snow day

The schools have been getting a lot of snow days this year and rightfully so. The snow has stayed on the ground for a long time this year with the cold temperatures. This is the first January in over 30 years I have not hunted. Even three years ago when I had my left knee replacement on Dec. 8th I got out four days in January. It's been really tough for Jake. The snow is so deep that we haven't really even got to do much hiking. We have been getting into the chukar country when the roads permit and Jake at least gets to see some birds.

Up until yesterday Jake couldn't get much more than 20 or 30 yards off the road before he'd return through the crusted deep snow to clean himself out on the edge of the road where at least his back side was out of the snow. Yesterday Barb, Jake and I took a snow day and went west. I got a new camera to replace the one I left in Stanley this summer and wanted to test it out. We got some short hikes in and found a lot of fun things and even though we weren't carrying a gun Jake got some action. Maybe too much action. By the end of the day he was yipping at chukars running up the hills.

Almost everywhere we went we found chukar tracks.

They were utilizing every type of food imaginable.

They were teaming up with other wildlife to get their daily meals and for the most part looked very healthy.

By the end of the day they were gathering into covey's for the night. For those of us who are still hunting until the end of the season, try and get off the hill a couple of hours before sun down. The birds need time to covey up and stay warm during the night.

As I mentioned, the birds for the most part looked pretty good, but there were a few places where the snow had not receded at all and birds were on the road and not looking quite as healthy.

Several places Barb and I came upon evidence of predators from the sky, such as remains of a chukar

and piles of feathers with big bird tracks all around them.

Barb and I watched several hawks and eagles diving on chukars and at times it seemed like they were working together with one bird diving to make them fly while the other birds hovered above waiting to dive on the fleeting bird. I tried to capture some pictures but wasn't fast enough to get any decent pictures. This red tail looked at us like we were intruding on his territory.

This golden was enjoying his meal from a distance.

Most of the animals were in that lethargic mode and were pretty calm as long as we kept our distance.

The deer, elk and sheep we saw all looked healthy and should come through the winter pretty good unless we get another long stretch like we just had. A little sun on the hillside would sure help some. Even though the animals look good we still found some evidence of nature and how it culls out the weaker animals. We couldn't tell how this animal died but could see all the animals that benefitted by it's death by all the different tracks around it.

It was a great snow day for us. We got to see lot's of fun animals, I took a lot of pictures, we got some exercise and we found some country that might be huntable before the season closes.

Getting the birds to hold or staying upright might be difficult but it might still provide us with the opportunity for a few more outings. Jake also had some fun on the hill. He got to point some chukar when they weren't running on top of the snow and straight up hill.

He also got to watch them fly straight over the top of me and was glad I didn't have a gun. The snow was so deep in places he'd have to dig a dead bird out.

God, I love being out on the mountain with Jake. Having Barb along was a plus. I can't wait until this snow recedes enough for some great jaunts. If it's during the chukar season, great. If not, that's all right too. I wasn't made to sit by the fire and talk about the outdoors. I was made to experience it. My dogs have been the force that drives me further up the hill. Their exuberance is like a drug that get's me high. There is only one cure for me to get over this cabin fever and that is Jake on the mountain with me. Just like my dog's of the past have done, he'll make me feel like I found the fountain of youth. Even if at times he runs across the hill yipping at flushing and running chukars, he's still my drug.

 

Jakes keeping practice.

The snow depth is still way out of my ability to hike through. At least while we're at home, Jake can entertain himself. Today he sat on the chair and watched the quail out front

until one decided to get too close to the window.

He slowly climbed off the chair and pointed the quail.

He stayed on point for about 15 minutes until I opened the door and flushed the birds.

We have less than two weeks left in the Idaho and Oregon season. Jake and I are keeping our fingers and toes crossed that we still might get out a day or two before the closing. If not, Barb and I may have to make a gambling trip down to Nevada. Of course Jake will be along.

Bored

Like most of you, I am getting cabin fever already. What's worse is my dog is too. Not only can we not hunt, the hiking is terrible and we can't get out and cover the country like we would like. So, I decided to fib once again and come back to posting.

