The way it's supposed to be

This was the spring break week for students so I was lucky enough to have Conner spend a few days with me. As usual he wanted to spend our time together on the mountain. So we loaded up the truck, had Jake jump up into the back seat and headed out for a couple of days. We headed west to an area I had chukar hunted in the past but decided to scout some new country. It ended up being a great decision.

In two days of hiking, Conner and I put on 16 miles with almost 5000 feet of vertical gain while Jake was short of fifty miles by two miles and who knows how many vertical feet he got in. Although we had every kind of weather, most of the time it was perfect for hiking. Conner never seems to get tired of hiking and exploring and Jake loves the extra companionship he provides.

Conner has a thing about finding sheds and although we never found the honey hole of antlers, he found enough to keep him looking while loading both his pack and mine with junk found on the hill. Those treasures include the many things we all find while out, water bottles, sardine cans, birthday balloons, shotgun shells, and believe it or not a coat hanger. Conner and I tried to figure it's worth on the mountain but couldn't come up with a logical explanation.

Meanwhile I'm trying to locate Jake to see what he is pointing. This new draw up by no tell em lookout is turning out to be a great find. With Jake on point I have Conner flush the birds while I snap pictures. The three of us had several opportunities, but most of the time I failed in doing my job.

Most of pictures of the flush were just blurs but I managed to capture several shots of chukar. To those interested, we never saw a covey of chukar but all pairs and a couple of singles. To my knowledge that is good news. If they stay in coveys or covey back up later, the hatch will probably be poorer.

What makes this new area such a great find was the amount of blues we saw. We saw at least a dozen blue grouse each day and probably more like 15 to 20. A few of the birds might have been seen more than once. Each day was at completely different locations thus making this a bonus area for the 2017 upland season. 

It's an easy place to find once you get to no tell em lookout. Now put these two days together and imagine you are a 14 year old boy on spring break with four more days before you have to be back in school and your other grand parents are heading for Riggins. Yes, the steelhead are running and three hours after they picked up Conner, he texts me this picture.

I haven't heard back from him since that picture but I'm sure he is beating the water and having the kind of time all 14 year old boys and girls deserve. Now that's the way it is supposed to be. Thank you Idaho.

WOW!

"Hunting" means chasing, driving, flushing, attracting, pursuing, worrying, following after on the trail of, shooting at, stalking, or lying in wait for, any wildlife whether or not such wildlife is then or subsequently captured, taken, or wounded. such term does not include stalking, attracting, searching for, or lying in wait for, any wildlife by an unarmed person solely for the purpose of watching wildlife or taking pictures thereof.

This is the paragraph J of Idaho title 36, 36-202 that anonymous referenced to in his comment on my Chukar country post. I'll let everyone decide what it reads to them. I'm glad you posted to show your disappointment that I am out while the birds are paired up. I got a feeling this post might show some excitement. Plus it gives me an opportunity to release a few of my feelings also.

I am pretty sure I know who anonymous (B.M.) is and am sorry you feel the way you do but that is what it is. I never did the name calling, your buddy did.

The fish and game has always had my blog site available since one of the members is a good friend of mine. I don't try to disguise what I do and in fact have had a member of the fish and game with me on my spring outings a few times. I doubt that they will contact me because they have much more constructive things to do with their limited time. That being said, I'll let the readers decide whether I'm doing wrong or not.

Now, to a little about my feelings about your feelings. Jake and I do no more harm to these pairing birds than any other creature in the hills. First off, once we point or jump a pair we're off to another part of the hill looking for our next bit of excitement. Those birds are free to fly back at anytime they wish. We pressure them no further. Your next point might be "how do I know they return?" This time of the year I don't know, but as they start nesting they will return. I know this from many cases of having one of my dogs point and then I flush a pair or a single and they don't fly very far. I then take my dog and sit back a hundred yards and watch until they return. Many times it takes an hour or two but usually when they return I find a nest, take a few pictures, and go on my way. Usually that time of the year is late May or early June but never this time of the year. I have even flagged the nest locations and gone back for several weeks so I know the approximate hatch date. Every nest I have ever watched has had a successful hatch but one. A predator had destroyed the eggs. I suggest that maybe you, I and a Fish and Game employee go on one of my hikes and see how much harassment of these birds I create. But as was suggested, I think the employer would have better things to do with his time. I am a very pro fish and game guy and would love their opinion.

If you are the person I think, you also listed several fish and game titles that forbid harassing big game animals on another site. I am all for not harassing big game animals any time whether they are wintering or not. But to shut down the hills to horn hunters or other recreationist is not the answer. Fish and Game does a very good job in advising people where to avoid game animals and problem areas. There is no need for a blanket statement like was provided by another group on closing the chukar season because of stressed animals. There were plenty of places to hunt where big game animals weren't even present. There was also the mention of chukars that were (I can't remember the word used)  starving. Well that definitely wasn't the case across the region. Also mentioned was the amount of road hunters seen when the deep snow came. I have yet to see a person shoot a chukar from the road. Maybe I don't spend enough time on the road. I think when the weather or any other condition arises, most hunters will use common sense in doing the right thing. They don't need it written out in titles and sub sections.

My third problem is about the guzzlers and the lack of help in maintaining them. You mention how chukar hunters benefit from guzzlers but I disagree. I would be glad to help if I really thought it would help the bird numbers but I don't. That doesn't make me any less of a conservationist than the guy maintaining it. I believe there is very little we can do to enhance chukar country. Mother Nature takes care of that. The guzzler you mentioned that got no help from any other organization was pictured on that other site. Look in the background at the lake. It's hard for me to imagine hunting any animals that is too lazy to walk or fly down to the reservoir. I know they provide good benefits in some areas, but I don't know of any area that I hunt that would benefit chukars. Maybe benefit the chukar hunters some. So, quit trying to guilt people into doing what you think is good. Maybe we don't see the same need.

