Larry's a happy man.

Things have progressed even faster and better than I thought. Although Grady has yet to point a wild bird, he has honored Jake several times and loves the smell of upland birds. It's as simple as getting him to point, than a flush followed by a shot and a thrown dead bird. A few reps of that and we'll be ready to start the season and with patience by me to only shoot pointed birds and hopefully some good shooting Grady will be on his way to being a top notch bird dog.

I put in a 2 1/2 minute video showing him honoring once and getting a little ahead of himself on another flush.

I told you about Grady first and saved the juicy stuff for the end. Our last couple of trips have come up with more young birds this early in the season than I've found in the past. Blue grouse hunters should especially be excited. Lot's more blue grouse broods than I've seen in a long time. Chukars have exceptionally large broods and every bunch I have seen has two different aged chicks. Most covey's only have one adult. There's a theory about that and I only hope it's true.

I haven't got much footage but have seen baby grouse, turkey, chukar, elk, deer and coyote so far this year. I'm still looking for some baby rough grouse, huns and quail and will passing on what I see when it happens.

I hope you enjoy this short clip and it helps get you excited for the upcoming season. Some how I'm out of touch again and you'll have to look at the upland babies of 2018 post to see the video. Sorry.

                         

Upland babies of 2018

93 days and all's well in southwest Idaho.

I've been getting several requests about Grady's progress, so before getting into our last couple weeks of scouting I'll share a little bit about him. He is very intelligent  and has learned all the commands I require of a hunting dog, but with that intelligence comes the ability to figure out when he wants to comply and when he doesn't. What he doesn't realize is that I have just ordered an alpha which has the training ability as well as tracking. He just thinks he has the upper hand.


Jake has learned how to play and play hard thanks to Grady. He doesn't hold back and knocking Grady half way across the room is a lot of fun because Grady keeps bouncing back for more. They have become best buds. Grady no longer follows Jake on the mountain but does his own searching but reacts quickly to anything that Jake may show interest in.

As far as progressing in hunting talent, there hasn't been much. He still retrieves dead birds shot with a blank pistol but only when he has the desire. No point on a wild upland bird yet but he has a stylish point on the kill deer and robins around here. It always amazes me how the flushing sound of an upland bird can excite a bird dog and Grady loves that sound and chases with exuberance. This last week he has bumped a rough grouse, a blue grouse with chicks and some chukar and his excitement rivaled mine.

Last week Barb, Jake, Grady and I spent four days in Stanley Idaho hiking the mountains and we got to watch Grady get initiated to many new experiences. The most comical was watching him sprint back to Barb and I with a cow elk in hot pursuit. His legs have grown faster than the rest of his body so I don't need to say any more about his style. We never found the calf, but the cow stayed around keeping an eye on us. We also got into some pretty deep snow and he and Jake both took to some otter like playing.

Grady showed a little sign of flinching at the sound of a twenty gauge so we're backing off that until we get into more birds.

Now, what most of you really care about. The birds. Not much to add over my report a couple of weeks ago but the condition's seem optimum to me. Yesterday, we hiked a familiar chukar mountain and were pleasingly surprised at how green everything still is and the amount of grasshoppers. They were literally everywhere. Although we saw several chukars, there was no sign of a hatch yet. However, we did have two blue grouse flushes and with them were about 12 or so chicks strong enough to fly 75 yards or so away. Things are progressing right on schedule. We always see the turkeys hatch first followed by the grouse and then chukar seems to be just shortly before the huns. I can't give scientific proof, but that's how I usually see it.

As far as the out-of- staters planning your trip over here, I'd say this is a pretty normal year as far as precipitation and if you usually depend on certain waterholes or seeps that is where the birds will probably be heaviest this year. Remember last year followed a very wet winter and the birds were scattered as was the water sources.

I have not been to the Owyhees yet this year but I heard the grasshoppers aren't doing as well there but I also heard the crickets are. Chicks don't care what kind of insects they eat so hopefully that area will be good also.