Jake and I have taken a lot of rides over towards the reservoir but most of the time have been turned back due to freeways being closed or roads we couldn't get in on.

Yes, I finally got sucked into a snow drift and spent two hours digging out and getting turned. Shortly after I got turned around I met a cougar hunter heading into where I tried to get. The big difference was that he had a snow mobile on the back of his truck and I had already provided him a good parking spot. Yesterday, this is what the same road looked like.

As we got closer to the summit the hill looked like it hadn't gotten out of that 0 degree pattern yet.

We didn't take a shotgun because we knew getting up the mountain would be close to impossible for Jake and impossible for me. We just had a camera and what we figured we needed to get around. Anyhow, that's what we thought until we ran into a coyote hunter stuck in a snow drift. When I got into my tool box to get my pulling strap and chain to help the hunter they were gone. I racked my brain to figure out where I might have left them and tore the shop apart when I got home but have come up with only one answer. I always leave my tool box unlocked when in the hills. I figure if someone comes along in an emergency and I'm not there, they might find what they need in the tool box. I guess they did but didn't want to leave a note as to how I could get the strap and chain returned. They didn't take any tools that I can see but they're so rusted I hope I don't have to use them. I'm a little disappointed but I'll get over it.

Good news is that there were birds everywhere.

I mean all kinds of birds.

Once in a while we found some big game, but not as much as I expected.

But the chukar looked very healthy and were scattered out quite a bit.

I never saw any large covey's and I'm thinking maybe it was because of all the predators flying around.

One of stranger sightings was a rock chuck. I wasn't quick enough with the camera but I came around the corner and he was hunkered on the snow out side of this hole

It isn't Feb. 2 yet but maybe he figured it a good time to be out with all the hawks concentrating on the chukar population.

Just one more picture of a hawk

that might be interested in these early morning road side chukars before I get into the really good news.

With this weather being so bad and one of the worst storms I've seen sense the 70's I decided to reread a lot of articles pertaining to the chukar and it's survival. My findings mimic what several other guys have posted. None of the studies were from Idaho or Oregon but Nevada, Utah, and one from Colorado. I averaged them together and came up with these stats. 83% of all chukar that go into the fall season will be dead by the following spring nesting season. 39% of the mortality rate is from avian predation (after this last week of being over at the reservoir and observing, I have to believe it's true), 17% mortality is from mammal predation, hunter harvest is 8%, and the other 36 % unknown because the collars or whatever were not recovered.

Every reading stresses the importance of the early spring and early summer conditions so that the hen comes into the breeding season healthy and the chicks have lot's of protein via insects once they are hatched. The worst conditions for nesting and survival of chicks are hot weather and droughts.

So, my answer to the question of whether to hunt these late season birds or not is, "do what you feel is the right thing to do and don't chastise those who decide to do the opposite. You both have your merits. There is a chance that you might be shooting one of the 17% that survive to spring but you also take that chance earlier in the year. The bird's I'm seeing look to be in good shape although I hear from others that they are looking poorly. I question whether those birds that are stressed would survive anyhow but it would just be a guess. Remember that survival of the fittest theory and passing on those good genes. I'll be better qualified to survey their condition when I finally get a chance to shoot a bird again.

I hope that chance comes soon. If the hills burn off enough that Jake can spread his wings and cover some ground I'll be there trying to keep up with him. That is my preferred way to hunt. Covering a lot of ground and watching my dog do what he loves to do. I have gone west 8 of the last 11 days and most of the time never reached my destination because of the weather. When I have reached my destination, Jake was up to his belly just getting out of the truck to relieve himself. Oh, he got excited seeing chukars run up the hill when we got close enough, but I'm hoping that excitement is burning in him like it is me. I'm sure it's going to be a few more days before we even think of packing a gun but if the sun peeks out enough some slopes may burn off enough to provide some thrills as long as I can bust through the snow on our way to them.

Either way, hunt or not the rest of this year, I'm going to think positive and believe that all this snow is going to make for good spring and nesting conditions that provide the best season (2017-18)that we've seen in a quarter of a century.

