Turkey slam

For most United States turkey hunters a slam includes the four species found in the states. The merriam, the eastern, the rio grande, and the osceola. In order to get all four species a person has to have more money than me, have time to travel the states, and have access to private land in Florida for the Osceola.
I formed my own rules for a turkey slam. These rules fit my budget a lot better. There are two rules in order for me to be successful. All four birds must be mature tom's and they must be shot in four different locations.
Although I've been fortunate enough to shoot two easterns in northern Idaho, they are few and far between so four merriams will have to do. Also, I already have an Oregon hunting license so I have to just incur the cost of two turkey tags in Oregon and two in Idaho.
With the seemingly endless winter still upon us for the opener in Idaho, I wasn't surprised to find myself hunting in snow. I hunted hard that first day and heard only two gobbles. I can't remember an opening day that the birds weren't hammering from their roost before sunrise until this year. Because of the deep snow I was unable to venture in as far as I have in the past, so day two took me further in because of a shortcut I found in years past. The birds were a little more vocal on this day but still unwilling to stay fired up. They gave me the impression that they weren't ready for love making yet.
On the eighteenth of April I tried a different location. I had seen birds there before but never hunted it but I knew the snow was gone from this area. I got on the hill early and was pleased to hear a distant gobble. As I worked in closer I heard him gobbling from the tree and then fly to the ground. I was within about 150 yards and quickly set up. A couple of yelps from me and two turkeys soon came over the ridge towards me. A jake and a tom. For three hours that tom spit, drummed, and gobbled at me from about 75 yards. He had me pinned down and all I could do was yelp softly with the diaphragm. He finally got bored with the game and headed up the hill. No amount of my calling could turn him around. He left me and the jake there to our miseries.
April 20th found me in yet a new location. I had to get up extremely early to get into this spot since it was a four mile hike up hill to this spot. I found it one year chukar hunting. When I got there the birds were really letting each other have it from the trees. I could hear at least three different groups of birds. I chose the gobbling below me. It should have worked out to my advantage. I could see several birds in a tree with my binoculars through the dim light. I moved into about 200 yards and let them have some soft yelps. They greeted me with a chorus of gobbles each time I would yelp. They finally hit the ground and they numbered 27 birds. They gobbled a few more times but then became consumed with fighting amongst themselves. They put on quite a show from 150 yards away and totally ignored my pleading to them for love. They suddenly quit fighting and started feeding in my direction. I don't know how many jakes and hens there were but I counted 11 long beards in the group. As they fed their way through the sage towards me, I could tell they knew where I (the hen) was supposed to be and kept looking for me with an occasional strut. At 35 yards away I was trying to make out which bird was biggest and they suddenly formed a line and marched straight away from me up the hill. Right below me was a red fox coming up the creek to investigate.
Well these birds were off to the races and they had consumed an hour and a half of hunting time so I headed back up hill to where I heard the other birds earlier. Luckily they were still there. I immediately got responses from two birds within 200 yards away and another Tom I could see strutting  well over a half mile away. Every time I would yelp they would answer. The furthest seemed to be most aggressive but I had two tom's within 200 yards. I called for a half hour and the two closer birds kept coming closer and then backing off. There was a small ridge about 30 yards away between me and the birds. I could see the fans once in a while but never the beards. Finally the bird that was way over there had crossed the draw and came up behind me. When he gobbled at about 30 yards behind me it was more than the two tom's could handle and they strutted over the ridge gobbling. I don't know which bird was bigger but I knew the bird my bead was on had a long beard and at the sound of the shotgun bird #1 was in the bag.

April 25th found me turkey hunting again. Although, it was hard not revisiting the spot of my last conquest, that's one of my rules. So I went back to the place where the big tom held me down for three hours. I don't know whether it was the same bird, because it didn't seem as big, but I called in a jake and a tom again. This time the birds came within 15 yards and a dose of number six gave me my second leg and last bird for Idaho. The time was 7:15 A.M.