We'll be hitting the hills as often as possible for the next 6 weeks and hopefully will be able to pass on some good news, but for now we're looking towards the end of July and first of August to find the large young covey's of chukar to train Grady on. That's when I'm going to find out whether putting up with his cockiness is worth it.

I hope the rest of you training new pups are having as much fun as I am and everyone is as excited as I am about the upcoming season.

111 days and the count down begins.

With 111 days until Idaho opener for chukars I've had a few inquiries  from people living out of the state as to what we might be expecting. The short answer is to keep your bags packed because conditions have improved and a good hatch is likely.

A month ago I was worried about maybe having a dry spring because the mountains were already showing that mid June look. Well since then we have had many good wet storms come through and help get the grass growth going again. The hills are green with lot's of growth and the hoppers are starting to hatch everywhere.

Although a couple of the storms have had quite a downpour, I don't think the chukar/hun hatch has happened yet so there would be little chance of wiping out newborn chicks. Along with the rain has been warmer than normal temperatures that are helping promote good growth and insect hatches.

Jake and I haven't been able to get back in as far as normal on our scouts because Grady has been accompanying us and his short legs tire out a lot quicker. The hikes we are getting in are looking very positive though and hopefully in about two weeks the hatch will be on. Come August I hope to be showing you lot's of huge covey's of chukar/hun and possibly a young pup pointing some of them.

As far as planning a trip to western Idaho and eastern Oregon for upland birds I would definitely start packing my gear. If my notes from the past and my memories are right this is shaping up to be another perfect spring for the birds and with the great carry over we should see some high densities of birds.

We'll be hiking around a lot trying to find babies to take pictures of for the next month or two and will try and keep you posted on what we are seeing. Keep your fingers crossed and your shotgun and dogs ready, it's looking like fun times.

Grady and chukar update

The good news about chukars is they seem to be everywhere. I even saw chukars in fairly flat range land yesterday running with quail. Flat land chukars, wouldn't that be nice.
                                                                 

I don't believe most of them are sitting nests yet because we usually see two birds together. When the hens are sitting on eggs you usually only see one bird. It won't be long though.

The not so good news is the weather. We haven't had a lot of spring moisture and the chukar hills are already showing dry spots. The green grass is not even close to what we had this time last year. If this trend keeps up we'll be losing chicks to lack of insects after the hatch but we still have plenty of time for mother nature to correct this problem.

The snakes are leaving their den's now with the warm weather and it's time to start watching for them.

It's also tick season and we pulled our first one off Grady. We'll be putting on tick and flee treatment for Jake and Grady.

Now for Jake's student. He turned 10 weeks old yesterday and he is doing quite well. He is almost house broken and already best buddies with Jake. They have some pretty good wrestling matches even with the size difference. He is the hit at the grandson's baseball games and loves being around other people and other dogs. He now knows the come command and his boundaries in the house. 

Getting him to this point was my job. From here it is up to Jake. If he get's screwed up, it's Jake's fault. We've been retrieving a sock and having great success so we went to bigger game, a hun. He shows no signs of fear at loud noises so I packed the starting pistol for our retrieves. Grady doesn't even acknowledge hearing the pistol so we'll probably go to the twenty gauge next. Here is his first retrieve of a frozen hun. Of course the coach had to show him how it is done.

I know a few of you have gotten pup's this year and would love to hear an update from you. Let's hope some favorable weather from here out.

Grady's first day in chukar country

Well the Big Guy gave me an almost impossible job again today. He wants me to train Grady while he packs around a camera. I tried to stay closer so the runt could keep up but until those short legs grow it's gonna be a lost cause. He didn't show any fear of the mountain or the tall brush and was better on the steep slopes than I thought he'd be but the kid has a long way to go. Although I found some huns, I just couldn't get the kid into the action. If my patience holds maybe we'll get some interaction with birds soon. Here's one of the video's the Big Guy took while I did all the work.