I lied

I got a few requests as to why I was stopping my blog for the month and was going to answer them after the hunting season. But when I got home from an Oregon hunt and found a couple of messages on my computer I felt compelled to say something more. First off, for those interested there are still birds over there but you'd better be ready to hump it. I wasn't. I made a one hour try and decided the mountain and birds were bigger than me. I did drive the road almost to Richland and saw two other vehicles that looked to be chukar hunters that were tougher than me. I did run into one other older gentleman hunting the road with his lab. He was stopping at some of the bigger draws and walking in as far as he could looking for quail and chukar. So far he had got a couple of quail. I got a good picture of him and his dog plowing through the snow and although it's not my way of hunting I felt good that this guy had an opportunity to be out with his dog and hoped he would find some more shooting along the way.

I'm not very computer savvy  so I don't know how I even came up with these messages. I'm hoping that there aren't more in here that I don't know about.

Message #1. From Drew Tim Whalin.      You're a horses ass. Little man complex?
Message #2. From Drew Tim Whalin.       Boy you've had a stellar career. Accomplished nothing in life. Need to be real proud of that. Wife is the same size as you and almost as wide as tall.

Both messages were sent last Friday. Maybe he sent these in response to our discussion in his Idaho Chukar Foundation blog when I posted he was a Professional chukar hunter, a Professional golfer, a Professional photographer, a Professional water chukar catcher, and professional many other things. I wasn't calling him names, just quoting what he has said in his the Idaho Chukar Foundation blog several times. He has never even seen my wife and I'd love to see the conversation between him and her if I showed her this. As far as accomplishing nothing in my life, he knows nothing about me except how I feel about chukar hunting.

Anyhow, this is why I've decided to try and ignore the computer for a while except to follow up on messages and phone calls from you. Jeff, I got your message and I appreciate it. I will call you back. This blog was started for the love of the hunt and my great dogs. I know that most hunter's aren't like Drew but it disappoints me that those are usually the kind of guys that like to step forward and represent us. Yes, we have some strong differences and maybe I come on a little too strong at times, but as a leader of an organization you have to be a little more diplomatic and respond to the nay sayers as you do the people that agree with you.

Hopefully this will explain my short departure as well as inform you of our Idaho Chukar Foundation leader. I encourage you to go to his forum and read from the beginning his posts. Read as an Idaho chukar hunter and form your own opinion.

To end. I'm not a person to turn the other cheek, as my lovely wife puts it, so although it may seem that I am giving in, I'll be back. Drew and I will have our talk and maybe after we settle our differences we can come to a head on what is best for chukars and chukar hunting.

Good Bye 2016

I just got back from my final 2016 hunt. It was the most disappointing hunt of the year. Not because I didn't get any birds or lack of points from Jake but because where my mind was. I really didn't plan on hunting today but was compelled to check out the conditions of the wild game. The country I was hunting is usually full of game. This is where we were heading.

To get there we had to walk an old road about a mile and gradually climb about 1000 feet. The whole way in we could hear the chukars calling us from above and Jake busted a couple of covey's way out of range. This eagle showed little concern that Jake and I were on his mountain.

I had at least a dozen long range points

with some of them so far out (325 yds.) you have to really search to find him even on zoom.

Four times I got to his point and four times I got one shot off at the coveys. . They were all close flushes but not a feather flew. Footing conditions were so poor that I felt lucky to get one shot off.

We saw two deer in the 2 1/2 hours on the hill but by the tracks on the road below there were plenty around.

This brings me back to the point of why today was my most disappointing hunt of the year. It had nothing to do with the day but a call I received a couple of nights ago. Another chukar hunter who I know just through the blog called me and asked what I knew about the Idaho Chukar Foundation asking the fish and game to close the chukar season. I had no knowledge of it, but decided to look into it and got into the foundation's blog and found it was true that they were recommending it. I put my input in and before the next day was through Drew and I were comparing ball size and it ended up with me being a mouse.

I stand by everything I said in his forum, which in short was that all chukar hunters should have a saying and not just an elite few with self resumes that says how much they do for wildlife. I think everyone should look at his site and make their own determinations as to how they feel and let him know. Maybe not get in as deep as me but let him know your voice.

