Staying in chukar hunting shape

"How do you find the energy to hike those hills three times a week?" one of neighbors asked not too long ago. My answer was that I enjoy it so much it takes the work out of it. I've always felt I was in fairly decent shape until my hike with Barb and Jake today. I had Barb snap a picture of Jake pointing a ruff grouse with me behind him and when I got home and saw the picture I was wondering who the old fat man was that was with my dog. Barb informed me that the guy with the arthritic hands and belly to support the binos was indeed me. I thought about erasing the picture and then thought about how much fun I had today and decided to keep the picture and brag about Jake who was holding so well on the ruff.

I could take those opportunities when Barb is around to take my shirt off, suck in my gut and point at Jake with what little pecks and biceps I have left to impress the viewers but I think I'd get more laughs than anything else. I just figure that this picture shows the way it really is. I'm in as good of shape as most mid 60 males and I can get where I want to be on the mountain when I need to get there. It may not be the statue of atlas when I get to the top but I'll be there just the same.

I try and do as much stretching as possible, mainly on my back. My weight lifting program consist of moving hand lines or digging ditches around the property for me or some of my great neighbors. The only upper body strength I hope I ever need again is for packing out a limit of chukars and maybe a deer if I have to. But, I have another plan for my next deer or elk. I have taken several young men out in the last forty years to shoot a deer or elk and am hoping for a return favor for packing their animal out. If not, I'll figure that one out when it happens.

Chukar hunting is not a job for me. It is my entertainment. Therefore I am not a professional chukar hunter and don't have to train in a such a manner that I am guaranteed success. I believe I have been a professional at three things. I was a high school teacher and coach for a few years and an electrician until my retirement. I got paid for those jobs and was expected to perform in a professional manner which made me a professional at those occupations. Preparation was required to be successful.

Chukar hunting is my entertainment, not a job. I love being on the mountain and I love being with my dog or other people that enjoy the mountain as much as I do. I don't enjoy being in the gym anymore. I had enough of that in my younger days. I was an athlete in high school and ran track at Boise State College on a scholarship to pay my way. I spent several years after that buffing up and trying to impress my bride, Barbara but after a while found out she loved me with or without big biceps.

Over the years I had two knees replaced, a shoulder operation, a fall off a cliff that screwed my back up, was burned in a fire and spent a month in the hospital and several other incidents that required rehabilitation. I don't care to ever see a gym again.

What I do try to do to stay in shape is to walk often and stretch. Not walks around the block, but walks in the mountains in terrain like I usually hunt in.  I enjoy it because usually the ones I am walking or hiking with enjoy it even more than me. I enjoy watching their enthusiasm. Jake loves running the mountains and searching for birds but can be just as happy chasing a chipmonk up a pipe and waiting for him to show up on the other side.

Barb is also always there for me. She loves jaunts in the mountains, but doesn't care for the steep stuff so we usually stick to trails or logging roads. It doesn't matter to me because she's always willing to stay on the trail while Jake and I see what's up the ridge and then meet her back on the trail. Her excitement in seeing the animals that Jake and I encounter almost every trip makes my so called exercise walk down right fun.

And of course there is Conner, my grandson. He is the most enthusiastic 12 year old in the outdoors that I know. There is no place that I go that he can't and many places he'll go that I struggle to get to but I'll get there because I want to. Just yesterday, we hiked 3 miles before he shot this nice turkey.

It wasn't overly steep but we still gained about 1200 feet in elevation. As we hiked in the darkness, Conner laughed at me as he saw the drips of sweat dropping through the flash light beam as I was looking at my watch. I was getting a great workout but enjoying every minute of it. How often do you hear a person say he did some quickness work by dodging a skunk who was backing down the trail towards him. It's amazing how your lungs can burn after you've retreated uphill for 20 seconds  holding your breath at the same time.

At 12 years old, Conner decided to be a young man and pack his own trophy back to the truck. Now a twenty pound turkey doesn't sound like much but when you only weigh seventy five pounds and it's 2 and a half miles back to the truck carrying an awkward load that flops around makes it a tough task.