Then the torrential rains came again and I was stuck at home working and waiting to go to Oregon. The dogs and I hooked up the fifth wheel Sunday the 8th of May and headed out. We had camp set up early enough to take an evening scout. The dogs appreciated the hike and I was a little depressed by the sign we saw. None the less we were there to hunt and hunting the next morn I would go. I was even more disappointed in the morning to not hear one bird from the roost. There was enough sign to say there were birds in the area but they weren't talking. I walked the logging roads and tried to raise a gobble but my efforts failed to interest any birds. Finally at 10:30 I heard a faint response. I hurried down the trail and got a response again. I set up and heard two responses to my call. Five minutes later two heads poked over the hill 25 yards away. I watched them gobble simultaneously and then they topped the ridge. I was disappointed to see two jakes and decided to sit still while they walked away. Suddenly another gobble came from the same direction but behind the two birds I could see. Fate was on my side. The big boy stepped over the hill behind the two jakes and displayed his fan. He got two good spit and drums in before I couldn't handle it anymore. Leg #3 done.
Back at camp I loaded up Dakota and Riley and head for another area 40 miles to the north. Once again we took a good scouting hike. Riley busted a couple of turkeys, giving me hope for the following day. At 5 A.M. I was on the mountain in search of the final leg. Shortly after shooting light I heard one gobble and headed in that direction. I set up and tried to get a response but heard nothing. After fifteen minutes or so I heard him spitting and drumming. I could hear him but couldn't see him. Finally behind a lg about 40 yards away I saw his white head peek over and then he would strut again. This went on for a half hour or so and then it was over. I have no idea what happened or where he went. He was just gone. I headed off in the direction of the bird but never heard or saw him again. But I did come face to face with a black bear. He must have thought I was one tough son of a gun. He turned tail so fast that I actually heard him fart as he took off.
About 11:00 A.M. I finally got another response. I could tell he was eager because anything I said made him gobble. I had a beautiful place to set up with a logging road in between us. He put on the best display of all four birds. He hit the old logging road spitting and drumming and pacing back and fourth. With each pace he got about five feet closer to me. I have never seen such vibrant reds, whites and blues as this bird showed. He was put to rest at 7 yards. So these two birds finished my slam, for whatever it's worth. (lot's of fun)

Although I was through hunting I decided to stay one more day and check another area out. So once again the dogs and I traveled to another area and took a scouting hike. We found plenty of sign and once again Riley flushed a couple of turkeys so I thought I'd give it an early morning try with a camera. Once again the birds were silent first light. I did have a pack of bear dogs give me some excitement. They were obviously on a bear and I could tell they were traveling the same trail I had used to get in there. I got up against a tree not knowing how the dogs would react to me. I knew the bear would run, but wasn't sure about the dogs. Luckily they turned before they got to me.
The dogs did elicit a shock gobble which I honed in on. After calling the bird pitched off the hill above me and landed in a draw 50 yards below me. Once again I set up with an old logging road between us. When the bird hit the road I moved to turn on the camera and the bird caught the motion and was gone in an instant.
One more turkey year in the books and time to prepare for the baby season and picture taking.

training and cameras.

I've been spending a lot of times in the last five weeks chasing birds and dogs with my camera. At the same time I've been trying to do a little training. I found it just as futile to try and train while trying to get that perfect picture as it is to train while hunting. The only way it works the way it should is if you have another person shooting the gun or camera while you're training.
Two days ago I was out trying to get a picture of Riley and the chukars flushing while I approached from the front. I never did get a good picture but I proceeded to let Riley start breaking at the flush. The same procedure he was doing towards the end of the gun season.
Today I left the camera in the truck. It took about 30 minutes to have Riley back into form. Proper training depends highly on applying stimulus at the right time. No matter what the stimulus is, e collar, rope, whoa, or whatever else a person might use. If a person tries to shoot a bird or take a picture and then apply the stimulus it is too late.
I was on the mountain for two hours with Riley and it took two corrections for him to remember what he is supposed to do on flushed birds. As we came off the hill we had three more hun pairs pointed. I flushed one pair and the other two pair flushed wild, but each time Riley stood fast until I released him. Because of prior mistakes in my training methods he won't release with an o.k. I have to slap my hands or leg or he'll stand steady.
I know that part of the way through the hunting season he'll start back with some of those bad habits but I usually live with it or put the gun up for a reminder lesson.

one year

My mentor and greatest hunting companion has been gone one year today. I went high on his favorite hill and fired a reload with his ashes to let Tucker know I miss him. As the ashes fell to the ground with the falling snow I felt at ease to know Tucker is hunting on a mountain where chukars are everywhere.

