Out of excuses

My last post had me dissing my dog and commenting on poor dog work. Jake must have read that post and decided to make me feel a little foolish. We got a little more moisture and the weather cooled some for our last two hunts and Big Jake's form was back to normal.

I even started out the day participating and shot a few birds for Jake to retrieve.

But, both days found my eyes failing me and I started having a tough time centering in on the birds. Had my eyes not failed me I'm should have easily come home with a limit both days and with birds that seemed to hold pretty darn good. I apologized to Jake. I guess we both can have some rough days.

Anyhow, to those that are wondering, it is time. Hunting conditions have improved to almost perfect. We almost had a frost on the ground this morning. Combine that with a slight breeze and our canine partners are ready to show us some of the good hunting we've missed the past two years. I've even seen a few covey of huns. They have been eluding Jake and me this year but are suddenly starting to show up and some decent sized covey's.

Eddie, no more excuses for you either. The snakes are pretty much gone for the year. 

Thanks to Conner, my grandson, we have some venison in the freezer and can now concentrate on chukars for the rest of the season.

Keep me posted on your hunts and I hope you're seeing as many birds as I have so far this year. Barb and I are heading over to Woodhead this afternoon through Sunday to chase chukars, so if you're in the area make sure and stop by and swap stories with us.
  

Some moisture

Opening day for the chukar season had a little moisture and normal temperatures this year. Since then it has been super dry and very warm, so you can imagine my excitement when it rained over night. I was up early and off to the chukar grounds.

Although I've been seeing good number of birds this year, the dog work has been dismal and with poor dog work usually comes fewer birds in the bag. Several of my chukar hunting buddies have been having the same result with the birds so I've been cutting Jake a little slack.

Today was going to be the day that would make up for all those bad days. Not hardly. Jake and I hadn't been on the mountain for 15 minutes when the first large covey of chukar jumped wild about 100 yards away. I was jacked to see such a large covey that early and so was Jake. For some reason he decided if the birds were going to flush like that, he was going to extend his range some. Normally, I don't mind. But on these steep hills I can't see him much over fifty yards unless he is on the other canyon wall, which he was at times. There were times he was on point at a couple hundred yards away and by the time I covered half of the distance I was seeing birds fly around the ridge with Jake following them to see where they were headed. The first few times I felt like Jake was just a little rusty and he'd calm down but after a half dozen or so I was beginning to wonder what kind of demon had taken over my dog.

There was even one time when Jake was on point on the opposite ridge. I started that way knowing I would probably never get there but at least could watch Jake and see how long he would hold point. It wasn't very long. I don't know if one of the birds started moving or what but Jake suddenly ran through the middle of the covey scattering them everywhere. I had to assume that the reason he was clear over there in the first place was that he had already busted them and saw them land there.

Jake did have a couple of nice points where everything worked the way it is supposed to. Jake is going to be three in January so he still has a lot of learning but he once held some birds for 45 minutes while I struggled to get to him so I know he knows what he is supposed to do.

We spent a lot of time on the mountain today, not being chased off by the heat, and I hoped to get the problem figured out. By the time we reached the truck I had no solution and in fact I didn't even know what the problem was since most of the action was happening out of sight. Maybe, it was just an off day. Maybe, there wasn't enough moisture and with the calm conditions scenting conditions weren't as good as I thought they should be. There are a lot of maybe's, but I think I have found a part of the problem.

Although I have always considered Jake very bird smart for a two year old, he has never seen a lot of birds. He has had well over 400 points in his first two years but saw very few large covey of chukars and sometimes went for hours before finding birds. This year he is finding birds more often and bigger numbers in the group and possibly it is just to exciting for him to handle right now. What a great problem to work on.

So the moral of this story is, Jake is not as perfect as I thought he was and there are lot's of birds out there to help solve our problem. We're just going to have to get out there as often as possible and make things work. Hopefully Jake will soon figure out that he's not going to get to put that bird in his mouth as long as he chases. It only takes a few times and we'll be working as a team again. (I hope)

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.

Yes, the chukars are out there.

After sitting out opening day to watch Conner's football game, Jake and I had our opener yesterday. It was everything I could hope for. Plenty of birds and some very good dog work.