Plus we had to go over the top of this mountain first.

We made several stops along the way but Conner would not let me touch the bird except to hand it to me as we crossed over two fences. You can tell how tired we were after our hard workout by this picture Barb took when we returned home.

The only one dissapointed was Jake. He got left behind on this trip. 

I said when I began this blog that it wouldn't be about me, but somehow it wasn't possible to say what I do for conditioning without including me. So I'll try and leave me out of the picture from now on. Just let me conclude by listing my workouts for this week. Monday, Jake and I will be doing yard work and watching Conner's baseball game in the evening. Tuesday, I'm going to help my son wire his house. Wednesday, is the adult opener for turkey, so I'll be taking a jaunt somewhere looking for a bird without Jake. Thursday, Jake and I will be taking another jaunt in the mountains to see what we can see before heading to another Conner baseball game. Friday, depending on my success on Wednesday may find me on another mountain trying to find a turkey or Jake and I just doing some scouting. By the end of the week, my muscles may not be bulging but I'll be in the kind of condition I need to be in to do what I love.

It's almost that time again.

Yep, the weather is warming up quickly this year. It was in the mid 70's yesterday while Jake and I were out strolling. A friend of mine, Ed Bird, has a new Brittany and I understand he's in the training process. I know Ed reads this blog occasionally and this next picture will ruin him on training with wild birds for the rest of this year. He hates snakes. Although I prefer not to be surprised by them, I am confident enough with Jake's avoidance training that we still will keep doing our thing on the hill. I hope I didn't just put the jinx on us.

Right now most snakes are just emerging from the dens for short intervals to sun themselves and aren't moving too far away. If a guy stays away from those likely rock piles this time of the year, he'll probably never see one. But by June they'll be traveling and encounters will become more common and the snakes will be more aggressive than now. A good thing to avoid this time of the year when it is pretty warm is to let your dog chase rock chuck's and similar critters. Snakes like to den in the same type area that the rock chucks like. This rattler was a monster. The one looking at the lens is a normal sized snake. It's easy to see why they call them diamond heads.

My second encounter was with a little smaller snake. I'm not sure, but I think there were two snakes here also. After looking at the picture, I don't think the rattle and the snake belong together. Both places were southwest facing rocks with plenty of sun hitting the rocks all day.

The other common spring encounter is ticks. I'm tickled (get the pun) to report only finding one so far this year. It was on Conner and I understand he took one home also. His mom made the report back to me. Obviously, she wasn't excited to see one crawling up the wall where Conner had left his backpack. Jake hasn't had any on him that I could find. Usually by this time of the year I have pulled several dozens from the dogs although very few are embedded.

In my opinion, neither are worth keeping out of the mountains for, but are just worth being aware of. Just try and be aware of snaky looking areas and try and avoid them if possible and check your mutt for ticks the same as you do for cheat and cuts at the end of each trip and all well be well. Trust me, Ed.

Fun time of the year. Even for elk.

Jake and I took a hike yesterday. We did find a few paired up birds and got to work on a little training,

but two rag horn bulls stole the show from Jake. I'm not sure whether they call them rag horns because of their coats this time of year or their antlers. When I came over a ridge this bull was running about 30 yards away. I was in the wide open and the wind was at my back so I was sure he was running from me.

I took my camera out of my pocket and as I snapped this picture I saw Jake running about 20 yards ahead of the bull. I realized the bull was chasing, or at least interested in Jake. I tried hard to get both Jake and the elk in the same shot but Jake knew how to keep his distance. The whole time this was going on, probably 2 to 3 minutes, the bulls partner just fed at about 30 yards away.

At one time, the bull that was excited about Jake, started stomping it's foot trying to get Jake to come out from the other side of the brush above him.

Finally, Jake ran down the hill in search of smaller game and the bulls decided to leave also. Before they went over the hill they stopped and gave me a stare. They seemed to be saying, "we knew you were there the whole time, but watching that brown dog run around was a lot more fun than running from you."

