's points. Although Doug was a little rusty with the shotgun he soon started putting the hurt down on the birds. I was thrilled the way that Riley would hold as Doug approached for the shot. He has never hunted for two people.

It became point after point and before the day was over we had no fewer then 25 solid points to flush birds over. If a person doesn't have a great time on a day like this than he should find another past time.

Tired legs we made it home to a fine meal of chukar cooked by Barbara but not before getting a success photo.

What a great early Christmas present.
Happy Holidays to all of you chukar hunters out there. May your points be solid and plentiful.

Learning from birds

2010-12-06T14:53:00.000-08:00

This week was one of those Idaho weeks that was for the birds. Most areas around here had a foot of snow covering the chukar hills. I tried chasing them the first of the week but gave into the snow after the first day and waited until the end of the week and the southern slopes were melted out some. Although I saw plenty of birds early in the week they were very hard to get to even when the dogs had them pointed. Yes, there were a lot of birds lower in the draws, but they had no problem running straight up the hill on top of the snow.
Not only was the snow hard for me to traverse, the dogs also cover only about half the country.
I made it out the last three days because the snow on the south slopes was minimal and the soft ground underneath made footing obtainable. Even at that, I noticed that Riley only covered twice the country as me when he usually covers three times the ground. Maybe that was because of the snow and maybe because there were so many birds he didn't have to cover big ground to find them.
I should point out that it seemed like there were a lot of birds. Because of the snow I saw tracks and birds everywhere. It seems like birds are everywhere when there is white stuff on the ground mainly because of the visibility of tracks and birds.
It seems like every year about this time I get another education by the birds. Because they seem to be a little more vocal and you can see them better I sometimes try to be smarter than the dog. The last few days caught me moving away from Riley because I could see the chukar tracks heading for a certain area. About the time I would reach the end of the tracks with no birds in them, a covey would flush in front of Riley who was thirty yards behind me and now in the lane of any possible shot. You have to wonder what your pup is thinking when you do this. Had there been no tracks, I would have approached my dog from the left and moved out in front instead of walking away from him.
Not only are the birds more visible to humans they are more visible to the dogs. Many times this time of the year I hear people talking of their dogs having bad habits of breaking point. I have done the same thing. I've watched my dogs bust right through covey of birds after pointing them for three or four minutes. I couldn't see any reason why they would do that. But the snow can sometimes point out what might have happened. Unless you have a totally broke dog, which I don't, quite often the dog might be seeing a bird running to take off and run through the bunch that his hunkered down.
I had several false points the last few days. I was surprised to find that Riley will point the sound of chukars. I walked 50 yards in front of him before he would finally break and head for an area where I was hearing birds. I don't know if this is good or bad, but it's Riley and that's okay with me.
Another hunting tactic Riley has developed is pointing running birds up hill from us. I'm talking 100 yards or more that are real visible. It's a very high head point but it still gets the idea across to me. After I get ahead of him and the birds are still sprinting straight up the slope, he will break and head up after them. If they don't stop, neither does he. I let him go, knowing I'll never get to them anyhow and the worst that can happen is they fly to the next ridge.
Probably the best lesson I learn this time of the year is the same thing people tell us time after time. Trust your dog. It's easier to see where the birds are going in the snow so we try to lead the dog rather then to let him take the lead. They do a great job when there is no snow so let them continue doing the same in the snow. Also, don't start correcting your dog for bad habits until you know why he might be doing so. The white stuff makes everything more visible to both the dogs and the birds creating a lot different situation at times. Remember how hard it is for you to not take a shot at a bird taking off even when you know there will be another possible better shot. It's the same for your dog.
Good luck staying on your feet in the next seven weeks and following your canine partner around the hill.

Keep trudging on

2010-11-30T12:09:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went on a hunt in Oregon. We had a good snow fall on Saturday and Sunday the sun was shining enough to partially melt the southern slopes. Even though the snow generally congregates big game animals and upland birds, I prefer less snow on the ground than most people. The way me and my dogs hunt requires covering more country and that's hard to do when there is much snow cover on the ground. There are too many obstacles under the snow. Obstacles that create bruises to the body and nice gouges in the gun. In fact I put a new ding in my gun yesterday.
As we started our hunt, the sun was shining and the temperature was 20 degrees. A brisk wind was blowing, which made it perfect for Riley' nose. There was about four inches of snow on the ground, but I knew as we got further up the hill the southern exposures would be burned off some. A mile from the truck I swept a hillside that had some burn off and I have found birds many times in the past years. There was not a bird track anywhere and the only point I got from Riley was this.

After he got a little lighter he covered big country without even indicating the smell of a bird. We hunted for 2 1/2 hours without seeing, smelling, or even seeing tracks of birds. This was the first time hunting here this year and I was beginning to believe maybe the birds had a poor hatch here. Finally after approximately 1500 feet in elevation and four miles of walking Riley locked up. Although the point wasn't anything special I decided to take a picture and then put the camera away.

I was glad I did. The point produced some birds. The shot produced flying birds everywhere. I couldn't believe how many coveys were in the draw I was now in. There was at least five different coveys and well over 100 birds in this draw. Most of them flew around the next ridge which was into the wind for Riley and me. We were heading that way when Riley locked up again on a pair that had set tight. We dropped one of the two and all of the sudden we had three birds in the vest. As we trudged around the north slope covered with about six inches of snow, birds were still taking off from behind us. We probably could have stayed on that burned off ridge and accomplished a limit of shooting but Riley was off to where he saw the birds go.
Riley moved across the snow covered mountain much quicker than me and was soon over the top out of sight. It took me another five minutes until I was at the last point of seeing Riley and I knew since he hadn't checked back my next sighting of him would be on point. I wasn't disappointed. As I stumbled over the top of a 12 inch snow drift I found him fifty yards ahead on point. As I moved into the front Riley relocated up the hill further. He did this several times and then froze to a solid straight backed point that told me this is where they are. I moved out in front again to a flushing covey of chukars twenty yards up hill. The kind of shot you need to take your time at taking or have a bird that turns to mush at the shot. Five down and three to go.
Once again many of the birds obliged us and flew around the next ridge into the wind. Several birds were taunting us from the previous ridge and higher up on the ridge we were now on but we decided to go one more ridge. I had never been quite this far in before so I was curious as to what the next draw would bring. I was not disappointed. Riley was there long before me and had the birds pinned down. By the time we finished on this slope we had fired 12 shots and had eight birds in the bag. From the time we had the first point until the last shot was fired maybe forty five minutes had expired. We now had an hour walk back to the truck toting an empty shotgun.
We walked for three and a half hours for forty five minutes of shooting and great dog work. I put in 6.5 miles and Riley 18 miles and we shot all our birds in a one mile area. There were probably more birds if we would have gone further but that will be for another day. Even the benefits of walking the last mile back to the truck was rewarding. I saw a cougar off in the distance. I believe we might have jumped him and because of the snow on the flats saw him about 300 yards away disappearing into the sage.
After 2 and 1/2 hours of walking and not seeing any sign of a chukar I was getting a disappointed but I knew that I had always found birds in this area in the past. With the help of Riley I finally found them. They just all seemed to know where the good eating was, and it wasn't down low.

Finding chukars

2010-11-23T07:54:00.000-08:00

While I was hunting with JPC this weekend he asked if there was a certain type of area I look for when hunting chukars. Knowing he has a hard running shorthair similar to mine, I showed him what I look for. But I do think that the style of hunting might dictate what kind of country you look for and how you hunt the country.
Personally, I don't care to hunt the rim rock edges and steep rock cliffs. I know that the chukars like to use them for cover and a place for quick escapes and for that reason you will usually find them hiding in the rocks than not. A person can get some pretty good shooting on these edges but I believe you usually need a closer working dog. The retrieving can be awfully treacherous in these areas also. If you hunt with others, these places can be hunted successfully by having a person hunt the top and another walking the bottom. I prefer to hunt solo with my dogs so I stay away from these areas.

This picture is some of the best chukar habitat I hunt. It has a little of everything for the birds. The side I took the picture from is a lot steeper than it looks. The other side has a lot of those rocky area I'm talking about. As you get closer to the bottom of this canyon the birds will fly across and take refuge in the cliffs. Once there they love to call you across to them. I often oblige and come across but I hunt those bowls and ridges into the wind the best I can. Even though I know there are lots of birds in those rocks, I prefer to hunt the birds in an area where I can make reasonable shots than those I know I'm not good at making in the rocky slopes.

This is the type of chukar habitat I like to hunt. Once again the picture doesn't show the steepness of the hill. I'm pretty close to the top of the ridge which keeps going up as far as you would care to go. There are lots of saddles like the one on the other side of Riley all the way up the ridge. You can see forever so I can let my dogs do what they do best, find birds. These saddles usually channel the wind so it's not unusual to have a 200 yard point away from the birds. With several relocation's, the birds are held to within reasonable gun range. The other thing I like about an area like this is that the birds will usually flush and sweep around the hill for a possible second or third chance at the covey. When hunting them in the rocky areas you usually get one chance and then they are gone.
Another hunting tactic that works for me getting more shots at birds is to stay higher on the hill. Not that there are any more birds there but you get more shooting opportunities at those birds. The lower down the hill you are the more likely the birds are going to fly across the canyon, ending your hunt on that covey unless you are willing to go down and back up the other side.
I also spend a lot of time looking for bird scat as I'm walking. If there is bird sign there are birds somewhere. It's impossible for the dog to cover everywhere with the wind right. I'll make long sweeps over a mountain the same as you would cover a field for pheasants. The only difference is the sweeps may be a mile instead of a couple hundred yards.
Probably the biggest thing I see most chukar hunters do to make them unsuccessful is giving up too soon. After hunting for two hours and not seeing many birds they head for the rig and drive to another location. You are already there. It's just as easy to cover more country right where you are now as it is to drive to another location and walk a new cover another area. They really can be just right over the next ridge.