Our last two hikes around here found Jake chasing the quail some so I was wondering how he would do on the chukar. He didn't let me down. 15 minutes into the hunt Jake pointed our first covey of young birds. Never moving a muscle, he waited until I moved in front of him for the flush.

I picked out a bird and through the ashes of past dogs it fell to the ground. Jake was quickly on the bird and made his retrieve back up the hill. It obviously was early in the morning because the flash on my camera lit his eyes up.

Shortly after this bird we found another covey and dropped our second bird from the ash and lead filled shell. At the retrieve we found a rock to sit on and show respect for past dog's. As in the past, they didn't let me down.

The rest of the morning hunt was with normal reloads and we saw more chukar's on our opener than we have seen in the past four years first time out. It looks like Jake and I are going to have an exciting year.

The opener (Jake's view)

Okay guys and gals, the opener is tomorrow. I've been listening and I feel your pains. I too, have concerns with conditioning this season. No, not the shape we are in, but the shape of our gun toting partners.

Nikki, Trudi, and Katy, I'm with you all the way. I don't know how Greg thinks he is going to keep up with you ladies when he road his mountain bike through the hills while you girls ran. I understand he was breathing pretty hard even while coasting down some of those steeper grades. Now , he's up chasing elk. How can you work the cardio system sitting and calling an animal to you? I can't wait to hear your stories about getting him back into chukar shape.

I understand Neka. John brought a new dog(Loki) into the family and the two of you have been running like crazy waiting for the season to start and now you're wondering if John is going to make it up the mountain to your points. Trust me, I'll let you know some tricks on how to get him up the hill quicker and get him back in chukar shape.

Taffy, your job is going to be a little tougher. All those grey hair's on your partner's chin are giving his age away. Your first step is to pee on his golf clubs and make them stink bad enough that he never wants to use them again.

Fergus and Aster, you also have a tough one to compete with. Two young men who are keeping dad pretty active along with his job. Don't fret, I also have some tricks to make him focus more on the chukar birds.

Lucy, we don't get to hear much from you clear over in Montana and I understand you have the same problems as Greg Allen and Jeff. A partner that has too many activities. Like Jeff, your Greg needs to find more focus on the important things.

Mays, you have the toughest job of all. It's one I don't have any experience with but we'll sit down sometime and see what we can come up with. Ptarmigan hunting in Alaska and actually having to wear a jacket sounds pretty fun to most of our hunters and convincing Al to come down to Idaho and chase chukars straight up hill in 70 degree weather will take some doing. I'll work on getting some great photo's this year in the snow and maybe that will make Al feel more at home.

Abbie, I know you also have to wait until after big game season but we'll compile enough great chukar pictures that Claire will be chomping at the bits to get you back on the mountain.
Colt, you have more than conditioning for Eddie to work on. You being a first year dog probably don't know much about rattlesnakes but Eddie does and he doesn't much care for them. The only thing that will put them away is cool wet weather. Maybe if we can show him how many birds are out there to be hunted he might put his fear of snakes aside. It's a thought.

Jack, you're competing with a new baby and that's a tough one, but I'm sure with a couple of good outings and plenty of chukars we'll have Matt huffing and puffing again.

As for me, I have the same problem as most of you guys. We've been on a few grouse hunts already this year and I have to say I'm ashamed of the Big Guys physical condition. I'm going to have to pull a lot of tricks from the play book.

So let's make a plan of attack on our hunting partners. First let's hope that they have it together mentally and bring the necessary provisions, like food and water. Oh yeah, I've seen them forget shells and even a shotgun before but that usually results in a return home for the day. When they forget food or water, we end up hunting up the hill anyway and one of us usually pay for it.

The most important part of human conditioning is right at the beginning of the days hunt. As soon as they let you out of the truck start running around all excited, like it's the first time you've ever been in a place like this. After they put your collar on, cover as much country as possible looking for birds. The steeper the country the better. I mean really cover country. If you find birds in the first fifteen minutes the rest of the job is easier. When you find the birds resist the urge to point. Bust through them and scatter them everywhere. Sure you may get a quick shock from the collar but the results will be worth it. All of the sudden the hunters will be moving uphill as fast as possible. Even though you busted only a dozen birds or so you'll be hearing them say "let's hurry and get up there, there are birds everywhere. Those busted birds just got you through the first phase of cardio training.