Beauty is the Beast

Every sports enthusiast have special moments that they relish. It doesn't matter what the sport is, there are certain times when we are amazed at what we just saw. It might be the fantastic one handed grab while tip toeing the sideline on a football field. Even arena fight fans might see some beauty in the fantastic move that almost broke a guys arm. Fly fisherman often talk about the beauty of seeing a fish take the fly, while the elk hunter dreams of the bugle as he watches the breath flow from the elk's mouth in the cool morning air. A baseball fan might be amazed at the ease of an infielder scarfing up the ball and firing it to first base while a bird watcher is in awe watching an eagle soar without even beating his wings.

I'm a very lucky man. I've got to hike the mountains quite often with my dogs. There is only Jake now, but I can close my eyes and see the grace that each of my dogs have had covering the hills. I've watched in amazement as they cover the mountain side, never missing a stride. How they can maneuver through the rocks and brush so quickly is much like a pro athlete doing their thing. The whole time they are running their nostrils are working the air for that special scent and when it strikes they are immediately in a different mode. The stalking mode. Sometimes they don't even have time to move. They just freeze on point because the scent is right there. They may be in such an awkward position that they look uncomfortable, but they don't move. Other times they spin at the scent and slowly pin point the location of the bird.

All this time they are having a ball doing what they love. They very seldom stop and are constantly aware of where I am even while changing directions constantly searching for the birds. Today I kept my camera in my pocket and just enjoyed watching Jake. I've always thought it was beautiful watching chukar dogs maneuver the mountains and obstacles on the chukar mountain but today seemed even a little more impressive. Even though we weren't carrying a gun, Jake seemed to be enjoying our jaunt to it's fullest. When he'd slow down to look for me it almost looked like he had a grin on his face. I just followed along and honored his points realizing the beauty of all the actions just to get to this spot.

As we approached the truck, Jake stopped and looked down towards the rig with a smile. It was like he was thinking the same thing as I was, "what a great time we just had". That beautiful beast of mine looked just as good right there as he did when we started his 18 mile route. I had to take my camera out.

Upland Idaho

Jake has come down with some kind of a bug so I decided today would be a good day to catch up on some of my domestic chores. Early this morning I ran through the internet checking on many of the chukar sites and was disappointed to see that the Upland Idaho site is going down. Karl had one of the better sites to keep upland bird hunters communicating.

If you're still reading my blog, I'm sorry to see you go Karl and thanks for the great site you provided. I wish I had the resources to moderate such a site because it was very interesting to get different takes on many different topics. My blog, as most blogs are, is pretty much about me and my dogs and there isn't a lot said about others exploits. Maybe one day I'll get it figured out how to create such a great site. My blog is so prehistoric that I still have to move any responses from my email to the blog and some times I'm not at my computer for a week or so.

It is what it is, but I'm going to miss Upland Idaho. Meanwhile, Jake and I will keep on trying to let you all know what we're finding out there. It may not always be much, but it's everything to us.

Take Sunday, for example. Conner and I spent a day on the hill with Jake. We didn't find a lot of birds, but the huns and chukars we found were already paired up and they gave Conner a great chance to work on flushing the birds that Jake would point.

The camera actually centered one of the birds for a change.

My biggest surprise was how many blues we saw. I hunted this area early last year and found very few blue grouse but by the number of birds Conner and I saw, Jake and I must have been daydreaming during the hunting season.

The camera wasn't fast enough to center this one.

Have a good spring.

Finally

Quite often, others and myself have talked about how tough chukar hunting is and at times it does really push a person past what seems to be enjoyable. But, believe me, it's not much tougher than many of the jobs people take on each day. The difference is, we are working at something we really enjoy. For me, it is being with my dog and watching him do what he loves to do.