To shoot or not to shoot

I was having lunch with another chukar hunter yesterday and dogs were the topic of discussion, as usual. This was Mike's second year of chukar hunting and he has done a very fine job of training Aspen, his GSP. She is doing a very good job of pointing and loves to retrieve. She needs some work on backing and we'll be working on that in the upcoming months. I only hunted with Mike twice, but I could tell he was very safe minded when it came to firing a shot.
Well, after visiting with him yesterday, I found that it was more than just safety. He didn't want to shoot around me if his dog wasn't locked up. Every shot he saw me take was when Riley was locked dead solid on point and figured that was the way it was supposed to be. He told me he finally had to start shooting birds that either he flushed or the birds flushed once in a while or the shooting was going to be minimal.
He finally asked me if I only shot birds that Riley had pointed and I flushed. My answer was an emphatic ALWAYS SOMETIMES. It seems I was lucky and he saw me shoot four times at birds that were held perfect but he didn't get to see what happened after Riley and I disappeared over the rise.
I wish my dogs were so good that it was always a point, my flush, a shot and then a retrieve. But neither me or the dog are that good. Anyone that says that the only time they shoot a bird is when it is just right either gets very few birds or is distorting the truth.
The first year of training/hunting a dog I try not to shoot busted birds or passer bys, but after I know the dog knows what he's doing I change my thoughts some. Every dog and every hunter is different and we should style our hunting behind the dogs and the hunter. Too many hunters read books and magazines from trainers and trial dogs and figure that's the way it should be. Those big time trialer's and trainers are making a living off those dogs and if they don't win so many awards who is going to buy a pup from them? Most of those dogs are taken out of the field once they make a mistake and returned to retry another day. Most hunters wouldn't make it a half mile from the truck if that were the rules in hunting.
Mike admittedly didn't get a  much shooting last year as he would have liked. It didn't hurt anything but didn't help much either. Shooting birds is part of the equation also. Dog points, hunter flushes, hunter shoots and then the dog retrieves. That's the way it is supposed to work. So what do I do when the bird flushes wild or the dog flushes the bird?
It depends on the situation for me and my dogs. We are not perfectionists, but I want to keep it hunting with a partner (my dog) and not just killing. I try and never shoot at a bird that is intentionally busted by the dog. They know what their job is and that is to point birds and hold them. There is an exception to every rule. For me that is when those darned chukars are doing mach 1 up the slope and my dogs try pointing them but they just keep on moving up. There is a point when the dog gets tired of pointing running birds and finally rushes for the flush. If those birds fly over me I'm going to try and take one down. I can't think of many other times I'll shoot at a bird that my dogs intentionally chase up.
There are many other times that aren't perfect that I'll shoot at the chukars also. There are the times when I flush the birds and my boys have nothing to do with the flush. If the situation is safe, I'll shoot and then direct the dog for a retrieve if he doesn't see the bird go down. There are the times when the birds flush from a point before I flush them. This is no fault of the dog so why not take the shot and reward the dog for a good job done.
Another question Mike asked was if I made Riley stay until I released him for the fetch? Once again, I'm not a perfectionist so i let my dogs break on the flush. There are many pro and cons on the subject such as safety or the dogs busting more birds when he breaks but I deal with those issues in my own ways. I'm responsible for my dogs safety and I don't care if I get more then one bird out of the covey.
These two pictures are a good example of what I'm talking about when it comes to safety. This first picture Riley is holding a pair of huns between him and I.

I move in for the flush and after I flush the birds Riley breaks. As you can see there is not a safe shot. Possibly if Riley hadn't broke I might have been able to take a shot. A broke dog would still be at point at this stage but I'm not willing to add the additional pressure to my dogs.

Hunting for me is pleasure. I don't have to kill a bird to have an enjoyable hunt,  but I do base my success on the number of birds that me and my dogs bag while hunting together as cooperative partners. A few of my most memorable hunts were with the game bag empty but the most successful hunt I ever had was with 8 chukars and 8 huns weighing me down after my dog and I worked together as a team.

