It was the best opening day of chukar season in at least four years, for me, anyway. After a week of coldish, rainy weather, the sun came out, the wind sighed, and the skies blued. And, oh yeah, there were birds.
Five minutes into our hike, Peat (yes, Peat) disturbed a rather sizable chukar convention in a thick stand of reddening sumac. Birds erupted and went every direction, and I managed to knock one down. Angus saw it fall and he chased it down. On his way back to me, Peat intercepted the chukar from Angus’s mouth, and took off with it, spinning and juking and jumping with delight while Leslie, Angus, and I looked on in horror.
We did our best to ignore Peat, hoping he’d come along with the bird eventually. We continued, following the chukar calls, and Peat reappeared sans l’oiseau. We figured he ate it. I considered shooting him.
Later, on our way back through the same area, Peat ran up to us with the bird, which looked rather well for the wear and tear. But he wanted to play with it instead of deposit it at my feet, which angered me substantially. Angus and I continued, while Leslie waited for Peat to come back to our world, which took a long time and cost the chukar half its body.
At the end of the day I managed a few birds in my bag, which is about my limit. The next day, in a different spot, we found just as many, or more chukar, and heard birds calling from many directions all day. Promising.
Enjoy the video…
Thanks for sharing your story. Hunting for me doesn’t start until next month. I leave for Canada on the 5th. Ryan will join me this year. Yea!!!!!!