I have to admit I'd rather have a shotgun in my hand but, when the weather is like it is right now I choose to be on the mountain with Jake. January was a tough month of hunting with the mud, fog, ice and wind and I wish I could have taken that month off and waited for better weather but hunting seasons don't work like that.

I put these picture together in hopes that you can put yourself in the camera. This is what I get to see on a typical chukar/hun hunt. The only hard thing I did was enjoy the day and follow Jake, who did all the work. I came over the hill and found Jake on this point.

So I backed down the hill and started approaching Jake with hopes that the birds were between us.

I held the camera on Jake and pushed the button at the sound of the flush and finally got the flushing birds in the picture with Jake.

This is the scene I get to see a dozen or so times on a hunt. It is what makes my heart pound at times. It is what pushes me up the hill I would have stopped half way up on if I didn't have a dog. It is why I stop at times in wonder at Jake's point.

No, I'm not any tougher than any other hunter out there and some times I claim to be not to smart for hiking up and down those steep hills but in the end it's truly because of my dogs and the thrills they provide me.
Remember, if you feel like life is tracking you down, get a chukar dog and let him help you put distance between you and ol man Time.

Feb.16

Wow! What a month this has been. Probably not good to be as dry as it has been, but it sure has been a great month for hiking the mountains. Jake and I have been getting out quite a bit just to keep as reasonably in shape as we can be. I did all my working out in the gym, running, lifting weights, etc. in my younger years and now enjoy doing the mountains for a workout. Besides, Jake can go with me, thus killing two birds with one stone, which is better than I can do with one shotgun shot.

Like most everyone, I'm concerned about the snow level. I'm not running into any snow at places where there is usually a foot or two of crusted snow. I don't think this has much impact on the chukars as long as April, May, June and July have normal conditions. I've given up on what conditions are best for a good reproduction year. I've guessed wrong more times than I have been right. To be honest, the biologist seem to wrong as many times as right also. I've decided that this year will just be what it is and Jake and I have to except it and make the best out of it.

Take my hike yesterday. We hiked from 3000 feet to 5200 feet. We never encountered any snow. The green up is showing up at the 3000 to 4000 foot level

but above that, the green up is lees obvious.

Of course we chukar hunters know how the birds like to eat the fresh green shoots. Whenever it is available their crops seem to be full of it. Jake and I never found a bird in the greener areas nor did I see any droppings but when we got high on the mountain, about 5000 feet, we started finding birds. What's with that? Either I'm really dumb or chukars are another animal we'll never completely figure out. 

Now that my IQ has been established, I will say that Jake still knows how to use his natural instincts to find birds. He had several finds, although there were no big covey's. In fact, I was surprised at the number of paired birds already. It might have been coincidence but I usually don't see the chukars paired up until March. The huns seem to pair up earlier but I didn't find any of them.

Jake did have one other find besides the chukars. He must have got caught between step. When I got to his point he had one leg up in the air in the stepping position, locked solid.

I followed his eyes to where I figured the bird to be but never saw it until two steps from me flushed this grouse.

February temperatures of mid 50's to low 60's are a great way to spend an afternoon in the hills. I hope everyone is enjoying the last month of winter like we are.

Farewell 2014

Barb, Jake and I are sitting around the house and cleaning our hunting gear for the year. It's a good thing I broke my guns down good. With the amount of grit down in the trigger mechanism's I'm surprised I didn't have some misfires towards the end of the season. My bird vest had a dried up chocolate candy bar that must have been in the bottom of one of the pockets since the beginning of the season. It was a mess. I cleaned up my pocket camera that I use during the hunting season and got my bigger camera out for some spring pictures. This week will be the big task of cleaning out my truck.

The bird numbers in both Oregon and Idaho were fair at best for me and Jake. But, even fair presented plenty of good opportunities for successful hunts. By the amount of birds I saw on the last week of the season, if mother nature is good to us this spring, the bird numbers should vault next year. I saw fewer hunters in the field this year than I can ever remember. Even when chukar hunting wasn't that popular.

