Wet finish to September

I don't recall ever having a September this wet. The weather has set in and been pretty relentless. In fact it was raining so hard this morning I got two thirds of the way to where I was going to hunt and the wind and rain forced me to turn around and drive 1 and 1/2 hour back to the house. The rain isn't hurting anything, but it is hampering my quality hours on the hill with Jake.
Yesterday, the rain was a little lighter so Jake and I stayed on the hill until I found it difficult to stand on the stilts formed by the mud building up on my boots. It was breezy but Jake figured out how to use that wind to find birds. He had a great day. His pointing is already like a mature dog but his retrieving was suspect. By the end of the day he was bringing the bird right to me without a word being said. Chasing a wounded bird up and down a hill helped with his training. The first run down the hill chasing the bird was tough, but after putting the bird down twice and starting the process all over again he finally figured out that he needed to get the bird to me in order to get a short break. He got to me and put his head on top of the bird until I grabbed it. We'll work on actually getting the bird into my hand if needed.
I didn't pack a camera because of the wet conditions as well as still being in a training process but I could have taken some great photos. I got home and took a tailgate picture between storms. I know many people don't like tailgate photos but I do. The birds are not about me but what my dog has accomplished. I'm as proud of the dog as I was of my children graduating, winning a trophy, etc. and that's why I like to see those pictures.

Not a limit but his best day yet with all six birds pointed and retrieved. The truth be it could have been a limit if the shooter would have held up his end.
We're going to try a couple different spots in Idaho this week and then head for Oregon Saturday after Conner's football game. We'll stay over there for four or five days and see how the bird numbers compare to Idaho. So far Jake and I have hunted six different locations in Idaho and have found different results in each. Some show little sign of birds and some show average amounts. No place has shown that banner year like we all like but also no place seems devoid of alectoris chukar.
Good luck hunting and if you're in eastern Oregon next week and see my truck "Tuckota" stop by and swap some stories.

New chukar season and outlook

Well, the chukar season has finally arrived. It's pretty hard to give a bird forecast because things have changed a little for me. I'm hunting an eight month old pup where normally I would have at least one seasoned dog on the ground. In the four days I have hunted, I have to admit to seeing fewer birds this year than I ever remember. Before you get disappointed, let me point out that two of the days were hunting in rain where conditions were poor and also Jake is just learning how to find birds. I haven't seen a lot of sign on the hill but remember we have had a couple of torrential down pours in the last two weeks that would flush all signs of roost and other droppings.
What I can tell you is the long hot summer depleted a lot of the growth we might have had. Some of the hillsides are very bare, leaving little feed for the birds and making them easy prey to predators. Most of the birds Jake and I found were on the hillsides where the bunch grass was thicker. I didn't see much insect base on the burnt off slopes either. The recent rains have produced a good production of green sprouts to help the chukars and huns for the rest of the season.
I talked to a couple who lives in the country I chukar hunt. They ride it a lot on horseback and said the hatch was very good this year but as the summer progressed they saw fewer birds. They felt that there wasn't enough feed for the young birds. I hope they are wrong and the birds just traveled to a place with more insects and sprouts to survive on and will eventually return to their normal slopes. Either that or we'll have to find them.
As far as Jake goes, I am very pleased with his progress so far. I have seen him bust only one covey so far. There were a few other times when I saw birds flying downhill from where Jake was but I can't say whether he busted them or just bumped into them. He is holding point as long as it takes for me to get in front of him and flush the birds, which is much farther ahead of schedule than I thought we would be without having Riley along to help with the training. He has found and retrieved every shot bird so far. The long steep retrieves are his downfall. He gets the bird about half way up the hill and then drops it. With a lot of coaxing I have been able to get him to return to the bird and finally bring it to me. He drops all the birds a couple feet from me which I consider close enough. The retrieving will just get better as the season goes on.
Jake hasn't learned how to find birds yet. When he happens to be going the right way with the wind he'll hit scent and lock tight. He just wastes a lot of his movements going the wrong direction. He ranges good but just hasn't figured out how to use the wind to his advantage. That can only be learned by being on the hill as much as possible. By the end of this first season I'm hoping Jake will be pretty seasoned.
For those friends from Wisconsin, Alaska, Montana, Washington, as well as everyone else, I have seen 12 chukar covey's and one covey of huns in four outings. That is probably only 1/3 of what I have normally seen in the first week of chukar hunting. The 12 covey's seen is a fact but I personally believe there are more birds out there than that. If I were to guess, I'd say this year might turn out a little below average as far as the bird count goes, but there are still plenty out there for those willing to work at it.

A new season of chukar hunting and a fair forecast.

After the summer of 2013 Jake has been ready to get back to the hills to do what he was born to do. Find birds. Although it was a lot easier having Riley show him and motivate him to get out there a ways it has already been inbred as to what his main focus is on. Birds. The last weeks heavy rains have made it a lot easier to handle the early morning temperatures and cover some country.
First off, the rain has been a real blessing for the birds. I am sure the areas that have burnt will soon be sprouting lots of green shoots of cheat. The birds may not hold real well in these areas but they will still be visiting them for some good nutrition.

As far as chukars go, I have to say we have seen an average amount of birds in the last week or so of scouting and training. Covey's  ranged from as many as 15 to twenty birds down to a half a dozen or so.  Age of the birds ranged from mature to young only five weeks old or so. In my very unprofessional opinion this year looks to be a lot like last year. Maybe if Riley were still with me I might have a stronger bird forecast. Jake isn't the bird finding machine that Riley was but is getting closer with each trip to the hills.
As far as Jake goes, I wish I was half as lucky at betting on football games as I am with chukar dogs. I'd be rich. His enthusiasm and focus is already bird oriented. He is already pointing and holding point until I get to him.