After they get up to the spot where you busted the birds, slow the pace a little. We don't want to kill them.  They are our ride home remember. Keep them moving as you search for birds. Hopefully, you'll find another covey soon. If so, hold this bunch tight and let the hunter shoot. He probably won't hit anything because he's out of breath but then it's time to give him a break. Humans sometimes need to regather themselves. Put on a fake retrieve and look back up at the hunter like "man a thought you hit one." If you don't find a covey right away, give a false point. The hunter might be a little disgusted with you but you will achieved your objective, a little endurance training.

The biggest asset you have to this training method is the hill. Keep them going up. Sure, you'll get the scent of some birds down hill from where you are at but avoid the urge to point and go on. Don't give any sign that you smelled birds down there. Human's legs burn more going uphill. The more they burn the better we are doing.

Don't fall for the taking a break routine that our partners try. Do little things to make them think there are chukars near by. Tweak your ears like your hearing chukars. Walk or perk your head up high and act like you see birds running uphill. Humans are sucker's and there ego to get more birds will get them right back on their feet.

Try and get the retrieve back to them as quickly as possible. They always use this time for a break. If they deserve it, give them a break, but if their just pussing out, drop the bird and head up the hill making them follow. Use the false point method if you have to.


Remember, don't hold tight on all of the covey's. It makes our shooters become complacent and they will take their time getting to you knowing you'll be holding the birds as they slowly get there. For conditioning purposes you have to keep them guessing and moving faster.

After they have had enough they usually start down hill. If you feel like they have worked enough than head back with them. If not, head up and find another covey or false point until you think they have worked enough. Remember, it's a long season, so we don't want to push it too much at first. The big thing is to get the hunter out again as soon as possible. Don't let him think too much about the pain.

Going down hill will be a good cool down period for our partners. You might give them a point or two if you find birds, but don't overdo it. They'll want to hunt down hill more often. Besides, humans trip a lot going down hill when they are tired. They have a hard time lifting their big feet. More than once I have seen the Big Guy stumble over sage brush coming down hill to my point.

Remember, even if your partner didn't do very well, be positive. You want to get back on the hill soon,don't you? Put your head in his lap and stare into his eyes like he's the most important person in the world because actually he is. Let him know how much fun you had with him or her today. Humans need affection too.

So dogs and bitches, this is the start to a fun season. I hope you all have luck with your partners and most of all have a good time. Hopefully it will be a short conditioning season and we can start working on some of their other problems, like shooting and how to approach us

Good Luck,
Jake

And 2015 upland season has begun

A quick preview to what we're hoping the 2015 upland season is going to be like.

Of course Conner had to show off on opening day of the grouse season. He and Jake teamed up on a rough and a blue. The blue was Conner's first.

Today, while Conner is over in Oregon fishing for salmon, Jake and I headed out on our own. It rained a little yesterday and the low was in the upper 30's this morning so we were hoping for some excitement. We hunted an area that usually has some chukars with a few blue grouse mixed in and the area didn't let us down. On the way up the mountain Jake bumped a couple of large covey of chukars that sailed over the top of me, chuckling at me as they passed. They seemed to know I couldn't shoot. Although I was a little disappointed that Jake busted them, I was tickled to see two large covey of chukars this early in the hunt.

We kept heading up and it wasn't long before Jake had his first point of the season for me. Conner got to follow up the points last week.

I flushed two blues and knocked one down for Jake's first retrieve to me for the year. When Conner shoots a bird it's a race to see who get's to the bird first, Conner or Jake.

We had a little more luck with the blues, but the chukar's dominated most of the rest of the morning. Once I shot a bird, Jake figured out this wasn't a summer jaunt and got in some serious chukar time. He had point after point and I got to flush the birds and go bang, bang as I swung the bead in front of the birds and salivated.

It seemed so easy today. The birds didn't fly very far and a few times actually just crow hopped twenty yards or so in front of Jake giving him a second chance to point. They scattered over the hill and laughed at us as though they knew the season was still 13 days away.

So, if the next four months are anything like today, it's gonna be fun.

Upping the rating.