My last week in the field was probably my best. Not only because I got birds, but because I got to watch Jake at his best and watch Conner take down some more chukars on the last day of the season. Last year Jake learned how to point and hold chukars and had a pretty darn good year for a first year pup. This year he learned how to find birds. He figured out how to range with the wind and use it to his advantage. He had some pretty lengthy points and discovered I would find him no matter how long it was. Although, I'm sure he didn't enjoy it, he let me take pictures before I flushed the birds. Quite a few times I got the picture, but didn't get a shot.

My last hunt in Oregon was a dandy. We'd been fighting the fog and inversion all week. I drove all the way over there one day just to get turned around because of a wreck on the freeway. I decided to take my four wheeler over there on our last trip so I wouldn't have to tear up the roads and get my truck covered with mud again. I hunted this area in November and found lot's of birds and most of them were still there. Jake was in top form.

The birds were holding extremely good for late January.

It didn't matter which side of the ridge I hunted, the snowy side or the burnt off side, we found cooperative birds.

Some of the covey's were 20 birds or more.

By the time we got back to the ranger, Jake had provided me with some great shooting for my last day of hunting.

I know a lot of people don't care for tail gate pictures, but I'm down right proud of Jake and what he produces. I also don't mind showing what a great dog and some hard work can produce on even these down years.

To make a short story long, I'm now going to expand on my last day hunting. Although Conner did all the shooting, I couldn't have had a better day. I took Conner to a place in Idaho I had discovered a couple of weeks ago. I had had a good day there and there were more than enough birds for a second round. Over the year, Conner has learned how to hunt with Jake. He approaches his points slow and as calmly as possible and Jake let's him move to the front for the shot. I get to sit back and watch to young men doing what they love. I think this was Jake's best picture of the year.

I was really enjoying taking shots of Jake as Conner did the shooting.

Jake found a large covey of quail that helped to entertain Conner with some shooting.

I could go on boring you with more pictures but I think my point has been made. We had a great day and Conner, Jake and I were all smiles.

The last day of the season was Conner's best chukar day and what a day grandpa will remember for the rest of my life. Finishing the season with Jake and Conner. It truly doesn't get any better than this.

Lord, thank you for providing me with such a wonderful life.

How it really is

After the "big guys" last blog, I decided I'd better chime in and let you know how it really is. Sure, I broke point and moved in behind him. I knew he hadn't a clue of where the birds were and I had to reinforce his confidence so I was just reestablishing my point and staying clear of the muzzle blast.

After two years being in the truck with him and his other human partners and listening to their stories, I feel it my duty to report to the rest of you chukar dogs the real story. Most of you can probably relate. First of all, the "big guy" is always posting pictures of me and telling some way out story about how tough it was. He mentions how far away or how steep it was for him or other similar complaints to make you feel how hard he worked to get there. Well let me say, this is poppy cock. I go about four times as far as him on an average hunt and I only have two times the legs.

The only reason I'm in all of the pictures is because "selfies" don't show very much when we're on the mountain. I must admit that I am a good looking son of a bitch.

I use those words in a different way than the "big guy" does. The bitches name is Penny, my mom.


 I wish you could hear a lot of the conversations that I have to listen to on our rides home with other hunters. If only I could speak the human language. The "big guy" talks about the tough shots he makes quite often. If he is such a good shot, how come he's always cussing after most shots? I've heard more lame excuses over the past two years for missing shots at chukars than most dogs hear in a life time. Yesterday, it was the wind. Sure, it was a little gusty, but most guys could shoot better in a hurricane. How many different tings can get into a guys eyes? I've heard them all, dirt grass, the sun and even tears, which is the one that I believe the most. He's probably crying because he thinks he's going to miss the shot. Thanks to a wide spread of shot the bird sometimes flies into his pattern.

Sometimes I wonder how much fun the "big guy" is really having. Last week he kept complaining about the fog and inversion. Inversion must be some kind of large device that keeps the fog from moving out because he was constantly speaking about the DAM fog. The fog doesn't bother me at all. I still find the birds. He just uses the fog as another excuse for missing. "I had to rush my shot", he'd say, or "they disappeared as I fired".