Unless the birds start running, he'll let me go in front and flush the birds which is a problem he'll learn to handle the more we are in the field with birds. Once he scents birds he is very intense on locating the origin and with his inexperience of knowing how to use his nose will sometimes bump the birds. Jakes range is a little shorter than I am use to but I'm sure as he learns to put his nose to the air instead of close to the ground his range will get out there where I'll be cussing his 300 yard point straight up the hill but loving every minute of it. He checks in to make sure I'm not too far away.

                                                                                                                                                                         

We've been able to combine a couple of training trips with a blue grouse hunt. Jake performed like a champ. His first grouse was off this point and his next two retrieves were from incidental flushes by me. The first bird he was right on top of with his retrieve and after relocating the bird in his mouth several times and spitting out some feathers brought the grouse to me.

The next two were later and both times he came running back to  me at the sound of the shot seeking instructions. At the command of dead bird he put his nose down and started searching. With help from me moving in the direction of the downed bird and pointing he soon came up with the bird out of the brush. As I mentioned, I am a very lucky man. I have another good companion to spend many enjoyable hours on the hill. He is already a good chukar dog and by the end of this year will probably be another great chukar dog with what the mountain can teach him.

One side note. Jake and I will be going on several multiple day hunts in eastern Oregon and western Idaho. Although I prefer to go off in my own direction, it's always great to have someone to visit with on the ride to and from a hunt or in camp, so please feel free to join us any time and let us know when you might be in the area. We can always adjust camp sites.

Passing of the rock

At the insistence of Barbara and the encouragement of Jake, I am putting Riley's death behind me. I have shed numerous tears over the loss of such a great friend in the last three weeks. Every time I turned around I was encountering a memory of Riley. We did everything together. I have to confess to spending more time with him than my wife since she is still supporting me with a job.
As I was looking at photos today I realized that possibly Riley was passing the torch on to Jake in the form of a stone. Riley had only one annoying habit. He would wade into the pond, put his head under water, blow bubbles and come up with a rock. Usually it was a sizable rock. He would pack it around and drop it at my feet. There were even times when hunting would be slow and he would chase a rolling rock down the hill and bring it back to me. Before Riley broke his leg in May he must have shown Jake this trick. Jake now performs the same trick in the pond and usually with a nice sized rock. He has actually become more annoying with this habit than Riley was. He brings the rocks into the house with him.
This was the last picture I have of Riley. It was taken about a week before Riley left. He was out laying on the drive way soaking up sun when Jake came up with a smaller rock and laid beside him.

This is now a habit I will cherish forever.
Meanwhile I've been sitting around the house getting in the worse shape I have ever been in and Jake has been staying in shape by being as destructive as he can be. I now know what people mean when they comment on how calm my dogs are and I can state for a fact that it is because we burn so much energy chasing through the hills. Yesterday, Jake tried some more encouraging tactics to get me up on the hill. His encouraging tactics made Barb a little more insistent on me getting up on the hill with Jake .

So, starting tomorrow, Jake and I are beginning a full scale attack on the mountains. Hopefully we might find a few blue grouse as we train on chukars, but no matter what we see, we're going to get some of that good blood flowing in our veins again. We are going to leave the sad times behind and get back to posting on great hunting and comical dog events, which I'm sure Jake will provide many of. Heck, who knows, I might even do something stupid along the way. Riley will always be a part of every hunt. He defined what great chukar hunting was about as well as defined me, but we're going to concentrate on the great times and information we can provide. Information to dog owners, like not letting your dog wander through your wife's closet while you're picking your nose. You learn words and things about your wife that you didn't think possible.

Goodbye Riley

I didn't think I could ever hurt over a dog as bad as I did on February 24, 2010, but I was wrong. That was the day that Tucker left me. Tucker had taught me more about being a good dog man in thirteen years than I learned in my previous 46 years. He showed me the rewards that loving a dog can bring. But he couldn't tell me how big of a hole would be left in my heart when he left. Luckily, he left his son Dakota and a young dog named Riley from Oklahoma to help me get through my loss and back on the hill.
The past two weeks my heart was torn apart once again. Riley, who toughed through an operation on his right knee and then his left knee last summer and three operations on his right front leg this summer, finally lost his strength. He had some minor seizures and strokes and each one showed more pain for Riley and less emotions. With pain medication he would come around and every so often show enough excitement that I was sure we could find a solution for him to at least live a good life in the living room.
On Monday we took Riley down to Dr. Koob, a good friend and great dvm, to have him put down. By the time we had got there, Riley was having one of those good moments and we decided against saying goodbye. The pain pills had done there job for one more night. Tuesday was back to 15 minutes of good time followed by a half hour of pain and then 10 hours of tossing and turning trying to get comfortable. I was hoping and waiting on one more test that could possibly help Riley live. The call came and it was confirmed that it would be unfair to Riley to keep putting him through his suffering. The test showed there was no chance of improvement.
So Wednesday night, Riley was helped up on the bed, to his normal sleeping spot between Barb and I, so we could have our last night together. Jake and Dakota joined us for a while but were soon let out because Jake wanted Riley to play and Dakota had no clue at what was going on being that he has doggie dimensia. Although Barb and I have been shedding tears for the last two weeks over Riley we still had plenty left for the night.
At about noon today, August 22, 2013 Dr. Koob helped Barb and I with our final goodbyes to Riley and he is now with Tucker scouting the area for when I join them. I am forever going to wonder if I should have taken Riley on the mountain as often as I did, him being so tall. Then I think about how I hope I depart from this world. Man, how Riley lived. Man. how he lived.