Trust your dog

2010-11-15T07:38:00.000-08:00

Trusting your dog. It's something we all know but have to be reminded of from time to time. There has been a lot of talk about what it takes to successfully take chukars. The number one consensus is a great dog. Of course, a great dog can be interpreted differently by every bird hunter. From many years of experience, my dogs have taught me that trust is probably more important in a chukar dog than most other bird dogs. The reason is simple. The terrain you hunt when chukar hunting requires that your dog be out of sight much of the time. It doesn't have to be that way, but if you want to see more birds that's what it takes.
Tucker taught me that. Before he came along, I would stop my dogs before they went over the ridge ahead or get frustrated when I saw a covey bust ahead of me because the dog had bumped them. So my dogs wouldn't have the freedom to really find birds.
I see my boys busting birds still. But I know that they are not doing it intentionally. The wind or other conditions might be wrong and the birds get flushed. It would be different if they were out there chasing them up through excitement, but that would be my fault for not setting the proper foundation in my training methods. Many times I have had a covey of chukar buzz me from 200 yards up the ridge. I trust my dogs enough now to know that it wasn't intentional, it just happens, the same as sometimes I miss. I sure wasn't expecting to.
This weekend was a perfect example of trust with a dog. It would take me forever to go through Saturdays hunt. I quit counting covey points by Riley at 15. There was an hour or so that we had a different point every ten minutes. Riley would be on point, I would approach the point, flush the birds, and than either get a bird or miss. If I happen to get lucky, Riley would make the retrieve. If I missed he was off to cover the next area. All I had to do was walk to the next ridge or saddle to find him on point 200 yards away. There wasn't a word spoken or a reminder on the e collar all day. He just did what he was bred to do and I tried to do my best to do my job.
The big thing is, we've been out enough together to learn to do our jobs. Riley has learned through trial and error how to do his part. I have heard it said that man is the ultimate predator. HOGWASH. If we didn't have the guns and other tools we have developed over time we probably would be extinct. When it comes to hunting birds the dog is a far better predator, so trust him to find the birds, don't try and guide him to where you hear or saw the birds go.
Yesterday, Riley and I had another fantastic day on the hill. We left the truck at 9 and walked the only trail we could find that would get us higher on the mountain. I walked the trail. Riley was all over the mountain. It wasn't long and through the drizzle I see Riley on point a couple hundred yards straight above me. The ridge was steep enough that I couldn't walk straight up to him. As I sidehilled back and fourth, I often lost sight of him. Five minutes later I was within 50 yards and Riley slowly turned his head to make sure I was coming and then slowly turned back towards the birds. When I approach Riley I like to try and come in on the left side of him if possible. Ten yards above Riley and he hasn't moved yet. After hundreds of points with Riley I know that means the birds are right there. As I slowly inched my way up the steep mountain, keeping my feet planted as much as possible the birds erupt. The covey flush was perfect. They flair straight up, creating some easy shooting. The first shot droppped two birds and the second another. Riley quickly retrieved the two birds that dropped stone dead and than I gave him the dead bird command and point down the slope towards where the crippled bird went. Riley soon found the scent and I watched the chase 150 yards down the hill. He finally caught up to the bird. I sidehilled around the hill so to make it easier for the retrieve. Two shots, three birds. Looks to be a great day.
The drizzle soon turns to fog. I couldn't see more than fifty yards part of the time. There was just enough breeze to keep the fog moving so we would alternate from having two hundred yards visibility to fifty. Every three minutes or so Riley would come back into sight of me and then back into the fog looking for birds. Pretty soon he didn't return. I hit the beeper and could faintly hear it at about the same elevation I was. I kept sidehilling around the mountain and soon saw Riley on point. The tail was not as rigid as usual and had a little movement. I knew that meant he didn't have the birds locked down. As I moved to his left he relocated about twenty yards and stopped again. Tail still not rigid. One more relocation and bamm, he locked in. His head was up higher than usual and I soon saw why. As I walked past him I could hear the soft sound chukars often make just before taking flight and then could see the birds as could Riley. Two more steps and the flush. Two shots and two birds retrieved to me. Four shots and five birds, Can't get much better than this.
After the retrieve Riley is off in the fog again. I soon find Riley in a cocked hard point. You could have knocked him over he was in such a twisted position. As I approached, a covey of huns exploded from below him. I got two shots off before they disappeared into the cloud but thought I had missed. Seconds later I heard that flapping wing sound of a heart shot bird when they fly straight up into the air and than drop dead. Riley stopped and you could tell that he knew what that sound was and off into the fog he sprinted. I could hear him running and panting in the fog looking for the bird but he came up empty. We searched for another fifteen minutes but never found a bird.
The fog finally lifted for good and Riley was ranging out to three hundred yards or so. I never knew until he would check back whether he was above or below me. Once, I heard the screech of chukars flying down towards me. I watched them do a fly by and sure enough here comes Riley from that direction. Years ago I would have been frustrated by that but now I know it just happens. It wasn't that he meant to flush them. Minutes later he was on point again. As I walked ahead of Riley a single chukar flushed , which I managed to cripple with two shots. It fluttered to parts unknown to me down the ridge with Riley in hot pursuit. Several minutes later I see Riley coming back up the hill hauling a bird in his mouth. The drive and instincts of hunting dogs is unbelievable.
Most of Rileys points were initiated well out of sight from me. But spending so much time together hunting has taught me to trust that he is doing what he is supposed to do and all I have to do is get to him. Easier said than done, but he trust me to know that I will be there. Several points and shots later we bagged our eighth bird.
The day for me was as good as it gets. Riley couldn't have made me more proud. It almost seems like all I have to do is take Riley on the mountain and trust him to find the birds and the rest is up to me.
On the other side of the canyon I heard another hunter shooting several times. I never saw him or his dog. I did hear his beeper quite often and a little yelling. I don't know this but I had the feeling he was trying to get his dog to work closer. That might work well for that hunter but I believe if you want to find more chukars you have to let the dog go. But that's just my way. Riley and I were on the mountain for four hours, I covered 5.2 miles, Riley 14.6 miles, and I gained 1620 feet of elevation. In all that the only words spoken were telling Riley dead bird. Once said he hunts for a dead bird until we leave the area.
Just as Tucker and Dakota before him, we have learned to trust each other and work as a team. A good team member knows there will be mistakes along the way and just gets on with the game plan.

Boot Leather and satisfaction

2010-11-08T19:57:00.000-08:00

Kirklan, defines the ability to find chukars as "boot leather". In other words the more ground you cover, the more birds you find.
Greg Allen, defines the ability to find chukars as "getting satisfaction". Satisfaction to Greg is getting to the top of the mountain, no matter how tall it is.
Boot leather and satisfaction are why I believe some people are more successful in finding chukars than others. It doesn't mean that they are better hunters or have better dogs, it just means the drive is there.
I'd like to add one more factor to the equation. My dogs deserve birds. They work hard for me, so I should be willing to walk the extra ridge for birds.
I know that different strokes for different folks applies to everything, including chukar hunting, and I respect that. But I had a talk with an ODFW official this weekend and he made the response that he had heard some grumbling about low bird numbers are again. He said opening weekend seemed pretty good but the birds have been hard to find since. When I told him of my experiences over the last four days he was very pleased. Without exaggeration, I saw at least 150 birds every day and I hunted four different locations.
He also explained that most of the hunters he had conversations with were back to their rigs by noon and ready to call it a day. Once again, I understand that. Different strokes for different folks. But that doesn't mean the numbers are down. Remember, "boot leather and satisfaction".
I can't count how many times I walked for two hours without seeing a bird, only to find 5 coveys in the next half hour. These four days are a perfect example. I put in 18 hours of hunting. That's actual hunting time. No driving or enjoying the scenery. In those 18 hours I covered 29 miles, Riley covered 72, and we gained 6710 feet in elevation. My rewards were multitudes of points and retrieves and a happy dog. I was smiling pretty big myself.
This isn't for everyone, but it's what I believe is necessary to consistently find good number of birds. Chukars aren't always easy.
With that I'll get off my pedestal and show a few of the pictures from the weekend.

The first picture, although not a great photo, is what you get when you get away from the beaten path. Chukars in between you and the dog makes for good shooting opportunities.
The fourth picture is the country I hunted the second day. Yes there were some birds on the ridge I went down, but there were four times as many on the other side of the canyon and up in those bowls as Riley proved on the last photo.
Good luck in your hunts.

5 days of heaven

2010-10-29T08:10:00.000-07:00

The boys and I took five days and headed over to Oregon for the first time this year. What a wonderful trip. The weather was more than cooperative and the birds were obliging as well.
The first day found Riley and Dakota together on the mountain finding the birds. There was a slight drizzle, but not enough to make us uncomfortable. The camera stayed in the truck but I had plenty of opportunities for good camera shots. We had a great day and managed to get off the hill just before the skies let loose with the rain.

On the second day I went to a different location. The weather was perfect. I left Dakota in the camper and hunted Riley. He had an outstanding day. We found plenty of chukars and I had ample opportunities for camera work as well as gun work. Riley at age three has turned into a fantastic chukar dog.
When I returned to camp I was pleased to find Kirklan of idahouplandhunting.com waiting. Kirklan is quite a bird hunting guru so I was excited to pick his brain. We discussed dogs, birds, falconry and every other topic involved with the outdoors and retired for the third day of chasing chukars for me.

On day three I had both Dakota and Riley with me and Kirklan split in his own direction with Darko and Rader. That was the last I saw of him until he met me back at camp hours later. That guy covers some miles and elevation when he hunts chukars. Rader is a ground covering fool. Back at camp we discussed the days activities and laughed about his shooting. It seemed like the first 6 birds went down as designed after the shot. The seventh wasn't long afterwards. But the final bird of his limit was taking a toll on his allotment of 20 guage shells. I could laugh with him because I knew the feeling well.

Day four Kirklan and I went to a fourth area and had the same fortune with the birds. Kirklan admitted to shooting much better that day. It saves a lot of miles on the feet and dogs when you shoot well. I made the mistake of taking Dakota two days in a row and he suffered for it. 11 year old dogs need a break when it comes to chukar hunting. It was my only slow day on the hill. My old boy just wasn't covering the country like normal.

The fifth and final day for me was the fifth different place to hunt. The results were the same. Lots of birds making for lots of excitement. Kirklan and I said our goodbyes before we headed off in different directions. If I got back first I was hooking up the camper and headed home and if he got back first he was picking up and headed for central Oregon for some more chukar hunting and possibly mountain quail. The last time I saw him he was a speck on the hill even with the binoculars. That guy covers the mountain. I had Riley with me that day and he had an almost perfect day. My shooting wasn't perfect though. But it made for more enjoyable points. We still had a mile or so back to the truck after we filled our game vest which presented some photo opportunities.
The trip was as good as they get and the company of Kirklan topped it off. I hope his final three days are as good as the first three. Now I'm going to take three days to get some of my honey do's taken care of, watch the grand kids in sports and celebrate Barb and my 36th anniversary before getting back to the birds on the mountains. I hope everyone else out there is enjoying the outdoor activities as much as I am.