Staying in chukar hunting condition

It seems like every year about this time I get questions from my family concerning my senility. My kids are both health nuts and spend hours at the gym and my wife has her little home gym she likes to use. Me, well I'm a fool and just go back out in the wind, rain, snow, or shine and walk the hills. It doesn't make much sense to them.
I graduated from Boise State in the early 70s and used a track scholarship to pay my way. I was a sprinter and know all the benefits of weight training, running the steps, and all of the other activities involved with being an athlete. As I aged I continued working out and joining the local gym, playing basketball, racquetball, walking on the stair stepper and so on. I quit playing basketball at 44 because my back would ache the morning after and it was getting harder to roll out of bed to get to work. It occurred a couple of years after that when Tucker came along that I didn't have time to work, go to the gym, spend time with the family, and work my dog. Something had to go and it was the gym. That seemed the smart thing to do since my knees and back were starting to feel the effects of climbing ladders all day at work and then going to the gym.
Since that time I have made the outdoors my gym. I kill two birds with one stone. Work my dogs and also work myself. At first I only could get a couple of times a week because of my job or family responsibilities but now that I am semi retired I make sure to get out four times a week depending on the weather. My only rule is that I have to go at least four miles or 2000 feet in elevation to consider it a work out. I still stretch every day and maybe do a set of crunches and push ups now and then but I can't find any excitement about going back to the traditional work outs.
Of course while I'm out I have to respect the others that are out there and give them their space.

The elk are in a critical stage. In three months they will be calving so they need to save as much energy as possible. I always leave these areas immediately, and hopefully don't disturb the deer or elk.
My boys always find some treats to show off a long the trail.

I also try and go a different area each time I wander off. The reasons are obvious. Not only does it add to the excitement it allows me to find new places to hunt or maybe not to hunt. For those who like working out at the gym, let's call it sizing up the opponent. In this case the opponent is the hill. I use to watch an opposing player in a racquetball tournament before our match would come up. Now I walk the hills to see what opportunities it might present. I look for a lot of this kind of sign.

As I mentioned as I'm huffing and puffing up the hills and getting that burning feeling in my legs and chest I get to do a little training. I always dress my boys in full combat gear the same as me. The only thing different is I'm not carrying a shotgun and shells which takes about 9 or ten 10 pounds off. I make sure everyone gets their turn at pointing and honoring.

After the boys have made it clear that they know what they are doing I take advantage and move out front with the camera. Since it is taking the place of my gun I find what kind of a shot I am. As you see I need to get a lot more lead on this pair of huns.

I shot over the top of this chukar. Maybe this relates to why I only shoot 60% at chukars and have to spend a little more time at the sporting clays course.

The end result is I really enjoy my work out. Just like a snow skier can't wait for the next time he hits the mountain, a tennis player looks forwards to tomorrows match, hockey player waits for his next game, or the gym enthusiast can't wait to get on his treadmill, I look forward to each day I can get on the mountain with my dogs. Another month from now I will start scouting out for turkey season. My dogs will be along since we are only looking for birds and sign. When the season opens they will be missing the days I hunt but I make a point of making sure I still get them out at least twice a week.
At 60 years of age, the only thing I find hard about my training method is the first half hour. The body seems to take a little longer to get the lube in the right places, but once it is lubed I can go anywhere I did at 30. It takes a little more time than going to the gym a mile a way and you don't get to turn the T.V. on during your work out to see what's happening in Egypt, but the view you get is spectacular.

February training.

Although we've been out a couple of times this month today was our first training or photo session of the month. This is the best time of the year for training in my opinion. Especially on wild huns. They are already starting to pair up and those places where you found some nice coveys last hunting season are starting to scatter and present lots of training possibilities. My boys had a great year but wanted to help me flush the birds towards the end of the season. That's what I worked on today. Making sure they get back in tune to who does the flushing.
In another month the chukars will start pairing up and offering another good chance for multiple training ops in a day on wild birds.
Here are some of the pictures of our outing today.
Riley pointing with Dakota honoring.

Dakota pointing with Riley honoring from over 100 yards. Dakota used to honor from a distance like this but as he got older started fudging some to make sure he gets into the action. The wild horses are enjoying watching the dogs work.

I walked in and flushed a pair of huns but only got one in the picture.

Then I took a close up of the horses before they snorted a 50 gallon bucket of air at me and ran off.

Here's a long cross canyon point and honor with Riley being the pointing dog.

A couple more of Riley's points.

Once again I flush a pair.

Another point and honor.

Riley's last point of the day as I move around him taking pictures while Dakota is honoring.

And then turned and flushed these two huns for a possible double.

What a perfect day on the hill.