Riley's obituary:
If there was such a thing as a chukar hunting hall of fame, Riley would definitely belong there. In his six years of hunting chukars and huns he pointed and retrieved 2,690 birds. All wild birds and mostly on tough and steep terrain. Add to that, at least twice that many points where I missed shots or birds flushed for whatever reason, and that is one heck of a lot of fun on the hill produced by one dog. Although we didn't hunt quail much, Riley helped my grandson, Conner with his first limit of quail. Conner was only ten years old and Riley held every bird for Him to get into shooting position.
Riley was often treated as royalty around the campground. I remember one hunting trip when a young couple asked if they could accompany Riley and I while chukar hunting. They brought there pup, Neka along with hopes of getting some pointers. We stopped on a rock outcropping for a drink and to talk a little about chukar hunting with dogs. John and Debbie Carter hadn't seen Riley point yet and were asking questions about what to look for in Neka when we looked down the hill and saw the big guy locked on point. We had no idea how long he had been there while we were talking, but John moved in for the flush while Debbie took some pictures. I don't think we got a kill on the shot but I received a beautiful picture of Riley's point for Christmas that year. The picture of Riley will always be on my wall to remind me of his greatness and of all the good friends he has brought my way through his abilities.
Riley also drew much attention because of his size. In reality, Riley was too tall to be a chukar dog, which might explain his knee injuries and broken front leg over the years. Riley weighed between 85 pounds to 95 pounds depending on how many days in a row we had hunted. At that weight he still had ribs and backbone showing. Riley also had an overbite and had dental work done on his teeth his first year. It was probably a good thing he was never allowed to be a papa.
Riley covered the country like I never saw other dogs do. On a typical day most other dogs might cover twenty miles to Riley's fifteen but he usually found the birds. He knew how to work the wind and I swear at times his long nose scented birds three hundred yards away and he beeline to them for the point.
I have been retired the last three years of Riley's life so we became very attached. He was always there to assist me. We had our routines and knew what the other was going to do at the same time. He knew where I was in the house at all times. I couldn't make a move without him knowing. Whenever I went for a snack he knew it and soon received his portion as well as the other boys got theirs. He was a great traveling companion and we always shared pre hunt and post hunt snacks. One bite for you, one bite for me type stuff. Riley always shared the back seat with other hunting dogs when someone else accompanied us. His half was usually in the middle but a sharp bark usually set the boundaries. There was never a bite.
He was always a gentleman in the camper and not be a pest when visitors came. Although he liked listening to us talking hunting from the luxury of the couch he would retreat to the bed if asked. If we were camping close to other campers he never wandered to their camp, preferring to stay home. That made it easy at night time to just open the camper door and let him outside to relieve himself . He'd get the job done quickly because he'd just as soon be inside cuddling.
Too tall Riley must have had some bad joint problems even when he was young. He never jumped into the vehicles. He always waited for me to lift him. I even had to coax him to get his front paws in so I only had to lift his hind end. It didn't matter if he could step right in, he still waited.
Riley had one annoying fault. He liked rocks. Especially rocks in the pond. He would stick his head under the water and maneuver a rock until he could pick it up with his big mouth and than bring it over to me to see his prize. Sometimes the rocks were close to ten pounds or more. He would continue gathering rocks and before long I had 15 or 20 rocks laying next o me. There were times when he got bored hunting and he'd pick up a rock that went rolling down the hill and pack it around for a few minutes. Somehow he passed that trait on to Jake who is doing the same routine around the house.
You could stop by my house almost any evening that we weren't hunting to find Riley sitting on my lap and watching tv with me. Yes, Riley was also a 90 pound lap dog.
He wasn't your typical GSP. He didn't steal food off the counter and cause much trouble. He didn't chew things up around the house, although it was his custom do go into the bedroom and grab my muffy boots. He'd bring them into the living room and whip them around to get my attention. That was my cue that he was getting bored and needed me to get off my tail. With that being said, I remember coming home to an upset wife one summer afternoon. We owned a large shallow pond that the ducks frequented. Barb explained to me that my dumb dog wouldn't listen to her and come out of the pond. Sure enough, I found Riley standing in about two feet of water and he wouldn't come out even when I called him. Riley was seven months old at the time. I immediately knew what the problem was. He thought he was stuck. I took off my boots, waded out to him, lifted him over about two feet, put him down, and out he ran. Earlier in the summer he performed the same actions when he stepped in the middle of some puncture weeds. He wouldn't move until I moved him from the weeds and pulled them out of his feet. So early in Riley's life I learned how his mind works and tried to always be there when he needed me. I know he was when I needed him.
Only once did I ever see Riley unhappy with humans. That was the day Barb, my daughter Kerri, my grandson Conner and I picked him up at the airport. He had just come in from Oklahoma and somehow they had lost him. An hour and a half after the flight had landed they finally found him and his kennel. Kerri used a few choice words to help motivate peoples search for Riley. As we left the exit door, Conner took Riley out of the crate and onto the grass so he could relieve himself. He peed but held back the poop and walked over to the cement in front of the door and left his sign of disdain for his treatment there. He was already making us smile. By that night Conner had picked Riley's name.
Summer exercising Riley was easy. We'd go down to the deep pond and he'd find a young duck or goose to chase around. They usually wouldn't or couldn't fly so they would let Riley chase them around and then dive as he got to them. he would spin circles in the water until he saw them come up and then the chase was on again. Sometimes he was swimming for over an hour before coming in.
He also loved going with me shooting clay pigeons. He would get almost as excited when I would load the pigeon launcher as he did when I headed towards the door with a shotgun. He would help me get everything set up and then would sit in the truck while I shot at clays. After shooting 20 or so shots I would let him out to help me collect the pigeons I missed. It was amazing how he could find the pigeons I missed and bring them back to me unbroken. I think maybe he was coaching me and letting me know I needed to pick my hitting percentage up some.
I believe dogs can reason more than we give them credit for. I know it hurt Riley to see me leave with Jake. The two of them became great friends. Both at home and on the hill. While at home they wrestled constantly before he broke his leg. After that I had to keep them apart so Riley would heal and things would be back to normal. For three months we just hung around the house doing pretty much nothing so we wouldn't get Riley too excited and reinjure his leg. Jake and I took occasional hikes in chukar country but by far not enough to burn energy from a pup. It's the first time I've got to see what people mean when they say there GSP is hyper. It may be stupid, but I didn't want to hurt Riley's feelings by letting him see me or Jake having fun without him. We had finally gotten to the point where the two of them could spend a little walking time in the yard together when the blood clot must have broke. It was down hill from that day on. Through all of Riley's operations he never showed signs of pain until the stroke or seizures came. We would put him on the pain pills he had for his leg operation and it helped him with the pain. He had so many good moments when he was on pain medication that I knew one more test would reveal a solution. The final test showed that I was being very selfish and that each time he went through these painful episodes they were getting worse and he was slipping further away from me. For that I am very sorry, but I wanted to keep Riley with me so bad. The only thing I ended up accomplishing was making it harder on him and tearing more heart out of Barb and myself.
So, it's with a very heavy heart that Jake and I will continue up the mountains I frequented so often with past dogs. The pain will somehow diminish as Jake excites me on his accomplishments. I will stop by at the rocks Riley and I hid under in a snow squall and cry a little knowing that was the spot Riley and I discussed the fear of this day he would be leaving me. One day Jake and I will be having that same discussion. I won't say never, but Jake will probably be my last dog. Dakota will soon be departing of old age. His departure will hurt but it will be easier because of his long life and he has gotten plenty of couch time and easy living as he deserves.
The day Barb and I picked up Jake, he became family just like Tucker, Dakota, Riley and the dogs before them and he will get the same love and affection as the others. He already has taken a huge place in my heart and will tear it apart one day. I hope it's many years from now. When that day comes my heart will hopefully have enough left in it to dedicate to my human family who has been so patient with me and my dogs over the years. Maybe it will be time for Barb and I too enjoy a simple life together.
Thank you Riley for your dedication. I will forever miss and love you.