Don't cheat on your dog

2010-10-15T14:31:00.000-07:00

I was out hunting the chukars again today and came upon a situation I thought I could address and help some of the young dog owners and hunters that are coming up.
After a couple of hours of hunting I acquired a new dog. It was a GSP and a good looking one at that. When I got him to come to me he had a dog collar on but no name or number. Just the collar. It wasn't long before I heard three shots and started working that way. Sure enough the shots came from the owner of the pooch. He was a young guy and said that Savage usually didn't stay away that long. He was calling for him and informed me he had just lost a bird back on the rim rock 100 yards or so away. We took the dogs and went back and found the bird.
I mentioned to him that he might think about putting a phone number on the collar in case the dog ever got lost and he thanked me for the advice as we parted. I watched Savage and the young man hunt as they headed back towards the river. His dog was working the hillside very well. At one point I think the dog was on point but I saw a covey of birds get up wild 100 yards or so above the dog. The man was oblivious to his dog because he could hear birds chuking on the rim rock edges and that's where he was headed. Sure enough at the sound of the shots his dog sprinted down the hill from a couple of hundred yards away to what I hope was a retrieve. The was the last I saw of the two.
I'm sure most of us have been in this situation before. My advice to this guy, had he asked, would have been to explain that hunting with a dog is a team thing. Wait for your dog to get back to you and then hunt the rocks together. Don't watch your dog go one way and then hunt in another direction. Your dog may be on point and waiting for you to come and do what you are supposed to do. If you go to him and there are no birds pointed, the birds at the rim will still be there.
In short what I'm trying to say is that let your dog know what your plans are. It's not hard to do. If you are going in one direction don't all of the sudden go another way without your dog knowing where you are headed. Wait until he comes back to you and then change directions. That way he'll be hunting with you instead of that other guy a half mile away.

October hunt

2010-10-12T07:45:00.000-07:00

Barb and I went on one of our October hunts the last five days and I was more than happy at the amount of wildlife we observed. Of course it was mostly of the upland kind, but there were deer, elk, bears, turkeys and other small game. The weather was semi cooperative as long as you got out early in the mornings. There was a good breeze every day but one, which was our less fruitful day for finding birds. It was very still that day, not carrying the scent across the tops of the cheat.
Day one had Barb walking with me and the dogs. After about an hour I decided that Dakota would head back to the truck with Barb while I finished the hunt. Having 11 hunting seasons behind him, Dakota has developed a few of his own tricks to compensate for his age. His health and nose are still great and he hunts as good as ever but he is a little slower. Especially compared to his 3 year old tall hunting partner. Dakota is still honoring great until I get in close, than he is trying to circle around the birds to trap them between him and Riley. It's fun to watch but usually ends up with busted birds. I could correct him but would rather just let Dakota do his thing for the next few years before he will retire.
It's harder on me than the dogs. I love having both boys out with me and have a hard time leaving one at home but I've decided to take them both once a week and than alternate them on the other days as long as Dakota doesn't get to stoved up.
The bird numbers are definitely up. I saw over 200 huns and chukars the first three days and at least 100 the last two. I hunted four different areas and returned back to one so that I could show a new friend and his pup an area where I had had some good fortune. Jon and his wife, Debbie hit the mountain with their 6 month old pup called Neka. I have to say that was probably my best day. We didn't actually see as many birds as I expected, but I got to watch Neka work. I have forgotten the enthusiasm of a young bird dog. What a great hunting partner she is going to make. She even found one of my birds that I had crippled. I didn't pack my camera on my hunts this week or I'd have some pretty impressive shots of a six month old pup locking in tight.
The fourth day I took both dogs and it was our slowest day. The weather was very dry, warm and still. The boys had a tough time finding birds although we knew they were there someplace. As I said, even at that we saw at least 100 birds.

This can be a great year for those of us who decide to put some miles on the boots and let our canine partners use their instincts and abilities to find birds. The birds are out there. Here are a couple pictures of Dakota and Riley's best days this week.

It's hot

2010-09-28T12:27:00.000-07:00

Man it's hot out there. The way the month started I thought we were going to be off to a great start. Rain and cool at the first of the month had me out hunting for grouse for the first time in my life. It was fun, but the problem was it got me and the boys fired up for chukar season. We usually don't hunt but a couple of times in September due to the hot weather but got a little over excited this year. Now we're paying the price.
We tried a short hunt this morning. It ended up 6 and 1/2 miles for me and 14 miles for Riley. Dakota was somewhere in between. There was no breeze and the temp was 55 when we started and 75 when we got back to the truck. Not a cloud in the sky. We drank every ounce of water we carried and the boys found a couple of water seeps to roll around in and drink out of hoof prints. The birds were probably around but we didn't find very many. Back at the truck the dogs noses were caked with a greenish brown substance. Dust and pollen which had been sucked into their nostrils for four hours. Now they both lay besides me thankful for the shade of the house. The 28th of September and I'm contemplating turning on the air conditioner.
The good news for all the chukar hunters is that there are plenty of chukars out there. They just have to grow up a little and conditions for hunting have to improve a lot. Even short morning hunts are rough on the dogs. Especially the older ones as my 11 year old will attest to.
The next weeks weather is calling for upper 80s to 90 so I've decided to give it up until the weather cools a little and hopefully a little moisture will knock the dust down. But when it does I see a great year of chukar hunting ahead.

special opener

2010-09-18T15:55:00.000-07:00

The chukar opener in Idaho was today. It has been a day I that have been anticipating for several months. We were there to chase the birds that heve beckoned us for the last seven months, but we had another agenda for the day. Dakota nd Riley didn't realize that we had alternate reasons for being on the mountain but they soon sensed that something was different.
The weatherman was predicting a warm day so we got an early start. It was barely shooting light as we started hoofing up the mountain. In fact about ten minutes in to the hunt the dogs pointed a covey of quail and as they flushed there was not enough light to tell the different between the mature and immature birds. The dogs seemed to understand me not firing at the covey. I rarely shoot quail when we're on a chukar hunt.

We headed further up the ridge in anticipation when Dakota locked up. Riley crossed the ridge above him and after a quick glance locked up on honor. A sight I never get tired of. I moved in front of Dakota and flushed a covey of chukar. As they flushed in a magnitude of directions I was amazed by how young most of the birds were. I swung on a bird but didn't fire. After the last bird flew out of sight Dakota gave a couple of quick barks of discust. I'm sure his thoughts were "man it don't get much better than that, why didn't you shoot?" Even if there were more mature birds in the group I wasn't ready to shoot.

A half hour later I got another point and honor. There wasn''t quite as many birds in this covey but we went through the same moves as the covey before. This time Dakota ran twenty or thirty yards in the direction of the birds I had failed to shoot at and barked with discust. I believe at that point he thought I had lost my eye sight.

About an hour into the hunt the boys locked in again. I'm not sure if they trusted my sanity, but they held point all the same. I knew that this was the point I came for. I walked in front of the boys for the flush and once again a rather large covey erupted. Both young and mature birds. As I threw the shotgun to my shoulder I picked a more mature bird to shoot. At the report of the gun I saw the bird crumple but then my eyes went to half way between the bird and myself. There was a white dust settling towards the earth. I stood there and watched as the dust slowly dissappeared into the cheat grass.

Suddenly I was brought back to earth by Dakota. He had retrieved the bird and was bringing it back to me.
We found a rock and went over and sat on it. That was another thing we rarely do when we chukar hunt. Although it was different Dakota and Riley obliged and sat by me and accepted a drink of water. We examined the bird and I visited with the boys. I explained to them that this was the hill where Tucker pointed and retieved his first bird. It's the same hill that Tucker, Dakota's dad, had taken me for every opener for the last fourteen years. I didn't really care which dog retrieved the bird but I was glad it was Tucker's son Dakota. I told them we would have to sit there for a few more minutes to get the water out of my eyes. Some of that white dust, the ashes of Tucker that I had reloaded into a shotgun shell, must have gotten in my eyes.
We got several more birds today, but not a one that was as special as that one. The boys and I got to say hello to Tucker one more time. The sun was consuming the shadows very rapidly now and the weatherman's predictions were coming true so it was time to come off the hill. What a great start to another bird season.

Grouse

2010-09-04T10:14:00.000-07:00

Well, the 2010 hunting season finally begun in Idaho. Because the weather was particularly cooperating I decided to try grouse hunting. I've shot a few grouse in the past, but they've been just incidentals while chukar hunting. Both days I went out were cool with a slight drizzle. The kind of days that just begs you to be outside.

The first day I went to one of my chukar spots where I had seen several blues in the past. Dakota and Riley didn't disappoint me, producing several points. Mainly chukars. There's twenty days left until the season on them opens. we saw a total of 18 blues and I believe some of them were off point but I can't say for sure because of the thick cover. All I know is that the dogs weren't moving and grouse came out of the brush presenting some good shooting. Riley loved retrieving them but Dakota wasn't quite sure he liked a bird of that size in his mouth.

On day two we decided to hit the timbered area for some ruffs. We found six throughout the day but never got a shot at one. Riley had no problem with pointing the ruffs but they were in such thick stuff that I never could get a clear shot. I had to get down on my knees to see the bird. Riley won't break point until I flush the bird so I had to throw something in and try and flush the bird. Along the way we found some blues that were more cooperative. They seem to be more obliging getting a little more room between them and the brush creating a safer shot.
All in all they were great outings. I can see where grouse hunting could get into your blood. But for me and my dogs, we'll still take chukar hunting over the grouse. This is just my personal observation, but I think grouse hunting is more of a flushing dog sport than a pointing dog.
The chukar season starts in two weeks and I hope the weather cooperates again. It's been 7 and 1/2 months since I fired a shot at a chukar and I am eagerly waiting. The time for worrying about the hatch and getting all of my equipment ready is over. The dogs are ready and I think we've done a good job of getting rid of bad habits. Grouse hunting was my pre season hunt and now I have two weeks to the chukar opener. Time to get my game face on.

Get ready

2010-08-11T12:01:00.000-07:00

It's been about three weeks now, since I've been doing any reel hiking in the chukar hills. I've been a little under the weather and the heat has beaten me down. But todays forecast told me to get up early and head west. It's August 11th and we're having cooler temps, overcast skies and a possibility of rain. It all happened and Riley and I were out on the hill early. We both got wet and enjoyed every minute of it.
The day started with a busted covey of maybe twenty birds. They were at least eight weeks old and flying hard. Not long after that Riley pointed another covey. These birds were even more mature than the first group. I could see some of the bar feathers that the chukar is famous for. A very early hatch indeed. All in all I saw seven different chukar coveys that ranged from six or eight birds to as many as twenty per covey. The ages went from maybe a week old to 10 to 12 weeks old. This should show us all how adaptable the chukar can be to weather and other conditions. If you look hard you'll see a baby either under her or around her in each of these pictures.

Most of the pictures I took today weren't that impressive but this mama gave me plenty of shots while Riley was on point. When she finally flew there were probably 15 babies under her and around her. Those are great numbers for a late hatch.

