ouch!!!

I just got back from a 150 mile dirt road trip looking for birds. I don't usually scout from the road but after my last three hikes I thought I might give looking for quail a try. On my last three outings I saw a pair of chukar which I believe didn't have any little ones by the distance they flew and another single chukar. I was getting a little desperate to prove that this winter wasn't as hard on wildlife as some might make you believe. So I took a drive to places where I knew quail are abundant. In shortly under 150 miles I saw 2 pair of quail. By the time I got home I was ready to concede to the hunters with the half empty glass theory but not before looking at my entries from July of the last ten years.

Summing it up, I've already been out more this July than any other July. My bull headedness has taken over and I so want to prove my early prediction forecast that I'm wasting lot's of time, gas and energy, not to mention getting a little disappointed. In ten years the only decent covey of chukars I have seen in July was the 17th four years ago and there was about fifteen 6 to 8 week old birds with a pair of adults. Yes, I have had a few other encounters, but the month of July should be the month to stay home and save some miles on the truck and legs.

August has been a pretty good month to find young birds if my entries prove anything but the weather conditions seem to be as responsible for finding birds in the off season as it is during the hunting season. Almost every August after a rain or on a cool morning I have been successful at finding birds with young. The surprising note is how many really young birds I find in August. There seems to be quite a separation of age in birds at that time. From week old birds to 8 weeks or better.

The amount of big game animals I saw the last two weeks should have been some type of clue that I was wasting my time being on the mountain. I didn't see one calf or fawn in areas that in June I was constantly coming in contact with one after another. It seems like the only animal out in the sun was this dumb human with a not so enthusiastic dog.

Don't go negative on me. I know deep in my heart there will be lot's of great opportunities this fall and my negative outings were just poor timing and planning. We have never seen young quail around here until the end of July but somehow I though this year might be different. I understand now that July is the month to stay up high in the timber if you want to stretch your legs and exercise the dog. All this month did was make me second guess myself.

Who knows, maybe those that say this winter was terrible on wildlife might be right. I still don't think it was although I may have to back off on my "way to early forecast" of a great year to an average year for chukars and huns. Next month will help get a better feel but the real test for us chukar hunters is when the season begins. I'm still as excited as I was in February for the season start and will be on the mountain as often as time and Jake allow.

I'm looking for some positive vibes out there from some of you to help keep us excited.

It's beginning

Jake and I took the two hour ride over to one of our Oregon hunting locations yesterday and had a pretty nice hour and a half hike before we had to get back to the truck and some shade. With the early sunrise this time of the year we had to leave home at 3:30 in order to get a little quality mountain time. Especially for Jake who goes through the water pretty quickly.

Although we didn't see lot's of birds, we had two situations with new birds on the ground. Both groups had chicks not more than two or three days old. I can't say how many chicks were in each group but can say the tall grass was moving from something making a high peeping sign while an adult was playing the crippled bird game. That kept Jake's attention long enough for me to spot a few of the chicks. In one case there was only one chukar playing hurt (I have to assume it was a female) and in case two there was a pair with only one playing hurt. The second bird flew only 20 yards or so and disappeared. Like earlier, I could hear the peeping but had a tough time locating them without taking the chance of stepping on one.

I also saw two other single chukars that flew a distance and a pair that also flew a ways. It's only speculation but I can't help to believe the singles were hopefully males who's mate was still sitting a nest and the pair were also sitting a nest somewhere. I did not see any adult covey's which is a good sign that the birds are either still nesting or trying to renest. Covey's of full grown chukars are usually a sign of unpaired birds that either were unsuccessful  with their hatch or never paired up.

I still want to stay positive about the upcoming season even though I haven't seen a lot of proof yet. I've seen many blue grouse but no chicks yet and on my return home yesterday I saw several loan bull quail along the dirt road. Their female partners had to be somewhere close by and I prefer to believe they were sitting a nest or hiding the little ones close by.

Although this winter was a very harsh one, I believe the game animals fared very well through it. I remember winters similar to last years back in the 60's and we accepted them as part of the culling process of Mother Nature. It seems like today people want to view everything with a negative tone, posting press releases like the one posted July 2 claiming harsh winter took heavy toll on western U.S. I'd rather post the press release from Idaho Fish and Game on June 22 that said the winter kill was less than expected for mule deer, and elk fared even better. Jake and I have not had a trip since the first of June where we haven't found several fawns, calf elk, or turkey babies. The upland rearing season has just begun and I want to believe there will soon be lot's of positive signs for a good season. So far I think Mother Nature has provided us with a lot of positive clues.

We've also seen a few ruffs out there in the timber country.

