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Nothing new from me as far as pictures go, but some decent reports from a couple of other readers of seeing babies. I did see a covey of baby quail this morning that were only a few days old. For some reason, the quail around my place are very late and this wasn’t real unusual for me.

Matt reported sightings of young chukars on a recent scouting outing. Didn’t say the age but just seeing young ones is good news. He also gave me some bad news. He actually saw the lightening strike that started the Durkee fire a few days ago. It has now ballooned to over 120,000 acres.

That fire has burnt a lot of quality chukar hunting ground as well as other wildlife turf. At this time it is only 13 % contained and another fire in the same area (over by Malheur reservoir) is 75% contained at around 130,000 acres also. Another decent chukar/hun hunting area. Right now those are the only two big fires burning in chukar country that I know of, so if you are planning a hunt in those areas this fall you might think about another location. That area should be a bust this year.

So far we’ve been lucky in Idaho and the rest of eastern Oregon, but with the very high temperatures we are having and the possibility of lightening the next couple of days things could change quickly. Keep your fingers crossed.

I will try and keep you posted on any fires in chukar country that I become aware of and if any of you locals hear of any please let me know. We’re still looking good for the opener but it could change over night.