Late last night, Barb, Jake and I decided to get up early this morning and take a long drive. Cabin fever is really getting bad at the Szurgot house. We decided to go over to (wow! the name of it slips my mind) and drive some of the roads along whatchamacallit creek and can'tremember reservoir. The road was dusty and the air was full of smoke, but we either found the honey hole of chukar or just finally got a taste of what the season is going to be like. Although we did a little walking to calm Jake's nerves, the birds we saw were from the road. It seems like maybe Jake and I have been wasting our time hiking this summer.

Anyhow, I can't tell you how many chukars we saw, but it was a lot and they were pretty young birds. I'd have to say 90% of them were 6 weeks old or less. It's been quite a few years since I raised chukar so I may be wrong in their age but I took a couple of pictures so you could make your own determination.

I got some pictures with a several birds running up the hill but you can't tell what is a rock and what is a bird so I'm just posting the zoomed in birds for aging.

We also saw plenty of other wildlife along the way.

My personal rating for the 2015 chukar season is on the rise. It jumped from a 3 with a top rating of 5 to a 31/2 to 4.  The ranchers also gave a thumbs up as far as the amount of birds they are seeing. 

More birds

Jake and I made our final scouting trip yesterday and were real excited with what we found. We went to a place we had been to earlier and had been a little disappointed with our findings but once again found how one trip to an area means nothing.

Although scenting conditions were poor at the best, Jake managed to bump several different covey of chukar. The difference in ages of the chicks ranged from fully grown to only three weeks old or less. One covey of large chukars was approximately 40 birds indicating several groups already gathering while one late hatch numbered at least 15 babies with the two adults. I didn't see one hun but that is pretty typical. They just seem to show up sometime during the hunting season. They must nest in different areas and eventually migrate into the chukar habitat.

Also, many of the ranchers that ride the same area's that I scout gave me some good reports on the bird numbers. All of them feel the bird numbers are on the rise.

We have another hot spell coming next week and if we can make it through this one without any more major fires I think we'll be looking pretty good. The numbers won't be like 2005 but a lot better than the last two years. My predictions are those guys that don't give up early will be finding enough birds to keep the day exciting and possibly bring home a limit. There are still lot's of places with no birds that can make it pretty discouraging but when you find them it will be worth the trip.

I won't be scouting any more this season and Jake and I are preparing for the season. In ten days the grouse season opens and we are hoping to get some warm up trips after them before the chukar season opens on the 19th of September. Maybe due to the heat, Jake and I have been fortunate and not seen any snakes in the past month but know they will be showing up again for the next month and a half as they head back to their dens. I hope everyone has taken their dog's through some sort of snake avoidance class. Also, the cheat is high and thick in places. It's perfect ear high if you're a dog and plan on a trip to the vet if you go out before a heavy rain and wind to knock the cheat down.

I hope everyone has as good a season as I plan on having. Be safe out there and get your dog out as much as possible. I'm sure he/she will show you a great time if you give them a chance. Good luck and happy hunting.

Aug. 7th scouting notes

These are the notes for today in my hunting log.

Found more chukar today. Saw at least four different covey's. Three of the covey's were six or more weeks old. Largest covey had 8 chicks. One covey had over a dozen two week old birds that flew maybe thirty yards into the heavy brush behind ma and pa. They flew off this rock out cropping.

Two separate single chukars were jumped. I'm hoping those were males who were leaving their partner on a nest of eggs yet to hatch. Usually, if they have little ones on the ground they give the injured wing trick to lure you away. Twice today I had doves fly to the ground and look injured to protect their nests.

So far only one of this doves eggs had hatched.

Closer to the road, I found quail of all different sizes. Ages ranged from 1 week old chicks to 8 week old chicks.

I saw one covey with at least 15 babies, but I'd guess they averaged about 8 per group.

The temperature was 64 degrees when we left the truck at 7:00 and 74 degrees at our return at 10:00. I covered just over 4 miles and Jake just over 12.

Our big entertainment came rescuing this range bull from a mud bog he was stuck in.

When Jake and I first found him I thought he was dead, but as I climbed down the hill to him he started snorting and blowing mud everywhere. My tough dog guarded my pack up on the hill while I got down in the bull's face and aggravated him. I got in the mud with him and slapped him in the face a couple of times and he finally got some footing with his front legs. I was careful not to to get my feet stuck next to an unhappy range bull and after he got his front legs under him I backed off and used a large branch to keep him excited. I learned something today. Bulls do not like getting their nose pulled on or getting sticks shoved in their nose. He got angry enough to finally free himself and wearily walked into the heavy brush to rest.