The sum of it all

Well, another great hunting season has come and gone. There were many ups and very few downs to the season and the downs were so minor you can hardly include them when you sum up the experiences we had.
To start the season, upland hunters were made aware of the probable availability of chukars/huns by the usual helicopter survey by the Idaho Fish and Game. The counts were similar to last year which was slightly below the 10 year average. To my delight and many of the other upland hunters I visited with, the counts seemed quite higher than they estimated. For me personally, out of 25 five years of keeping records I only show two years that were comparable or better than this season.
Part of the reason for the poor helicopter survey might have been due to the young birds. There were many young birds in the early season due to late hatching conditions. Many of these birds may have not been able to fly well during these flights by the game department.
Birds at times were hard to find, but when you finally found them there were lots.. I had several days where I would only see a covey in the first couple of hours of hunting and then see fifteen coveys in the next two hours. Many times this year I saw coveys with over fifty birds in them. Early in the season I saw very few huns but as the season progressed I found more and more huns, even in the places I hadn't seen any earlier in the season.
To sum up my season, I went chukar/hun hunting a total of eighty times this year. No hunting adventure was less than four miles or under 1200 feet of elevation gained. Riley hunted solo with me 59 times, Dakota 9 times, and I hunted with both dogs 12 times. That's a lot of entertainment for one season. We got to see a wide variety of wildlife on our trips. We encountered one cougar, many deer, elk, coyotes, skunks, and walked among a host of bighorn sheep. We had a first this year. We saw a moose and he was in an area that you would never expect to see one. Another first for me was seeing a mule deer actually drop an antler. I jumped him from his bed and he dropped one side as he bounced off.
As I said there were very few negatives for the 2010 chukar/hun season. The biggest downfall was my shooting. I usually shoot in the mid 60% area on chukars but fell to a dismal 59%. The season started like gang busters and ended up in the cellar. The only excuse I can come up with is that we had an unusually snowy and cold December and January. The frozen ground and deeper snow made footing hard to establish at times. Those same conditions kept the birds on the burnt off slopes which made getting to them harder. The only other bad things that happened this year were the normal adverse things that happen on hunting trips. Riley got stitched up a time or two and lost a toe nail, I had several cuts and bruises, along with a misaligned nose, and I have some new battle scars on my guns.
The pluses to the season are many. Too many to name them all. Probably the best thing that happened in the 2010 hunting season was having my son hunt with me on three occasions and my eight year old grandson tag along with me on another. My son, Doug, a 34 year old who spends a lot of time in the gym, kept Riley and I hustling up and down the hills. In fact, on our last hunt yesterday we went further and gained more elevation than any other trip this year. I also have to admit his shooting even made me feel like I was good. Conner, my eight year old grandson, insisted on we keep going until we get a limit of chukar. We ended up going 5 1/2 miles and climbing 1500 feet of elevation. I was ready to head down for his sake but he wanted nothing to do with it.
My dogs had nothing less than a spectacular year. Dakota, in his twelfth season, didn't hunt quite as much. When the hunts would be through, I could tell his hips would hurt so I decided to limit his outings. He took his last hard hunt January 6 this year and rewarded me with a limit of chukar before we came off the hill. Riley, four years old now, just kept on keeping on. He seems to be tireless and has perfected everything I expect from a hunting companion. Both dogs made countless points and retrieves that seemed almost impossible. Although our lost bird count was up a little this year over the previous years it was still only .057%.
As all upland hunters know, it's about the dogs. Mine fill my life with excitement. Especially the 2010 season. But along with the dogs are the new friends that come along from season to season. Upland friends seem to be a special bunch. They all seem to share that same love for their canine partners. Besides my family I was fortunate enough to hunt for the first time with several others. I spent many days with a new friend, Jeff and his munsterlanders, Kirklan and his four variety of great hunting dogs, Jon and his Braque du Bourbonnais, and Jon and Deb and their GSP pup. Not a one of these people have a dog that wouldn't be a pleasure to hunt behind but I have to admit to a special appeal to Jon and Deb's Neka. Being that she was such a young pup, watching her work and learn was especially exciting and I'm looking forwards to seeing her become a seasoned veteran. I met all of these people through the Upland Idaho Forum and traded conversations with many others through this site. There seems to be a special group of upland hunters that visit this site often.
The number of birds put in the bag this year is of no importance. The way my dogs and I got them is. The forty two different locations we hunted, and the sights and sounds we encountered while there are. The thousands of points and many retrieves are what it is all about to me. In the end, my hunts can be summed up by how well my dogs and I work together and respect each others ability to perform their duties. When I add it up we are 100%.