                                                                       

Welcome Grady

Meet Grady, Jake's new hunting partner. It''s going to get lively around here.

We're making our pick

After a lot of positive influence from you guys, Barb and I are going to pick out a pup on Saturday. We're going to get another solid liver shorthair from Idaho Shorthairs. Although we're making our pick next Saturday, he won't be ready to come home for another week after that. I can't wait for that puppy breath.

I have a couple more compilations of March jaunts with Jake and hopefully after that we'll have some good stuff about Jake training the new guy. In between I hope to keep an eye on the birds and what to expect next season.

                                                             

What am I thinking.

You probably remember a few years back where I said that Jake would probably be my last hunting dog. Riley's early departure had ripped my heart apart and I didn't want to go through something like that again. Whoever said that time heals must have been a lot smarter than me. I never thought the hole Riley made would ever heal but between Jake and time I have decided, along with Barbara, that I do have room for one more pup in my future.

One of our reader's, Ben Warner, posted a picture of his new addition in the last post, and that picture stimulated me in how much fun it has been raising these guys and watching them mature.

Short story is, Barbara and I are on the hunt for another solid liver male shorthair. Yah, Jake's gonna be a little bent out of shape, but I let him know he'll still be king around here. Here's a video of us playing in the snow.

                                                                       

A different type of March madness.

Evidently everyone is excited about basketball, fishing, keeping track of what is happening with the possible new Idaho trespass law, or some other activity because Jake and I are getting fewer responses and I'm seeing fewer post on other sites about chukars. Understandable, there are other things besides chukars and chukar dogs, but Jake and I are still living the dream. We're still getting out at least three times a week on some sort of a chukar mountain and everything we are seeing is very positive for this time of the year. We haven't spent any time over in Oregon this spring but western Idaho has as many birds as I've ever seen this time of year. They are almost all paired up except for a few small covey's so now all we have to hope for is a favorable spring and early summer.

As you have noticed, I'm having some fun trying to film Jake on birds this year and have had hours of films of Jake on point or flushing birds. I have learned that one of the things I miss seeing is Jake running the hill and suddenly slamming on point. It almost never happens that way. Almost every point is after he disappears over the next ridge or into a draw. I've had hours of him running on camera but yet to see that head jerking slam to a point.

Another thing Jake has pointed out to me this spring is how far chukars will run. They are starting to give pheasants a challenge in distance running and add the steep hills they are on there is no way us humans can even begin to keep up. I watched Jake track a pair of chukars over a quarter of a mile before he finally bumped them. They didn't just go straight up the hill, they also cut through the draw and split up trying to confuse Jake. Here is the last 30 seconds of a 4 minute chase pointing and tracking the birds. He got bird number two up right after I turned the camera off.

I've learned from Jake's actions what to expect. When he is searching for a scent he is usually running with head high and pretty quick but when he puts his nose closer to the ground he usually is scenting a bird that has moved as he was doing here.

As I mentioned there seems to be an abundance of chukar and huns in the mountains. Probably because of the very mild winter we had. My next post on how I think the birds are doing won't be until July when I hope to see little birds everywhere and will try to excite chukar hunters with a few pictures of the great hatch. Keep fingers crossed. For those like me that just like to watch dogs and wildlife, I'll be having fun with video's until then and posting some for fun purposes. I understand that my views are going to go down for the next few months because watching my dog is not as exciting for everyone else as it is me but hopefully you'll come back when I have some good news about chukar hunting for you.

Meanwhile, a video of Jake a couple weeks ago. He had found some birds but other chukars kept flushing around him distracting his point.

                                                                   
    BREAKING NEWS. Since this post there has been news of a new recruit to the chukar hunting community in Oregon. Watch out chukars and congratulations Ben.

