Jake, Grady and I still try and get out three times a week for some exercise but we mainly go to the high country where the water is still flowing down the creeks. I'd do a little more early scouting in chukar country but Grady hasn't proven to me that he wouldn't bolt if he saw a young chukar darting through the grass. At 17 months he still has a little work to do.
I have seen some birds but not the number I hoped for but I have to confess that is my fault. I'm being a little lazy this summer. Just last week I saw a small group of blues with the young ones around 8 weeks old. I also saw turkey's about the same age. My notes don't show that I have seen birds this mature this early. This week I found a small covey of chukar and the chicks looked to be about two weeks old. Yesterday I found a hen turkey with a dozen or so two week old chicks. Over the last two weeks of traveling I've seen over a half dozen quail broods and the chicks didn't look much larger than bumble bees as they sprinted off the roads.
Good news is that I have seen no coveys of large chukars or huns. Usually, reorganization of mature birds means a poor hatch.
Idaho chukar season is two months away and grouse is a mere 39 days a way. Hopefully this time next month I'll have some footage of chukars and huns as they reorganize into large groups. Of course I'll list the drainage where I found them. You remember, No tellum creek, over by the old burn, that drainage off the snake or way past Mountain Home.
Meanwhile, here's a short clip of a ruff I filmed this morning. I'm hoping it's a male because I couldn't find any little ones with it.