Jake kept guard from behind a bush.

I've had several people ask what the last picture is. That is the tail and back end of the bull in the picture. The rest of him is so deep in the muck it is hard to tell it's even a bull.

Jake's post: Follow me

                                                                 Follow Me

As the summer days shorten and the temperatures drop, the urge to be on the mountain becomes stronger and stronger. My instinct to find birds is stronger as autumn approaches. My main purpose in life is to lead you to places where the upland birds hang out.

Follow me to places where the leaves are so colorful that it is hard to focus on what we are here for; hunting. What is going on in the rest of the world will be far from your mind as you watch a golden aspen leaf float to the ground and quietly land on the red colored leaf from the same tree. The only sounds you will hear are my paws rustling through the leaves in search of a game bird for you. Somehow finding birds loses it's importance as you gaze at the beautiful colors of autumn mother nature has provided and you realize that you have been in a place similar to this with other partners in the past.

Follow me into the breeze as it blows over the hills of cheat grass, making waves like a gentle ocean. At times, watching the waves of grass becomes an overpowering feeling of calmness and you'll forget the purpose of our mission. Follow me through that calmness and watch me search for the upland birds. Hopefully, you may find me on point as you did with Tucker so many times. Tucker's points seem so long ago, but it was only yesterday. Tucker is still pointing in that ocean of cheat grass and waiting patiently for your arrival.

Follow me, through all the strong scents that accompany the autumn season. The scents of sage brush, bitter brush, and all the different grasses we'll encounter. I'll guide you through the smells in search of our quarry. My nose will filter through all of those wonderful smells until it finds the most wonderful smell of all, chukars. I'll probably find them close to the seep that magically comes from the ground high on the hill. The seep soon becomes a creek that empties into the river where we parked the truck. As I take a break to lap up some water, the sounds of the creek trickling down the hill may take you back to yesterday when Dakota sprawled in some pooling water to cool with a retrieved bird in his mouth. Like Tucker, he's waiting patiently for you to take the bird from his mouth.

Follow me through the rain and snow. I'll take you up the steep rocky slopes and canyons you've been on hundreds of times before. The ones that make you feel so close to heaven. I know you'll be huffing and puffing, but I also know how good you feel about yourself after you have reached the next ridge. I don't know what you are looking for over that next ridge but I know you always find it. Maybe it will be the tall outline of Riley pointing a snow drift in the fog. Under the blanket of snow is a covey of upland birds. Like Tucker and Dakota, Riley doesn't mind being patient and waits for you.

Follow me through all of the splendor God has provided us. Everything looks and smells fresh. The autumn colors are magnificent and the wildlife will be plentiful. There will be plenty of challenging mountains to encounter and the only thing that breaks the silence is mother nature itself. Maybe the call of a chukar or even a rock falling down the canyon after being dislodged by a bighorn sheep. I'll stop to let you listen to the coyotes scolding us for trespassing in their territory and won't question you for packing out the shed horn from a big muley. When we stop and eat a snack I'll patiently wait while you lay on your back and watch the clouds slowly move across the sky. Since we are one, I know where your mind has taken you.
Follow me on the rimrocks of the desert canyons where the hawks and eagles not only fly high above but can also be seen hovering below you. You have to wonder if their screeches are also warning you of trespassing or if they are just screeches to announce this is their kingdom. Having the big birds here makes my job easier. they also help to make the birds hold.

Follow me to these places because you love it as much as I do. I see it in your face when we are chasing upland birds. There is no need of pursuit of peacefullness when you are on the mountain. You are at peace the moment you step from the truck. That is why God gave me to you. We just are, and that is all that matters.

So, follow me in pursuit of upland birds again this year, as you have the past two. It's not only the autumn of the year 2015, it is becoming the autumn of your life. I have several years left to lead you over the terrain and am honored to do so. I hope to guide you through as many memories with me as you have with your other hunting partners and hope to one day be standing by them waiting for you. We'll be waiting patiently in a place where autumn never ends. Until that day comes, follow me and let's make many of our own memories.

Where are they hiding?