                                                                       

                                                                                                                                                                    More breaking news. It was five years ago this week that we brought Jake home from Montana.

                                                                             

                                         

Lumberjacking

The wind was blowing pretty good today and I found myself lumberjacking quite often on the hill. For those who don't understand what lumberjacking is, it's the process of covering one nostril with a finger and cleaning the second nostril with a hard snort. I didn't realize until today of how much of a master you have to be to lumberjack successfully without interrupting your current goal.

Women, (especially Barbara) don't understand the importance of clearing your sinus in stride. From day one mothers are teaching their youngster to cover their nose with a kerchief and blow. That is fine and dandy at the restaurant but can you imagine how much time you would lose and how many kerchiefs you would have to carry if you stopped each time the need came while chukar hunting or any other kind of hunting. Success on the hill isn't measured by proper manners.

With that being said, I am applying for a grant to teach proper lumberjacking. Hopefully when the grant comes through I'll be able to educate hunters the proper mountain man way to get the snot out without breaking stride. It is much more complicated than just covering up one side and snorting through the other.

In my class you will learn things like proper pressure. Too much pressure causes pain and forces the head to an improper angle. You will also learn the proper head angle as well as snorting volume. Who wants the excreted matter on their shirt or a lunger hanging from the nose. These type things take time to clean up and waste valuable hunting time. The quick burst of the snort must be mastered to prevent headaches and clean removal. You'll learn the sound of a clean release that send the snot rocket into the direction of choice. When you finally accomplish the clean release, you no longer will have to use your shirt sleeve or shoulder to wipe off any excess. It will cleanly be placed on the mountain. Even your laundry bill will show effects of learning in my school of lumberjacking. Shirt will have to be washed only half as much because that hard crust will no longer be on the sleeve and shoulder.

Not wanting to give up to much professional advice I'm going to leave it at that and hope that you enroll in the L&J school of snot removal. We'll be taking applicants as soon as the grant comes through. Meanwhile enjoy this video of Jake.

A very important P.S.  My grandson and hunting partner, Conner got his letter last night for wrestling at Rocky Mtn. High. Pretty proud of him as a freshmen to accomplish that. Conner, Mom and little brother Mac.
                                                                   

                                                                       

Tomorrow.

Well, Conner and I had a good time at the sports show last night but I couldn't come up with anybody interested in discussing chukars with me. There was plenty of big game, fishing, guns, taxidermy, etc. to look at. NWTF had a booth there as well as Pheasants Forever and Ducks Unlimited and a few dog trainers, but that was about it for us upland enthusiasts. Probably better that the word doesn't get out there of how gratifying chukar hunting can be. Besides, like I have said, there is not much we can do about the chukar numbers so there isn't much need for a chukar booth except to import more hunters. There was some information about keeping our lands public which I believe is the biggest threat to our great chukar/hun hunting.

Today, Jake and I were chased off the hill because of heavy winds. We left the camera in the truck to work on some steady training. I think this camera stuff has helped promote a little help from Jake at flushing the birds. A couple of trips concentrating on him and not the camera should take care of that.

With that I'll post the rest of my videos that are watchable from the past couple of weeks. Most of you have been in these scenario's so it won't be hard to imagine yourselves and your dogs as the stars. In fact some of this country might be recognizable to some of you. Troy and Rowdy, Greg Munther, Dave Schuler, Karl Dehart, and Matt Hutt are just of few of the chukar nuts I have seen back there.

The quality of these videos is testament that I am not posting for any kind of recognition but more to show you how much I enjoy the chukar mountain. Especially with Jake.

This first video is of Jake on point as I walk below the brush for a flush.

                                                                     
Next is Jake with a little too much help in the flushing process.

                                                                           

Another small covey of chukar.

Here Jake is on point but not sure there's a bird. It ended up being a pretty tight holding pair of huns.