Also, almost every seep or dried up seep had chukar droppings and/or feathers.
Boy am I getting stoked for the cooler damp weather. The area I was scouting was *^#"@?/$. Damn, this computer just won't spell that for some reason. Hope everyone is having as much fun as me.

Having an opened mind

2010-07-18T11:53:00.000-07:00

I was in Stanley Idaho recently visiting with some of my archery buddies. Although I don't hunt big game much any more it's still fun to go up to the state shoot and B.S. with some of the guys I used to shoot with. Some of them were darn good hunters fifteen or twenty years ago. We packed many elk out together. Most of the guys are in their early 60's now and getting elk are few and far between. There were several reasons they mentioned for their lack of success these days, but none of them were, "I just don't want to work that hard for an elk anymore."
The wolves are killing the elk, it's too hot in September now, too many people, fires, just no elk anymore, and many other excuses for their lack of success. Since I'm not out there chasing elk anymore I try and keep an open mind. Maybe the elk numbers are down.
But one statement made me wonder if that was the problem. One guy said "I'm glad nobody got an elk and ruined a good hunting trip." That statement was made a couple other times during the evening. They were referring to having to pack an animal out would ruin the trip. I admit, that can be some hard work, but it was part of the fun of it when I was younger. As I got older it became less fun and that is one of the reasons I took up chukar hunting. I asked a friend that I hunted with several times if he had been down to the "Thursday hole". That was a place in unit 36 you could always find bulls but if you didn't get your elk by Thursday there was no way you could get him out if you had to be home Sunday. I have never been in there when I didn't at least have a bull offer a shot. They all joked and said only a fool would go in there.
I understand that mind set. But the point I am getting at is, these older friends of mine are the ones saying there just aren't any elk anymore. They don't want to say "hey don't ask me, I spend most of my time in camp now enjoying the camaraderie." These are the people that have more time to complain to the fish and game or whomever because they are retired now and have nothing else to do. During hunting season, go to some of the local coffee shops and listen to the group of retired gentlemen talking about the way it used to be and how the fish and game have screwed it up. You don't see a bunch of young hard hunters sitting there. They are either at work or out hunting hard trying to find the game.
Don't hang me yet If you are over 60. I'm right there with you. The hills have gotten steeper for me also. But I refuse to say the opportunities aren't out there the same as twenty years ago. Yes, it might have changed some, but they're still out there.
What has this got to do with chukars? Since February 2010 we have been having a lot of discussions about chukar/hun numbers. Idaho fish and game commissioners put out a survey to sportsman to see how hunters felt about lowering the limit on these birds. Evidently the hunters felt like the numbers were bad enough to warrant lowering the limit. In 2011 chukar/hun limits will go down by two birds. I am trying to be open minded about this decision but it is hard to see the justification. As long as I can remember the limit has been 8 birds. There have been some great years and there have been some poor years, but the bird numbers have always seemed to stabilize without changing the limits.
I have been involved in a lot of discussions about this matter in the last six months. I have heard a lot of pros and cons. But once again I here the same old things from mainly people in my age group. "I used to see chukars here all the time, but I didn't see one chukar today when I DROVE down that road". One guy I occasionally chased chukars with has become a big Boise State football fan. I think that's great. He'd rather be at the tail gate party than out chasing birds. His reason. There just aren't any birds anymore. The real reason is tail gating is a lot easier and he doesn't want to admit the hills are getting harder to walk. Of course when he filled out the fish and game form he wanted to lower the limit so if he went out chukar hunting again it would be easier to obtain a limit. Plus he might get a limit without having to hike so long and hard.
The Upland Idaho forum has had several posts on this subject. I don't know the ages of most of the people on that site but I'm guessing they are of the younger generation. Most talk of seeing large number of birds, even though sometimes hard to get. They seem to be more willing to work with fish and game and see if we have a number problem and if there is something we can do about it. Some of the other forums want to beat up on the authorities rather than trying to solve the problem.
Here is another statement made by a hunter who believes the chukar number are at a catastrophic low. "I went to one of my favorite spots. When I got there it had been burned earlier in the year. We hunted it for about a half a mile and got up two covey of birds that flew away before we could get to them because the grass was so low. We just packed up and went home." How can you make a determination on bird numbers from that? I think when you have as strong of an opinion as he had than you should give a little more effort.
I'm sure by now many of you think that it is about numbers to me. It's not about numbers. It's about a reason to be out there. I am sorry I am not like most people and just enjoy the beauty of it all. I enjoy the beauty but I need more. I wish there was a shoot and release program for birds. I wish the dogs understood that a point and flush was good enough. I wish I felt that I would've hit that bird had I shot at it but I know my shooting ability is not always that good. There are days when a four bird limit is hard to get. Those days would keep me out in the hills. There are days when a eight bird limit comes too soon and I wish it were twelve.
Bottom line is I hope the commissioners made their decision based on sound biologic evidence and not just by a survey. Surveys are usually filled out by people that have more time on there hands than others. The other point is, you younger guys, get involved and know what's happening. Don't take the word of us old farts and get out there and find out for yourselves. Let your young legs find what we can't get to. Idaho has lots of game and game birds. Get yourself a good dog and get out there and enjoy the resources we have.

getting older

2010-07-07T11:37:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a scouting and dog training hike. A couple of things happened today to remind me that I am getting older. Nothing bad, but just reminders to me that before this hunting year is over I will be starting my seventh decade on earth.
First thing happened right out of the truck. Within 15 minutes I noticed that the hill seemed steeper. I've hiked this particular hill probably fifty times but it seemed steeper today. I thought to myself, " I might not be hunting as far this year as I have in the past." But before long I was as far up the mountain as I had ever been. Somewhere along the trip I had gotten my second wind and was hitting the mountain just as usual. That first half hour or so is a warm up period for us older folks. It takes a lot longer to get the mechanism lubed for the hunt. But the good news is, once lubed it works as good as ever. In fact I walk further now on a trip than I did when I was thirty or forty. Once I get over that first hump I feel like I could go on all day. So to steal a phrase from the cowboys, us older chukar hunters need to CHUKAR UP for that first hour or so. It gets better after that.
Just before the end of the trip, Riley, my shorthair, let out a war hoop like he was having a confrontation with something. Of course I start thinking the worst. Coyote, porcupine, snake, cougar. All of which I have seen in this area before. I yell and whistle for Riley as I head in his direction. He meets me half way. Looking him over, I find nothing different about him. No bite marks, scratches, or sign of a fight. We get to the area where it happened and Riley runs around looking through all of the rock crevices like he is looking for the culprit. The only thing I can imagine that happened is he got bit by a rock chuck. There are a lot of them in this area and I assumed he tried to grab one and it got him on the lip instead. This little episode made me realize how age has slowed me down. Years ago I would have been on the sprint to Riley. Today I was lucky to be at a jogging pace. At thirty or forty years old I always felt that whatever I encountered I could kick it's tail. Daniel Boone, who killed a bear with a bowie knife, was no tougher and quicker than me. Now, I'd be lucky to move out of the bears way. The quickness and agility is gone. Times when you would trip on the hill going down and do a gainer but still land on your feet our gone. Now I just get to the ground as fast as I can knowing the farther I go the more it's gonna hurt.
Age has it's price. The price is lack of mobility to make the shot or stop a bruise making fall. You have to suffer a little more when you start up the hill waiting for all your joints to start working correctly. Your reflexes have slowed so that bird that takes off behind you won't be getting any lead flying it's way. Your wife laughs at you when you try to roll out of your truck at the end of a long day of hunting. She criticizes you for not acting your age because it takes five minutes to straighten up after your two hour drive home.
But age also has it's rewards. You've been up these hills enough times to know the best route. Let the young guy slip and fall on all those rocky canyons. You already know the rewards that await you once you've got past that lubing in process. Reflexes aren't as important as they use to be. You've trained plenty of good dogs in the past and you know they will show you where the birds are. Those that the dog doesn't point don't deserve the cost of the lead shot. If you play it right, you might be able to work a back rub out of the spouse. Most of all, at the end of the day, you sit on your recliner, dog at your side, cold drink in your hand, and reminisce the great day you had. If your really lucky, you and your canine partner can start planning on tomorrows hunt while your wife is calling you an old fool.

The way things are

2010-06-30T20:12:00.000-07:00

Summertime is now upon us in a hot way. Most people's behaviors change some when it comes to the hot weather. I'm not a huge water person and the heat seems to slow me down some. So I do what I can to make the most of this time of the year. I spend a lot of time at the pond, throwing sticks for my dogs to retrieve and exercising them. I also spend a lot of time in the higher mountains where the temperatures aren't quite as extreme.

Yesterday, I was on a relaxing hike with the dogs and doing a lot of reminiscing. While the dogs were swimming in a mountain lake, I thought back to the many big game hunts I had been on in these and surrounding mountains. There is no doubt that was a big time in my life. I couldn't wait to get up there with my bow and chase animals as far as my legs would go. 1978 was my first year to hunt with a bow and I shot my first bear three months after I took archery up.

As time went on I became addicted to archery and set a goal to shoot a species of everything possible. Through the years I was fortunate enough to harvest 46 big game animals. I never got the elusive 320 or better elk but I was lucky enough to get a 185 mule deer buck. I was scouting or hunting every moment I could muster up that wasn't taking time away from my family or work.

Luckily for me, my family accompanied me on many of these hunts. I bird hunted and had some good dogs but that wasn't my primary goal. It was big game and it had to be taken with a bow. I even wanted to get a coyote and bobcat.

I put in many extra hours so I could afford to have some taxidermy work done. The work was beautiful and looked great on my walls. They are great conversation pieces and I've spent many hours of reliving the hunts.

Six of my animals would make the Pope and Young club. I know to many, trophy hunting, the same as the numbers game when it comes to bird hunting, turns them off. I can respect those views even though mine might differ a little.

In 1997 things started changing. As I mentioned I had a hunting dog, but he had to share his time with big game hunting. In fact the big game hunting got the better side of this. Rookie was my Brittany, and was a good dog, especially for the lack of time I devoted to him.

1996 was the year of my first GSP, Tucker. By 1997 he was a permanent feature at my side. During training and hunting trips he continued to amaze me. I didn't see it coming, but with help from one of my hunting partners, Greg Allen, times were about to change. All of the sudden I couldn't wait for elk season to be over so I could be out chasing chukars with Tucker. By the year 2000 I stopped hunting big game on opening day of chukar season and by 2003 I started spending every free day with my shorthairs.

I've been a very fortunate person throughout life. A great wife, two successful and great kids along with their spouses, four wonderful grandchildren and a host of great hunting dogs and friends. You can't ask for much more happiness than I have had. Sometimes I feel guilty that my priorities haven't been in the right place and then something comes along to open my eyes. In the last year and a half I have had three losses in my life. My father, my best friend (who was also a chukar hunter), and my number one dog. They all had such a positive impact on my life.