And then, there is the snow. Sometimes you'd think it was the kiss of death for the "big guy" the way he complains about going up a hill in it. As with any other type of weather, I don't have any problem getting to the birds and holding them but he seems to think it really hinders his movements and ability to shoot. He says he can't get his footing. I can almost believe that excuse, the way he is always stumbling around on the mountain. I remember this point. We both could see the bird hunkering down and he used the icy snow for an excuse for missing the bird.

At least he didn't try shooting him on the snow and spared my ears. I do have to admit, it was quite comical, watching him sitting in the snow cussing his gun as if it had anything to do with it. The "big guy" did get a chukar on that crusty snow day. I remember it well. He whined like a baby when I dropped the bird at is feet and it slid down the hill about thirty yards before stopping. He wanted me to get it again. If they're alive and flopping down the hill, I'll get them again but when I drop them at his feet and he can't bend over enough to pick the bird up than it is his problem. He needs to work some of that belly off in order to bend better.

I think the mud was his biggest obstacle. I've never heard so many different adjectives for mud. Most of them I better not repeat. My pads get totally covered by what he calls slop but you don't find me complaining like he does when he slips and gets some on his gloves. If he goes far enough down to get some muck on his gun you'd think it was the end of the world. The echoes of his not to kind words echo off the canyon rims for miles.


I've heard a lot of his excuses for missing but you're not going to believe this one. "I pulled up and missed on purpose" he said at one shot. The birds were too close and he didn't want to hit more than one. Strange, how just one week earlier he dropped two with one shot and said he did it on purpose. Go figure that one out.
 

As I recall, it isn't just inclement weather that brings the worst out in the "big guy". He did a lot of whining during the fair weather also. I remember him falling on a flat trail and cussing his new knee for not bending enough. I think there was a line of ants crossing the trail that tripped him. How high do you have to lift your leg to clear an ant? Maybe I'm being a little hard on the guy. Maybe those with only two legs should stay on the flat ground. I really wish there was something I could do for him because with all of his short comings he does get me out a lot. That's the main reason I don't cover my eyes when I'm listening to his stories from the back seat of the truck as we return from hunting trips. Humans will believe anything.

I have to admit that I couldn't have asked for a better companion than the "big guy" because he takes so much time to get me out. But I sure wish he was a little younger. You should hear all of the complaining Barb and I have to listen to when we get home. This hurts and that hurts. Would you rub some heat ointment on my back. God bless Barb for getting him back on the mountain with me. You chukar hunting dogs out there, be prepared. The complaining gets worse with age. Oh, they're still having fun, they just have a hard time showing it. In fact I think complaining becomes more fun as they get older. At least he's getting better at it.

So in the future, when you see a picture like this,

understand that there are just as many days like this picture that I took of the "big guy", with plenty of excuses for the poor showing.

Notice the number of shells spent and the number of birds. I pointed a bird for each shell shot and also retrieved each of the birds he shot. Had we been riding with someone else that day, I  could imagine the story I'd have to listen to. It would go something like this. Didn't see many birds today and got the only one Jake pointed. As usual I would have just kept my eyes shut, pretending I was sleeping. That's just a part of being a good hunting partner.


So, whenever you see the pictures with all the birds that we got for that day, there is probably two days that would look like that last picture that are not mentioned. From a canines view, that's how it really is.

Situation

I had a chance to get out yesterday. With this inversion type fog every morning, I've got turned back twice. One because of an accident along the freeway and the second because I couldn't see thirty yards away and the fog seemed to follow me as I walked up the hill. So Jake and I were thrilled to have a day out without fog.

