special opener

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.