With that being said, I have decided to stop posting for the rest of this year. Barb says I'm getting too emotionally involved again as I did 8 years ago. She's right, and I'm gonna put the camera away and concentrate on Jake and I enjoying the outdoors the way it is supposed to be. Those of you who like reading about chukar outings should tune into Bob McMichaels Chukar Hunting blog. He still keeps it fun and has stories and pictures that make many of us envious. I hope to meet him and Leslie this year.

Meanwhile, stay posted this spring. Who knows. Maybe I'll be announcing ticket sales for the premier boxing match of the year. We could turn the proceeds into one of our favorite charities. It's sure to be a comedy special if nothing else. Can you imagine the speed of the blows of two men approaching their 70's. It will be bone crushing.

Happy New Year

Merry Christmas

Looks like we got our white Christmas this year. A little more white than these old bones like, but there are lot's more people that are loving it right now. As far as the animals, I'm sure most of them aren't caring for this last storm that dropped another 6 inches of snow up here at my house. The quail are enjoying the warmth of my porch

and the deer don't mind looking at me through the window as long as I leave them a little food.

 It looks like we have another cold spell coming through after Christmas that will keep the snow around for a while. As long as we get some sun shine, the southern slopes will be where the game animals will congregate. The problem for us chukar hunters is getting to those slopes. Check out Bob McMichael's "Chukar hunting" post and see how the tough guys hunt with snow shoes. With this last storm it may be the only way to get to them.

I'm glad I got out a couple of times this week before the big stuff came. I could still negotiate the slopes enough to get to the higher burnt off ridges. The two spots I hunted this week looked like this

going up but opened up and was more negotiable towards the top. The problem for me was having enough energy to keep hunting once Jake and I reached our destination. The frozen ground under the snow made for some exciting approaches to Jakes points.

Even though the birds were holding pretty good my shots were usually from a compromising position and Jake would watch the birds fly across the hill untouched. I could go on and on about this weeks hunts but I'll keep it short by just saying I was on the ground as much as I was walking upright, but it was worth it and somehow fun. Here's a few of my pics from our snowy hunts.

Jake loving the cold early morning start.

A cold point

One of those long points that you know the birds will probably bust when you are about 50 yards away.

A retrieve that makes the side hilling worth the effort.

The kind of ending that makes me proud of such a wonderful dog.

Another day of great dog work.

with plenty of action.

And more birds than I probably deserve.

Merry Christmas to all of you and here's to hoping 2017 is the best year your dog's have ever seen.

A short P.S. We took a Christmas Eve hike and I found that although Jake likes to point turkeys

he wasn't as excited about me doing the flush.

Maybe he was afraid I might shoot one and he'd have to try and retrieve it.

My oh my

The weather has reached the single digits for the high temperatures which triggered my urge to stay in the house. Even though there are some football games to watch, my mind still wanders off to the mountains and the well over 1000 chukar hunts I have had with my canine companions while Jake stairs out the window and looks at the possibilities.

I thought back to a conversation I had with another chukar hunter earlier this year. This fellow stopped by my camp and by the time he left I knew everything there was to know about hunting chukars. In short, getting birds really isn't that important, but what was important was how you got them. First off, you must have a dog with certain lines in his pedigree. I learned that these dogs with the great pedigrees will out perform anything else on the mountain. Secondly, they have to pass the NAVDHA tests. His dog had one more test to complete and than he was on his way to the "hall of fame."