Early season forecast

Crazy Uncle Larry asked in the last post how the chukar population was doing? I have to admit to being a little lazy in this hot weather. I haven't really hit the chukar areas very hard yet. In about two weeks, Jake and I will be traveling a little further into the chukar hills and hopefully seeing lots of the little buggers flying around. My personal opinion is that most chukars are hatched in July and flying by the end of July to mid August. The bird biologist say mid June is the middle of the hatch for chukar.
Although it's been hot, the conditions seem to be good for chukar, a high desert bird. Jake and I took a shorter hike yesterday over in Gem county hoping to find a few chukar. We didn't see a chukar but as we got lower on the mountain and closer to  the cultivated land I was tickled to find a couple of big covey of quail (maybe two to three weeks old) and two covey's of young pheasants that were probably six to 8 weeks old. I was surprised to see how big the young pheasants were and both groups had at least ten young ones in it. I did see two young chukars, three to four weeks old crossing the road, going from the creek back up the mountain. I'm sure there were more ahead of them since I didn't see mom leading them.
A couple of weeks ago we found a group of blue grouse with at least 15 little ones that were probably 4 weeks old or so.
It's hard to imagine that if these birds are doing well, the chukar and huns won't do the same. There are plenty of insects out there to keep them healthy. I'm still pretty optimistic about the year to come.
The only negative I can find out there is the amount of snakes I'm seeing this year. Although Jake had snake avoidance about a month ago he walked right over the top of this one.

Luckily, the snake wasn't very interested in Jake either. It was the biggest rattler I have ever seen and wasn't too happy when I started poking a stick at it. I'm sure Jake didn't even know the snake was there but I was wondering whether the snake avoidance class had sunk in. About ten minutes late,r I saw Jake almost do a back flip off the trail about fifty yards ahead of me. There was a shed skin on the trail and Jake wanted nothing to do with it. Evidently the class worked.
Anyhow, let's keep our fingers crossed for the Sept. 21st opener. Hopefully all the young chukars will be filling up with grasshoppers and gaining the strength to give our dogs a great fall work out.

Riley and the vet.

Although we got another set back today I thought I'd give thumb's up to Dr. Warner and crew for helping to make Riley feel at home while recovering. It's becoming our second home and Riley has the routine down. We walk in the door and Riley walks right over to the scale and weighs himself.

Sherry escorts us into the back room

where Dr. Warner is talking dogs and the rest of the crew are waiting to start their healing process on animals.

Riley then is prepped for his laser therapy treatments by placing sunglasses on. Looks like a cool dude don't you think.

Now down on the floor for the treatment and than an x ray to make sure things are healing right.

The x ray showed another broken screw so back into surgery today. The good news was this screw was more accessible and the operation won't be quite as intrusive as the last two.