Early June and still on the positive side.

Being retired, I get to spend a lot of time in the mountains with Jake and now Conner with school being over. I can't see a better way of spending days than what I do. But, that's enough about how lucky I am. I'm sure you're more concerned about how the chukars are doing.

First let me say I haven't found any babies or nest yet this spring but am still seeing very favorable conditions. Baby grasshoppers are showing up everywhere. I haven't seen one covey of chukars or huns in the last month which says they are paired and nesting as nature planned. The chukars I am seeing are singles and usually standing on a distant rock declaring their dominance.

Outside of a good thunderstorm last night the weather has been optimal for a great hatch and I'm sure the chukars are doing as well as the rest of the animals I am seeing are doing.

Even in the rainy weather the cocks are out on the rocks protecting their turf. 

We are finding a lot of other signs of a favorable spring though. The big game animals seemed to adjust fine to the rough winter we had and we're finding loads of cow elk out with obvious calves somewhere. When the cow ignores you and is pretty intense on running your dog off it's pretty much a guarantee that their is a little one somewhere close by.

In this case I decided to get Jake out of the area. She was very unhappy with him. But on that same rainy day that the chukar was protecting his turf, this cow elk watched too curiously as Jake and I traveled her draw and she made no attempt to run away.

Sure enough I located her calf laying still in the open. Jake had no idea the calf was there and stood wondering why I whoa'd him. He would have run right over it before he smelled it.

The calf did just what the instincts told it to do. Freeze, and don't move.

Jake finally walked up to me as I was taking some pictures and gave it a concerned look but left with me as soon as I said let's go.

We've had a few other encounters with elk and calves and also with some deer. Conner, Jake and I have found several does with fawns but this gal was very obliging with her baby.

She didn't want to come out and get photographed but she didn't mind us posing with her baby.

Of course Jake didn't want Conner to get all the excitement so we had to snap a shot of him observing the fawn.

A little closer to our concerns about the chukar is the big bird (turkey). Their breeding habits and nesting times are very similar to chukars, except for the locations of where they do their nesting. I know that some will get very discouraged to hear this but Jake is a sure fire way to find any kind of bird. I know that it is illegal to hunt turkey's with a dog but it is not illegal to observe animals with a dog. Jake helped find these turkeys to observe.

When momma stays close by and clucks constantly as you move in you know there are chicks close by.

The trick is to find those little peepers. Trust me it isn't as easy as it might seem. There is one in this picture but we would never had found it had the grass not moved a little.

There were somewhere around a dozen chicks scrambling through the deep grass and Conner picked this one out hoping to imprint upon it to come to his call next year.

If all the other wildlife has done as well I think the chukar will have the same results. I think if we have no big cold and wet storms come through we're home free. Meanwhile Conner, Jake and I will take the arduous task of hiking the hills and trying to keep you informed of what we are seeing.

Be safe and have a good summer.

update

There's not a lot to post about the chukar conditions right now except that Jake and I spent a couple of hours running around on the mountain today and didn't see a bird. Even though we were at an area that had many of pairs a month ago we figure no worries. The pairs are probably on nests now and with the spring conditions scent is probably at a minimal. Had we seen covey's I would panic some and say the pairs didn't take, but that wasn't the case. I was surprised at the lack of insects (Grass hoppers) that I saw. Hopefully that will change soon.

We had a few unproductive points and a few that were a little light on staunchness telling me maybe it wasn't a bird point.

In this case it was the enemy and it gave me a chance to do some avoidance training. I gave him the okay and when he got about 10 yards away from the skunk it shocked him and Jake quickly retreated to my side.

Outside of the normal deer and elk sightings we had our first baby encounter of the year. Another lazy point was really a stare down between this coyote and Jake.

The coyote stood there and let me take some pictures of it so I assumed it was a bitch coyote with some pups in the proximity.

I was right and it wasn't long before Jake was showing me the den with his curiosity point.

I'm guessing the pups were between a week or two because there eyesight was poor. I snapped some pictures before they backed into the den. 6 puppies are mighty cute even though they turn into 6 coyotes.

I waited a while knowing curiosity would make the pups come back out to figure out what this creature was sitting outside the den. They did and I picked one up so I could get a close up.

They are every bit as cute as our canine buddies and it would be cool to raise one but it's best not to fool with Mother Nature so I let Jake take a whif and put the pup back with his brothers and sisters and headed off ready for our next encounter with nature.

Hopefully in about three weeks there will be a bunch of little chicks of the upland variety and they will be filling there crops with grasshoppers and other insects. I'm still looking at the positive side and excited for the opener.

