Luck

I don’t often write about a specific hunt, but this one became a special one for several reasons. First off, the number of birds that we have harvested in a year has dropped dramatically.

From what I have seen and heard, the birds just aren’t out there this year. My hunts have seen fewer birds than I recall seeing in the last thirty years. We had a great Spring hatch but many of the young chicks didn’t make it through the long and hot summer, due to the ground getting so hard that the insects didn’t produce and the chicks died. I wasn’t prepared for this after last year’s good production. But Grady and I have been having fun hunts all the same.

Speaking of Grady, since Jake left us, he has become my shadow. He wants to be with me wherever I go. And of course I take him. Which leaves me with another hard decision. I know if I get another pup, he’ll eventually accept it, and it will become a part of our hunting team. But am I willing to do with Grady what I had to do with Jake his last year? Sneak off to hunts, leaving Jake at home. I knew it was best for him, but I thought he felt betrayed, and I hated leaving the guy that spent 11 years of his life being a great hunting partner. I wonder what our dogs think when that time comes.

And Grady made this hunt a special one. After a day like this, do I really want to punish him in the next three or four years by bringing another dog along to share in the fun. Or am I just being selfish and getting one more pup so that I can continue having the fun when he is gone. Yes, it sounds stupid, but that’s what goes through my mind. I thought about it a lot as we hiked through the hills.

Our hunt didn’t take long to get exciting. Greg and his two girls, Elsa and KT, took off up the hill in one direction and Grady and I went the other. 15 minutes later I yelled over at Greg to look at the chukars coming down the hill. I was sure one or all of the dogs were testing their legs further up the hill, but I was happy to know there were chukars around. That was the last time I saw Greg, and looking at all the bird sign on the hill I was convinced it was going to be a good day of at least seeing chukars. And we saw them a lot. Birds were flying over where Greg had departed to and flushing wild where Jake and I were going. Grady had several false points where I had seen bird flush wild at, but after a few minutes would give up the point and go on. Then the real fun began.

Once again, Grady was on point at a spot where I saw some chukars flush moments before. Same scenario. He began moving so I turned to start to the hill. A chukar flushed behind me and I got one quick shot, dropping a leg before it went out of sight flying down the ridge. Grady acted like he didn’t even see the bird and went downhill, but to the right of where the bird flew. After he was out of sight for a couple of minutes I looked at my Astro and saw that he was gaining distance in the way the bird had flown. Soon he was 650 yards away and that didn’t include the slope. Grady very seldom gets more than 250 yards from me. I waited as the distance was shorter and shorter and soon saw Grady with the cripple in his mouth. As he gave the bird to me, it clawed me and I dropped it. A short chase by Grady and I held the bird tighter the next time. While all this was happening, I was seeing and hearing birds flying above me. The retrieve already made for a great day, and Grady was limping from a sore elbow. Our vet says he has some serious arthritis in it. At that point I thought about giving him a break and hunting back to the truck and waiting for Greg.

I gave Grady a choice and he chose to head uphill. Several times after that, Grady would hold point until I got to him and then slowly worked his way up the ridge with me trying to keep up on the steep slope. He definitely was on birds, but after a point he couldn’t handle the running birds and would rush up the hill flushing them 100 yards ahead. The chukars always swung around me far enough to not get a shot. It was frustrating to see so many birds but not get any shooting. Grady was having a ball, and I was confident that sooner or later he would find some cooperative birds. I didn’t mention that it was a 60-degree day with a slight breeze. Not a normal December 11th day. Both of us could endure a little pain to find some obliging chukars. After two hours of climbing, seeing at least 100 chukars and only firing one shot we were due for something good to happen.

And it did. Grady had that no doubt point. Rock solid. I don’t think I could push him over. You could put a straight edge down his back and tail and there would be no gaps. I moved about twenty yards in front and the birds flushed. They split up flying around me and downhill. I took the birds to my right, and each barrel hit its mark. Grady immediately found the first bird and brought it to me. He dropped it in my hand and was off to find number two without me saying a word. Ten minutes later we had our next double under about the same scenario. Suddenly, I wasn’t just happy, I was elated. This is why I have loved following my dogs for so many years and I hope I can do it for many more.

I knew there were many birds back behind me, so I figured it time to hunt back towards the truck. It wasn’t long before Grady was back at it. He was in a thistle thicket, and I could tell he had eye contact with some birds. Moving below him to position myself for a left to right shot a single Hun complied and dropped at the shot. I was waiting for more birds to erupt but it was a single. Putting the bird in my vest, I was already being selfish, thinking in Idaho the Hun doesn’t count in my chukar limit. But the chukars weren’t thinking the same.

Grady was off searching for more birds when I about stepped on a lone chukar. He gave me the shot I liked and was soon bouncing down the steep slope. Grady came running and looked to me for some direction, I pointed down the hill in the direction of the bird and said, “dead bird” and he was off to bring the bird back to me. I now had 7 birds in my vest and was hoping for two more chukars. The way this season has gone with finding birds, I was getting greedy.

About 200 feet in elevation above the road and on a very steep draw Grady was on point. Getting footing on the slope was hard and I knew it was going to be tough getting a shot. Chukars always fly down slopes that steep so I tried to get below Grady. At the flush, three Huns flew uphill leaving me an awkward shooting stance. Somehow the shot hit its mark and the bird rolled down to Grady. He was kind and held onto it until I climbed back up the slope. He gave me the Hun, and we started paralleling the road towards the truck. I was still wanting to get those last two chukars.

Down on the road I could see Greg and the girls heading for the truck. There was a trail heading down to the road. For a change, I used some common sense. Why ruin a perfect day of shooting and some great dog work. I hit the road and walked it back to the truck. We were two hunters limping our way to a deserved rest. It’s hard to beat a day like this and to think there might come a time when me and a dog may not be able to do this anymore.

Oh, how I wish I’d had a camera today on the hill.