I don't know much about these test or trials, but I'm sure that I have never had a dog that would excel in them. As I ponder over my hunts I can remember quite a few text book points from all my hunting dogs. You know, the ones with one front leg bent, a rigid straight back, high tail and pointed head. But I remember many more that weren't quite as classy. Those points that would not make the hall of fame or raise the bar on the pedigree. Dakota, the smallest shorthair that I've had, quite often squatted in his points and almost sat with his butt just inches off the ground at times. The important thing, as far as I am concerned, was that most of the time these points produced birds which was what we there for. Tucker, my first shorthair, was probably my boldest but would still back off a point and come back to get me if I didn't show up on time. He would usually back off slowly, not spooking the birds, come back and make eye contact with me and then go back and repoint the birds. It took me some time to believe he was really doing this, but after several confirmations with other hunters watching I became a believer. I think Jake has done Tucker's trick a couple of times but time will tell whether it was luck or not. Riley, being such a tall dog, was caught in a variety of weird position's on his points. With his longer tail he also had some beautiful stylish points, but the point I remember the most was a point when he had a chukar in the rocks right under his belly. I remember how goofy he looked as he stared at me. I didn't know where the bird was, but I knew by his staunchness that there was a bird close by.  Riley probably giggled as I missed the bird that surprised me with his location. Jake, like all the others, has some quirky points, but I'm still wondering how long he might hold a point until I get there. At almost four years old I'm sure I'm in for more surprises. I would say that only 25% of my dog's points would pass the test or trials that are required to become a hall of fame dog. 

As far as stop to flush. My dogs would get a grade of F if that were required. As the birds rise to my flush, so do the dogs. I do realize the safety issue of having a dog hold as you shoot, but I don't have anyone hunting with me but Conner. Conner is well aware of how unimportant a shot is whenever a dog is close by. The flush is very exciting both for the human and the canine components. How many of us feel our heart beat step up a pace or are startled by the flush? I think dogs have the same reaction and it doesn't make them a poor hunting dog to show an excited reaction. For me, if they take off running forever, it's a different type of reaction than the short 25 yard chase. Once they see no birds falling they're back to finding birds. I trained Riley to stop at the flush and it became quite a headache for me. There were times when he would bust a covey a couple of hundred yards up the hill from me and would lock up. All the begging and pleading wouldn't get him to break. I had to get to him and kick  at the brush before he resume hunting. It saved me a lot of miles once I got him to quit. I think the pup should get a better grade for hustling after the birds at the flush instead of staying froze on point. It creates shorter retrieves on the steep slopes and we all know how far a bird can get in just a couple of seconds falling down those chukar slopes.

Honoring is probably one of the places my dogs would excel in one of these tests or trials. They have all honored naturally. That is probably the biggest thing I miss about hunting with multiple dogs. It's amazing to watch how they learn to work together when taken out enough. That competitiveness soon becomes team oriented. Dakota developed his own style of helping me get birds while honoring. If he was the honoring dog, he would back off point as I approached and circle around behind me and try and come in on the birds from a different angle. I'm guessing that is a pack animals way of trapping the prey in between them. Quite often it worked and at other times it made shooting a little dangerous. I never tried to stop him from doing this because it was his personal style. I'm thinking he might have been down graded if he were in a trial. To this day, some of my fondest memories are when I had all three dogs, Tucker, Dakota and Riley on point and honoring. Even a few times I had the chance of seeing all three retrieving birds to me at the same time. That's like making the game winning catch in the super bowl and something that can't be scored in any contest.

Now, let's score the retrieve.  It always has amazed me how important the retrieve is to most upland hunters. I agree that it is very important that we get the downed bird, but does it actually have to be given to the hand? In some cases the dog must sit beside the handler and then deliver. I also see some contests where the dog must deliver the bird to no more than one step from the handler. Every one of my dogs would get a good score about 1/3 of the time. It depends on the terrain, type bird and how long we have been in the field. I've never had to force fetch a dog and maybe that's because of their willingness to get a dead bird and bring it to me. I don't scold them for parading around with the bird for a while or just dropping it close to me. Because I hunt a lot and stay out for hours at times, I won't put restrictions on to my dog's deliveries that makes it any less fun for him. At the end of a long day in the hot weather and on steep slopes I have to be pretty lazy to not make an effort to move towards my dog who has already made x amount of retrieves. By now his mouth is dry and he just once to get the bird out of his mouth and wet his lips. A perfect retrieve has no importance right now. Dakota use to chase wounded birds down the slopes with an exuberant yip. You could hear his barking bounce off the canyon walls and when it stopped you knew he was on his way back up the hill with bird in mouth. Tucker had a finicky mouth. He had no problem with chukars and would usually hold them until I took them from his mouth but wanted to spit huns out as soon as he got to me. I quit shooting quail around him. He couldn't help but to swallow them. He would be coming back to me with the bird going deeper and deeper down his throat and all the hollering couldn't stop it. He looked at me like I can't help it, there is something evil in my gut pulling it down. I just found it easier not to shoot the occasional quail around him. They'd probably banned Tucker from hunt contests even though he was one of the greatest chukar dogs I've ever seen. Jake, once in a while delivers to hand, but more often lays the bird on the trail I might be on. He also parades around me quite often with the bird. I've finally figured out that those birds he parades with are still alive. He's had to chase enough cripples down hill twice to know not to put them down. We have finally developed a system where he lays the bird down on the hill right above me where I make a quick grab and hopefully get the bird before another chase resumes. It works most of the time, but can you imagine the score the trial judges would be giving me.