The day started out pretty slow and Jake busting a few birds. As we got further up the hill I could see why Jake was not able to hold down the birds. A dozen or so chukars were sprinting up the open slope towards the ridge top. They were very visible do to the matted down grass. As the first couple of birds crested the ridge they flew, witch was too much for Jake to handle and he sprinted up the hill and flushed the remaining birds. I suppose with a trial dog you have to stop that kind of behavior but for me and my hunting companion I have to excuse it, We weren't going to get close to those birds anyway so I figure no harm, no foul.

We had this kind of activity happen off and on throughout the day. Yes, Jake got a few birds to hold in the heavier brush, but most of those birds were runners also. Just like pheasants, they learn to run for survival. I remember thinking to myself, "we hunters are pretty arrogant to think we are going to make much of a dent in next years population by hunting these late season birds".

Anyhow, here is the situation that comes out quite often for chukar hunters. Jake had just locked on point about 100 yards down the hill. There was a pile of rocks in the area where he was on point, and although I couldn't see him I assumed that was where he was. I slowly walked towards where he was and found him rock solid on point.

There was no question that the birds were there. After snapping the picture, I surveyed the situation and couldn't find a way of approaching the birds for a shot. I finally decided to drop down below the rocks and come in on Jake from below. It took about 3 minutes to get around the rocks. I wondered what Jake would do once I walked up on his point and than walked away, out of sight. As I got into position to where I could get a decent shot a bird flushed further down the hill and out of range. Within seconds, Jake was behind me and immediately came to point. Yes, he honors me when I assume the intense hunter position. My next step flushed a nice covey of birds and I shot a rare double. The next time I saw Jake he was retrieving one of the birds.

My question is, "what would most dog trainers do in this situation?" Are you reinforcing your dog to break point by letting him relocate after he heard the first bird flush? The reason I ask, is because this morning while visiting with a dog trainer and hunter, this chukar hunter (who breeds some pretty great dogs) said I'm teaching my dogs bad habits and that is why Jake chased the birds he saw running up the hill and taking off.

I guess I'm the type of guy who will accept mediocre performance from my canine partner in order for us to BOTH enjoy the experience to it's fullest.

Happy birthday Jake

Last night Jake informed me that he would like to go on a chukar hunt to celebrate his 2nd birthday today. So, this morning we got up and took the long drive west hoping to find some blue skies. When we got to our destination we had a mixture of everything. Some sun, fog, inversion and a few snow flakes.

I had hoped to find some birds on the lower burnt off slopes but Jake couldn't seem to locate any. I had to agree because I didn't see a dropping anywhere. Two months ago I was on these same slopes and found a fair number of birds so I was hopeful that Jake would keep on doing his thing until he found birds. As usual, when Jake finally found chukars, I was baffled as to why they were where they were. All the green up on the bare slopes and not a bird. As soon as we got to the snow, 1700 feet higher than where we started, Jake locked on his first point.

Notice the slope behind Jake. The slope we had just come up was burnt off similar to that but with no birds. In places the snow was crusted enough that I didn't even break through. What were the birds doing up there? I decided not to question them and follow Jake from point to point.

Although Jake had some fantastic points I have to confess that he bumped more bird today than any other day this year. It could be that they were just so visible up in the crusted snow or possibly just forming some bad habits as most dogs do towards the end of the season. I think they do that just so we still take them out to the chukar mountains after the season is over for training.

Some of the birds flushed wild due to the crunching snow as I approached but for every wild flush or Jake bumping birds we had a good point with birds that would hold for my approach.

There were a few times when the birds were a hundred yards down the slope from where Jake was pointing. We had a pretty good wind coming up the slope. But he held point like a mature dog as I edged down the steep slope trying hard not to fall on my butt. Every twenty yards or so he would relocate with me but never go ahead. With our 50 hunts this year he has really matured.

His only downfall is that he usually drops the bird before I get my hand on it. I can live with that knowing how hard he has worked just to get the bird back to my feet.

What a great day for a dog that just turned two. He screws up once in a while but not as often as I do with the gun. The more I hunt with him the more I realize how hard he tries to please me. He is my hunting partner and deserves the best, so tonight I think we'll share a chukar dinner to celebrate his birthday.