Today I picked up a chukar mount for Teresa, the widow of my deceased friend, . They were two of the birds Jeff shot two years ago while we were hunting together. I wanted some pictures of the mount before I took it to Teresa. So I hung it above the fireplace and snapped some shots. The chukar mount was wonderful and it looked great above the fireplace. I looked around at my big game mounts and all of the sudden they had lost their impact. None of them had the meaning of the birds over the fireplace. The chukars had taken over the room.

These birds will soon be going to Teresa's house, but this fall there will be some chukars that will meet the same fate. When they are placed above the fireplace the big game mounts will be moved to the basement. Not because I enjoyed getting them any less than I do the chukars but because that is where I am now. Me, the dogs and the birds. I don't know what's going to happen in the future. Will I keep getting another hunting dog and chase chukars? I might take up fishing or maybe even go back to big game hunting.

Nobody knows the future. Loosing three friends, and especially one before his time, has taught me to live life to it's fullest. Besides my family, what makes my life as full as it possibly can be is chasing chukars with my dogs. For me, that's just the way things are.

Turkey hunting

2010-04-25T16:52:00.000-07:00

During the heart of spring there is a short time period I find it hard to work the dogs. The chukars are nesting and if I try the higher timber areas to walk, there is still several feet of snow in places. I still exercise the dogs as much as possible but spend a little more time by myself in the hills. Although it is not quite the thrill I find with chukar hunting it has a lot of great merits.
The biggest difference between turkey hunting and chukar hunting, besides being with the dogs, is action. With chukar hunting there can be action at any moment, while turkey hunting has lots of down time when you are just walking from point a to point b. Sometimes you get a bird going and end up sitting against a tree for two to three hours waiting for the bird to finally make a mistake. Sometimes you walk all day and don't even hear a bird. There are days chukar hunting when you might not get a bird, but you still get to watch the dog work.

Turkey hunting has it's rewards. There is a lot more to it than just shooting a bird. The weather is usually pretty good which gives you time to sit and just reminisce. The other animals you encounter in the spring are also a plus. Turkeys seem to like the same type of environment as elk in the spring. There are also multiple grouse mating this time of the year.

Coyotes are protecting there young this time of the year. and will do whatever it takes to draw you away from their den. The mule deer buck are already starting to grow their antlers.

The abundance of wildlife this time of the year is amazing. The melody of spring sounds is equally as amazing. Especially the first thing in the morning. I usually walk in to my destination in the dark hours to be able to locate a gobbling turkey. Most of the time, the first sound I hear is that of an owl. Many times that will be followed by a gobble from a tom turkey. As dawn approaches, the sound of robins are everywhere. Before long, the California quail start calling to one an other and a distant chukar is announcing the sunrise. There is a drumming sound coming from the grouse and geese are honking from a near by pond. Once in a while, if the noise from the birds is not to great, you can actually hear a turkey fly down from his roost. Those sounds alone are enough to get me out on a spring morning.
Just like in chukar hunting, the harvest is the important factor. It's more how you got to the harvest that matters. When the action is happening, it can be hair raising. Every time the turkey returns a gobble to your call it sends a shiver up your back. Hearing him spitting and drumming makes it almost impossible to sit still. When the turkey finally appears at 50 yards with a full fan displaying you have to remind yourself to be calm. He needs to be at least 10 yards closer, and 30 yards closer would even be better. Fifteen minutes later, and 30 gobbles later, you begin to wonder what is going wrong. Finally, he stops his pacing back and fourth and starts towards you. You have put your gun on your lap because it was getting heavy. Now you must slowly raise the gun in his direction. Any fast movement will send him back where he came from. He is finally at 25 yards and you have the front bead on his red head. You have kept your cool up to now so don't blow it by peaking over the barrel. Keep your head down on the gun. One more quick yelp from your diaphragm and the turkey lifts his head. As the report of the shotgun dies so does the turkey. His flapping wings hitting the ground sound like thunder announcing his death. As you heft your bird and look at his beard you notice your heartbeat finally slowing down. What a great time you have just had and what a good accomplishment.
Then it dawns on you. I'm done for the day. I can get another bird this season, but not today. Hopefully this will happen one more time this year. As much as I enjoy turkey hunting, that is why chukar hunting is my favorite. I get that same thrill each time one of my dogs go on point and if I am successful at the shot, I can do it 7 more times that day and than start all over tomorrow. I can do that each and every day of the season as long as my legs and lungs will last.

But there are pros and cons to everything. Turkey hunting is much easier to do with people than chukar hunting is. When you are chukar hunting you have to keep up with your dog, which isn't easy for everyone. Chukar hunting can be difficult shooting situations, where turkey hunting is a lot more controlled. So for that reason I have been blessed with the companionship of my family and many others. I do wish they could all enjoy the chukar hunting with me. But the chukar hunting pace sometimes scares people away. I have never seen anything but awe from those who have turkey hunted with me. They are struck by the sounds and sights of the spring morning. I don't know if they are excited about the gobbling toms because I can't contain myself or whether it excites them as well. Either way there is a lot of exuberance as the turkey appears. Barbara and I doubled opening day five years ago. What a grand day that was.

And we always have a great camp up north with plenty of fun camping and turkey action. There is always a good story around the camp to be heard.

My son has been successful more than once with us.

As has been my brother Tom.

And my chukar hunting buddy Greg.

All in all since my first turkey several years ago and Barbs first, we have made turkey hunting a great family and group outing. It's a great way to spend time int the spring outdoors. Even though we have to leave the boys in the camper while we hunt.

times change

2010-04-12T07:45:00.000-07:00

Lately, Ive been hearing a lot of talk about the low numbers of chukars lately. Mostly, people are saying that it's not like it was twenty years ago. In order to know that, you had to be hunting twenty years ago. In my case I'm fortunate enough to say I remember what it was like hunting forty plus years ago. I agree, it's not like it was back than. But as far as game numbers, especially chukars, the numbers are as good now as ever. Pheasant may have taken a beating due to farming practices, but most other bird numbers are good.
I don't care for a lot of the changes that have happened over my life time, but if I want to be successful I have to adapt. The same goes for chukar hunting. More roads, more hunters, different uses of the land and many other influences have changed the habits of birds.
A perfect example of this is watering troughs or springs. Ranchers have developed watering areas for there cattle several miles away from roads to keep their stock from having to walk miles to water. The only water available at one time was probably closer to a road. Wildlife found this same resource much more likable then the water where everyone drives by.
Another example is fire. Over the past forty years there have been fires that change the landscape. Places that at one time were covered with sage may now be a mountain of cheat grass. Places where the cheat may have been, may have burned so hot the ground may be sterile for a few years. The wildlife had to vacate this area to a place more rich in food.
There are numerous reasons for change in wildlife habitat. The animals evolve with these changes. But we humans seem to find it harder to change. I remember forty five years ago fishing with my dad at lucky peak reservoir. It was nothing to see a hundred deer or more coming to the water for a drink. Ten years ago I fished the same place with dad and he complained that there were not deer like there use to be. Dad, being old and stubborn, wouldn't concede that it might be because there were five hundred cars a day traveling that road where forty five years ago we might not even see another rig.
So many of the people that complain about the low number of birds are people in my age group or older. I understand the feeling. But, my complaint isn't that the number of birds has declined, it's that it's getting harder. I'd like to believe that the hills have actually gotten steeper, but they haven't. It's not twice as far into that great chukar draw, it just seems it. Many times it is easier to lay the blame on something else. As we get older and things change it becomes easier to lay blame on lack of birds rather than that we have to work harder for them.
Sometimes I feel the same. I know that the chukars are on top of that ridge but my legs just won't carry me there. Because they are not where I am at doesn't mean a lack of birds. It means I am to worn out to get to them.
I often hear that we are losing the younger generation of hunters. Could one of the reasons for this be the message we are sending them? Instead of saying there aren't birds like there use to be we should be encouraging them to get out there and find them. There are plenty of chukars to be had if you don't mind getting out and finding them. If I was a new hunter and I kept hearing from my mentors that there just aren't any birds out there, I don't think I could get very enthused.
And last, I'm so grateful that there are plenty of chukars and huns out there to pursue. I still have a passion for this type of hunting. This is what helps me stay young. I plan on following my dogs after these birds for another twenty years. But when my time comes up, I don't want to be one of those who blame it on the lack of bird numbers. I will admit that they have finally worn these old legs down.
So, to you young chukar hunters. Don't listen to us old farts complaining. Train a good dog, grab your shotgun, put lots of shells in your vest, and head for the mountain. There are plenty of chukar to be had. All you need is a good dog and enthusiasm. Good luck.

Tucker

2010-04-01T16:12:00.000-07:00

Tucker was a great companion in my life, I was reminiscing over our times together and thought I'd share some of the photos. I wish I would have taken pictures of him as a puppy. He was amazing. I remember him pointing and holding quail at 10 weeks old. He retrieved the only pheasant I ever shot over him and had to drag it back because he couldn't get the whole bird in his mouth. Tucker was a self trainer. I hope I was as easy to train for him as he was for me.

Tucker was a member of the family the day I picked him up from the breeder. He bonded and became an irreplacable member of the family as soon as I carried him in the front door of his new home.

Tucker went everywhere with me. He loved camping and hiking during the off season.

At times he even shared a beer with me.

He was a pointing fool and would hold birds forever as long as he knew I was there. But if he wasn't sure I was coming he had a special talent of backing off the point, coming back to locate me, making eye contact, and than returning to the scene. The birds were usually still there, producing several limits over the years.

During his fourteen years of hunting he produced over 4,000 chukars/huns with countless limits to his credit.

He was quite a team player. He never cut off another dog's point and most dog's knew better than to cut off his. He was always top dog around the camp but never minded sharing a limit of birds. Honoring was natural for him and the dogs he trained.

Several Team limits were accomplished. Especially with Dakota. Team Tuckota always seemed to produce.

But after the hunt Tucker knew how to rest.

Every once in a while I shot well enough to give the boys a chance at a team retrieve, although I don't shoot that way often.

During the off season Tucker points a Turkey for me.

He was a good father to Dakota and a great step father to Riley. He quite often had to show them the rules but soon afterwards they were ready to follow his lead.

Time finally caught up with Tucker. Both sadly and fortunately his inactive time was short. He lived only three months past his last hunt. I would have loved to have him on the couch next to me for several years. He deserved that. But I don't think that was what he wanted. He felt he was needed more hunting with my good friend Jeff, who died 7 months earlier in a tragic car accident. I'm sure the two of them are scouting hunting areas for me, when it is time I should join them.