 

It's 6:30 and Barb is bringing Riley home from the vets. She called me with the instructions from Dr. Warner. I try hard not to be a rain cloud, but the news was not what I was hoping for. I have probably lost Riley for this hunting season. That hurts, because I know how much he enjoys being on the hill with me but even worse than that, we are back to square one for the next three months without any interaction with Jake and only walked outside for relieving himself. I have to believe that his poor recovery is my fault, because it has been so hard to keep Riley in prison. People have games to play, TV to watch, or many other things. What does a dog do, but wonder what he has done wrong to be punished like this. 

As for the hunting part, I don't have to miss a beat. I have Jake to take me through the season. Jake is an upcoming chukar hunting star and I should be thrilled with the prospects of the upcoming season with a new pup.  But, I feel guilty even thinking about hunting while Riley lays at home wondering why I left him again. Riley has always been there ready to go whenever I needed a partner and now there is nothing I can do to return the favor.

 

The day Barb and I picked up Jake he became family just as if we had a new child. I have introduced him to the wonderful world of bird hunting and now he has it in his blood. Jake deserves all the same treatment that Riley, Dakota and all our past hunting dogs got. Lot's of time on the hill pointing birds. I would gladly give up the 2013 season if it would help Riley recover but that wouldn't be fair to Jake.

 

Jake will carry me through the season with all his excitement and new discoveries and it will be exciting for me to watch him develop. But don't let the smiles you see on my face for Jake fool you. Although I'll be happy for Jake's progress, there'll be a knot in my gut and a lump in my throat because Riley is not able to enjoy it with us. Those who love their dogs as much as I do will understand. Please say a prayer that I can be strong enough to do what is right for Riley in the next three months.

 

I don't want to pretend that financially this has not had a big impact on Barb and I but we've made these dog's a huge part of our lives.. I planned my retirement for these years. If my hobby was golfing or trap shooting, I could just buy new clubs or a gun if they broke. But that isn't what you do with a friend, just put them aside. Time in the field together is of the utmost importance and that is what Riley and I have lost. The only upside to this is that it makes me glad I never wasted an opportunity to be out with my boys in the past.

 

And to think I used to think I was a tough guy.

 

Update. Barb just got home with Riley and some better news. The total confinement has been lowered to eight weeks and then there will be an evaluation. So, if he stays in this room (our master bedroom) except to go outside on a short leash for bathroom breaks we may have one month less of down time.

 

 

 

I've reached 45 pounds.

The last two months have been very eventful. Not only did I gain 15 pounds, my energy level seems to have doubled. Put that together with both Riley and the Big Guy being operated on, I've had to take on my training by myself. I miss Riley on the hill showing me how to find birds and how to use the different wind directions to my advantage, but the Big Guy just as well stay in the truck while I train. He moves so much slower now that I can't really range out there, like Riley taught me.. Oh well, it's better than sitting in the living room watching Riley heal up. Besides we still need him to drive us around.
I got a shocking lesson on what snakes are about two weeks ago. The Big Guy took me down to a park where there were a bunch of other dogs. I figured he was going to introduce me to other hunting dogs and let me play with some of them since Riley can't play for a month or more. But no, he just walked me around the park on a leash. I figured he was showing me off to this guy walking along with us. As I rounded a tree, there was a snake right there. As I moved in to take a better look the snake jumped at me. I thought I got out of the way fast enough but he must have bit me in the neck because it burned like heck for a second. I ran away being a little vocal. I was ready to get out of the park but the Big Guy insisted we keep walking around the park with the other dogs. Sure enough, we ran into a couple of other snakes before we left. Those darn things are telepathic. Even when I got away from them they inflicted a burning pain in my neck. The Big Guy says there are a lot of snakes out where we train and hunt so I'm going to keep my nose, ears and eyes on lookout for possible encounters. I guess the guy that was walking with us wasn't too impressed with me because he soon left and went off with some other dog.
I also have learned not to trust everything the Big Guy says. Today while training, we stopped for a moment to rest his leg and he told me stories of his past dogs. One of them was about my great grandpa Tucker and how his nose was so good he  could find a chukar on a paved parking lot. Come on, what would a chukar be doing on a parking lot. I've heard a lot about Tucker and I know he wouldn't even waste his time there. The Big Guy also said that no one else has ever hunted this mountain. It's a secret spot found by Tucker and him.

I found this shotgun shell on the hill. I know I'm supposed to be color blind but I still know the difference between a twelve and twenty gauge shell and this is a twenty and the Big Guy shoots a twelve. Either he is naïve or quite a story teller.
I'll keep him around though. Even as slow as he is he still packs water and food for me on the hill. I'm learning how to drink out of a squirt bottle without losing much on the ground.

 

Besides getting drinks occasionally I'm learning that when you're chukar hunting you'd better take advantage of shade when you find it. Many of the places we go doesn't have much shade.

The birds we are encountering are very different. So far I've got to point grouse, quail, pheasant, huns and chukars. The grouse and pheasants have already had babies that are big enough to fly but the huns, chukars and quail still are only in pairs. The grouse are best for training this time of the year because there are lot's of creeks and mud puddles to roll in where they're at. I pointed several times today for the Big Guy but only twice produced birds.

Both times a pair of chukars. I let the Big Guy flush the birds to humor him. He carries a frozen chukar (he thinks I don't know he has) and a gun and pretends to shoot when the birds flush and then either drops the chukar  on the ground or tosses it if he thinks I'm not looking. Little does he know that I'm perfectly aware that it is the same bird every time. I fetch it at his request mainly so I can see the big grin on his face as he calls me a good boy.  Humans will fall for anything.

