Butt kicked

Barb, the dogs and I just got home from a 12 day chukar hunt. We camped in four different locations starting in Riggins and ended up in the Owyhees. Two out of the 12 days was recovery time for me and that wasn’t enough. I now know how out -of -staters must feel coming all the way to Idaho to chase chukars. They only have so many days to hunt and have to make the best of them so they spend as much time on the mountain as possible.

But, if they see as many chukars and huns as I did it makes it somewhat easier to get up and start back up the steep mountains again. Steep is the opperative word for this trip. I tried hunting some less steep country, but the chukars kept calling me to the steepest slopes. And Grady kept obliging them by going straight up the rocky slopes to hold them on point. I’m thankful for his patience, because I’m getting very slow at getting to him.

Of the ten days I hunted, only one might be called a less than normal outing and I probably saw around 50 huns and chukars. The area was the least steep and the birds were the wildest. I picked that area so that my old boy, Jake, could get in some hunting time. With failing hips and being 12 years old, his hunting days are getting fewer. I did take him out on our last day on a pretty steep mountain and was impressed with how well he did. He got some great points and even a couple of retrieves before Grady got to the birds. The only two hunting pictures I took on the whole trip.

He covered over 8 miles on the steep slopes that day and could hardly get up to go out and pee during the night. Although he has recovered, I’ll not do that again. He’s been too good a friend to see him like that.

What hurts him the most is that he is deaf now and I can’t stop him when I’ve missed a bird. He goes down and down searching for scent and I can’t stop him. He eventually gives up and comes back up the hill to me after waisting a lot of energy.

Grady, at 6 years old still covers the mountain effortlessly. If there is a chukar out there he’s going to try and find it. He averaged just over 19 miles on the 10 hunts. I can’t imagine the elevation gain he got or the number of birds he saw. He had over 100 points on the trip and I’m sure he bumped half that many coveys out of sight. I shot pretty well on the points I got to and I only know of one lost bird. Grady produced some mighty fine eating for Barb and I and his ability to hold birds help me look like a decent shot.

The trip was our longest outing, as well as most productive for the freezer. I left the camera in the trailer except for the phone pictures of Jake, but had to take a picture back at the camper of a couple of my finds on the hill. Usually I’ll find an antler or two on the slopes but on two different occasions and over 100 miles apart I found these pliers and a hammer.

There wasn’t a road or rv trail within a mile of where I found them. And they were on steep terrain.

I thought it was strange to find them on the hill, but Barb figured it much stranger that I would pack them down the hill with my birds.

The trip was a huge success and as I mentioned, the birds were just about everywhere. Chukar numbers were the best I’ve seen in 20 years and the hungarian numbers were higher than ever. I came close to a double limit of chukar and huns in Idaho twice and would have had the same luck in Oregon if you didn’t have to combine the two for a limit.

The weather couldn’t have been any better for both hiking and scenting for the dogs. I learned the limits of my old bones and maybe pushed the limit a little this trip but oh what a memory I had with two wonderful dogs and a wonderful wife. We celebrated our 50th anniversary together on a chukar mountain. Barb is the best partner ever for a chukar hunter. I’m a lucky guy.

Don’t take my word for it. Get our there and find the birds. With all the country that was burnt this year, I still only heard other shots on two occasions and they were a long ways off. As mentioned earlier, outside of one day, I saw at least 150 to 200 birds each day. Every hunt was in a different location. That’s some pretty good stuff.

Good luck.