Old photos

Just reminiscing over some old hunting pictures of Tucker and I came upon these old photographs. They were taken with an old camera that wasn't digital.
This first picture was taken while Tucker was pointing what I thought was chukars. When I got to the brush this is what was staring back at me.

This was a spring outing when Tucker, Dakota and I came upon a fawn. Mama wasn't too happy with our presence and continually charged the dogs trying to get them to leave.

In this last group of pictures, I was hunting with Tucker and we approached a herd of elk. We hung back until the herd moved over the ridge and then went back to hunting. Suddenly this lone yearling stood up and watched Tucker and me. It seemed fearless so I took a series of pictures wondering how close I could get. The only thing I can figure is that the elk was fast asleep while the others left and when he woke up he didn't know how to react without the rest of the herd. In the last photo I backed up and made Tucker stand by the elk, which he wasn't real happy about. 

Canine intelligence

I've heard and read over the years that dogs only remember a certain number of commands. The number varies depending on who you talk to. I've also heard that animals don't reason. I am not a animal behaviorist or a professional dog trainer so I can't give an educated answer to this but I spend a lot of time with my dogs so I can give my opinion on my dogs intelligence.
I'll start with reasoning and figuring things out. If a dog can't reason, how is it that during Tuckers last years he figured out how to fake sleep until Barb would walk out of the room before he would sneak into the kitchen and steal something off the cabinets?  This trait might be genetic because his son Dakota now does the same thing. How does a dog know when you are about to go bird hunting even when you try to hide the fact? As the dog matures, how does the canine know the difference between a meadow lark and a quail? I could go on and on but I believe that at least MY DOGS learn to figure things out because they learn associating and reasoning without the help of me.
Intelligence is a much different subject in my opinion. Dogs intelligence is different just like the IQ of humans. Different breeds of dogs are said to be smarter than others and intelligence is even different within the individual breeds. In my opinion Tucker was a very intelligent dog while his son, Dakota just use the gifts of a hunting dogs nose to find birds. That being said I'm going to use Riley as an example of what I consider a intelligent dog. Not because he can add or subtract, but because he has developed his own style of finding birds for me.
First off, he now has fantastic work ethics. There is probably a better word for this, but it's all I can come up with. By work ethics, I'm talking about his work habits when we are not in the best of hunting habitat or walking a road to a hunting spot. He hasn't always been this way but has learned to save his energy for the actual hunting. I'll use a friend's pup as a prime example. J.C.'s pup Neka is a bird finding machine at eight months old. I watched her a couple of different times looking for the elusive chukar. She quarters and ranges searching for birds. She is always at mach 1 speed. When she hits scent she slams the skids on to a stylish point. It is a beautiful thing to watch. Anyone who visits the Upland Idaho site has seen pictures of her along with her two sisters, Sky and Birdie. I haven't got to see the two sisters, but I understand they are of the same mould.
Anyhow, that is how Riley hunted his first two years. The more country you cover the more birds, right? That's how a pup full of enthusiasm thinks. Riley is now on his fourth year and his gait has slowed to a more deliberate pace. He is going about two thirds the distance he did two years ago but still covering the same distance. He has learned to save energy on the places that don't hold birds and trot straight to the areas that do. He will walk a straight line until he gets about three hundred yards away and then hunt the wind back towards me rather than to quarter back and fourth with the wind at our back. He has learned to utilize the draw thermals to find birds and has often walked me in on birds three hundred yards away. At the end of a hunt he seems to know that we are done and will help me find the trail that leads to the truck. He'll usually be there a couple hundred yards before me and unless he smells a bird from the trail he will save his energy for tomorrows hunt. For lack of the proper word that is what I consider dog ethics.
Another way Riley shows intelligence is the way he approaches a ridge. When he was young he would barrel over the top but now he slows testing the wind as he gets close. If the wind is at our back he will show back up below or above me pointing the draw we were about to abandon. Riley doesn't always nail the birds but his percentage is far above 50%. Many times I will come over a hill to find him semi locked up. As soon as we make eye contact he starts moving towards where he thinks the birds are in a slow deliberate move and we eventually get a lock up or find where the birds have been. A younger dog or even an older dog that hasn't quite the experience or intelligence will usually push to get to close to the birds in that situation and the shooter probably would never even see the flush.
Intelligence in dogs is due to experience in my opinion. The more you have your pup out there experiencing the hunt the more he learns how to handle situations. Riley also uses his ears a lot. I have seen him stop on a side hill and listen to chukars on the next ridge. Many times he will head that way, not wasting any energy covering the country. In his mind why waste time. Although he might bust the birds sometimes or it might take me a while to get to him, more often than not he will have the birds pinned by the time I get there. He will often use his sight to perform the same activity when the chukars are running the opposite hill.
I can also say the same about retrieving. When we first started hunting we had to look hard for downed birds but now through experience Riley knows how to use the wind to locate a crippled bird.
Intelligence in a dog is gained by experience. Dogs can't speak so they have to experience situations in order to learn. We, as humans, can speak. That's probably our biggest draw back when it comes to training our hunting partner. We don't know when to shut up. I don't hunt around people a lot but I often hear hunters whoaing their dog before he goes over the ridge. How is the dog going to learn to hold birds if you are always going to heal your dog before you walk over? Many hunters know where the birds have landed or are more likely to be so they direct the dogs to an area instead of letting them find the birds. Those dogs are not going to have the intelligence to find birds in new country without guidance. How many times have you seen a guy calling his dog to a downed bird only to have the dog show up with the bird from 100 yards away?
Range is also derived from intelligence. A smart dog knows when it's time to get out there and find birds and when it's time to stay close where the birds are.
Yes, I believe some dogs are more intelligent than others. Of course none are as intelligent as mine. J.C., Neka is going to be a very smart dog and maybe she already is. But it's due to you getting out there and letting her do what she was bred for. I hope you aren't offended by me using you for this analogy, but unfortunately for you, you are the only person with a young dog that I got to hunt with this year.
Tucker taught me a lot. The main lesson I took away from his training was simply "give me a chance."