Hunting season is three months away and I'll be ready. I'm hoping Riley heals up by then. I could sure use him for some fine tuning when it comes to chukar hunting. He's a tough old boy and has been through hell the last 40 days and he's lost a lot of muscle mass but if any dog can overcome his injuries, Riley can. Now the Big Guy is a different issue. Humans are kind of fragile and I'm going to have to use a lot of dog psychology to get him back on his game. If he plans on having a good chukar season he's going to have to keep up with me. I'm not going to go soft on him when it comes to the real deal. And if Riley get's better, the Big Guy is going to wish he had wings on his feet trying to keep up with the two of us.

I know the Big Guy is hoping for Riley's return and so am I. Although I love finding the birds myself, working with such a pro is fun. Besides, the way I understand it, all of the Big Guy's hunting companions have girl dog's. I don't know if I'm ready for that yet. If we don't watch out, pretty soon they'll be letting the females ride up front with us. Another thing I wish I could teach these humans is to quit saying I'm cute. It embarrasses me in front of the other dogs. I'm a chukar dog and we're tough not cute.

   

Sometimes you have to blow your own horn.

Well, this summer isn't turning out the way I hoped. Riley busted his leg three weeks ago and I bunged my knee up on a turkey hunt. Last weekend I finished the job on my knee while getting fire wood and had it scoped on Tuesday. Not that big of a deal because my recovery is just a matter of five or six weeks and I should be humping the hills with Jake.
Riley is a different matter though. After enduring a major surgery and three weeks of mending, he busted a screw in his leg and the break is not healing properly. So he is back getting operated on right now and we are back to square one for recovery time. This time when he gets home he is going to be in very tight quarters for five weeks so we can prevent the chance of injuring the leg again. What a blessing to have Dr. Warner and staff on my team. Saturday night and operating because he felt waiting any longer may be detrimental to Riley's full recovery.
With all this going on, I have to admit to being a little short with a gentleman today. I was at a baseball game watching my grandson play. Riley was with me because I was scheduled to take him to the vet after the game. Another spectator, who I've visited with quite often about chukar hunting, came over and visited with me. Everything would have been fine except he mentioned how it seems like Riley and I are always breaking something. Knowing what Riley was about to go through again I took it personal and decided to blow our horn a little.
This guy hunts chukar maybe three or four times a year and the rest of his hunts are more on the flat land hunting quail. I have no problem with this and I actually appreciate it because it keeps one more dog and hunter off the hill where I might want to be. But he began comparing himself and his dog to me and my boys. By the time we were through discussing our hunts it became quite obvious that we hunted with a difference in intensity. His thirty or forty points with his GSP last year did not quite come close to Riley's 700 plus. His x number of birds retrieved did not come close to the x number of Riley's. In my opinion, the hardest job a chukar dog has is retrieving the birds on those steep and rocky slopes. I can't count the number of times I've seen my dog's chasing a cripple down a steep slope to have the bird slam on the breaks causing the dog to roll head over heal down the hill and than recover and resume the chase. I don't very often like to boast about how many birds me and the dog's get and how hard we work for them but today was a day for blowing my horn. With me hobbling around and Riley about to go into surgery again I felt it was necessary for some people to realize that our scars are battle scars that we were damn proud of and we earned. We could have healthy bodies and spend more time driving the roads looking for birds, but we'd rather keep doing it the way we do even if it means suffering a little. So, the next person should be real careful at classifying my dogs as being a little on the tender foot side. They earned the respect that I demand they get.

Curiosity

So far it's been nothing but fun learning what the outdoors is all about for Jake. He has become more daring with each trip out and is now searching every nook and cranny looking for the smell of birds. But with that urge to find birds he is also finding many new smells that grab his curiosity. He's at a point where he needs to learn the difference between good smells and bad smells as well as movements in the brush that could get him in trouble.
Jake is doing a great job of finding birds, especially for a four and a half month old pup, but he sometimes get's right on top of the bird before he scents them. The way he sticks his nose into the brush and down rock cracks and holes is making him a prime candidate for a snake bite. Although I don't think Jake has seen a snake yet, he has stepped over several that have scared the crap out of me. Just yesterday, he was pointing some quail, and when I moved in to flush the birds a huge bull snake hissed from under my feet just one step from the dog. I don't know how Jake didn't see it, but it sure made me move fast.
Although Jake has not felt any stimulus from the collar yet he is always wearing it in the field. He is mature enough to get a dose on unwanted situations. A prime example was yesterday when he found this elk calf.

At first he wasn't sure what he was pointing and soon had to creep a little.

 Jake held real good due to his curiosity until I moved around him and finally decided to get nose to nose with the calf. The calf and Jake looked to be about the same size as they were nose to nose and probably could have had a good time playing but that probably wouldn't be a good practice to start.

  I took Jake by the collar and led him away with the elk watching our departure. Jake wanted to return but I encouraged him to find birds. Had he started chasing I had the shock collar on to let him know that would be unacceptable. 

 The day will come when he feels the sensation of the collar and if done right he will associate the shock with the bad source. Chasing unwanted animals such as porcupines , deer, skunks, coyotes, and many other things. On the 15th of June there is a snake avoidance class in Boise and Jake will be there to get his first dose of  bad things to stay clear of.

 With the amount of snakes I have already seen this year I'm excited to get this part of his education done. As I mentioned He needs to associate the pain in his neck with the snake so that he always wants to stay clear of the sight, smell and sound of snakes.
On a side note, another problem we are facing with abundance are tick's. This has been a huge tick year and it seems no matter where we go we find tick's. Barb and I pulled these tick's off Jake after one of our training hunts. This was only about two thirds of what we really got off him.

