Be ready for some young ones

I couldn’t wait and it’s time for me to do some conditioning, so the dogs and I went for a jaunt on a chukar mountain. Outside of being disappointed in the shape we are all in we had a very good two hour hike on the mountain.

We left early to take advantage of the 55 degree temperature but it wasn’t long before it warmed up.

I only got in two and a half miles on some fairly steep hills but all together we saw four covey’s of chukars. All were somewhere around 20 birds each. Three of the covey’s were first hatches and looked to be pretty close to full grown. One covey was extremely young birds. 3 maybe 4 weeks old. They flew very well but were no bigger than a quail. The amazing thing to me was how well the dogs caught their scent. Both dogs locked on them from about 30 yards away. The little buggers flushed from about 30 yards like it was hunting season.

Grady took a short chase but Jake didn’t move. I had time to turn the camera on and film that lone straggler take off. Evidently, even as youngsters, one will stay behind for those more patient hunters.

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Yes, that really was a chukar. 23 days from now the season opens and those birds will still be pretty small. Looks like we’ll have a mixture of bird sizes the first few weeks. Everyone has to make their own decision whether to shoot or not. For me, I’ll let them go and hope they present me another opportunity later in the season. I plan on being on the chukar hills a lot this year. But there are those whose opportunities are not as many or have never shot one of those elusive birds. Do what’s in your heart and don’t condemn those who might not feel the same.

Let’s pray for some cooler temperatures towards the middle of September to offer us a couple of hours of comfortable hunting for the dogs. What a fun way to start the season. Some pre season warm up trips with possibly a few birds to retrieve.

Go get em and good luck.