March outing

Got out having a good time with Grady again and got a few entertaining videos. In this first one, how many times have you emptied your gun and then a gimme flies up next to you? The GoPro shows everything much further than it looks. I shoot an over and under, and I could imagine shooting twice at the chukar that Grady was pointing. With my gun empty, two huns fly towards me.

Here’s another one. Grady is intensely pointing right towards me. It’s that no doubt point. All I can think is, “you’d better not miss those”. And guess what?

The next video is what most of us run into later in the season. It’s probably a good example of slow down and watch your dog. I could see the bird running ahead and quit letting Grady do his job. Young hunters would probably be running after the chukar, trying to get a shot. I didn’t pay attention that Grady had already stopped the bird.

This last one is what comes from running birds. There are bumped birds that I’d shoot. Those are the ones that just happen through no fault of the dog. But I need all the help I can get in hitting the birds, so I insist on doing the flushing. I’d not shoot at this chukar with a sharp whoa. That would normally solve the problem for a while.

One last thought. Some might chastise me because these videos are too obvious about where I was at. I normally don’t do that. But I drive past this place all the time during hunting season, and there are always hunters there. I’ve never hunted it, but by the number of birds I saw, it’s a testament to the minimal impact of hunters on chukars.