I don't know how they judge on quartering and covering country, but I'm sure my boys actions would not score high. Thanks to the Astro, the guessing game as to where they are is usually taken care of. Although my dogs have all been great at checking in at regular intervals, I never know in which direction they are coming from. It always amazes me how a dog can be covering country 200 yards ahead of you and suddenly show up behind you. When you are chukar hunting you can't walk the field into the wind. Not only are the winds constantly changing on the slopes the terrain makes it impossible to always walk into the wind. Dogs figure out how they want to cover the country and find birds. Riley, my too tall shorthair, had his own way of covering the field. He saved miles on his legs by covering trails with his head up high and when he caught any scent would vacate the trail towards the smell. Although he traveled fewer miles per trip than any of my other shorthairs he found more birds than the rest. Jake puts on more miles than any of my dogs in the past, but he also checks in more than the rest did, a trait that trial runners say is a waste of valuable energy.

I've never heard much talk about any way of rating a dog for ability to find a crippled bird. If there were, I'm sure Jake would be high on that list. When dead bird comes out of my mouth, Jake becomes relentless at finding a bird on the ground. My Astro showed he once traveled down a ridge over 400 yards and came back with a crippled bird I had shot. Just three days ago, Jake was retrieving a bird to me when another cripple jumped from his path and flew over the rocks behind him. I though it looked crippled but didn't see enough to know for sure. Jake dropped the bird he had in his mouth and began the chase. I had to walk down the hill ten yards and pick up the dropped bird and wait for Jake's return. Sure enough, up he came with a crippled bird. I can't say how many times Jake has retrieved a bird to me while other birds were taking off and didn't drop the bird in his mouth but with this bird he knew. He probably would have been deducted points for this in a trial but I thought it was pretty darn cool.

How many of us have seen our dogs point a bird while he had another chukar in his mouth? I don't recall Riley or Jake ever doing this but I can recall several times Tucker and Dakota doing it. There should be bonus points for this. It is pretty impressive watching dogs do blind retrieves but I'll settle for walking towards the area of the downed bird and repeating dead bird until my dog finally finds it. It's not as glamorous, but it gets the job done.

I can't judge as to whether a field trial dog or just a plane old hunting dog is better at finding birds because I have never watched a fieled dog hunt. I do know that my dogs seem to find more birds than most other guys. They haven't been trained any better or come from a specific line. The only qualification I cared about when picking a pup is that the parents were hunters and that he is brown. (The color makes no difference except for my preference). What makes them better bird finders is time in the field. Every one of my shorthairs have had 60 plus hunting days on the chukar mountains per year plus another 40 during the off season. They know where and how to find chukars. They have never hunted pheasants so they probably aren't as good in the beat fields or stubble as most others.

Swimming is another thing required by some of the trial enthusiasts. Three out of four of my shorthairs loved swimming. They would troll out in my pond all day if allowed, but the minute the temperature drops they wanted nothing to do with the water. Jake is the only shorthair that I've owned that doesn't like the water, but he handles cold and wet weather better than the rest. Go figure. So my dogs fail again when it comes to the water aspect.