I will always remember that last limit we produced at 13 years of age. Man we worked together good as a team. You always seemed to know how to make me successful. I looked like I knew what I was doing because of you. Tucker, thank you for making me a better hunter and person.

What a thrill it was to have Barbara take us on our last hunt together and watch you retrieve your last bird. You finished in style , just like you came into my life.

Dad

2010-03-29T18:17:00.000-07:00

I'm going to get away from the chukar hunting and pass on my last hunting experience with my dad. It's kind of a reminder to also remember the elderly the same as you do your children. My dad lived for six years after this hunt but it was his last hunt.
Dad never did hunt a lot. He shot a few deer and pheasants but he spent most of his time working. He had eight children and a wife to provide for. My brother and I had taken up hunting at a young age and became quite avid. It came as a surprise when dad asked me to take him hunting at the age of 81. He hadn't picked up a firearm for over 25 years. I called my brother and we formulated a plan for the following Saturday. He would pick up dad and meet me at my house one hour before daylight. From here we would drive 15 minutes and start up the hill.
All went well until I parked my truck and suggested we start walking up the hill. Dad wanted nothing to do with that. It was still dark and he didn't want to be tripping over any rocks. I knew that dad would be moving slower on the hills than I like and losing a half hour or so wasn't going to help our odds, but it was his hunt. When it was light enough we unloaded out of the truck. Dad took the gun case out of the truck and I noticed it was Tom's rifle. He said Tom suggested he use it instead of his .270. Made sense to me since dad's gun probably wasn't sighted in.
So up the hill we went. Dad and I up the ridge and Tom off to push the brush. It was a plan that I schemed up to keep from running all over the hill. About one hour later we had traveled about a mile up the ridge. There was a nice four point coming our way. When I whispered to dad that there was a buck coming he answered where in the same voice he used to use to get my attention over the loud t.v. He finally saw the buck racing over the next ridge. Tom called on the radio and asked why dad didn't shoot and I jokingly said, "it wasn't big enough". A half hour later and a little further up the hill a three point showed up. He had no idea we were in the area. That was until I told dad to put the cross hairs on his chest and squeeze. Dad's remark of how the hell do you see through these things sent that buck running.
It was then that I realized the chances of dad bagging a buck were pretty slim. He had never looked through a rifle scope. His old .270 had open sights. Once again Tom radioed me as to what was the problem. I explained we were going to take a half an hour to learn how to center the scope and for him to sit tight. After we got the scope figured out we were on our way again. This time a fork horn and five does came bounding towards us. They stopped at about 75 yards and looked back towards where Tom was. Dad tried to pull up on the buck but was shaking too bad to make a shot. I immediately took my back pack off and put it on the ground for a shooting rest. I put the rifle on the pack and everything looked great to me. The next problem arose when I told dad to lay on the ground and shoot the buck in the chest. 81 year olds don't get down on the ground that easily. Especially when there are rocks laying all over the place. In fact dad couldn't get down there at all. I realize that, as I'm getting older and stiffer, I was asking a little much of him. After he tried, he thought he would shoot right in the middle of the herd and surely he would get one. I explained to him that this wasn't like the good old days where does were legal and he could only shoot the buck. He explained to me that was a stupid rule and he's never shot a buck in his life. Once again he forgot to talk softly and off the deer went. Another call from Tom who had been running his butt off. I explained quietly so that dad couldn't hear that this just wasn't going to happen. I told him that the only way dad would ever get a shot was if we found something about three feet tall for dad to lean on to make the shot. He also would need five minutes to get his sights on the deer. About half way down to the truck the same five does and buck were walking our direction. There was a big boulder about three feet off the ground between us and the deer. Dad was getting tired, so I mentioned we move over to the rock and take a break. I didn't mention anything about the deer. As we rested the buck move off by itself. I put my pack on the rock and rested the rifle on it pointed towards the does. I than told dad to practice with the scope seeing the does. I also made sure I told him not to shoot. After he was comfortable I said, "now look about fifty yards to the left and there is that buck". Dad calmly swung the rifle around and centered the cross hairs on the shoulder of the buck. Whoops one more problem as I waited for the report of the rifle. Dad says, "how in the hell do you take the safety off?" I told him not to move and reached over his shoulder to take the safety off. Five seconds later the shot of his life was fired and the buck dropped in his tracks.
I took the rifle with excitement and tried to give him a high five. Dad was never much into athletics so he was looking at me like what in the hell is all this hand swinging. I quickly realized the error of my ways and reached out and shook his hand like a man. He asked if we could sit and take off his boots before we go down and retrieve his deer. He thought he had picked up some rocks in his boots. One more problem. I think he had these boots all his life and his feet probably changed since the last time he wore them 25 years ago. What had happened was that his socks had slid down and balled up in the toes of his boots. That had to be miserable. We finally moved down to the buck where Tom was anxiously waiting. After the hand shakes and pictures we packed the deer the rest of the way to the truck.
As you can see by the pictures it is not a monster, but it was a real trophy to dad, Tom and myself. Thanks dad for asking me to take you hunting again.

First day of spring

2010-03-21T13:56:00.000-07:00

Today Barb decided to walk with me and the boys. We hiked back into a place where she shot her second turkey a few years back. The loop is nine and a half miles and usually is a great place for wildlife viewing. We were a little early this year and the only wildlife we saw were turkeys the dogs flushed over our head. But there were many other treasures along the way. We saw wolf tracks, moose tracks, and of course the many turkey, elk and coyote tracks. The boys found an elk bone to chew on and my lovely bride found a freshly shed elk horn. We didn't have one point or even see a hun, chukar, or grouse but had a great day anyhow. Although today is the first day of spring, it's still winter not too far up the mountain. About three more weeks and the green up will be at the elevation Barb and I were at and the bears will start venturing out of their dens.

day in the hills

2010-03-12T19:07:00.000-08:00

Seems like in a lot of the web and blog sites things have really slowed down now that hunting season is over. But as I've mentioned many times in the past, this is a great time to be in the hills. Of course, when isn't. I like to Turkey hunt, so I use scouting for turkeys as a great excuse to get my dogs out. The dogs will even point them if they'll hold.
Today we didn't see any turkeys but we saw three different species of upland birds which the dogs were tickled to point all the same. We found five rough grouse, 7 blue grouse, and a number of paired up huns to work on. Although we miss Tucker a lot we've found the best way to honor our lost companion is to go out and do what he did best. Find birds.
Here is a few of the pictures from today. I hope the rest of you are getting out and enjoying your dogs as much as I am mine.

spring training on wild birds

2010-03-08T18:34:00.000-08:00

This has been a perfect transition into spring period this year. The snows have been few and the days have warmed, melting the snow. With the melting of the snow there is a lot of water, so I don't have to pack water for the dogs. I'm not packing a gun either. It's almost like walking the hills without weights. The mountains are not frozen anymore and the dirt is soft, giving me better traction than I had the last two months of the season. The soft dirt almost feels like a cushion coming down hill, not jarring every bone in the body with each step. So there is no excuse for getting the dog out for some spring training and staying in shape myself.
The winter was kind to the birds and there seem to be plenty left for breeding later this spring. All the huns seem to be paired up and the chukars are starting, although I still see coveys of ten to twenty occasionally. These birds are great for training, especially the paired up huns. They seem to hold pretty tight. I've already got Riley back to good form as far as holding point until I fire the blank pistol, so it would seem that training may not be so necessary, but every minute in the chukar hills together is training for both of us. I learn a little more about him each time just as he figures out how to use the wind better and places the chukars tend to congregate. Being out together three times a week not only is good training, it is also great conditioning as well as helping us learn to work as a team together. It is a team sport. I wouldn't be able to find the birds if it wasn't for the dogs and they wouldn't get to retrieve if it wasn't for me and the gun.
Which brings up two more parts of the hunting equation that I feel necessary for my success. I always pack a frozen chukar along in my pack for retrieving. Two or three times during our hikes, I flush the pointed birds and shoot the blank pistol. I'll throw the bird in a direction where the dog is not watching and then call his name and try and give him hand signals towards the bird. Once again, this helps the dog to know we are a team. If he doesn't see the bird and there is one down, he can count on me to help him find that bird.
The last point is shooting. Although it may not be considered conditioning it is. As you get older the reflexes slow. So once a week I take my trap thrower out (without the dogs) and shoot a box or two of clay pigeons. I have an automatic thrower that throws the clays randomly so I don't know whether they are going to be high, low left, right, or straight, thus helping to keep my reflexes honed. I have to be able to do my part in this team relationship.
When the dogs and I go on these training jaunts I usually try to treat the walk just as a hunt. I go at least four miles and 1500 feet of elevation. We go to many different locations, keeping both the dogs and me guessing. It's also a good way to scout. There are times when we only see a few birds and times when we are constantly on them. I have a few places I could go where the dogs would constantly find quail to point, but that's not what we do. We hunt chukars when there are times when you might go a couple of hours before finding the birds. Riley is now three years old and Dakota eleven so I don't need to keep them on birds to keep them interested. The quail are perfect for young pups.
Although I've managed to put a few pounds on Riley, I think his ribs will always show as much as we go out. He and Dakota love it, and I love taking them. Because of this spring training I'm keeping in decent shape. As you get older, this is very important. Once you get out of the habit, it becomes hard to get back into the rhythm of walking those steep hills.

special characteristics

2010-03-01T20:17:00.000-08:00

Most of the people who read this blog probably hunt with dogs. How many of you have hunted with a dog that seemed to have some special ability or character to it? Hopefully this post will jog your memory of a past or present dog. I've spent the last six days reminiscing hunts that Tucker and I had together and I could write a book of memories. But Tucker had one quality that I never saw in another dog. I'm sure some of you might have seen a dog do this before but Tucker is the only dog I've seen do it.
Tucker and I were very close. He would almost go into a panic mode if we were out of sight for long on hunting trips. I've had others say that Tucker would approach them thinking they were me and then spin around in panic mood looking for me. I think this is why Tucker began backing off points and coming back to find me. It happened quite often and my hunting partners saw it quite regularly. Tucker could be on point 300 yards away and as long as I was in sight he would hold point. Sometimes it would seem like forever as I scaled the mountain to get to him. But, if I was out of sight for five minutes, Tucker would show up, make eye contact, and head back to where the birds were. He would return to the same spot he was holding the birds from earlier. It was as if he had marked the location on a gps. I've had guys watching from the next ridge and tell me later what had happened. They said Tucker would back out slowly and then turn to find me.
Things such as this are just special characteristics dogs develop. They can't be trained. They are learned from experience in the field. It is one of the many things that made Tucker special. The thing that made him most special is that he was my dog.
I'm hoping that each of you take a moment to think of your canine friends, past and present, and remember some of the special things they have done to enrich your lives. Just like Tucker they are special just because they are your dogs. If you got something to comment, please do. It should feel good to brag on your buddy, or maybe even make for a laugh on some of the crazy things they do or have done. I've got several of them on Tucker too.
Most of all, the next warm day you have off, take a break, enjoy the sun and your favorite beverage, and remember those good times with your dog. Today was 61 degrees and that was exactly what I did. I came out with a great feeling knowing the special times Tucker and I spent together. Believe me, you'll be hearing more about him.