 Barb is the best. Most women would have kicked both Jake and me out of the house. She finds a tick crawling on her and just responds with "here's another one." I'm a blessed man. Now if I can only keep Jake from getting snake bit or hurt until we get Riley's bills paid off.  By the way, Riley has been a real trooper through all of this. He get's a little disappointed when I load Jake up in the truck without him but seems to know he hasn't been forgotten.                                                                                                                                                                      

Bragging a little on Jake

With Riley out of commission for a while I'm going to have to rely more on Jake to entertain me. Jake and I took a good hike this morning and I have to admit to being like a kid opening presents on Christmas day. The excitement just kept coming. I took a frozen chukar and blank gun for retrieving practice and hoped Jake would put things together. After his first point on a chukar I fired the blank pistol at the flush.

He looked back and I threw the frozen chukar down the hill yelling dead bird. Just like at home he sprinted for the bird rolling down the hill. Once he got to the bird, he picked it up and sprinted back up the  hill with bird in mouth.

That was the first of over a dozen retrieves today and the first of thousands I hope. Already, at four months and ten days of age, he's pretty much got the hunting thing figured out. He had a couple more points today also but they were on birds that he almost stepped on. The only thing Jake is lacking at this time is his ability to use his nose at a distance. The only way to improve that is lot's of field work. While Riley is on the mend, Jake will be getting plenty of that.
Just a couple more pictures of my proud pup.

Riley's Saga continues

Sometimes it seems like the bad news just keeps on coming. This looks like one of those cases, but believe me, the good things Riley and I have had happen in his 6 and 1/2 years with me far outweigh the mishaps. Today, I have to report one of those disappointing times. Sadly, this may keep Riley off the chukar mountains for up to 8 months. This weekend, while running, Riley broke his front leg. As soon as I got home I called Riley's vets, Dr. Koob and Katie Wright. They both said it sounded like it needed to be dealt with soon. They both recommended a good surgeon. It's so great to have such great people to rely on with just a phone call.  It was a serious break in three places which required plates, screws, and a bone graph. Because of Riley's conditioning, Dr. Warner, Riley's surgeon, said it took a lot longer to get Riley's muscles to relax so they could realign everything. He actually had to cut off a portion of the elbow bone in order to get to the break and then replace it. Because Riley is not young, they had to do a bone graph from his thigh to enhance the healing progress. It was quite an extensive surgery and I really appreciate Dr. Warner and his staff at All Pet complex for working late last night to get my best hunting companion on the road to recovery. After viewing Riley's xrays  it became obvious why he whined with pain and wouldn't move when he broke the leg. It just hung there limp. Luckily it happened close to the truck and I didn't have to carry my 90 pound companion too far. It is amazing how he and some of my other hunting dogs give there full trust in me and remained steady in my arms as I packed them off the hill. They show a lot of trust knowing I'm trying to help them. As Alan in Alaska mentioned, Riley is becoming the bionic dog. One more leg and he'll be balanced out with metal in the legs. I hope that never happens. I believe Riley has been so injury prone because of his size. He is like a tall basketball player. In great condition he weighs in between 85 and 90 lbs. He is not the dog you would pick for hunting chukars. No one knew he would be this big, but it doesn't matter. The day he entered my home he was family. He has carried on the traits that Tucker taught him when it comes to chukar hunting and has become more than a good chukar dog. In fact I would have to give him a ten out of ten if there was a rating. There isn't a dog out there that can do it any better and with the enthusiasm and love that he has for it. But he would get the same treatment whether or not he had greatness because he is my dog.   The 4th of next month I am having a scope done on my left knee. I tore my meniscus and have a one inch chunk floating under my knee cap. It hurts like hell on the steep hills but feels fine on flat ground. If it wasn't for chukar hunting I would probably let it go. But I won't give up what I love just as I wouldn't give any less to Riley. Last, I have to thank Riley for doing such a great job with Jake. He already points and holds birds, fetches dead birds, and honors. He is only four months and 1 week old and Riley has got him to the point where I can't screw him up too bad. Riley made sure I have a companion to fill in for him while he heals.

30 pounds and growing.

I'm back to report that things are going great. This hunting stuff is going to be a lot of fun. Especially with Riley. I don't know if all hunting dogs are like him, but he can sure find the birds. He's a lot of fun to play with also. We rough house for hours when the Big Guy doesn't have us on the hill. I don't know how other dogs put up with humans sometimes. Maybe because I'm young I don't quite understand what they are asking for. For two weeks I tried to please the Big Guy and played as hard as I could. Every time we'd go out he'd tell Barbara we're going to go work on his play drive so I chased Riley all over the place and play as hard as I could. Luckily Riley is a pro at reading humans and he informed me that it was prey drive, not play drive. So now when I'm not playing, I'm preying and the big guy does a lot of praying. No wonder humans are so screwed up. Any how, I'm one lean machine. I even run those geese off now. I'll give them a three or four second point before I run them off my turf. I thought geese were big, but Conner brought home a turkey the other day and man, it was all I could do to drag it around the yard by the head. But I showed everybody how big I am getting when they gave me one of the turkey wings. I could run around strutting it without even tripping over the wing. The Big Guy has been taking Riley and I out in search of quail so I can work my nose. I think we're actually chasing quail instead of chukars because the Big Guy isn't as lean of a machine as I am. Just the other day, we were on a chukar hill when I came running down hill and ran into him. He flopped around on the hill after I knocked him down and said some more words I didn't understand. The Big Guy has a lot of different nick names for me. I know I can handle chukars, because when he throws them for me I pick them up and sometimes even take them back to him. Riley takes the bird back every time but he doesn't have to work his neck muscles. I feel my muscles starting to bulge every time I run laps around the Big Guy while he keeps repeating "bring the bird to me". I'm figuring this pointing stuff out pretty well, so Riley says. Just today, I pointed some quail and the Big Guy flushed them. He said we're going to work on your style a little. Heck, who cares what it looked like, the birds were there and Riley says that's all that matters. I tend to listen to Riley more than the Big Guy because it's obvious he knows more about bird hunting. I do as Riley says, "just humor the old guy". As I said, Riley is a hunting machine, so it's been real easy honoring his points. He's very intense so I just follow his lead. I was real proud this morning when Riley came face to face with me as I was pointing a quail and he honored me. After the birds flew, he gave me a low five with the paw as we headed back to the truck. I get my final shots in two weeks and hopefully I'll be reporting back more good new in the future. Just let it be known that I now know where the saying "living the life of Riley" comes from.

