Forecast: Hot and Dry

Sitting here looking at the forecast and trying to find the best day to head out chukar hunting is a little depressing. No matter what day in the near future I choose, it's going to be hot and dry. Jake and I have been hitting the hill as much as possible for the last two weeks, but getting good dog work has been pretty dismal.

It's not for lack of trying on Jake's part or walking my tail off on my part, but the lack of any kind of moisture creating very tough conditions for a dog's nose. Jake has already busted more birds in the first few weeks of this season than he did on the previous two hunting season's. He seems to be right on top of the birds before he get's any scent and at the end of the day his snout is caked with dust and pollen. I'm even constantly blowing my nose to clear the sage pollen from my nostrils.

Bob Mcmichaels post, "Dry as a Bone", nails conditions right on. The birds are out there but finding them with good dog work is tough. I believe most of us are out there to get birds behind good dog work. If not, these conditions seem to be just right for hunting without a dog.

Hunting deer with Conner this weekend is a perfect example. We hunted Saturday afternoon and Sunday and saw at least a dozen covey's of chukar that we could have gotten shots at had we been carrying shotguns. At times they were scurrying up the rocks 10 to 20 yards away, seeming to have no fear from us.

As we walked away they just starting talking as if they were mocking us for being on their mountain.

This happened several times along with us wandering right into the middle of large covey's that took our breath away with their explosive flushes. Had we been hunting birds, we would have had more opportunities than I have had yet hunting with Jake. I think, maybe a close ranging flushing dog might be perfect for these kind of conditions but Jake's 300 yard range does not qualify.

Our deer hunt was unsuccessful, in the fact that we saw nothing but does in our 12 miles of hiking in the two days, but because of the amount of game seen and hopes we gained for the rest of the season it was a great success. Like these bears we found sunning outside of their den.

Conner moved into about 40 yards and snapped some good pictures and I captured one of him and the bears.

They finally got uncomfortable with us watching them and left there hole in the ground. Both Conner and I exclaimed that they looked plenty healthy for their winter sleep with all that fat jiggling as they wandered off.

We had fun. But for me, I was very encouraged for the upcoming months of chukar hunting. I've been seeing more chukars than I've seen in any of the past four bird seasons. On the negative side, I've only seen one covey of huns with all the chukar covey's I've seen. Those numbers are down in my views.

Be patient, the birds are out there. Good Luck.