             

This last one is coming down a steep snowy slope. I can't tell you how many times I fell. Twice birds flushed when I fell but Jake held evidently knowing this bird was still there.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

                                                                           

My buddy Jake

It's a rainy day today and Jake and I have decided to stay home and guard the fire. I don't mean to diminish my feelings for my family, but I realize especially now that I am retired I spend more time with Jake than any one person in my life. That includes my wife who still wants to work. Probably for relief away from me. Jake and I are almost 24/7.

This may not be fair to the service men, but my feelings for Jake must be a lot like their feelings for their comrades who they spend night and day with in the battle fields and during their training. They must know each other almost as well as they know themselves. Never having been in the service, I am just assuming how they must feel.  The trust they must feel in knowing that they can always count on each other and that they work as one accomplishing their goal. They have become a team that works together in every aspect.

It's a relationship I have had with all of my canine partners and those relationships have not been forgotten even though they are not with me anymore. They never let me down and I tried to never let them down. There is not a price you can put on the relationships we have had and I continue to have with Jake. He pretty much knows my next move and helps me be excited about making it.

So with that, I hope every dog owner feels the same as I do, especially you chukar hunters. Quite often it is just you and him on the hill trying to accomplish the same goal and relying on each other. Pretty much the same as you and a good friend or family member accomplished goals together. They are usually something you come away with holding your head up high because of what you have accomplished.

With that being said, I hope some of these videos keep you excited for the upcoming season with your canine partner. Yes, Jake is the star here but put your dog in his place and you in mine and envision the greatness of your team work. It's almost as good as being there.

I've got a lot of February videos and most of them are discarded because of falls, jerky motions, heavy breathing, etc. but I'm working at getting better at this video stuff. No cockiness here, just showing my love for being on the mountain with Jake.
                                                                     

                                                                           
This next one doesn't show Jake on point behind these boulders but shows how this clever little chukar snuck through the rocks and scampered up the hill without Jake ever knowing.

                                                                                 
   The next video shows Jake on this weird point after I had been searching for him around the brush. The bird must have been moving and Jake finally broke point and helped me flush it.

                                                                                                                                         
                                                                 
Conner and I are heading to the spot's show now, hoping to find someone to talk chukar to and we'll finish the video's tomorrow if Jake and I get off the mountain on time.         

Not perfect dog work

It's getting that time of the year when chukar interest is at a low. Not for me. Although it's hard to get started up the hill, once I get going it's like a drug and I start wanting more. It's getting close to the end of February and Jake and I are finding lot's of birds everywhere. Almost every hun we are finding is paired but the chukar's are still bunched up. Pretty normal for this time of year. Jake is having a ball finding and pointing birds. Sometimes he does a stellar job of holding birds until I flush and sometimes not so good. I have one video from today where Jake breaks a little soon. Most good trainers would say that's a no-no, but it was good enough for me. Especially since it took me about five minutes to get down to his point and into position to start filming. The best part of this clip is where the birds flushed from. After reviewing the film if you look hard enough you can actually see a head or two. At the time Jake and I were only 25 yards apart ,so these birds are a testament to how tight these chukars may sit and how easy it might be in the early season to walk right past them when the scent is not as strong. There were about 6 more birds that took off right after this where Jake was pointing.

The next video is also one that good dog trainers will scoff at. It's a great video to show as to why you should train your pup to hold until you release him or her. I trained one dog to hold to shot and we seemed to have lost more birds. It may have been just coincidence but I have since let my boys go at the flush and know better than to take a shot in these instances. I just feel it's a lot less pressure on the dog.

I hope you enjoy these clips as much as I did walking up on them.

Chukar vs. quail

I quite often get asked why I don't hunt quail more? The simple answer is the dog work. All of my dogs have handled quail a lot different than chukar/hun. Although quail will hold well at times they quite often don't vacate the area and create as much flushing as they do pointing. It's hard for a dog to hold point on a bird that is moving through the brush chattering and jumping from limb to limb.