Still having fun and loving life

Rather than bore you with more pictures of Jake and stories about the chukars and huns I'll just post a few pictures of our last hikes. I still believe our harsh winter was more of a culling year than a devastating year for our wildlife. Get out there and look for yourselves. I think you'll be surprisingly pleased with the game populations and the Fish and Games policies on wintering wildlife.

An educated coyote that didn't want his picture taken.

White tails always run like they have no care in the world.

Many of the elk I see still have their antlers. None are very large and possibly the larger bulls have dropped their antlers.

Of course the turkeys are right in the middle of the strut. Just a little more proof that we humans can't mess up birds ability to nest and have little ones, even by hunting them during the mating season.

The mule deer are looking a little shaggy but the antlers are already showing some growth.

This bear is enjoying his sun bath and looked at Jake and I with discuss for waking him from his snooze. 

He was happy to see Jake and I leave and went back to sleeping.

Enjoy the outdoors. You're only on this earth once.

2017 spring has sprung

Although the snow is coming down today, have no fear. This year is progressing along the way it used to be. Remember the saying "April showers bring May flowers", well we're at April 14th and we've been getting plenty of showers.

 Everything is going as nature planned. The goose eggs are starting to hatch which are always the first birds to have babies in the spring.

The turkeys are doing there thing and the hens are either just starting to lay eggs or preparing their nests.

Jake even likes pointing treed turkeys.

He gives a treed turkey bark that I'm glad he doesn't do on other upland birds

but the gal knows he's no threat to her.

The rock chucks are coming out in force now and their babies are already the size of squirrels. I have to persuade Jake not to chase after these guys because where they go down in the rocks is also a good place for a rattler to be warming up.

Although I haven't seen a rattler yet, I'm sure it won't be long. Along with the paired chukars I'm seeing on our outings I'm seeing a lot more huns than in the past.

Keep the positive vibes going because I still think it's going to be a fantastic year. At best the chukars and huns are just starting to lay eggs and most won't start for another week or two. After they finish laying their eggs (hopefully up to 20 or so) they have a 24 day incubation period where the hen spends almost all of her time sitting on the eggs. By this time the weather should be warm enough for chick survival and this moist weather we are getting now will be providing plenty of green up for the insects. Unless we have cold wet weather then, we should have a boat load of birds covering the hills in September. Keep your fingers crossed.

The way it's supposed to be

This was the spring break week for students so I was lucky enough to have Conner spend a few days with me. As usual he wanted to spend our time together on the mountain. So we loaded up the truck, had Jake jump up into the back seat and headed out for a couple of days. We headed west to an area I had chukar hunted in the past but decided to scout some new country. It ended up being a great decision.

In two days of hiking, Conner and I put on 16 miles with almost 5000 feet of vertical gain while Jake was short of fifty miles by two miles and who knows how many vertical feet he got in. Although we had every kind of weather, most of the time it was perfect for hiking. Conner never seems to get tired of hiking and exploring and Jake loves the extra companionship he provides.

Conner has a thing about finding sheds and although we never found the honey hole of antlers, he found enough to keep him looking while loading both his pack and mine with junk found on the hill. Those treasures include the many things we all find while out, water bottles, sardine cans, birthday balloons, shotgun shells, and believe it or not a coat hanger. Conner and I tried to figure it's worth on the mountain but couldn't come up with a logical explanation.

Meanwhile I'm trying to locate Jake to see what he is pointing. This new draw up by no tell em lookout is turning out to be a great find. With Jake on point I have Conner flush the birds while I snap pictures. The three of us had several opportunities, but most of the time I failed in doing my job.

Most of pictures of the flush were just blurs but I managed to capture several shots of chukar. To those interested, we never saw a covey of chukar but all pairs and a couple of singles. To my knowledge that is good news. If they stay in coveys or covey back up later, the hatch will probably be poorer.

What makes this new area such a great find was the amount of blues we saw. We saw at least a dozen blue grouse each day and probably more like 15 to 20. A few of the birds might have been seen more than once. Each day was at completely different locations thus making this a bonus area for the 2017 upland season. 

It's an easy place to find once you get to no tell em lookout. Now put these two days together and imagine you are a 14 year old boy on spring break with four more days before you have to be back in school and your other grand parents are heading for Riggins. Yes, the steelhead are running and three hours after they picked up Conner, he texts me this picture.

I haven't heard back from him since that picture but I'm sure he is beating the water and having the kind of time all 14 year old boys and girls deserve. Now that's the way it is supposed to be. Thank you Idaho.

WOW!