After reading some reviews by the Nevada chukar hunters, I have decided that Jake and I aren't looking hard enough. They are reporting many young bird sightings and by the pictures most birds were hatched pretty early this year. Hopefully that holds true in the Owyhees. I don't get down there for any scouting and wait for reports from Greg Allen on those birds.

Even with the cooler weather, upper 80's, Jake and I have to get out early in the mornings to scout. After only two hours on the hill we are usually out of water and heading towards the cooler in the truck. Outside of a covey of chukar/hun flushing in front of a fire, I haven't seen a baby chukar yet. We are seeing singles and a few doubles but no covey rise of little ones. Maybe that is why the Fish and Game always did their helicopter counts late in August or early September.

Still, even though Jake seems to be getting a little bored, we enjoy getting up early and hitting the hills. We seem to be able to find lot's of other babies

and have a mixed review of how well the early hatch has been. We found these two hens with only eight half grown infants

and a little later found this hen with only two young ones.

In the past, my records show around eight chicks per hen this time of the year. Three birds is not enough to make a good evaluation but it will be interesting to see what a summer like this one does to the bird populations. It was a super warm June with nine continuous days in late June and early July over 100 degrees followed by several days of thunder storms and moderate temperatures.

Walking the hills, it seems to be perfect for the birds, still some green areas and loads of insects, especially grass hoppers. I'm seeing more young quail than I recall seeing this early in the past.

Like the turkey's, the chick numbers don't seem high enough per group. I did see a group of little ones, about the size of my thumb scurrying into the brush with ma and pa that numbered over a dozen. They couldn't have been much older than a day or two. I didn't have time to snap a picture but the next group of babies, quite a bit older, seemed to be challenging me to stay on my side of the fence

while papa stood proudly watching his kids show their stuff.

So, as you can see, there is some positive news out there. If the quail and turkeys have done okay it only makes since that the chukars have had about the same success with more little ones on the way. Jake and I are still feeling positive and know that things are just going to get better. If nothing else, we are getting entertained on our summer outings. As we were heading back to the truck, Jake had one of his deer or cow points. One of those points that isn't staunch enough to be a bird but still let's you know there is something not bird related ahead. Expecting a cow, as I approached Jake, I was pleasingly surprised to see this bear cub thirty yards away eating grass,

and even more tickled when his sibling showed up.

We got a few pictures before we heard this jaw popping noise and mother appeared out of the heavier brush to hustle her cubs away.

I don't know whether she saw us or smelled us, but she made it obvious that she knew we were there with this final look back at us to let us know we were trespassing on her area.

As you can see, there are plenty of little ones out there to photograph, just not the ones I'm searching for.Not YET that is. More to follow in the coming month.

Quail

After yesterday's post I decided to take a better look at some of the places I usually see only pairs this time of the year. Yes, the little ones were there and a lot bigger than I figured they'd be. I guess I've been figuring that since I only a saw pairs off the road in the past that there were no little ones. I now believe those little ones were just ducking in the higher brush as I drove or walked by.

There were at least a dozen small birds with this hen and I encountered another covey with an equal amount of young ones.

I'm sure I'll find the chukar numbers are good also as soon as this heat wave passes.

Bad news good news

About 3 this afternoon, Barb pointed out a smoke cloud coming from the highway side of the mountain behind our house. I grabbed my shovel and headed that way. Not only is there some good game habitat, a friend of mine lives there.

There were a couple of guys fighting the fire along the road but no one was on the driveway leading to Steve's ranch and there was plenty of heavy brush to burn there. Steve, the rancher, was ten miles away with his cat putting a line around an eleven thousand acre fire that had burned a couple of days ago. His house was never in danger but a lot of sage and bitter brush went up in flame. I just mopped up along the quarter mile drive way making sure the fire didn't jump across until the first fire truck showed up.

While all this was going on, Barb was home taking pictures of the fire as it came over the hill.

Luckily, there is lot's of green between our place and the dry hills, so we didn't worry about the fire getting close to our place.

Almost as bad news as the fire is how bad of shape I realized I was in. Throwing dirt on the fire as I stood on the drive way wasn't too bad but once the first fire truck showed up I thought I could go back to my BLM days and hustle up the hill pulling a fire hose and was soon sucking for oxygen. I tried to impress those young punks but readily gave up the nozzle when help arrived. All those yellow shirts were a welcomed sight.