Here is Jake on a pair of huns. Once I flush the birds he makes a short chase hoping I might get one and then is off looking for the next covey. He may make a short check from where the birds flushed from to make sure there are no stragglers but soon is off in the distance.

Jake will also point quail but once they flush he realizes they haven't gone that far and loves pursuing them into the brush or wherever they fly to. In this short clip you'll notice he points a few different times but also flushes birds as much as he points. It is a lot of fun action but just not what I want.

Quail hunting can be a ton of fun and is especially great for introducing young people to bird hunting. There is very little time to get bored. You just have to makes sure you educated them as to where their shooting lanes are. Quail are random flyers and will often fly right at you or close to the dog. While chukar hunting I will often shoot at a pointed quail but won't pursue the covey. Another reason I don't shoot many quail is because I don't carry enough shells. Those little buggers are hard to hit. Every shell spent on a shot at a quail might leave me with too few for chukars.

Lastly, there is no place like those places chukar inhabit. Yes, quail hunting may be easier on the legs but something about the chukar mountain pulls me in like a magnet.

New trial

Bear with me one more time. I'm still trying to edit movies for my blog. Let me know if you can see this video. Thanks for letting me know the last time Ben.

Question

I've been getting several calls about my thoughts on guzzlers and so I'm passing that same question on to you. Agree with me or not I promise not to throw you under the bus. That is what makes us better people. The ability to listen to both sides and maybe understand better.

Simply put, I don't see what they can hurt but don't see the need for them as far as chukar hunting goes. Why do we have to carry so much water for our dogs during the early season? We seem to find birds where there doesn't seem to be any water. There is water somewhere and the birds we hunt know where it is. That's part of the fun of hunting for me. To find out what attracts the birds to different areas at different times of the year. Chukars have done well in the west since they were introduced and for the most part have done it without guzzlers. In my opinion guzzlers, although they can't hurt, do more for the hunter than for the birds. Guzzlers are good starting points for those who have never hunted chukars before.

So, to **** ****** who e mailed me last week and mentioned that maybe I should start helping with the guzzlers since I benefit from them and the number of birds I get is related to the amount of work and money he has put in I disagree. The only guzzlers I am aware of are the guzzlers made by mother nature and all the wildlife I see seem to be doing fine.

If they dry up there is another one not too far away even though we may not be able to find them.

So with that being discussed and dismissed, on to the fun stuff. Boy, I've been having lot's of it. I wish I could do a better job of editing and show  it all to you and help keep you excited for next season. I'll be working on that but for now I'll show my favorite picture of yesterday and hopefully then a short clip.

One more note. I finally got rid of my land line and am now a cell phone only person. That number is 208-861-2907. Make sure you leave a message because I'm usually not around my cell phone but will eventually return your call, good or bad.

Calm between the storms

As I headed out on my long drive towards the reservoir I was pleased to see a light snow falling. There was a 20% chance of snow today compared to a 90% chance tomorrow. I figured most of the past snows had melted and I would be on some fairly open slopes. Wrong. If this storm only produced 20% I don't wan't to see what tomorrow will bring. Although it was mostly fresh snow and very little slipping the body seems to tighten up and you use different muscles when hiking in snow and it didn't take long to feel those different muscles.

I wanted to hunt an area I haven't hunted since the first of November in which I saw many cooperating birds. As I approached the area I wanted to hunt there was about 6 inches of new untracked snow. Jake soon took care of the untracked snow and I wondered if there were more than one dog on the hill as I went higher, but knowing we were the only vehicle in this morning meant Jake was just doing his stuff. The top of the furthest ridge is where we were heading.

I was amazed how quiet everything seemed. The temperature was somewhere around 35 degrees and no breeze to be felt. I realized how quiet Jake and I must have been also when a red fox sprang up about 20 yards from me and disappeared into the brush. It's tracks began from under a sage brush clump. I don't think Jake ever saw it but he definitely was curious about the odor.