This could even get longer but I don't want to lose everyone. Pretty much what I'm trying to get at is let people make common sense decisions. I know you have already said that my decision is illegal, but I believe my decision to pursue the birds this time of the year is both an ethical and legal decision. I'm not calling names, but if people like you keep finding a reason to keep others out of the hills, we might just as well turn the state into a big national park where you have to get permission to get off the paved path.

We often talk about how the we're losing youth participation in the outdoors. Wonder why? Conner, Jake and I just got back from a two day hike horn hunting and watching Jake traverse the hills. We had a ball and got some great pictures. We found some sheds and Jake was in pointer heaven. You can't find a more enthusiastic 14 year old anywhere about the outdoors. Why, because he gets to get out there and enjoy all the aspects of it without harming any of the future. He also has some common sense and knows when he's pressuring the resource or not. Take this away from him and we have one more couch potato.

Please give me a call and bring the Fish & Game by and will go out on one of my jaunts to see where the verdict lays. I would enjoy your company and maybe when we are through you might put down your law book and start enjoying the outdoors like you used to.

Chukar Country

Unlike most people, I don't have another hobby outside of hunting. And although I hunt a variety of animals at times, if I had only one species to hunt, it would be the chukar. Not just because chukars are the ultimate bird to hunt with a good pointing dog, but equally as much because of the country they inhabit.

Chukar country can be very challenging no matter what time of the year you decide to hike in it. It can have temperatures in the negative degrees and get over 100 in the summer months. There is very little perfect time to be on the mountain because it invites all different weather patterns which can change just by going over the mountain. It encompasses all types of terrain from rock slides to rock cliffs, steep cheat grass hills to rolling sagebrush tops, and bare hills to lush green canyons.. The one thing chukar country doesn't have is hiking trails. You might find some game trails to follow for fifty yards or so before they disappear but then you'll have to side hill on the steep slope until you find another that might take you the next fifty or so yards.

Most people don't care to be in chukar country unless they are hunting something and there are plenty of somethings to hunt besides chukar where they reside. After the general deer and elk seasons, the number of people on the mountain diminishes quickly. The only people left in the hard core chukar country are the hard core chukar hunters. Not because they are any tougher or smarter than anyone else, but because they love hunting chukars with their canine partners. There are a lot of other chukar hunters still hunting, but most of them are just trying to enjoy a hunt in between their seasons and that is what is available. Most of those people won't go to the extent of  traveling four miles before getting a shot because it's not a priority and they find enough birds in the easier places. Maybe they're smarter than us die hards.

The weather is warming up and a good many people are starting to fish the lakes and go up north for steelhead. While they are enjoying that, I'm up on the hill enjoying the solitude of chukar country. I'm covering the mountain sides I couldn't get to two months ago.

On the back side of this mountain is a beautiful draw that looked like this a few months before the big snow came.

I'm so looking forward to that time of the year when I will be returning to this area with a gun in my hand and Jake leading the way. Between now and then, Jake and I will make a couple of spring/summer trips and check out that special place that only he and I know (right) where the hill flattens out some and my shooting percentage rises a little.

We all have a special place like this with the name no tell em ridge. Jake and I have been traveling to chukar country quite a bit since the first of February when the weather finally gave us a chance to actually walk in it. Many of the places were still locking us out with long snow drifts that forbid me from crossing but we're now able to get to all of our hunting spots and I have to say the animals did much better than I thought they might. I figured the chukars and huns might do well because the majority of them usually find that high blown off ridge to get feed from and hide from the predators. Those that moved down into the valley's struggled more with the snow staying almost a month longer than the southern steep slopes.

Jake and I have been in the mountains quite a number of times since Feb. 1 and have yet to see another person on the hill. That is besides my grandson, Conner who is as mentally stable as me.

He has been coming home with a back pack full of sheds each trip we take together. Meanwhile, Jake is having the time of his life. He is finding so many birds he is tiring out by the end of our jaunt and in this case I found him on point from the sitting position.

He had gone 24 miles already that day and 16 miles the day before so I forgave him for such a classless point which produced another pair of chukars.

I'm getting better with my camera and have finally got several pictures of the birds flushing. The secret is just aim the camera towards the flushing birds and push the button. When I get home I look through the pictures and see if the birds are in the frame. It's kind of like how I shoot a shot gun, point the gun, close my eyes and pull the trigger. If Jake goes after a dead bird than I know I was successful.

Chukar hills are full of game animals any time of the year we venture out in them. Here are some other creatures we're seeing. This pair of huns is one of many we are seeing now.

We weren't seeing many earlier but are now seeing quite a few pairs. Some of the chukars are still in covey's but I have only seen paired huns. Jake has also pointed a half dozen blue grouse so far this year.

This ruff didn't let Jake point but flew up into a tree and acted like he had never seen a human or dog.

It's a little early  to find any nest but we found the remains of an old chukar nest from last year and I'm crossing my finger that she will be back this year with twenty or so eggs to sit on.

As I mentioned, it seems like the big game did a lot better than I thought they would do. I have found very few winter killed animals on the mountain. The closer to the valleys, the more dead animals found. To those who wonder if we're pressuring the big game animals, no we are not. Chukar country is big and it's easy to observe the deer and elk while giving them lot's of room. 

The elk have done very well and we've seen them running around and playing already.

But in case one of the deer or elk don't make it through the hard times this guy is ready and willing to clean them up.

Add the sounds we hear when we're high on the mountain, like the snow geese and Canadians heading back north, or the sand hill cranes and even some trumpeter swans, along with the chatter of chukars, it's easy to see why I stay so positive about  our future on the mountain. Chukar country is good for my soul.