Idaho is going to be fun

After hanging around here doing that bonding stuff, I was jacked to hear the Big Guy say we were finally going to hit the mountain. He loaded Riley, Dakota and myself into the truck and headed for the hills. I was hoping it would be as much fun as he said it would be. As soon as we hit the end of this road, he opened the truck doors and I knew by the other two dogs actions something good was going on. We headed up this trail and i was having a ball along with the other two, when suddenly Riley took a turn up this mountain. Anyhow, they called it a mountain. It looked like a cliff to me. I was keeping up fairly well until this moment. Suddenly Riley was all over the mountain. He'd disappear here and show up way over there. The Big Guy kept telling me some day that's what I'll be able to do. I've decided that I better do some working out on my days off. Luckily for me, Dakota was quite a bit slower on the hill and didn't like getting out of sight of the Big Guy, so I could always see one of them. Riley was a real champ on ht hill though. He kept coming back and checking on Dakota and me. And one time Riley stopped and got real intense. Dakota stopped and watched him so i decided to do the same. Pretty soon I heard a little noise and both the other dogs started down the hill. It startled me a little so I ran back to the Big Guy. He told me it was a pair of huns but never explained to me what a hun was. I decided to find out myself and so I followed my nose to what I assumed was a hun. I was about to pick it up and shake it a little when the Big Guy yelled that familiar word. NO! Seems like it was a dead skunk and that smell isn't so good after all. I never got to see a chukar either, but one time right after the Big Guy took a picture I heard something fly and make a loud commotion. Riley came unglued and got all excited and Dakota just sat there. Now I know what deaf means. Man, it was loud. I now have heard what chukars sound like, even though I haven't seen one yet. I have to say the boys were more than gracious to me. They showed me several different things on the hill and even let me lead once we hit the trail back to the truck. One of the things they didn't seem to show an interest in was elk droppings and cow pies. I found them quite good. The cow pies are even fun to pick up and run with. More than anything else, I learned I can trust the Big Guy. When I got into trouble, like crossing that huge two foot creek, I just howled a little and he came right back to help me. That's nice to know until I get big like Riley. The "crem de la crem" was back at the truck. The Big Guy just lay in the sun for a while with the other two boys and let me climb on his face and lick the sweat off of him. What a great finish to the day. I think Idaho is going to be great. Now, I think I'll take a good long nap. Sorry the pictures can't be placed due to blog malfunction.

Meet Jake

I don't know why, but Larry insisted I introduce myself. My name is Jake and I was born in a place that Barbara thought was heaven, so they call me Heaven's Jake. Little do they know, but my job is to make life hell for them for a while because they took me from my dad and mom and 8 siblings that I enjoyed playing with all the time. Our ride to my new home was a little scarry. The first thing they did was put me in a kennel and had me ride in the back seat of this big truck with a big dog that looked a lot like mom, only bigger. His name is Riley and he kept growling at me when I would touch his feet. What a sour puss. After about an hour of riding and Riley growling I got a little tired of it all, so I threw up on Riley's feet just to let them know I wasn't just going to lie there and take it. Once I got their attention, things went a lot better. We made several stops along the way and I got to smell all kind of new smells and see some great sights. I learned two new things on our stops. First, those big bushes blowing in the wind won't hurt you even though you can't out run them and second, you don't walk under a big dog like Riley when he's lifting his leg. You get wet that way. All the way the big guy, Larry, kept trying to brain wash me. He told me how great our new home was and how we'd be finding all these chukars. I don't even know what a chukar is. All I know is that it's hard to beat the life I had with Milt, Janet, and the rest of my family, in that place they called heaven. Once we arrived at our new home, I was introduce to another dog that looked like mom. I think his name is Dakota. He doesn't growl at me but he walks around like a great grandpa would, kind of acting like I'm not around. I'll soon make him aware of my presence. My new home is nice and even though I'm supposed to have the run of the house, Barbara and Larry seem very distrustful. They watch my every move like they think I'm going to do something wrong. Maybe when they start trusting me I'll quit waking them up every two hours during the night with my howling. I mean fair is fair. Wow, I got to smell a lot of new scents this morning and take a long walk. Larry said we walked about a half mile. I tried to keep up with Riley and Dakota but decided Larry's pace was a lot better for me. In fact it was kind of fun walking between his legs and watching him stumble. At one point a huge bird flew by and landed in a pond by me. I was very pleased when I was told that was a goose and not a chukar. Yes, I have a S on my chest for super dog but a bird the size of a goose is ridiculous. So, that is the history of my life with the Szurgot's so far. I will miss my family very much, but if Riley and Larry hold true to their promises, I'm looking forwards to a great hunting and family life. Larry also promises pictures aa soon as he gets the camera back from the fix it shop. Seems like it got dirty somehow on his many hunts with Riley and quit working. Imagine that.