"Hunting" means chasing, driving, flushing, attracting, pursuing, worrying, following after on the trail of, shooting at, stalking, or lying in wait for, any wildlife whether or not such wildlife is then or subsequently captured, taken, or wounded. such term does not include stalking, attracting, searching for, or lying in wait for, any wildlife by an unarmed person solely for the purpose of watching wildlife or taking pictures thereof.

This is the paragraph J of Idaho title 36, 36-202 that anonymous referenced to in his comment on my Chukar country post. I'll let everyone decide what it reads to them. I'm glad you posted to show your disappointment that I am out while the birds are paired up. I got a feeling this post might show some excitement. Plus it gives me an opportunity to release a few of my feelings also.

I am pretty sure I know who anonymous (B.M.) is and am sorry you feel the way you do but that is what it is. I never did the name calling, your buddy did.

The fish and game has always had my blog site available since one of the members is a good friend of mine. I don't try to disguise what I do and in fact have had a member of the fish and game with me on my spring outings a few times. I doubt that they will contact me because they have much more constructive things to do with their limited time. That being said, I'll let the readers decide whether I'm doing wrong or not.

Now, to a little about my feelings about your feelings. Jake and I do no more harm to these pairing birds than any other creature in the hills. First off, once we point or jump a pair we're off to another part of the hill looking for our next bit of excitement. Those birds are free to fly back at anytime they wish. We pressure them no further. Your next point might be "how do I know they return?" This time of the year I don't know, but as they start nesting they will return. I know this from many cases of having one of my dogs point and then I flush a pair or a single and they don't fly very far. I then take my dog and sit back a hundred yards and watch until they return. Many times it takes an hour or two but usually when they return I find a nest, take a few pictures, and go on my way. Usually that time of the year is late May or early June but never this time of the year. I have even flagged the nest locations and gone back for several weeks so I know the approximate hatch date. Every nest I have ever watched has had a successful hatch but one. A predator had destroyed the eggs. I suggest that maybe you, I and a Fish and Game employee go on one of my hikes and see how much harassment of these birds I create. But as was suggested, I think the employer would have better things to do with his time. I am a very pro fish and game guy and would love their opinion.

If you are the person I think, you also listed several fish and game titles that forbid harassing big game animals on another site. I am all for not harassing big game animals any time whether they are wintering or not. But to shut down the hills to horn hunters or other recreationist is not the answer. Fish and Game does a very good job in advising people where to avoid game animals and problem areas. There is no need for a blanket statement like was provided by another group on closing the chukar season because of stressed animals. There were plenty of places to hunt where big game animals weren't even present. There was also the mention of chukars that were (I can't remember the word used)  starving. Well that definitely wasn't the case across the region. Also mentioned was the amount of road hunters seen when the deep snow came. I have yet to see a person shoot a chukar from the road. Maybe I don't spend enough time on the road. I think when the weather or any other condition arises, most hunters will use common sense in doing the right thing. They don't need it written out in titles and sub sections.

My third problem is about the guzzlers and the lack of help in maintaining them. You mention how chukar hunters benefit from guzzlers but I disagree. I would be glad to help if I really thought it would help the bird numbers but I don't. That doesn't make me any less of a conservationist than the guy maintaining it. I believe there is very little we can do to enhance chukar country. Mother Nature takes care of that. The guzzler you mentioned that got no help from any other organization was pictured on that other site. Look in the background at the lake. It's hard for me to imagine hunting any animals that is too lazy to walk or fly down to the reservoir. I know they provide good benefits in some areas, but I don't know of any area that I hunt that would benefit chukars. Maybe benefit the chukar hunters some. So, quit trying to guilt people into doing what you think is good. Maybe we don't see the same need.

This could even get longer but I don't want to lose everyone. Pretty much what I'm trying to get at is let people make common sense decisions. I know you have already said that my decision is illegal, but I believe my decision to pursue the birds this time of the year is both an ethical and legal decision. I'm not calling names, but if people like you keep finding a reason to keep others out of the hills, we might just as well turn the state into a big national park where you have to get permission to get off the paved path.

We often talk about how the we're losing youth participation in the outdoors. Wonder why? Conner, Jake and I just got back from a two day hike horn hunting and watching Jake traverse the hills. We had a ball and got some great pictures. We found some sheds and Jake was in pointer heaven. You can't find a more enthusiastic 14 year old anywhere about the outdoors. Why, because he gets to get out there and enjoy all the aspects of it without harming any of the future. He also has some common sense and knows when he's pressuring the resource or not. Take this away from him and we have one more couch potato.

Please give me a call and bring the Fish & Game by and will go out on one of my jaunts to see where the verdict lays. I would enjoy your company and maybe when we are through you might put down your law book and start enjoying the outdoors like you used to.

