Learning never stops

When hunting with upland bird dogs there is always something new that comes up. In my case, it’s usually my dog teaching me something new on how to successfully get chukars. There are many training methods out there and all will work to some degree. My thoughts, at least on chukar hunting, is to train and spend as much time on the chukar hill as possible. All of our bird dogs will point any of the upland birds to some degree, but to successfully get more chukars a dog has to learn how to find chukars in chukar country.

There are no best dogs for chukars. Every breed has its good qualities. I just happen to like my shorthairs. But every dog, no matter a flusher or a pointer, has to learn how to find birds in different terrains. There is no constant wind direction on the chukar mountain. You can come over the ridge, and the wind is blowing a different direction, or the thermals change over the ridge. Very seldom is there a 10-acre lot your dog can quarter through. The type of cover changes from ridge to ridge as well as the steepness. To put it simple, a dog needs to know how to find chukars in this vast area without any assistance.

We all have our different ways of training a pointing or flushing dog, but the only way to help them learn to find specific birds is to spend as much time in the birds back yard as possible. It’s been easy for me because I live within an hour or two of great chukar habitat.

Each of my dogs have had different ways of getting our mission accomplished. Each one got the job done. And each learned new tricks along the way. I’m going to brag about a new trick Grady has developed this year. He’ll be 8 in February and is slowing down some. He’s got arthritis in his left elbow and has a limp from time to time. I don’t think he is smart enough to think hunt smarter not harder, but I do think he found a way of getting us into more pointed birds.

There is usually another ridge between me and my dogs, and I never know what’s going on when I can’t see them. I never know how many birds they might have flushed. I only know they are on point because my receiver tells me so. In the past, I am sure Grady has busted some birds or at least seen some flying because he has sprinted across the draw and is either on point or searching really hard for a covey he saw land there.

This year he began doing something different. My receiver would say Grady was on point but when I got to him, he would be either just sitting or on a halfhearted point. As I approached him, he started that relocating creep towards the other side of the draw. The faster I would move, the faster he would move. Sometimes he would lead me to a covey 300 yards away and sometimes there was nothing. I had to assume what he was doing.

Three weeks ago, I confirmed what he was doing. I stood back from him and watched the other side of the ridge where he was looking. I saw some chukars running over the next ridge. As soon as they disappeared, Grady made a big circle around to where I had seen the birds and disappeared. I walked that way and soon got the on-point signal. I walked to that location. We had the birds trapped between us and I was soon shooting at a nice covey of chukars. Since that time, I have had it happen several times and actually seen the birds on the other side of the draw 3 of those times. I truly believe that in his younger years he would sprint over to those flushed birds and now is waiting for me. Pretty cool, I think.

Maybe just a lot of rambling on, but I really believe those little things that help us get more chukars is because of the amount of time we spend on chukar mountains. We spend at least 100 times a year walking those steep hills together and have learned how to accomplish our goals as a team. Thank God for giving me the ability to still navigate those hills and give me the dogs that love to please me.

Grady and I are back having a blast with this wonderful December weather. The season started slow but we’re picking up steam and I’m getting some pictures along the way.