Retiring Dakota

After 12 hard years of hunting chukars for me, Dakota has made it obvious that the steep mountains are becoming too much. It's time for him to retire to the couch and maybe get in a few easy hunts next year. The decision became easy for me shortly after we arrived home from our hunt today. Dakota had a hard time getting himself up in the back seat of the truck after the ride home and I had to lift him down. After his dinner he laid on his blanket in front of the T.V. When I went over to pet him he  had a hard time getting his back hips up.

Those of you that follow the blog know that Dakota is the son of Tucker. Dakota was the runt of the litter but has his dads heart. He was never the athlete his dad was, but was a quick learner and became a first class hunting dog by his first season. He and Tucker became a great team and were soon known as Team Tuckota. Chukars weren't safe when the two of them were in town.

Dakota was also a great solo hunter. He was built a little closer to the ground so he didn't cover the country like Tucker or his relief dog Riley. Although he holds point forever, he has never been the dog that would let me get 10 to 20 yards ahead of him. He liked being in the action. This last year was no exception. He started figuring out ways in which to circle the birds once I got ahead of him so he didn't miss anything. But put him with another dog and he would honor like a pro.

As time has progressed, his tail became less stiff and almost tucked. Maybe that is due to his bad hips. But he was staunch none the less. He is also quite deaf now which leads to a quite a bit of uncertainty at times. He doesn't hear the birds when they take off. He spends as much time looking for me as for birds now. A few times he has been confused as to where I was and would bark enthusiastically when he would locate me. All of these things have lead to a more cautious hunting dog. Here are a few of his points today.

Dakota's strong point had to be his retrieving. He was relentless and lost very few birds in his hunting career. He would often beat Tucker to the retrieve and towards the end of Tucker's hunting days he relieved his dad of many long retrieves.  That made it easier for Tucker during his last hunts. Today was no different. He retrieved every bird to me although it took much longer to gain the elevation I was at.

My hopes are that Dakota will have several years of rest around the house left. We will still enjoy many outings together but at a lot slower pace. I do hope to get him out on maybe an easy hunt or two next year, where just getting one point will be sufficient. But Until that time I am happy to remember Dakota's last point and limit.

After I wrote this I turned around to find that Barb had covered Dakota. I think he'll have a good and soft life from here on.