So I have to face the fact that my dogs will never make the hall of fame. They will only be recognized by me for their great feats. Only the few others that have ever hunted with me will ever realize their greatness along with me. But, that's good enough for me. I don't have to watch no film or read any book to relive their hunting success. All I have to do is close my eyes and think back to our hunts. I can dream of those hunts and the hunts to come and know they scored an A+ for me. My boys may not make the hall of fame the trialers are so proud of but they make great pictures in my hall for the fabulous thrills they have given me.

My wish for all of you dog owners, no matter what kind of breed or what their purpose may be, is that you take the time out on these cool days and appreciate the joy and excitement they bring us. Close your eyes and relive some of their funny and great moments. Think about what you would have lost without these animals in your life and when the time permits, take them out and do something that they like. Show them a Merry Christmas with a treat. They have no idea what that plaque on the wall is for.

Also, to the trialer I spoke of earlier, Merry Christmas. I hope your efforts are worth it and your dog makes that hall of fame. There is definitely a reason for the trials. They do keep the breeders more honest and also hare a valuable tool for picking hunting companions. Just do me a favor. The next time someone visits with you about hunting dogs and shows some sdmiration, repay the compliment and maybe hear their story. The shorthair that was sitting next to me was Jake and yes we did get some birds.

Merry Christmas to all of you chukar nuts out there.

Attitude

Being an x high school coach you'd think I would know the importance of attitude in everything we do. In work or play success is preceded by attitude. I was reminded of that today.

Jake had the last two days off due to the cold weather and me being such a wimp. He let me know that he was ready for some action so I reluctantly got up early and headed for the mountains. The temperature when I left was 10 degrees with starry skies. I knew the slopes would all be frozen and hard to maneuver. The forecast was for snow somewhere around 11:00 and I figured on being on my way home by then, whether Jake liked it or not. What a sour attitude to start the day.

By the time I got to my hunting location, the rising sun didn't even get my hopes up. Heck, it was up to 18 degrees. As soon as I put Jake's collar on he made a quick dash up the frozen trail. I was hoping he would stay close to the trail because I didn't want to venture off onto the frozen ground very much. He didn't and I didn't. Going up the steep and frozen slope my strides were about 6 inches apart. I was thinking, "wow! this is fun". My Astro interrupted my thought's with a reading of Jake on point 231 yards on the other side of the draw.

Reluctantly, I side hilled around the hill and came down behind and above Jake. Every step felt like I was going to go down until I got on the same ridge as Jake where the ridge was not as steep. As I moved to Jake's left the birds busted well within range but kept flying after I emptied both barrels. It was almost like I expected to miss. That was our last glimpse of the sum and the storm was moving in. We were about an hour away from the truck and I seriously contemplated going back but Jake decided in another direction. I watched him covering the slopes with ease and decided it was time to pull my head out. This is December 8th and it might not get any better than this so I'd better get my act together. Soon the snow was falling and the ground was turning white. At first it made the hill slicker but after a while it made the traction better.

In the next hour, Jake had three points with no birds. I found fresh tracks in the snow but they evidently flew wild. I was finally taking almost normal steps and didn't feel like each step might throw me to the ground. The next point was the way hunting is supposed to be. Jake locked in some sage and I was confident there were birds.

I moved to the front of him and birds flushed everywhere. We somehow got right in the middle of them. As the gun fired twice, two birds fell, and for the first time this year two more chukars stayed long enough that I reloaded and got both of them. Not only was I tickled with my shooting, I was super impressed with the way Jake followed my hand signals and retrieved every bird quickly. It was a quick reminder as to why I enjoy being on the mountain so much.

I was now super charged and ready to handle whatever the mountain had to throw at me. Jake and the mountain were real kind to me and made the rest of the day a real treat. We had four more points as the snow kept falling and we were in an area that didn't conceal too many rocks.                                  

We also had four more retrieves, which means I had a great day of shooting once I got my head out of my a**. For some reason, I've gotten into this attitude that these winter conditions are tough, thus making it less fun. Today it sunk back into my head that winter conditions are tough, but tough conditions make it that much more rewarding when Jake and I make it happen.