Chukar Country

Unlike most people, I don't have another hobby outside of hunting. And although I hunt a variety of animals at times, if I had only one species to hunt, it would be the chukar. Not just because chukars are the ultimate bird to hunt with a good pointing dog, but equally as much because of the country they inhabit.

Chukar country can be very challenging no matter what time of the year you decide to hike in it. It can have temperatures in the negative degrees and get over 100 in the summer months. There is very little perfect time to be on the mountain because it invites all different weather patterns which can change just by going over the mountain. It encompasses all types of terrain from rock slides to rock cliffs, steep cheat grass hills to rolling sagebrush tops, and bare hills to lush green canyons.. The one thing chukar country doesn't have is hiking trails. You might find some game trails to follow for fifty yards or so before they disappear but then you'll have to side hill on the steep slope until you find another that might take you the next fifty or so yards.

Most people don't care to be in chukar country unless they are hunting something and there are plenty of somethings to hunt besides chukar where they reside. After the general deer and elk seasons, the number of people on the mountain diminishes quickly. The only people left in the hard core chukar country are the hard core chukar hunters. Not because they are any tougher or smarter than anyone else, but because they love hunting chukars with their canine partners. There are a lot of other chukar hunters still hunting, but most of them are just trying to enjoy a hunt in between their seasons and that is what is available. Most of those people won't go to the extent of  traveling four miles before getting a shot because it's not a priority and they find enough birds in the easier places. Maybe they're smarter than us die hards.

The weather is warming up and a good many people are starting to fish the lakes and go up north for steelhead. While they are enjoying that, I'm up on the hill enjoying the solitude of chukar country. I'm covering the mountain sides I couldn't get to two months ago.

On the back side of this mountain is a beautiful draw that looked like this a few months before the big snow came.

I'm so looking forward to that time of the year when I will be returning to this area with a gun in my hand and Jake leading the way. Between now and then, Jake and I will make a couple of spring/summer trips and check out that special place that only he and I know (right) where the hill flattens out some and my shooting percentage rises a little.

We all have a special place like this with the name no tell em ridge. Jake and I have been traveling to chukar country quite a bit since the first of February when the weather finally gave us a chance to actually walk in it. Many of the places were still locking us out with long snow drifts that forbid me from crossing but we're now able to get to all of our hunting spots and I have to say the animals did much better than I thought they might. I figured the chukars and huns might do well because the majority of them usually find that high blown off ridge to get feed from and hide from the predators. Those that moved down into the valley's struggled more with the snow staying almost a month longer than the southern steep slopes.

Jake and I have been in the mountains quite a number of times since Feb. 1 and have yet to see another person on the hill. That is besides my grandson, Conner who is as mentally stable as me.

He has been coming home with a back pack full of sheds each trip we take together. Meanwhile, Jake is having the time of his life. He is finding so many birds he is tiring out by the end of our jaunt and in this case I found him on point from the sitting position.

He had gone 24 miles already that day and 16 miles the day before so I forgave him for such a classless point which produced another pair of chukars.

I'm getting better with my camera and have finally got several pictures of the birds flushing. The secret is just aim the camera towards the flushing birds and push the button. When I get home I look through the pictures and see if the birds are in the frame. It's kind of like how I shoot a shot gun, point the gun, close my eyes and pull the trigger. If Jake goes after a dead bird than I know I was successful.

Chukar hills are full of game animals any time of the year we venture out in them. Here are some other creatures we're seeing. This pair of huns is one of many we are seeing now.

We weren't seeing many earlier but are now seeing quite a few pairs. Some of the chukars are still in covey's but I have only seen paired huns. Jake has also pointed a half dozen blue grouse so far this year.

This ruff didn't let Jake point but flew up into a tree and acted like he had never seen a human or dog.

It's a little early  to find any nest but we found the remains of an old chukar nest from last year and I'm crossing my finger that she will be back this year with twenty or so eggs to sit on.

As I mentioned, it seems like the big game did a lot better than I thought they would do. I have found very few winter killed animals on the mountain. The closer to the valleys, the more dead animals found. To those who wonder if we're pressuring the big game animals, no we are not. Chukar country is big and it's easy to observe the deer and elk while giving them lot's of room. 

The elk have done very well and we've seen them running around and playing already.

But in case one of the deer or elk don't make it through the hard times this guy is ready and willing to clean them up.

Add the sounds we hear when we're high on the mountain, like the snow geese and Canadians heading back north, or the sand hill cranes and even some trumpeter swans, along with the chatter of chukars, it's easy to see why I stay so positive about  our future on the mountain. Chukar country is good for my soul.