A dogs worth

2010-02-24T10:56:00.000-08:00

I am about to make the long journey. The journey of saying good bye to a best friend. Barb and I have put his day off long enough. Our vets have given us every bit of help they can. We have finally exhausted every possibility. Any chance of quality and dignity is now lost. Many tears have been shed and many more will be shed in the ensuing days. I know all of you wish me the best and I also know many of you know the pain I am going through. I would just like to share this story with you.
When Tucker was two years old, we were hunting high on a ridge in the Owhyee mountains. It was a December day and exceptionally warm for that time of the year. Chukars were talking everywhere. We had several birds in the bag and were hunting our way back to the truck when we saw another gentleman and shorthair hunting our way. He watched as we approached and saw Tucker lock on point, me flush the bird and make the shot. Tucker hustled down retrieved the bird to me and than we walked down to the hunter. He introduced his female shorthair, Sage, but I couldn't introduce Tucker because he was off hunting again. As we talked Tucker locked up again about 200 yards away. I invited him to help me shoot a bird and he obliged. As We approached his young dog he began scolding her to stay back being afraid she would rush the point. I told him to let her go, she can't hurt anything. To his surprise she got about 20 yards from Tucker and locked up on an honor. As we approached he told me that this was the longest she has ever held point. The birds flushed before the hunter got to Tucker and the gentleman shot twice, knocking a bird down. Both dogs rushed to the flopping bird and Tucker made the retrieve to me with a few growls whenever Sage got close to his prize.
This is not an uncommon story, but the conversation between me and the other hunter afterwards describes how important my dogs are to me, and how special of a dog Tucker is.
The gentleman asked me how much a dog like Tucker is worth. I told him you couldn't give me 10,000 dollars for him. We conversed some more before parting and he told me a trained dog like Tucker is worth a lot. I thought about our conversation on the way home. There was not enough money in the world to buy Tucker or any of my dogs for that matter. Tucker is family. He has been since the day I picked him out of the litter of pups. Yes, he was an amazing hunting dog, but I would have felt the same had he been just my dog. It really is true. Money cannot replace what Tucker has given me. Even in this last month while Barb and I had to pick him up because his hips were too weak his eyes brought us joy. My point is, you can't put a price on love. I love Tucker.
As I lay here by Tucker today his eyes told me he is ready to rest. His head is heavy on my shoulder. My heart will be heavy for a while with the loss of a family member but Tucker left me with two dogs he trained to remind me of his greatness.
GOOD BYE OLD FRIEND

Male vs. Female

2010-02-22T18:13:00.001-08:00

At an Upland Idaho dinner last week I asked a few of the chukar hunters their opinion on male vs. female dogs. As in the field, I was definitely out numbered. Everyone there was a female dog owner. Almost all of my hunting partners own female dogs also. When you look at ads in the paper for hunting dogs, usually the females are going for more than the males. I have only owned two female hunting dogs. A Brittany when I was very young, who died of a colon issue, and a shorthair that I acquired from the dog pound for my 16 year old son for hunting. Although it was my son's dog, she spent most of her time with me, since Doug found girls more fun to chase than a dog. Both dogs were good dogs, but I found them to be my little sweethearts.
Obviously I'm a male dog lover. The only reasons I can come up with is that I always figured males as being tougher than females. I guess when it comes to the dog world I'm a chauvinist. I hunt hard and I expect my dogs to do the same. I don't think I would push a female dog as hard as I do the males. I think a male will work harder for me because he is as stubborn as I am. Because most males are hard headed, they can put up with my B.S. better. Female dogs are just softer in my eyes.
Now, you know why I like males. I'd love to get some input from others why they prefer one or the other. The male thing is just my ego because I've seen some really great female dogs. So far, Ive been told that males pee on everything. I have to agree. Get more than one male in a park, and every tree gets marked at least five times. Another reason is that the males are more aggressive. I don't agree with that one. In fourteen years Tucker got in one fight at the age of 6 months, and that was with another 6 month old male. The reason, no one knew. He snapped at several dogs to let them know he was the alpha dog around me but never even showed any ill temper no matter what dog was in the field with him. I can't say that about the female dogs because I have seen several altercations in the past twenty years. But that is not a fair assessment since all my hunting partners have females. I would like to hear others comments on that.
Are there more health issues with females than males? I know that twice a year that girl time comes around. I would rather have my dog marking his territory than having to baby sit my little girl at those times. The cure for that is to have them fixed, which I do. But, almost every female dog owner I know wants to have at least one litter from their little girl. I have to agree, that it is fun watching the puppies grow.
More fun though, is watching them bound through the fields learning what they were bred for. That's where my true love begins. Not always, but it seems like it's usually the bold male that ventures out first to test the environment. That's the one I want. Sure we'll butt heads once in a while, but that's what chukar hunting is all about. There's nothing easy about getting to the top of the mountain. Get the dog that will make you get there.
Just my opinion. Any comments to help other chukar hunters make a choice are appreciated.

Safety and your dog

2010-02-16T08:47:00.000-08:00

A topic probably not discussed enough is hunting safely with your dog. Chukar hunting isn't like the traditional pheasant hunt, where every one pushes a flat field and the birds usually gain altitude before the shot. Most shots are usually on steep and rocky terrain and across drainages. Much of the time you don't even know what is over the next ridge 50 yards away. This is one of the reasons most chukar hunters hunt in different directions from the truck. It's hard enough getting a decent shot at a bird without worrying about other hunters just out of sight. That is another reason I like hunting behind a pointing dog. When my dog is on point I approach the birds, flush, and then shoot. I know where my dog is. It's more difficult with more than one dog. Unless the birds are higher in the air, you can't shoot if you don't know where every dog is. I do shoot shots where the birds fly over the top of me and there is no danger to my dogs or other people. Flushing dogs are great to hunt chukars behind, but they add that element of surprise and birds may be flying way too close to the dogs. I personally think it is harder to hunt behind a flushing dog than it is a pointing dog. A pointing dog usually will give you a little more time to think the situation over and make a safer approach.

No matter what type of dog you hunt behind you have to hold back on shooting when the bird is flying close to the dog. My vet told me that it's amazing how many hunters have brought their dogs in for one reason or another and discovered lead pellets in the dog. The hunters don't have any idea how they got there. I know I have been guilty of taking questionable shots. It's just not worth it. A good flinch could be all it takes to make that questionable shot a disaster. Down hill shots are probably the worst for this. The birds are dropping fast and turning side hill. If your dog isn't broke to hold until the shot, which mine aren't, the birds and dogs can real easily be in the same line of fire. Up hill isn't as bad because the birds usually gain altitude as they take off, thus leaving a clear shot. Plain and simple, you just have to know where your dog is and never shoot if there is any question.

Another safety problem is location. Chukars like steep and rocky terrain. When they get pushed the chukars will take to rock cliffs and slide areas to avoid hunters. Those areas hold a lot of chukars so it's hard not to hunt them. But realize the dangers to both you and your dog when you hunt them. I have heard horror stories of dogs chasing a wounded chukar over a cliff to their death. I had to help a fellow hunter pack his dog back to the truck when his dog injured his hips in a miniature rock slide. He lost his dog for the rest of the season. Most hunting dogs don't know how to stop when there is an injured bird. They will chase the birds into places they shouldn't be. It is up to us to stay away from these area for protection of our canine friends. Also, how many times have you been hunting chukars in these areas, you hear a noise above you, and you look up to see a boulder bounding down the hill towards you. How many time has it been reversed and you see the boulder heading for your dog. You don't know whether to yell and alert the dog or just pray that it misses him. A lot of this can't be avoided, it's just part of chukar hunting. But we can still be aware of possible consequences and make the proper decisions for our safety as well as our dog's.

Snakes, dehydration, fence cuts, and many other things can be entered into safety issues but I think they have more to do with first aid than safety.

I had a female short hair pass away 13 years ago. She had a good life but had one scary episode that shows how important awareness and safety are in any kind of hunting. Alli and I were hunting the Brownlee area and were having a good day. There was another guy hunting below me with a yellow lab. We were having a pretty good day and the guy had heard our shooting so he was working our way. I had packed my video camera and was hoping to get some good footage of Alli working and as the other hunter approached I decided this would be a good time to shoulder my gun and pack the camera. I never caught the guys name, but he asked if I would mind if he kind of hunted along with me. I had no problem with that and showed him where I was going to head for. He mentioned he would get a little higher on the hill and started in that direction as I readied the camera. Shortly after he started up the hill I heard the flush of a chukar. With my head in my camera bag I heard the shot and than a dog yelp. It continued yelping and I thought to myself, "he shot his dog." Suddenly he yelled "I shot your dog." I looked around and sure enough Alli wasn't by my side any longer. She had gone across the draw and was about 40 yards from this other hunter in the taller sage. The hunter was swinging on the bird and when he shot she was right behind the flying bird.

Alli was still crying when I got to her and I could tell she needed immediate attention. The hunter felt bad and wanted to help me. But there was nothing he could do at that time. I was hunting with my brother that day and I told the guy the general direction Tom was and asked him to see if he could locate him and tell him to get down to the road as fast as he could. If I didn't find Tom on the road I was going to leave him and get to the vets. I always pack radios now so that I can communicate with people I hunt with. Alli weighed about 55 lbs. and the mountain I had to go down was steep and rocky. She seemed to know to hold still so as to knock me off balance as we headed straight down the hill to the road. A half hour later I hit the road and then had a mile and a half to go to the truck. Alli just laid in my arms as I carried her and her breathing did not seem to be labored. I drove back towards town watching up the hill for Tom and finally spotted him hunting his way down. With all the profuse honking he finally figured something was wrong and hurried down the hill.

Xrays at the vets showed there was over 100 pellets in Alli. She stayed there for two days. The danger was if any of the pellets were deep enough to hit a vital organ. My daughter, Kerri stayed there with Alli while I worked. Alli recovered just fine and weighed a half ounce heavier from that day on. She hunted for two more years after that and never showed any signs of that one shot affected her. I thought she might be a little gun shy after that but it wasn't the case.

The big thing here is, that although it seemed simple and the chukar was flying down a draw, the hunter was aware of his dog but not aware of the background to the chukar. An innocent accident, but one that should be avoided.