Although today was very similar to many of the other days on the mountain, my mind was filled with emotions of the wonders that God and chukar hunting have provided for me. Not only the beautiful country that seemed even more so on this calm and quiet day but the energy I seem to get every time I get on the hill. I was questioning whether to head up the hill when I saw the snow this morning but once I started there seemed to be a magnet pulling me further and further. I also become amazed at how the animals survive up here and how most of the time they go unnoticed by us. The fresh snow showed deer tracks walking the same trail as I but suddenly turned to long strides down the hill. Was the deer running from me or Jake? Was it a buck or doe? How is it I didn't see it? Questions I wouldn't have thought about except for the snow was so fresh. I've humped these mountains many times in the past and never seen or heard another hunter, but obviously Jake and I were never alone.

When I started this blog several years ago I did so mainly to show people how much fun chukar hunting is and especially how much fun I have hunting behind my fine partners. For some reason today really hit home to me on the reasons I chose to chukar hunt. I kept thinking, I can't wait to get home and put all these thoughts on the blog. As usual most of those thoughts faded into that part of my mind that I can't recover. I just know everything was perfect.

Jake is always on my mind. He has amazed me as a hunting companion. This is his fifth hunting season and there is very little that he can't do. Usually, this time of the year, I'm thinking we're going to have to break some of those bad habits come season end but this year he seems to have figured out what makes hunting click between him and me and just keeps delivering. I often wonder what he thinks when no bird hits the ground but this year it seemed to happen often enough that all he needed was no bird and off to the next find. How did this animal become so good at what he does? It wasn't anything I did. Maybe God picked him out for me knowing how much I enjoyed being on the mountain and I needed a partner to keep me going.

Jake is definitely my rock when it comes to chukar hunting. He seldom lets me down and always keeps track of me. He doesn't need a gps to find me as I do him.

Something different usually happens on each hunt to add a different flavor to it. Today, as I approached one of Jake's uphill points, the birds flushed a little wild. I fired and somehow hit the trailing bird. It must have been either a head shot or heart shot because it flew straight up in the air before flying back down the hill straight at me. It hit the snow not five feet from me dead as a stone. Jake watched it fall and ran over to the bird and than looked at me as to say, "if you think I'm picking up that crazy bird you're nuts" and he never did. I finally bent down and picked it up as he watched.

I spent as much time thinking on the mountain today as I ever have. I hoped that my grandson, Conner will keep the same love for the mountain as he has today and that there will always be mountains for him to pursue his passions. I won't be able to keep up with him much longer, but will be happy to go part way with him and excited to hear his stories when he returns. I hope that he and a couple of his friends I have introduced to hunting always respect the outdoors the same as they do now. 

Depending on the next storm, this may be my last hunt of the season, so I wanted to thank all of you who responded by phone or on the blog. It makes me feel good to know that there are a lot more of you crazies out there that love our dogs and hunting as much as I do. As far as the bird numbers go, I believe there will always be birds out there to pursue. The up and down years will go on forever but all most everything depends on the spring and summer months. 

Hopefully, Jake and I will be telling lies in the future to help keep you stimulated on pursuing chukars and huns. As long as Jake permits I will be sending pictures of what he does for me, such as this one which was one of my favorites of the day.

Oh, by the way, this is what the mountain looked like five hours after the picture of the same hill this morning.

And this was our final tally after a great day of dog work and a poor day of shooting.

May you always have public lands to pursue your dreams on and may you have the health and dreams to push you up that mountain.

Also, don't forget to give your other halves a big hug for allowing you to spend so much time pursuing chukars. I logged 64 trips just chukar hunting this year. Thank you Barb.

Larry and Jake

New tricks for Jake

Jake took me on a challenging hunt today. He decided the birds were up high, so we went up into the snow and gave it a whirl.