Alectoris chukar

Having a few days to piece myself back together after all of the falls in the last week, I've decided to take some time and pass on some observations I've made in the past twenty or so years regarding chukars. Today is the 29th of December and the last of a snow storm is passing and my grandson and I are going to get back after them tomorrow.
I am not a game biologist so don't hold me to any of the things I am about to tell you. These are just my personal observations and views on hunting chukars.

Chukars and huns pair up early in the spring. They are not like pheasants or Turkeys where the male has several females to take care of. The only fighting you'll see with the alectoris chukar is defending his territory and partner. In my observations, it seems to me that huns pair up a little earlier than the chukars. I've seen huns paired up early in February at times. Chukars stay in coveys a little longer and are usually paired up by mid march. They are not nesting yet, just paired. So this is a good time to be out training your dog. The birds are more scattered now and seem to hold like early in the season.
The nesting period seems to be similar to pairing as far as timing between the huns and chukars. The huns tend to nest two to three weeks earlier than chukars. The huns are normally nesting early April  to early May while the chukars are late April to mid May. Both prefer dry open slopes, although the hun tends to pick flatter spots for their nests.

Chukar and hun hens both lay one egg a day or an egg every other day . Clutch sizes vary from 10 to 20 eggs. Incubation period starts after the last egg is layed and lasts for 24 days. At this time it is very important to stay away from the nesting areas as it is vital the mother stay on the nest. She seldom leaves the nest except for a short feeding or watering period. It is very important she maintains the temperature of the eggs for maximum incubation. Once the hatching starts, the peeps and movements of chicks in the eggs travels along the nest and the covey is hatched within usually just a few hours.

Shortly after hatching, the coveys are formed. If a nest is lost and eggs don't hatch ,renesting will often occur. There usually won't be as many eggs. If one or more birds hatch, the mother will not renest. Only if she loses the whole clutch. If you think about it, it would be impossible for her to raise a covey and also set on eggs at the same time.

I have seen chicks hatch as late as mid August and have seen birds during the hunting season that were probably even hatched later than that. My personal feeling is that the majority of birds are hatched mid June. Huns are a little earlier. Spring conditions usually dictate the hatch.
Chukars will fly individually at two weeks but usually don't fly as a covey until approximately four weeks and that is done with the parents.

The habitat that Alectoris chukar prefers is dry mountain slopes. Huns prefer the less steep terrain, but will also be often found on the steepest slopes. Although most hunters prefer to hunt the rocky benches that chukars use for shade and cover, I prefer to hunt the steep open slopes that have lots of ridges and draws for the birds to fly around to. I like to parallel the side hill, pushing the birds ahead of me. The chukar usually flies downhill but makes a sweeping turn once over a ridge and actually will be back at the same level you first jumped them. They fly down and run back up. Anyone that has spent much time chukar hunting will attest to how fast they can move up the steep ridges.
Although the huns tend to like the dense brushy cover, I've found that chukars prefer open hillsides unless they are hiding from predators flying above. Chukars have a harder time getting off the ground without running than a hun does. Maybe due to the fact that they are a little bigger body wise with the same size wings.
Early in the season hunters tend to hunt near watering holes or rivers. I've never found this necessary. Chukars will go as far as two miles to water and then feed there way back to wherever they want to go. But they will continue to use these watering sources until they are harassed away. It doesn't matter whether they are hunted on September 15th or October 15th, they will keep using these places until they feel it is not safe. The only thing moving an opening date from September to October will affect is the size and age of the birds.
I try and hunt as many different area as possible. I have over 50 good places to hunt chukar in Idaho and Oregon. Some areas are down one year and great the next. I try to never over harvest an area knowing that I'll be back again next year. Although chukar hunters don't have much effect on populations it is possible to over hunt an area especially the easy to get to ones.
Predation doesn't have much effect on chukar and hun populations either.  I have, however, seen Coopers hawks that are quite deadly on chukars. One chukar can fill a Coopers hawk belly for several days.
Idaho has a limit of 8 chukars and 8 huns in one day while Oregon has a limit of 8 which includes both chukar and huns. That makes a day in Idaho a little more desirable.

                                                                                                                                                                        

When the snow starts flying I usually find the chukars up higher on the ridges. They prefer the wind blown south slopes although they can be found running on top of two feet of powdery snow when they have to. Huns and Quail are more likely to gravitate to the low lands and can be found while driving the roads. Although Chukars can be found low, they tend to use there legs more and will head up hill to avoid contact with humans.

The average lifespan for a chukar is two years.