Another story happened to a good friend of mine. We were hunting chukars in the Bully creek area and were having a good day. I had got my limit so I radioed Claire that I would pick him up down the road. I parked in the draw where I could see Claire coming down and after about an hour I saw him coming down the hill. At first I figured he must have got his limit because he was walking straight towards the truck and not hunting. I didn't notice his dog Annie as he approached and there was blood on his face. When I asked where Annie was he turned and I could see her dead in the back of his bird vest. You don't know what to say at this time. After Claire positioned her in the back seat of the truck and placed his gun and vest on the floor I finally asked "what happened?"

Claire had gotten into a bunch of birds in this one rocky area and they just kept flying out. He didn't think that Annie was even close to where he shot. After his last shot she fell over and wasn't breathing. Claire spent the next ten minutes giving her mouth to nose resuscitation, thus explaining the blood on his face mixed with the tears. The 2 hour ride home was silent except for me saying I'm sorry as I dropped Claire off. That was all that needed to be said. I knew what he must be going through. It ended up that she only had five pellets in her, but a couple of them had gone into her heart. Maybe the pattern was bigger than Claire expected or maybe a fluke. No matter what the reason, we both learned something from that. Claire is back to hunting chukars again and his attitude is that he won't shoot unless he is absolutely sure his dog is way out of the picture.

Hypothermia can happen very sudden to hunting dogs. Especially the short haired ones. Greg Allen, one of the better chukar hunters I know, and I were hunting Brownlee one year in some very cold temperatures. It was between 20 and 25 degrees that day and the reservoir had not froze over yet. Greg shot a chukar that ended up in the reservoir. At the time I had a short hair, Alli, and a Brittany, Rookie, with me. Neither would venture into the water for the retrieve. Greg's short hair, Mocha, was coaxed into the retrieve. The water was choppy so she couldn't see the bird. After three or four minutes she finally came up with the bird. After the atta girls, we headed back on our hunt. Within minutes Mocha disappeared. We back tracked and she was lying under a sage brush with hair standing on end. She was shivering violently. We immediately headed back to the truck, me packing Greg's shotgun and he was packing Mocha under his coat and next to his body for warmth. It wasn't long before the shivering subsided and we let her walk and generate her own heat. It scared both of us and we got another education that day. Maybe the labs can handle that water and temperatures but the short haired dogs and no body fat cannot handle the wet and cold conditions. We put her in an unsafe position by letting her swim for the retrieve under those conditions.

Any of these things could happen to all of us. Just think about it before you begin your hunt and how much your dogs companionship means to you. It might help you hunt a little safer with your dog.

Changing style

2010-02-11T13:14:00.000-08:00

They say that dogs don't have the ability to reason, but there have been times that I question that. Today I was out on a walk and training session with Riley and Dakota. During the hunting season I had noticed that Dakota's honor wasn't as solid as it use to be, so I thought I'd work on that.

Everything fell in place on the first covey point. Riley locked up and Dakota honored about 30 yards back. As I passed in front of Dakota he started creeping. I let him go without any correction. During the season, when he would do this, I would either whoa him or nick him to keep him from breaking. I did today what I should have been doing during the season. Let him break before the correction. I found that he wasn't breaking at all, but relocating. After I was past Dakota he started circling around and than pointed from a different side. I wouldn't allow this if Dakota was a young dog, but he'll be on his twelfth season next year and I think his style has changed some in the last two years due to a young dog coming into our life that is getting all the action. Dakota has always loved retrieving and maybe he's changed so he has a better chance of getting a downed bird. Or maybe he learned this from our many camping trips when Tucker and him would trap a chipmunk in a wood pile or in a log by standing at the opposite sides until the chipmunk would make a mistake. Whatever the reason, Dakota used to honor rock solid but now seems to want to relocate after I pass him and as long as it isn't teaching Riley bad habits I'll let it go.

Also Dakota's point has changed over the years. In his younger years he had a fairly high tail and stood tall. Today his tail his low and he is almost in a sitting position. The intensity is still there. Maybe it's laziness, failing hips, or whatever, I don't know. But I do know that the majority of his points have changed look. I've never been much for style points so it really doesn't matter to me. I just want my dog to point and if it's going to be a low tail point I just want to be sure it isn't because I've done something wrong to intimidate his point. Usually that will show up when a hunter approaches his dog and he starts crouching, being frightened of a correction. That's not the case with Dakota.

Another change in Dakota's style is his range. He used to be a fairly big runner. Big to me is out to 300 yards. Dakota would check in quite often, but if he could see me from 100 yards that was close enough for him. His father, Tucker, would have to make eye contact with me before he would resume hunting. Dakota wasn't quite the athlete his father was and I think he was taking advantage of this by not coming all the way to me to check in. Now Dakota rarely gets more than 150 yards away. He is always making eye contact with me and always watching Riley for birdiness. I think it has a lot to do with his loss of hearing over the years. He has lost some of his confidence and is watching Riley and me for direction. He still finds birds on his own and will chase a cripple to the end of the earth but he has conceded to Riley for the long distance points.

Dakota has been a real trooper. He never had the athletic abilities of his father or the new guy, Riley. But he always found birds. Maybe his changing style is what he has had to do to keep up with the big boys. I wonder how many other dogs have changed their hunting ways without us even noticing and how many times these subtle changes have been advantageous.

Feb.7. 2010

2010-02-08T23:08:00.000-08:00

Just some pictures of some February training. What a great day to be out with a couple dogs that Tucker has trained.

When to Say When

2010-02-06T17:57:00.000-08:00

Sitting here this morning, I realize I'm soon to face the decision most dog owners face at one time or another in their lives. It is time to let go and give peace to my friend. Just thinking of it brings a heaviness to my heart. I look at Tucker laying here beside me and wish God could give me the ability to see into his mind and know his thoughts. We've been together for fourteen years and covered thousands of miles. During all these times, we've seemed to think as one. I seemed to always know his next move and he did mine. Now I don't know which road to take. It's not about a hunting partner; it's about a partner. Tucker was never just a tool to get more birds; he has been a friend that accompanied me whenever possible. From the time he was a pup he has always made life challenging and exiting for Barbara and me. I now look into his eyes and see the sadness and heaviness in then. God, please help me with this.

Yesterday, I took Tucker to the vet to have him checked out and give him a shot for his hips. He has been having a real hard time laying down. Even worse, he wasn't able to poop. I thought maybe it was because he was hurting when he tried to squat and if we got his hips working better that might help. During his exam, Katy, our vet suggested the time is going to come when we won't be able to help him any more. Katy has always been Tucker's vet and has done wonders with him. I trust her completely, but wasn't ready to talk about it yet. The xrays showed Tucker's heart is extremely enlarged and he has a strong murmur. The good thing about that is that his heart might just give out some day and he will not suffer. Although I'm not ready to see Tucker go, I would rather see him go that way than what I am seeing happen to him today. He has quit eating, which has even been and issue with him, or any other shorthair I have ever known.

The decision has nothing to do with hunting. I have Tucker's son and another shorthair who are trying to fill Tucker's shoes in that department. Tucker has only gone out on a few short hunts this year due to his age. He has been satisfied to just walk our property and hold down the fort. He has passed on the responsibility of keeping me in shape to the other two dogs. For those reading this, that is a good reason to always have another dog coming up. I owe these two dogs to hunt then and use their instincts the same as I owed Tucker. If not for them, I would find it hard to keep hunting chukars, because of the special bond that we have had. Tucker has trained these two; a good reason to keep hunting.

From the day I picked Tucker up to this day, we have always had a very special relationship. He has been my dog and only my dog. Time after time I've had hunting partners tell me that Tucker would approach them in the field and when he would see it wasn't me, a look of panic would come over him until he located me. Other dogs were not allowed next to me when we would be just sitting around. More than one has gotten a nip on the nose, telling them that they are not allowed any attention from me. There was never a fight; just a point to be made. While hunting, it was a totally different ball game. Tucker was all business and respected every other dog's points and retrieves. There was never an argument in the field. He, as most people's dogs, would only bring a dead bird to me.

A week has gone by now since the visit to the vet. Tucker's hips have gotten worse, although his eating and pooping have improved. He stumbles and falls a lot. Mostly he lays there on his bed and just watches what goes on around him. Right now, I'd love to see him sneak into the kitchen and steal some food like he used to, but food doesn't even interest him now. I feel guilty playing with the other dogs while he is watching. I know that dogs are not supposed to be able to reason, but we have always been to tight that I sometimes wonder if he thinks I abandoned him. His eyes don't have that glow they always had when he would see me. I lay on the floor next to him and pet his head as often as I can. That usually makes me feel even worse.

It wasn't supposed to be this way. Tucker was to have a couple of good couch years after hunting so hard. He has only had 6 months of that and 2 of them weren't that good. Did I hunt him too hard? Would his hips have lasted longer had I retired him a year or two earlier? I tried to do for him what I would want. To keep hunting as long as I was able. Maybe that was selfish of me. All I know, is when he looks at me his face says that he doesn't understand. All I want is the right thing for Tucker. I wish so bad I could read his mind and he could tell me that either I'm alright or I'm ready to go. I don't want to make that decision, although it is my responsibility to him. How do I know?

Today, although it was a great day, makes the decision even harder. It was a warm sunny day so I thought I'd try Tucker on a short walk. He stumbles down the steps outside and I helped him up wondering if this was a smart idea. We ended up walking a mile through his old training grounds and by the time we got home, he wasn't dragging his hind feed quite as bad. We got back in the house, he drank some water and is now lying down snoring. The exercise seemed to perk him up. If that is what it takes, I'm more than willing. But what about the next time he goes down for a week? Do I just let it go on, thinking he's be better when he can go for a walk again? I wish it could stay at least like today. I know he is comfortable.

Today was the 12th day since the visit to the vet. The last 4 days have been good. His walks were a little longer and he quit falling down as much. But today was different. Although he didn't fall, he walked slower and showed signs of wanting to turn back towards home. He made me very happy by acknowledging with his nose, where I had seen 4 pheasants take off just seconds before. He stopped and sniffed in the direction for five or six seconds, then looked my way. He is totally deaf now so I know he didn't hear them. We made out way home.

Sitting here watching Tucker lay beside me with open eyes, going in and our of sleep, it finally came to me. This really isn't about how Tucker feels anymore. It's about me. No matter what my decision or when, I'm going to feel guilty. If I let him go now, I'll wonder if I gave him enough time and if I wait until he passes or it's very obvious he is in pain, did I wait too long? The weight is on my shoulders, where it belongs. God bless you Tucker, for the may great years and God help me to know when. I love you Tucker...