And when the air troops showed up I ducked into my truck and weaseled towards home like a whipped kid.

They put on quite a show on both sides of the mountain and Barb and Jake took plenty of pictures.

They even used the pond to fill up the buckets.

I wonder if any of the fire fighters will find some cooked fish as they mop up.

As I said, there is bad and good news. The bad news is the country that burnt and me realizing how big of a puss I'm becoming. The good news is I saw some quail crossing the dirt drive way for the green fields. There were two different groups of 15 or so little ones with mom and dad. They were very little but I saw one of the groups take to the air as a smoke jumper landed in the field near to them. I have never seen baby quail around here until mid July in the past but am becoming aware that maybe I haven't looked hard enough. I also watched 6 or so young huns or chukars fly through the smoke as I was putting out flames. They were very young and I didn't see any adults. The heavy brush they flew into was engulfed with flames only seconds behind them. One of the fire fighters said he saw a decent size group of chukars fly out in front of the fire also.

Today the temperatures reached 110 degrees in the valley. The highest ever in June and the second highest temperature ever. So we're in for a long hot summer. The next ten days are supposed to be above 100. It is 11:30 right now and the temperature is still 92 degrees. My brief time fighting fires today showed me more young birds than I have been able to find while scouting. I came home with confidence that it looks like we have had a decent hatch. Now, if we can only keep the land from burning up.

 

Hot and Dry

With the Idaho chukar opener 90 days away I've been searching for good news. I've already seen a picture of some young chukars in Nevada that were big enough to have hatched in May, but not seeing or hearing anything exciting in Oregon or Idaho. Jake and I continue to search for good news but so far have come up empty handed. We've seen about the same thing every trip. We bump three or four singles that usually fly pretty far. I'm theorizing that the single is flying away from it's partner sitting on the nest. I've only seen one pair in the last ten days. We've also seen at least one blue grouse on each trip.

We try to get up on the mountain early to beat the heat but it's getting tougher each week.

About two hours of hiking and we're out of water so we keep our trips shorter. As dry as it is, there are plenty of seeps and hidden springs for the birds and other wildlife. The birds aren't in danger of lack of water and if grass hoppers are any sign of how the other insects are doing they won't starve to death either. Still, I'm excited to see some young ones. 

Jake gives me a point every now and than, but most of the time it's a false point.

Sometimes it leads me to some promising sign.

These small chukar tracks will just have to keep me positive for a while. 90 days is a lot of time.

Bummer 2

Just yesterday I posted about eliminating some of the predators to chukars. Today, on our hike, Jake and I spotted these two fox pups by a dirt hill. They obliged me for a few pictures before retreating into their hole.

Even knowing how many upland eggs they can eat there is no way I could ever hurt one of those faces.

But it wasn't difficult at all to eliminate this big guy from the mountain.

I kept a trophy.

For those interested, there is a snake avoidance class this Saturday the 6th and Sunday the 14th in Boise. I highly recommend taking your dog to one of them if you haven't before.

Bummer

Until today, I thought I knew a lot about chukar. I always thought that the spring weather conditions were the major factor for having good or bad chukar season's.

I've been watching the turkey nest that I found earlier in order to document the hatch date of the eggs. I was disappointed to find the the eggs gone today. Not only were the eggs gone, there was a trail of feathers leaving the nest site telling me there was probably some type of encounter between the hen and something else.

With my discovery I decided to do more research into mortality rates of chukar and turkey. I kept coming up with studies done in Utah and some other foreign country that pretty much mirrored each other.

Harsh winters are the most devastating factor on chukar survival and have been known to knock out 90% or more of the chukar population. Predation is number two, taking 35% of the year's birds. Ground mammals do the most damage during the nesting season and the air predators take over once the eggs are hatched. The human predation (hunting) takes 8%.

The good news with chukar numbers is that when weather conditions are favorable in the spring, chukars lay large numbers of eggs. I've seen as many as 18, but have heard of even higher numbers. Even with  a 35% predation factor, those large number of eggs in most nests can produce a good year. If we could eliminate 1/2 half of the predators preying on the eggs, our year suddenly becomes great. If we could eliminate some of the predators from the air the upland numbers would jump to record numbers. Eliminating predators from the air is not possible but controlling some of the ground predators can be done.