The 2024 chukar season was quite a downer for me. Seems like I was always being a puss about something. The back thing really set me back but the surgeon said for me to let the pain be my guide to what I could do.
Jake’s hips are too bad for a hard chukar hunt so it was Grady and me. I cheated and had Barbara drop me off at the top of one of my favorite ridges. I usually hunt it from the bottom up but knew I wouldn’t be able to get to the birds. It’s amazing how even when you are hunting downward you still can gain 1000 feet in elevation.
It hurt like hell to try and get to Grady’s points, but in true form he stayed rock solid as I crept down the ridges ahead of him. I was shocked at how far the birds were in front of him at times. A couple of times I gave up, thinking the birds had aready fled, just to be discouraged when I would turn and walk away and they would flush. I also was discouraged in my shooting. Swinging on fast moving chukars was pretty tough.
But by the time I reached my truck Grady and I had had three hours of fun, I don’t remember ever being so happy to be off a mountain. It was nice to end the season with a taste of what it will be like next year. I’ll part with a few of my pictures from the day. I hope to see you guys next year on the mountain somewhere and pray that the season treats us as good as it looks like it treated the bunch of you this year.
God Bless and stay healthy.
The Reigning Chukar Champions 
Glad you got out. Finding chukar over an old dog is a good day, indeed.
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open ground in January !
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The north slopes were frozen solid and hard to walk on, but only patches of snow. The south slopes were as the pictures show. I saw several dusting bowls the chukars had made and footing was great. It was a January to not miss which made sitting at home even harder. January 31st it snowed all day.
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looks like your back is allowing you to hunt,even though its downhill. I am having surgery on my back in a month or so at St Lukes,hoping I can get back on the hills. Wishing you a full recovery.
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Wishing you the best on your surgery. My sugery was on December 4th and after 6 weeks the doctor told me to let the pain be my guide. My problem was on the two hunts I did, by the time my back started hurting pretty badly I still had a long way before I was off the hill. It didn’t hurt what the surgeon did by hunting but it made the hunts a little less fun than usual. But that’s what good dogs will do. They are like a drug. I hope we will be seeing each other next year on some chukar mountain and claiming our procedures added some extra years to our hunting lives.
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