Yes, that's Jake in the middle of the picture. Yes, the snow was that deep up there. Yes, I was on my butt quite often. Yes, I can see those bare slopes way down there. After several exciting points, falls and misses I finally got a double. One of the birds dropped quickly and fluttered in the snow and my second shot hit a bird that traveled about two hundred yards down the slope. Jake quickly gabbed the first bird and then dropped it in pursuit of bird two. It was fun to watch him try and figure things out. Half way down the hill he stopped and started back up towards bird one when the lower bird started flapping. That was enough to encourage a retrieve on that bird.

Jake returned to where the first bird was and placed number two next to it. He looked up at me like I should come down and pick them up.

He finally picked one bird up and then the other and tried to pick them both up a couple of times before finally bringing them to me one at a time.

Jake gave me several other opportunities but my eyes must have been crossing because I missed a bunch. We took a picture of our birds and decided that this was our two bird personal limit day.

Now we are conservationists.

To add to my woes, Larry Semmens sent me a picture of the Scaled quail he was hunting down south. That does seem a little more fun than I was having in the snow today.

Seven more days in Idaho and Oregon. Better get out and get er done. Try not to be the conservationist I was today though.

A new wrinkle

With only two weeks left in the season and Jake turning 5 I decided to get in a good hunt for his birthday. What a difference a year makes. Last year at this time I could hardly get off the road to hunt and this year the chukar hills are bare as far as you can go. We found birds over the 5000 ft. level and plenty of them. In fact we saw plenty of everything, even 2 cougars. The big one was leaving his tracks everywhere in the snow.

There was lot's of big game but we never found a kill sight. The sightings were short but they were definitely two different cats in two different locations.

Birds were plentiful and Jake was showing off for his birthday. He had an outstanding day with plenty of great points and retrieves. My shooting was even above par and there were more than enough birds left for seed since it will be the last hunt of the year in this area. It's one of the area's I hunted more than once this year. In fact it's my third trip and I have yet to see or hear another hunter. Speaking of seeing another hunter, that is the only animal I have not seen in the hills for the last month. It seems like many of the chukar hunters have given it up for the year. From the responses I got from my last post, calls and another chukar site, it seems like most people found plenty of birds this year even though some places were spotty. I'll try and post more about what people have said after the season is over.

Meanwhile, back to Jake's birthday hunt. We did so well that we had to put the shotgun on a sling and take some pictures on the way back to the truck. Accidentally, I hit the red button on my camera and realized it was the record button for motion pictures. I always knew it was there but never thought of using it. This was as good of time as any to see how it worked. I found out that it worked just fine but my eyes don't work so well looking at the screen unless it was at arms length. At that distance a 2 inch by 3 inch screen doesn't show much either. Add to that, my ability to walk and film at the same time is very limited, and you can see why the poor quality of the videos. It's like walking through a corn field at night and keeping your eyes and arms focused on a single light. Still, it was a great opportunity to highlight Jake, my superstar. Keep your volume down so you don't hear the heavy breathing and understand that once in a while I am actually looking around for a possible flush. The rest of the jerky motions and shakes are something I'm going to try and control in the future. Video 1.

  The next video was of a couple of huns. I hadn't seen a hun all day and my shotgun was slung over my shoulder while I watched another dozen or so birds flush within seconds of this.

The last video is is two parts. Jake was at a long range point, about 150 yards down hill, and shortly after I started the video I tripped over some sage and than did it again a few times and decided to delete that part of it.

Through it all, Jake performed like a star and relocated a couple of times, ignoring my cussing and laughing as I approached.

Leslie, from "Chukar Culture", better watch out. There's a new camera on the mountain. 

I'm sorry there isn't more information about chukar hunting today except that there are still lot's of birds out there to be hunted. If you're worried about shooting some birds this time of the year and not being considered a conservationist, don't worry, I won't tell.

Happy last two weeks in Oregon and Idaho.